In _The Hobbit_ (p. 236 and footnote) we find mentioning of an Orc
chieftain by the name of _Bolg_ son of _Azog_. He is an Orc of the
Misty Mountains, about which Tolkien says that they "had long used
the Westron as their native language" (LR:1131).

As for the name _Bolg_, that could be, in theory, of orkish "proper"
origin (Black Speech) or taken from some Mannish tongue. Given the
geographical position of Bolg's chiefdom, his name might be of
(North-)Germanic origin. That is, Tolkien would use such a word to
represent a Westron word.

If so, Old Icelandic _bolginn_ 'swollen' could be a good starting point.
The shortened form would roughly parallel Orkish _tark_ 'man of
Gondor' < Q. _tarkil_ (ibid.). The meaning may have appealed to
Tolkien, possibly with the by-sense of 'swollen-headed' (cf. French
_gonflé_, German _aufgeblasen_) for the Great Goblin. [The Great
Goblin is described as "a tremendous goblin with a huge head", _The
Hobbit_, p. 60 -- PHW.] Better still, perhaps, we know that Bolg gets
exceedingly angry at Thorin's company and, in his rage, attacks the
Dwarves at the Lonely Mountain. Here fits well the meaning of the
corresponding verb in OE, OS, OHG _belgan_ 'to be angry, rage'.
So maybe Bolg's name is a sort of pun, with Tolkien having something
like 'swollen with rage' in mind.

David Kiltz

It is said that _orthanc_ has two major meanings (in two different
tounges): in "elvish" (Sindarin) "stony heart, [?tormented] Hills"
(VIII:35), "Stone Fangs" (VIII:35) and lastly "forked-Height" (RC:
234); in Rohirric it is "cunning craft, invention" (VIII:35).

The underlying etymology of the compound _or-thanc_ with translation
"forked-Height" may be as follows:

_or_: derived from base ORO- (V:379) giving N. _or_ prep. above;
prefix _or-_ as in _orchall, orchel_ "superior, eminent"
_thanc_: derived from Stem STAK- (V:388) giving N. _thanc_ and Q.
_sanka_ meaning "cleft, split" here in adjectival form _thanc_ "forked".

But in light of the different translations (mentioned above)
thought of Tolkien by the time of writing _The Lord of the Rings_, we
can easily observe many other hints how Tolkien first constructed
_orthanc_.

One could argue that Tolkien sometimes translated his own creations
inexactly and non-literally, but in this instance I think that Tolkien toyed
with various etymological explanations for his word – interesting enough
to pull out a little analysis of _orthanc_ for each translation:

"stony heart":

_or_: possibly the Sindarin cognate of Q. _óre_ (XII:337) meaning "heart"
_thanc_: certainly not derived from STAK-, but from base TAK-
(V:389) giving N. _tanc_ "firm", which we could take (with enough
imagination) as "stony". _tanc_ would undergo a liquid mutation when
combined with _or_.

"[?tormented] hills":

_or_: may be derived from base ORO-(V:389) but unattested with the
meaning of hill, although we can find _orod_ (under base ÒROT-
(V:389)) "mountain", which could well be connected to *_or_ "hill".
_thanc_: with the meaning of "torment" is nowhere else mentioned or
reconstructable from bases. It's very possible that "tormented" is a
misreading due to illegibility (as hinted by Chistopher Tolkien).

"Stone Fang":

_or_: can only mean "stone" in the context of the translation, but can
hardly be derived from ORO-. I can not shed any further light on
this matter.
_thanc_: derived from abse STAK-, could fit in this context of the
meaning  _thanc_ "split, cleft".

As we can see, Tolkien experimented with the many possibilities of
translating _orthanc_. Whether we could add the new word meanings (e. g.
*_or_ "heart") to our Sindarin vocabulary is questionable.

Philipp Marquart

Erratum for PE15 (p. 42):

"The implication is that the forms _sit_ and _sinte_ in Table D, ..."

The forms _sit_ and _sinte_ are actually found in Table A.

Philipp Marquart

On 22.04.2006, at 20:48, varavilindo wrote:

> Whether we could add the new word meanings (e. g.
> *_or_ "heart") to our Sindarin vocabulary is questionable.

More so, perhaps, because there is _gûr_ (VT41;11) 'heart, inner
mind', said (loc. cit.) to derive from  CE _3ôrê_. Of course,
Tolkien's idea about the derivation of Q _óre_ and the respective
Sindarin form may have changed over time. In the times of _The
Etymologies_, CE _3_ (i.e. a voiced velar fricative) is lost in later
Noldorin. 'Stony heart' could also be a deliberate folk etymology by
those well acquainted with Elvish, I think. Especially, maybe, because
S _gûr_, Q _óre_ seem to refer not so much to the physical organ but
to mental/emotional phenomena. Hence a 'rigid' or 'stony' heart could
be seen as an allusion to the state of Saruman's _óre_ in the later days
of his residence in Orthanc.

David Kiltz

Philipp Marquart wrote:

> It is said that _orthanc_ has two major meanings (in two different
> tounges): in "elvish" (Sindarin) "stony heart, [?tormented] Hills"
> (VIII:35), "Stone Fangs" (VIII:35) and lastly "forked-Height" (RC:
> 234)

     For 234 read 243. The gloss "forked-height" in the unfinished index
would (if that index had been completed and appeared in the book) have
been a complement to the main text's "Mount Fang".

> The underlying etymology of the compound _or-thanc_ with translation
> "forked-Height" may be as follows:
>
> _or_: derived from base ORO- (V:379) giving N. _or_ prep. above;
> prefix _or-_ as in _orchall, orchel_ "superior, eminent"

     The element _or_ occurs in Sindarin with the sense 'height,
mountain' also in (at least) _Erebor_.

	 Suilad,

		 Beregond

VT 46:16, entry SUD- lists the N. words _thund, thonn; thonnas_ (first
written _sunn, sonnas_).

The -nd/-nn variation often occurs in the _Etymologies_ (e.g. _thand,
thann_, VT 46:16) and primitive *u generally yields /o/ in Noldorin.

Therefore, are the -u- read in _thund_ and _sunn_ really certain in
the manuscript, or could they possibly be malformed -o-?

From the few facsimile pages of Tolkien's texts we have, I have the
impression that Tolkien's -o-, when written quickly (esp. before -n),
are sometimes not always fully closed on top (for instance, this seems
to be the case for the final -o- in _Angalagon_ and _ono- on the VT
46:5 facsimile -- unless this is to be ascribed to an artefact of the
printed reproduction or even to my poor sight. I certainly don't claim
to have any experience deciphering Tolkien's hand-writing!)

Of course, S. _thond_ "root" is later attested in _Morthond_
"Blackroot" (e.g. LR app. E).

Regards,

Didier.

[Yes, the form is very clearly written as _thund_; likewise, the parallel
deleted form _sunn_ is very clearly written as such. A fact not noted in the A&C
is that this _sunn_ itself overwrites earlier _sonn_, which reinforces the
deliberateness of the _u_ in both forms. CFH]

I'd like to draw your attention to some fragments published in VT27:

(1) _dakar {dakaro} no giliar_ (VT27:17)
(2) _vári to vanimar_ (VT27:35)

Of course they have been analysed in the issue itself, but since our
amount of material has vastly increased since 1993, we may (or must)
see some things in another light:

(1)
Here, one has first of all to identify the language. In VT27:18 Old
Noldorin is proposed, an intermediate form between ON _ndakro_ and N.
_dagr_, _dagor_ 'battle' with the shift _nd_ > _d_ already carried
out, but not yet the lenition of _k_ > _g_. For the meaning *'battle
under stars' is proposed with possible relations to
_Dagor-nui-Ngiliath_ and other forms (V:249,378).

Such an interpretation is problematic in several ways, however:

Firstly, it would be a unique example of a whole phrase in a ancient
form of a Tolkienian language - usually we only see 'reconstructed'
and asterisked words in etymological outlines.

Furthermore, the plural noun suffix _-r_ is characteristic of
Quenya, but not really for Tolkien's Welsh branch. Although Early
Noldorin had the plural ending _-ir_ (apart from other suffixes like
_-ath_, _-in_, _-iant_), it was applied to monosyllabic words ending
in a consonant, as _Im_ 'royal-elf' pl. _Inwir_ (PE13:148).
[http://www.phy.duke.edu/~trenk/elvish/noldorin/early_noldorin_plurals.html]
And we do not meet such a suffix in the Noldorin of the Etymologies
anymore, although _-in_ and _-ath_ occur.

Giving this phrase a different interpretation, I would look for
internal explanations of this suffix. It looks like a Quenya suffix,
though the sentence apparently cannot be Quenya , having initial _d-_
and _g-_. In XII:402 we learn that the plural device _-r_ was
introduced into Quenya by the Noldor - this is, however, a much later
source (from 1968).

Still, the only language being close enough to Quenya to share pl.
_-r_ and allowing initial _d-_, _g-_ is Telerin. In the Etymologies we
can find ÑGOLOD- > _golodo_ 'Gnome' and more or less contemporary with
this NDAN- > _Daintáro_ 'Saviour of the Dani' (V:188) reflecting the
shifts _nd, ng_ > _d, g_; also earlier _gr:go_ > T. _gargo_ 'throat'
(PE13:144) with retention of _g-_.

If _gilia_ comes from older _*ngilya_ or _gilya_ (< GIL- in Etym.), we
can also observe the change of non-syllabic _y_ to _i_. The same
change occurs in earliest examples of Telerin, as _mburyá:_ > __muria_
'close, muggy' (PE13:139), as well as in later ones, e.g. _Vaniai_
from _wanjâ_ (XI:383).

There is no known Telerin grammar until 'Quendi & Eldar' and there
is no explicit mention of a plural marker _-r_ as in Quenya. But
judging from the internal position of the Teleri, there are certain
relations between the two languages already at the time of the
Etymologies (e.g. Q. _telpe_ as a probable Telerin loan (V:367)), so
that grammatical features may have been borrowed and shared.

But then a question occurs - why would there be a Telerin word for a
battle in Middle-earth fought by the Noldor?
But can we be really sure about such an interpretation? The form
struck out is _dakaro_ and even though there is N. _ndakro_
'slaughter, battle' (V:375), as also pointed out in the issue, the
ending _-ro_ may also denote a _person_, cf. TUR: 'in c[om]p[oun]ds
_turo_, _tur_ 'master, victor, lord'', as Q. _Fantur_, _Spanturo_
'lord of cloud' (V:387) or T. _avar_ < _avaro_ (VT47:13,24), ABAR- in
Etym. (lots of other examples brought in VT27:17).
The primitive endings _-ro_ and _-rô_ are said to have an agental
meaning in XI:371. Certainly, not all agental formations denote
persons (just compare Q. _tolbo_ in VT47:10-11). But overall, it
seems that persons and animals in _-ro_ form the majority, although
this is still no strict evidence in this particular case, of course
(and there are a lot of inanimate nouns in _-r_).
So I believe that the interpretation of _dakar(o)_ as *'fighter,
warrior' rather than *'battle' cannot be wholly excluded.

The epithet 'warrior under stars' could be applied to one of the Valar
- perhaps Tulkas or Orome. At least we know that the rest of the sheet
is filled by forms of two Quenya sentences - one about Orome coming to
awaken the sleeping Elves at Koivienéni and another one (probably)
about the Valar planting the Two Trees of Valinor. Orome could have
very well appeared as a 'warrior under the stars' to the Eldar (while
the 'battle under stars' is somehow out of context on this sheet).
There could be a relation to Q. _Telimektar_ 'Orion, lit. Swordsman of
Heaven' (QL:90), but this warrior is rather _consisting_ of stars.


(2)
There should be little doubt in the fact that _vanimar_ means
'beautiful ones' - this form is identical to the one occuring in
Treebeard's greeting in the 'Lord of the Rings'.
For _vári_ the translation 'pools' is proposed, with _*var_ isolated
from _nénuvar_ 'pool of lilies' (I:248). For _to_ a relation to _toi_
'they' (V:72) is proposed, here as a relative pronoun, thus the whole
phrase: *'pools which [are] fair' in reference to the Two Trees.

However, after the publishing of the Qenya Lexicon the ending _-var_
can be be seen in quite different word formations:
_kuru_ 'magic, wizardry', _kuruvar_ 'wizard' (QL:49)
_Autar, Auvar_ *'wealth' < AWA- (QL:33)
(the latter perhaps <  _*aw-var_, as _aw_ > _au_ before the 't' in
_Autar_)
There is no gloss of _*var_ meaning 'pool'. Instead it seems to be a
word-creating suffix. Perhaps it's even the 'general adjectival
suffix' _-va_ we meet in EQG (PE14:47) combined with other endings -
_#nénuva_ could be the adjective of 'lily', made a noun by the ending
_-r_.

Instead, QL gives us the following forms:
_vard-_ 'rule, govern'
_varni_ 'queen'
_vardar_ 'king'
and also _Varda_
(stem VRDR, QL:102)

The stem BARÁD in Etym. has a very similar meaning, having to do with
loftiness, highness; and there is also the related stem BAR- with the
original significance 'raise'. And the two are perhaps also related to
BAL-, which serves as a stem of the word _Valar_ and has to do with
the divine power and authority given to them.
Among the derived forms there is also a plural 'formed directly from
the stem' - _Vali_ (already present in Early Qenya - QL:99).
Assuming that BAR- can refer to the Valar as well, _vári_ could mean
exactly this - *'Valar, the high/risen/lofty ones'. And compare also
Adunaic _bâr_ 'lord' (IX:437-38) (with macron).

So the whole phrase perhaps means 'Valar (=Lords) who are beautiful
[ones]'. A similar alliterative formation occurs in XI:404 - _Valar
valuvar_ 'the will of the Valar will be done'.


All these new interpretations are just my suggestions. I thought I
could share my ideas here to get to know other people's opinions.
Perhaps there are even better possibilities.


Roman Rausch

In the _War of the Ring_ on page 50 we find various forms for the
treeish beings later known as _Huorns_ (s. a. RC:425). The first form
reads _Galbedirs_, which was changed at the time of writing to
_Lamorni_ and finally to _Ornómar_.  In the same line in which these
appear it is said that _Ornómar_ (here said to be "an oldfashioned
elvish", i.e. Quenya) means "Talking Trees, that is, that they have trained
and made half-entish".

Two pages later Merry informs us that Treebard "...sent off a whole
wood of the _Ornómi_ down the valley..." and on page 54 Aragorn
talks about "the _Ornómi_ , the moving woods..." supporting us with
just another and most likely final form of the half-tree entities in
Quenya.

_Galbedir_: consists of two elements: *_gal_ 'tree' + *_pedir_
'speaker'. *_gal_ is derieved from stem GÁLAD- (V:357); yet no
Noldorin example is listed that would support a reconstruction like
*_gal_ + noun, instead we see a Doriathrin form _galbreth_ 'beech'
showing the only similiar construction to _galbedir_ available.
_*pedir_ (which undergoes lenition when combined with a noun; cp.
_cirban_ 'haven', V:380) originates from KWET- (and PET-) 'say'
(V:366) and a substantive suffix *_-dir_ seen also in N. _rhandir_
'wanderer' (RAN-, V:383) or _Thorondir_ (XII:206). We might assume a
Primitive elvish form like *_pet-dir_ > N. *_pedir_ 'speaker', but
that's very speculative.

_Lamorni_: consists of the elements *_lam_ 'sound, speak' (LAM-,
V:367) and *_orni_ plural of _orne_ 'tree' (ÔR-NI, V:379). The
literal translation  might be *'Sound-trees'.

_Ornómar_: consists of above mentioned _orne_ and plural *_ómar_
'voices' (OM-, V:379). Note that this compound is formed by
assimilating the last vowel of _orne_(exhibited also in _Minnónar_
'Firstborn', XI:403). The literal translation of _Ornómar_ might
be *'Tree-voices' (though translated in the text as "Talking trees").

_Ornómi_*: consists of _orne_ 'tree' (see above) and *_ómi_
'?speaking'. The second element seems not to be connected with *_ómar_
'voices' and is not an adjectival element, but a derivation from stem
OM-. I suggest that Tolkien constructed _Ornómi_ in a very different
fashion from that seen in the above given examples. Sometimes the
plural for a Q(u)enya noun is based upon the stem, just like in
_talami_ pl. of _talan_ 'floor, ground' (TALAM-, V:390). In the
particular case of _Ornómi_ we may fathom here the same:  Lengthened
*_óm_ combined with _orne_, while *_óm_ showing nasalisation of *_-m_
to *_-n_ and _orne_ assimilation of _-e_, producing singular *_Ornón_
*'talking, speaking tree' (though the text translates _Ornómi_ as
"trees with voices", VIII:55). Yet, this is very discussable, moreover
when we consider that plural derivation for a noun might hardly be
applicable to that of a compound.

*on page 54 Tolkien also translated it as "moving trees", but there is
no trace anywhere that _ómi_ could also mean "moving", so I shall
"ignore" this translation here.

Philipp Marquart

P. S.: Edouard Kloczko states in his book "Le dictionnaire des langues
des Hobbits, des Nains, des Orques" (see Lambengolmor Message 471)
that : "Lamorni and Ornómar, with a variant plural form Ornómi (see
WR, p. 50), but all were rejected". Actually only the preceeding forms
_Galbedir_ and _Lamorni_ were rejected, while the form _Ornómar_ is
allowed to stand, yet being replaced later by _Ornómi_ which appears
unaltered also on page 52 and 54.

[Philipp's interpretation of _Ornómi_ strikes me as needlessly complicated
and speculative. It is far more probable that _Ornómi_ is simply
the same sort of compound as _Ornómar_, save that the final element
has an alternative pl. *_ómi_ 'voices' formed directly from the stem OM-
(hence the translation of this name in the text itself as 'trees with voices').
For the variation of pl. _ómar, ómi_, cp. the statement in the _Etym._:
"Q _Vala_ Power, God (pl. _Valar_ or _Vali_ = PQ *_bal-î_ formed direct
from stem, cf. _Valinor_)", V:350 s.v. BAL-. -- PHW]

Hello!

In the second part of _The Book of Lost Tales_ (p. 288) it is said that
Tavrobel, the city of elves, is situated near the conjunction of two
rivers, _Gruir_ and _Afros_. I'm very interested in any
suggestions about a possible etymology of these names!

Thanks in advance!

--

Sincerely yours,
  Alexandra


[Christopher Tolkien notes (I:196, V:413) the apparent correspondence of the
rivers _Gruir_ and _Afros_ with the Trent and the Sow, in conjunction with the
identification of _Tavrobel_ with the village of Great Haywood in Staffordshire.
Ekwall tells us (_Oxford Dictionary of English Place-Names_) that "Trent"
derives utlimately from British (Celtic) _Trisantôn_ < _tri-_ 'through, across'
+ _santôn_ *'road': i.e., cross-roads, ford. "Sow", meanwhile, is cognate with
Gaulish (Celtic) _Savus_ < *_seu-_ 'to flow, liquid', whence Old English _sêaw_
and Welsh _sug_ 'juice', Old Irish _suth_ 'milk'.

With Trent 'ford, cross-roads' in mind, it is interesting to compare Gnomish
_Afros_ with the "Gnomish Lexicon" entry _adros_ 'a crossing, ford' (which
replaced earlier _athrod_ of the same meaning). On the other hand, GL also has
_av(r)os_ 'fortune, wealth, prosperity' (an alteration from earlier _avos_),
which is closer in form to _Afros_.

If _Afros_ is indeed to be identified with the Trent, this leaves _Gruir_ as the
Sow. The closest forms in GL are _grum_, _gruim_ 'fierce', _grui_ 'ferocity,
horror'.  However, from what I can glean from various web-sites, the Sow is in
fact a narrow (max. width of 3 meters) and often shallow river: not exactly
fierce-sounding. On the other hand, the Trent is one of only two bore rivers in
England: that is, it has tidal bore waves that flow up-river. CFH]

In _The Return of the Shadow_ (HoME Vol. VI) we are introduced to Trotter,
Tolkien's
original conception of the character who would eventually become Aragorn.
Trotter is a
Hobbit, moreover one with a rather unusual sartorial style: "He was dressed in
dark rough
brown cloth, and had a hood on, in spite of the warmth, -- and, very remarkably,
he had
wooden shoes!" (VI:137) Trotter's wooden shoes were apparently the source of his
name,
for as the innkeeper Barnabas Butterbur notes, "What his right name is I never
heard, but
he's known round here as Trotter. You can hear him coming along the road in
those shoes:
clitter-clap -- when he walks on a path, which isn't often. Why does he wear
'em? Well,
that I can't say." (VI:138).

What is also remarkable about Trotter is that while Tolkien provided him with no
less than
four names in Noldorin, theses names have apparently remained unanalyzed and
undiscussed by scholars. It's time to take a step or two to remedy that
oversight.

The earliest Noldorin name for Trotter is _Rimbedir_, which was replaced by the
form
_Padathir_, as in Glorfindel's phrase _Ai Padathir, Padathir! Mai govannen!_
'Hail Trotter,
Trotter, well met' (see VI:194,198, 207, 217). Both of these forms appear to
contain the
stem _pata-_ 'walk', later seen in S. _aphad-_ 'follow' < *_ap-pata_ 'walk
behind, on a
track or path' (XI:387). This stem dates back to QL, which gives the root
PATA(1) with
derivatives _pata-_ 'rap, tap (of feet)', _patakta-_ 'to clatter', _patinka _
'shoe, slipper', etc.
Obviously imitative, this root seems ideally suited for the name of a Hobbit
noted for the
"clitter-clap" of his wooden shoes. The cognates in GL are a bit more generic:
Gn.
_padra-_ 'walk', derived with _pad_ (unglossed) from a root _pat-_ (also
unglossed). These
forms were probably meant to replace several rejected entries found in the
B-section:
_bad_ 'way, path', _badweg_ 'traveller, pedlar', etc. The verb stem _bad-_
'travel'
underlying these rejected words is cited in the entry for _bag-_ 'sell, trade',
but was not
itself struck out.

Retention of medial -MB- in _Rimbedir_ indicates that this word is a compound
consisting
of _rim_ + _bedir_, the latter being the lenited form of *_pedir_, an agentive
form of
*_pad-_ 'walk'. The agentive ending is perhaps the same element *_-ir_ seen in
N.
_bauglir_ 'tyrant, oppressor' < _bauglo-_ 'to oppress' (V:372, VT45:33).
Alternatively,
*_pedir_ might end in N. †_dîr_ 'adult male, man', also used as an agental
ending, as in
_ceredir_ 'doer, maker' < KAR- 'make, do' and _feredir_ 'hunter' < _faro_ 'to
hunt' (V:354,
362, 387) -- in both of these agental forms from the _Etymologies_ the ending
_-dir_
causes i-affection in the preceding element, a process also evident in *_pedir_
< *_pad-_.
Perhaps the original form meaning 'walker' was *_pededir_, haplologically
reduced to
*_pedir_, unless we are to suppose that _-dir_ was added directly to the stem,
i.e., *pad-
dir_ > *_pedir_. It is interesting to note, by the way, that *_pedir_ 'walker'
in _Rimbedir_ is
homophonous with the etymologically distinct N. form *_pedir_ 'speaker' (< KWET-
'say')
seen in N. _Galbedir_ 'Talking Tree', an early name for the Huorns; see Philipp
Marquart's
discussion of the latter name in Lambengolmor message #913.

The initial element in _Rimbedir_ is most likely N. _rhimp_ (= Q. _rimpa_
'rushing, flying' <
RIP- 'rush, fly, fling', V:384), which appears in the form _rhim-_ in the
river-name
_Rhimdath_ 'Rushdown' (ibid.). _Rimbedir_ thus apparently means lit.
*'rush-walker',
entirely appropriate given that Eng. _trot_ means 'to walk briskly, to run at a
moderate
pace (typically with short steps)'. The use of _Rim-_ rather than _Rhim-_ is
probably not
significant, as Tolkien was inconsistent about indicating voiceless initial RH-
in the
_Etymologies_.

The ending _-thir_ in _Padathir_ is difficult to account for with certainty. It
might be a
variant of agental _-dir_, with _*Padadir_ dissimilating to _Padathir_ -- the
agental suffix
_-dir_ does not universally cause i-affection, e.g., N. _rhandir_ 'wanderer,
pilgrim' <
_rhenio_ 'to stray' -- but I cannot think of an attested example of this sort of
dissimilation,
so this is perhaps unlikely. N. _thîr_ 'look, face, expression, countenance' (as
in _Cranthir_
'Ruddy-face' and _Gorthir_ 'dread-glance', V:392) has the proper form but lacks
any
plausibly applicable meaning. Perhaps in _Padathir_ we are dealing with an
extended
verbal stem *_padath-_ 'to trot' (< *_patatt-_), analogous to the extended Qenya
verb
_patakta-_ 'to clatter' in QL, to which the agental suffix _-ir_ (as in N.
_bauglir_
'oppressor') was added. Another possibility is that *padath_ is a verbal noun,
'walking,
trotting' (cp. N. _gwanath_ 'the act of dying' < WAN- 'depart, go away,
disappear, vanish',
V:397) -- David Salo in "A Gateway to Sindarin" plausibly interprets the initial
elements in
_ceredir_ 'maker' and _feredir_ 'hunter' as the gerunds *_cared_ and *_farad_
(and the
plural of _feredir_ is, notably, _faradrim_).

I will comment on the remaining two Noldorin names of Trotter in Part 2.

-- Patrick H. Wynne

>theses names have apparently remained unanalyzed and
>undiscussed by scholars. It's time to take a step or
>two to remedy that oversight.

Actually, some steps were already taken half a year ago, here:

http://middangeard.org.uk/aglardh/?q=node/49&from=0&comments_per_page=70

And here:

http://wwweb-library.net/wbb2/thread.php?threadid=4531

Both discussions can be easily found via Google.
The latter is in German, but in both the proposal is made to relate
_Rimbedir_ to RIM- (V:383) (whence N. _rhemb_, _rhem_ 'frequent,
numerous' -- in this case the compound may prevent a-affection
_i_ > _e_), i.e. it could mean *'he who walks often', *'he who walks
a lot'. That may be not a literal translation of 'Trotter', but such a
nickname would certainly fit the personage.

There are also other suggestions for _Padathir_.

Roman R.

[Many thanks for pointing out these discussions -- my apologies to
the authors involved for overlooking their contributions!

The possibility of RIM- *'frequent, numerous' being the source of
the first element in _Rimbedir_ had occurred to me as well, but
N. _rhim-_ 'rushing' struck me as more probable, given that 'Rush-walker'
would be a very close approximation of the meaning of English _Trotter_.

I see that in the first of the two links provided above, "Atwe" notes
that his first impression of _Padathir_ was that it might be "*_pada-dir_ >
_padadhir_, and maybe Tolkien found _dh_ 'uncouth' so changed it to
_th_" -- so a tip of the hat to Atwe for first coming up with the dissimilative
interpretation of the ending _-thir_. He also notes that the ending might
be _hîr_ 'lord', "but then I cannot explain the 't'."

I will be happy indeed if my kvetching about "Forgotten Words of Elvish"
has helped in some small way to stimulate such discussions. Let's keep
up the good work! -- PHW]

While Arda still grew and flourished, and the two Lamps stood at the
north and south sides of the world, there was an island in the midst
of Arda. Tolkien, now working in the late 1940s on a revised version
of the "Ainulindale" (published in "Morgoth's Ring" as Version C),
produced three name for this island, though only the last one was
allowed to stand: _Almar_ (X:23, called _Almaren_ on pg. X:7). I shall
here discuss the preceding forms _Eccuilë_ and _Eremar_ (X:22-3,
note 18):

_Eccuilë_: We find here at least one attested element in _cuilë_
"life, being alive" (KUY, V:366); the first one however is difficult: it
could be a prefix like _et-_ "out, forth" (ET-, V:356) connected with
_cuilë_; and indeed we can find in V:366 a Noldorin word _echui(w)_
"awakening" derived from PE *_et-kuiwê_. Thus it is very likely that a
similiar reconstruction fits for Quenya _Eccuilë_ as well,especially in
this case of _cuile_ "life". While in Noldorin the medial combination
–TK- became a voiceless velar –CH-, Quenya would have turned –TK- into
double consonant –KK-. We meet this same phenomenon also c. 1940
in the Qenya verb form *_ekkoita-_ "to awaken" (VT14:17;
_erenekkoitanie_ "that he might awake them"), being derived from
_et-_+ KOYO (QL:48). But also in our later sources we can find that
kind of mutation of consonants as in _Et-pele_ > _Eppele_ (VIII:137).

Another possibility for explaining _Eccuilë_ would be an intensive
prefix: VT45:11 mentions  the intensive prefix _e-_ as in _Ender_, the
surname of Tulkas. Yet, this is said to be only applied when the
base vowel is also _e_. How would that fit together with _Eccuilë_?
Due to the fact that the base vowel of _cuilë_ would be _u_ (s. a.
above) we would rather think of something like **_uccuilë_.
Fortunately we have another example, which agrees that this is not
necessarily the case, in _ekkaira_ *"most far away" (KHAYA-, V:364).
In VT45:21 it is supposed that this may be an "?int[ensive]" form of
_haira_ "remote, far".

Putting it all together: What is the meaning of _Eccuilë_, and which
reconstruction is desirable? Looking at the context, we have to favor
the first one:

The stem from which _cuilë_ itself is derived is KUY- "come to life,
awake", and Tolkien says of _Eccuilë_ that the Gods took up their
abode on this isle "when all things were new, and green was yet a
marvel in the eyes of the makers" (X:18). Though I don't know whether
_et-_ could bear the meaning "new", I'd suggest as a translation for
_Eccuilë_ *"New Life, Life's awakening, Awakening".

Yet, we have to consider that the context is not always the deciding
factor, and it is also possible that the second reconstruction is
right: If _Eccuilë_ was indeed built by an intensive prefix we may
assume that it could mean *"high, extraordinary, divine Life".

_Eremar_: the first word element *_ere_, or shortened _er_, appears
with two different meanings in Tolkien's works: The Etymologies
list _er_ "one, alone" (ERE-, V:356), but in the "New Era Calender"
from 1949-50 we meet _er_ with the meaning "first", e.g.
_Ertuilë_ *"First-Spring" (XII:133-136; see also Patrick Wynne's
discussion of the "The Quenya Prefixes _ER-, NÓ-, METE-_" in
Lambengolmor Message #830). We have to assume that the latter meaning
must be apposite since Tolkien tells us that "there upon the isle of
Almar [<< Eremar] in a great lake was the first dwelling of the gods",
supporting the view that _ere_ must be translated as "first". _mar_
"home, dwelling" (MBAR-, V:372, VT45:33; this occurs often as a word
element, e. g. _Endamar_, V:372) as  the second word element seems to
be connected directly to the stem ERE- without syncopation and we can
surely assume that _Eremar_ means *"First home, first dwelling".

Philipp Marquart

P.S.: I want to thank Patrick Wynne for his invaluable help in
suggesting other possible explanations (and translations) for
_Eccuilë_ and _Eremar_.

Of the two Noldorin names of Trotter remaining to be discussed, neither actually
means
'Trotter'.

DU-FINNION

In Chapter XI of the 'third phase' of  composition of _The Lord of the Rings_,
Glorfindel
refers to Trotter as _Du-finnion_, calling out "_Ai, Du-finnion! Mai govannen!_"
(VI:361,
392). On the Aglardh site, "Ninniach" has proposed that this name probably means
'dark-
tressed one' (_dû_ + _finn-_ + _ion_); while on a Tolkien discussion board in
German,
"Aran" similarly notes that "_Du-finnion_ appears to be 'The Dark-haired'."
(Links to these
two sites were provided by Roman Rausch in Lambengolmor post #916.)

This translation, 'dark-haired', seems to be the only reasonable possibility.
Cp. S. _dû_
'dim, dark', shortened to _du_ when preceding the main word-stress in
_Duhir-ion_
'region of the dim streams' (RC:269); and S. _find, finn-_ 'a tress' (XII:362,
n. 37) -- the
Etymologies has N. _dû_ 'nightfall, late evening' and Q. _finde_, ON _sphinde_
'lock of hair'
< *_spindê_ 'tress, braid of hair'; no Noldorin form is given, though this would
have to be
*_find, finn_. The ending _-ion_ is probably N. _ionn, -ion_ 'son', seen in N.
_Ecthelion_,
_Gelion_ 'merry singer', _Dúrion_ or _Durion_ 'Dark-Elf', etc.; in these names
_-ion_
appears to function as a general masculine ending rather than as a patronymic
(V:355,
359, 374; VT45:9).

Another feature of the 'third phase' of composition was Tolkien's decision that
Trotter was
the hobbit Peregrin Boffin (see VI:376, 1st paragraph), and a text of "A
Long-expected
Party" from this phase of writing describes Peregrin as "a dark-haired and (for
a hobbit)
lanky lad" (VI:385). Similarly, various versions of Gandalf's letter to to
Bingo/Frodo
describe Trotter as "dark" (VI:158, 352). There is perhaps a deliberate element
of irony in
the fact that the sole occurrence of _Du-finnion_ is in Glorfindel's Noldorin
greeting to
Trotter, since Glorfindel's own name meant *'Golden-hair': N. _glaur, glor_
'gold' (of light),
N. _findel_ '(braided) hair' (V:358, 387).

ETHELION

Trotter's fourth Elvish name, _Ethelion_, is a Noldorin translation of
_Peregrin_. This is
explicitly stated in VI:395, which refers to "Trotter (as Frodo continued to
call him instead
of Peregrin or the Elvish equivalent Ethelion)". Similarly, in another text
Bilbo asks for
Peregrin's help, "and Elrond replies that he will have _Ethelion_ found"
(VI:392).

The name _Peregrin_ is from Latin _peregrinus_ 'from foreign parts, foreigner'
(whence
also English _pilgrim_), which is in turn from the Latin adverb _peregre_ 'from
abroad'. The
element *_ethel_ in _Ethelion_ must therefore be the Noldorin form corresponding
to Q.
_ettele_ 'outer lands, foreign parts', _ettelea_ 'foreign, stranger' (V:356,
VT45:13), with the
name apparently intended as *'One who travels in foreign lands'.

-- Patrick H. Wynne

On 03.07.2006, at 15:37, Philipp Marquart wrote:

> While in Noldorin the medial combination
> –TK- became a voiceless velar –CH-, Quenya would have turned –TK- into
> double consonant –KK-. We meet this same phenomenon also c. 1940
> in the Qenya verb form *_ekkoita-_ "to awaken" (VT14:17;
> _erenekkoitanie_ "that he might awake them"), being derived from
> _et-_+ KOYO (QL:48). But also in our later sources we can find that
> kind of mutation of consonants as in _Et-pele_ > _Eppele_ (VIII:137).

_Ekkaia_ 'the Outer Ocean, the Encircling Sea' seems to show the same
development. The Sindarin voiceless spirants also presuppose -TK > KK
and -TP > PP. This, however, stands in contrast to Q. _ehtele_ and
Noldorin _eithel_ 'spring, issue of water' both < *_et-kelê_ (Etym.
sub voc. KEL-).

David Kiltz

[In the "Qenya Phonology", a similar variation in the Qenya developments
of original TK is explained as follows: "TK has given CC older, and CT
(transposition newer)" (PE12:22). -- PHW]

Please excuse this off-topic message, but I would like list members
to consider assisting in a cause to help the bereaved family of the
late Tolkien documentarian and scholar, Dan Timmons, who died in Dec.
of last year of ALS (aka Lou Gehrig's Disease), tragically young and
leaving behind his wife and infant child.

I met Dan only a couple times myself, at Mythcons, but even in such
brief encounters he could not fail to impress me and all his fellow
Tolkienists with his enthusiasm, knowledge, wit, and warmth. Dan is
perhaps best known for his documentary film, "The Legacy of The Lord
of the Rings", which features interviews and commentaries with and by
numerous prominent Tolkien scholars and fans, and about which you can
read more, and view a brief trailer for, at:

<http://scriptsandscribes.com/projTV.htm>

He is also known for the volume of essays he edited (with George
Clark) and contributed to, _J.R.R. Tolkien and His Literary
Resonances: Views of Middle-earth_ (Greenwood Press, 2000), which was
nominated for the Mythopoeic Scholarship Award, and a review of which
can be read at:

<http://www.mythsoc.org/litresrev.html>

A memorial page has been set up and a PayPal link provided by which
donations can be made to assist Dan's family:

<http://timmonslegacy.livejournal.com/>

--Carl

At 08:37 AM 7/3/06, Philipp Marquart wrote:

>Another possibility for explaining _Eccuilë_ would be an intensive
>prefix: VT45:11 mentions  the intensive prefix _e-_ as in _Ender_, the
>surname of Tulkas. Yet, this is said to be only applied when the
>base vowel is also _e_. How would that fit together with _Eccuilë_?
>Due to the fact that the base vowel of _cuilë_ would be _u_ (s. a.
>above) we would rather think of something like **_uccuilë_.
>Fortunately we have another example, which agrees that this is not
>necessarily the case, in _ekkaira_ *"most far away" (KHAYA-, V:364).
>In VT45:21 it is supposed that this may be an "?int[ensive]" form of
>_haira_ "remote, far".

...although that too looks like a compound in *_et-_ with intensive meaning
(*"out far away" > "farthest away").

The commonly encountered formation that preposes the base vowel (_Aman,
Anár, Isil, Ender, Indis_, etc.) does not double the first consonant of the
root.

+-------------------------+
+ Airesseo Kolvorno       +
+ Jerome Colburn          +
+ jcolburn@...     +
+-------------------------+
"Do you not be happy with me as the translator of the books of you?" -- New
Yorker cartoon

[In VT 17 (May 1991), Carl Hostetter and I began a column called "Words and
Devices", the purpose of which was "to examine words and other linguistic
features of Tolkien's Secondary-World languages that have apparent cognates
and analogues in the languages of the Primary World" (pg. 11). The title was
taken from a passage in _The Silmarillion_ explaining why the languages of
Men often resemble those of the Elves: "It is said also that these Men had
long ago had dealings with the Dark Elves east of the mountains, and from
them had learned much of their speech; and since all the languages of the
Quendi were of one origin, the language of Bëor and his folk resembled the
Elven-tongue in many words and devices" (pg. 141). This column went into
a state of "indefinite abeyance" many years ago, when VT became predominantly
dedicated to the publication of new primary material by Tolkien himself, but
I would like to revive it here on Lambengolmor in the form of occasional posts.
-- PHW]

==========================================

In 1903 J.R.R. Tolkien (then eleven years old) was re-enrolled in King Edward's
School, where he was placed in the Sixth Class under the tutelage of assistant
master George Brewerton. Humphrey Carpenter describes Brewerton as a
"fierce teacher" of English literature and a medievalist by inclination, who
"demanded that his pupils should use the plain old words of the English
language. If a boy employed the term 'manure' Brewerton would roar out:
'Manure? Call it muck! Say it three times! _Muck, muck, muck!_' " (_Tolkien:
A Biography_, pp. 27-8).

In light of this anecdote, it isn't surprising that Tolkien would later make a
rather obvious historical pun on the English word _muck_ in the Qenya
Lexicon, where we find the word _mûko_ 'dung, _stercus_' (Lat. _stercus_
'dung, manure, muck'). Eng. _muck_ is from P.Gmc. *_muk-, *meuk-_ 'soft',
whence also Eng. _meek_ ('quiet, gentle, submissive'), while Q. _mûko_ is
listed under the root MUKU 'cacare' (Lat. 'to empty the bowels') along with
other derivatives, all of which refer to filth or excrement: _mut (kt)_ 'dirt,
filth', _muqa, munqa_ 'filthy', and _mukta (mûke)_ 'cacare'.

The expected Goldodrin form of a Qenya root MUKU would be *_mug-_ (or
*_maug-_ if the original U were long). The Gnomish Lexicon does cite a verb
_mug-_ (pret. _maugi_), but this means 'keep silent, say nothing (about)', and
has several cognates that also all refer to silence or secrecy: _maug_ 'silent',
†_maugli_ 'secret, hidden', _mugol_ 'taciturn', _mugwen_ 'secret', _munc_
'shut mouth; silence; secretiveness' (as an adj., 'mum'). It may be that in the
two years intervening between QL (1915) and GL (1917) Tolkien simply
rejected MUKU as 'cacare' and decided that this root would mean 'keep silent'
instead. But if we entertain the possibility that MUKU 'cacare' and Gn. _mug-_
'keep silent' were intended by Tolkien as coexistent concepts, then perhaps
the meaning of this root in Qenya developed from a euphemism, i.e., 'cacare'
was the act one did 'in secret, in private, while hidden' -- cp. Eng. _privy_,
which means both 'sharing in the knowledge of something secret or private'
as well as 'outhouse, toilet'.

GL also includes the word _gorn_ 'dung' -- and while this is clearly not
cognate with Q. _mûko_, it does appear to be another historical pun based
on a "plain old word of the English language": OE _gor_ 'dirt, dung, shit', of
uncertain origin but cognate with several other Germanic forms such as
OHG _gor_ 'animal dung' and Middle Dutch _goor_ 'filth, mud'. (The Mod. Eng.
equivalent _gore_ means 'clotted blood'.)

As for its _internal_ etymology, Gn. _gorn_ 'dung' is perhaps related to the
QL root KORO(2) 'be round, roll', with derivatives such as _korne_ 'loaf',
_korin_ 'a circular enclosure, esp. on a hill-top', _korma_ 'lump, cake', etc.
Related forms in GL suggest the existence of two distinct roots, *KOR- and
*G(U)OR-, both meaning 'be round, roll'. Forms such as _corn_ 'loaf', _corm_
'ring, circle, disc', _corol, corin_ 'round, circular; rolling', etc. obviously
derive from *KOR-, while on pg. 47 of GL Tolkien mentions "Another root
_gwas-_ or _gor-_ < _guor-_ = Q _kor-_; cp. _gorin_ (= Q _korin_) circle of
trees". Below this note, Gn. _Gwâr_ is equated with Q. _Kôr_ 'the town on
the round Hill', and an alternative Gn. form _Goros_ is given on pg. 41.
Thus _gorn_ 'dung' was perhaps derived from _gor-, guor-_, parallel to the
derivation of _corn_ 'loaf' < *KOR-. The original sense may have been 'round
lump' or 'small (round) hill' -- cp. Welsh _tom_ 'horse dung' (orig. 'ball of
dung'), which is cognate with Irish _tomm_ 'small hill' and Grk. _tymbos_
'burial mound'.

-- Patrick H. Wynne

In the manuscript version of J.R.R. Tolkien's _Early Qenya Grammar_ (EQG),
composed
around 1923 and published in _Parma Eldalamberon_ 14, there is a long Qenya
sentence
illustrating the distinction between the indeclinable relative pronoun _ya_ and
the
conjunction _ne_ 'that' (pg. 54):

'Thereupon in came the man by whom we were told that his money had all been
stolen
from him':
_en ilta túlie n-ner ya me-qetsime ka húyo ne hwa-telpe ie-rautanêma ompa va
húyo_

An alternative version of the latter part of the sentence is also given,
described as "more
Qenyatic":

_ya qensie* melmur ne iksa telpe rautanêma_.

[*NB: -- The published text erroneously gives this form as _qesie_; an
examination of my
photocopy of the manuscript page shows that the correct form is _qensie_.]

Many of the grammatical principles set forth in the EQG are exemplified or
further
elaborated in this sentence, and I present an analysis of it here in the hopes
that it will add
to our understanding of Leeds-era Qenya.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

EN 'thereupon' -- The EQG pg. 55 cites "a general demonstrative deictic particle
or stem
_en-_", which appears on the chart of deictic nouns or pronouns on that same
page as a
general word meaning variously 'thither', 'there', 'thence', or 'then'. The
temporal sense
'then' is intended in the sentence, since Eng. _thereupon_ means 'immediately or
shortly
after that'.

ILTA TÚLIE 'in came' -- The adverb _ilta_ 'in' modifies _túlie_ 'came' and must
be a
derivative of the QL root ILTIL 'thrust in', whence _ilt_ 'a dig or stab' and
_iltin_ 'I thrust
home' (the Gnomish cognate in GL is _ilta-_ 'to stick in, prod, prick'). The
form _túlie_,
past tense of _tul-_ 'come', appears in the verb paradigms on pg. 57; for
formation of the
pa.t. by suffixion of _-ie_ and lengthening of the stem-vowel, see pg. 56.

N-NER 'the man' -- EQG pg. 42 notes that the Qenya article is _i-_ before
consonants but
_n-_ before vowels, the latter form "also frequently used _after_ a preceding
vowel"; thus
_túlie n-ner_ 'came the man'.

YA ... KA HÚYO 'by whom' -- In the EQG Tolkien notes that _ya_ is "to be
understood in
any relation, or, very frequently, is defined by demonstrative or pronominal or
adverbial
words inside the relative clause." In the sentence, _ya_ is clearly 'who' rather
than 'which',
based on its antecedent _ner_ 'man', and it is further defined in the sense 'by
whom' by
addition of the phrase _ka húyo_ *'by him' at the end of the clause. The
instrumental
preposition _ka_ 'by' is apparently derived from the QL root KAHA 'cause'
(marked with a
query), whence the causative verbal prefix _ka-_, as in _kamanta-_ 'to make eat,
give to
eat' < _mat-_ 'eat'. Although glossed as 'him' in the English translation,
_húyo_ is in fact
the emphatic _nominative_ form of the 3 masc. singular pronoun (pg. 53) -- on
pg. 43 the
EQG notes that "prepositions are used with the _nominative_ form". Also cp. _va
húyo_
'from him' at the end of the sentence.

ME-QETSIME 'we were told' -- This phrase was emended several times, making its
interpretation a bit more complex. According to editorial note 89 on pg. 54, the
sequence
of emendation was "_nyeliel_ >> _qense_ >> _qensiêma_ >> _qetsime_". However,
the
initial form _nyeliel_ given here is in error; the manuscript shows two separate
forms,
_nyel_ and _iel_, struck out individually; i.e., Tolkien first wrote _me-nyel_
>> _me-iel_
>> _me-_. The emendation of _qense_ >> _qensiêma_ >> _qetsime_ is actually a
separate series of changes.

The change of _me-nyel_ >> _me-iel_ parallels the emendation of _nye-rautanêma_
'had
been stolen' >> _ie-rautanêma_ later in the sentence, and both of these
emendations
were almost certainly made at the same time. _ie_ and _iel_ are the singular and
plural
past-tense forms of the verb 'to be', given on pg. 57, which also describes the
use of 'to
be' before participles to form compound tenses, such as _e tulien_ 'is having
come, has
come' (perfect). _nye_ and _nyel_ must also be sing. and pl. past-tenses, 'was'
and 'were',
respectively -- evidently formed from _nâ_ 'it is' (given in QL under the root
NÂ 'be, exist')
with the pa.t. suffix _-ie_ and pl. _-l_.

It seems likely then that the latter part of the sentence as first written was
_ya me-nyel
[qense >>] qensiêma ka húyo ne hwa-telpe nye-rautanêma ompa va húyo_, 'by whom
we
were told that his money had all been stolen'. The emendation of _qense_ >>
_qensiêma_
was made in the act of writing, and _qense_ is probably an unfinished form. The
participle
_qensiêma_ was formed from the verb _qet-_ 'speak, talk' (QL, pg. 77), which in
this
sentence also has the meaning 'tell', and the pa.t. form _qensie_ 'told' appears
in the
"more Qenyatic" alternative ending: _ya qensie melmur_ *'who told us'. _qet-_,
pa.t.
_qensie_ is thus precisely parallel to _mat-_, pa.t. _mansie_ (pg. 57), both
being formed by
nasal infixion of the stem with suffixed of _-ie_: *_qe-n-tie, *ma-n-tie_ >
*_qentsie,
*mantsie_ > _qensie, mansie_.

In Lambengolmor post # 674, Javier Lorenzo analyzes _ie-rautanêma_ 'had been
stolen' as
"a singular past tense form of the verb 'to be' (_ie_, p. 57) and the past
passive participle
of the verb _rauta-_ (pa.t. *_rautane_ + ending _-ma_ for passive participle, p.
56; the
vowel lengthening obeys apparently the same mechanism seen in the case of the
indefinite
article suffixed to trisyllabic nouns: _tantare_ 'dance', _tantaré·ma_ 'a dance'
p. 42)". _me-
nyel [>> me-iel] qensiêma_ 'we were told' is clearly the same sort of compound
verb
formed with pl. 'was' and a past passive participle (pa.t. _qensie_ + passive
_-ma_); the
participle _qensiêma_ does not show number agreement with the pl. subject _me-_
'we',
though whether by design or oversight is impossible to say.

The final form of this phrase, _me-qetsime_, eliminates the verb 'to be'
altogether, and
uses a different participial form, _qetsime_, evidently the pl. of singular
*_qetsima_, which
appears to be a _present_ passive participle: present tense stem _qetsi-_ (cp.
the present
stem _matsi-_ of _mat-_ 'eat' in the forms on pg. 57: _matsil, matsir,
matsikto_, etc.) +
passive participle ending _-ma_. Thus _me-qetsime_ is apparently lit. *'we
(were) being
told'; with pa.t. 'were' implicit from the preceding verb _túlie_ 'came'. This
seems to be a
Qenya imperfect formation, indicating ongoing or uncompleted action in the past.

NE 'that' -- This conjuction is probably derived from the "general demonstrative
deictic
particle or stem _en-_" cited on pg. 55. QL (under "E with various additions")
also gives
demonstrative _en-_ 'that (by you)', _ena_ 'that by you', noun _en_ 'that by
you', and _ene!_
'look (at what you have)!' It is from a form similar to this last, _ene_, that
_ne_ probably
derives, with loss or suppression of the initial vowel.

HWA-TELPE 'his money' -- For _hwa-_ 'his' (also _fa-_), the unemphatic 3 sg.
masc.
possessive prefix, see pg. 54. QL gives _telpe_ 'silver', as well as _telpilin_
'silver
piece' (the suffix _-ilin_ is perhaps diminutive; cp. _pint, pimp-_ 'tail',
_pimpilin (d)_
'hanging tail, tassel, etc.' in QL s.v. PIPI- 'hang, trail').

IE-RAUTANÊMA OMPA 'had all been stolen' -- _ie-rautanêma_ [<< _nye-rautanêma_]
has
been discussed above. QL gives the verb _rauta-_ (pa.t. _râve_) 'chase, hunt,
pursue;
extirpate, exterminate', with cognates including _ravin_ 'fierce, savage (of
beasts)',
_rauste_ 'hunting, preying', and _rau_ 'lion' -- so apparently _rauta-_ means 
specifically
*'to rob by violence'. QL gives two other verbs glossed as 'steal', but both
imply theft via
stealth rather than violence: _naqa-_ 'steal' < NAQA- 'steal, take; get by
stealth,
unlawfully', and _pili-_ 'steal' < PILI(1) 'rob', with cognate _pilukka_
'secret, stealthy'.

QL s.v. OMO- 'every, all' gives an adj. _ompa_ 'each'; since in the sentence
this refers to
the collective noun _telpe_ 'money', it is glossed as 'all' (QL also lists
_ompi_ 'all, every',
"plur. adj. with pl. [noun]", i.e., _ompi_ is evidently the plural form of
_ompa_). In the
sentence, _ompa_ probably acts as an adverb modifying _ie-rautanêma_, hence its
placement after the verb rather than with _hwa-telpe_ 'his money' -- see the EQG
pg. 47,
which notes that an uninflected adjective may be used as an adverb.

VA HÚYO 'from him' -- The preposition _va_ 'from' is probably derived from the
QL root
AVA 'go away, depart, leave', whence _au_ 'away from'. The root VAHA was derived
from
AVA and had derivatives such as _vâ_ 'went' (pret.) and _vâ_(2) 'gone forth,
away'. The
emphatic nominative pronoun _húyo_ 'he' is used after the prep. _va_, as also in
_ka húyo_
(see above).

The syntax of the "more Qenyatic" alternative ending to the sentence is more
concise and
easily parsed:

YA QENSIE MELMUR *'who told us' -- For _qensie_ as the pa.t. of _qet-_ 'say,
speak, tell',
see the third paragraph in the discussion of ME-QETSIME above. _melmur_ is an
emphatic
dative, 1 pl. exclusive (pg. 53) -- thus _ya qensie melmur_ is *'who said to us'
or *'who
told us'.

NE IKSA TELPE RAUTANÊMA *that his own money had been stolen' -- Tolkien first
wrote
_hwa telpe_, then subsequently struck out _hwa_ and wrote _iksa_ below it.
_iksa_ is cited
in the EQG as a reflexive 3rd person adjective, so that _iksa telpe_ probably
means *'his
own money', referring back to _n-ner_ 'the man'. Presumably the non-reflexive
_hwa
telpe_ 'his money' allows for a degree of ambiguity and could refer to the theft
of some
other man's money.

Although the final form of the Qenyatic ending omits the verb 'to be' before the
participle
_rautanêma_ (parallel to _me-qetsime_), Tolkien did begin to write _ny_ (clearly
the start
of _nye_) immediately following _iksa telpe_ but struck this out before it was
completed
(an emendation not noted in the published text).

-- Patrick H. Wynne

"On the far (East) Horn of the Gates is a tall white tower. _Minas
Ithil_ now _Minas Morghul_... It had been called [_Neleg Thilim_ >]
_Neleglos_ [the Gleaming >] the White tooth." (excerpted from _The War
of the Ring_, p. 106)

This sketch (around 1944) shows us a little more how the story grew,
and some of the words evolved and disappeared. It is astonishing to
see that _Minas Ithil_ or _Minas Morgul_ got, at the point of writing
this passage, a third name: _Neleglos_ (the citation given above seems
to underpin this), but the whole sketch was (apparently immediately)
erased. Nonetheless, the two (apparently Noldorin) forms seem to be
worth being analysed:

_Neleg Thilim_: _neleg_ "tooth" is exactly stated under the stem
NÉL-EK- (V:376), while _Thilim_ *"gleam, shine silver, (?)very silvery
shining" belongs surely to THIL- (V:392) and is in adjectival
position, though being completely unattested elsewhere; the ending
_-im_ is very peculiar, it may be connected with _lim, rim_
"many"(V:369, as in _orodrim_ (ÔR-OT)) but that is very unlikely
(could it be a comparative ending, intensifying _Thil_?). We may
rather assume an alternative adjectival ending in _-im_.

_Neleglos_: consists of _neleg_ "tooth" (s. above) and mutated _los_
*"(snow-)white, snow" from original _gloss_ "snow, (snow-) white"
(GOLÓS, V:359, R:70). This word fits well together with
Tolkien's own translation "White tooth".

Philipp Marquart

A year has slipped by since the first Omentielva, and a
year from now Omentielva Tatya will be held. Registration
will soon open; meanwhile, find out more about the event
on the updated pages at www.omentielva.com <http://www.omentielva.com> .

See you in Antwerp 2007!

Dirk Trappers, Chairman of Omentielva Tatya
Beregond, Anders Stenström, Secretary



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

In Lambengolmor message 924
(<http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/lambengolmor/message/924>),
Philipp Marquart wrote of N. _Thilim_ that:

>the ending _-im_ is very peculiar, it may be connected with _lim,
>rim_ "many"(V:369, as in _orodrim_ (ÔR-OT)) but that is very
>unlikely (could it be a comparative ending, intensifying _Thil_?).
>We may rather assume an alternative adjectival ending in _-im_.

Perhaps _-im_ is best explainable as being the cognate of Quenya
_-(i)ma_ or _-(i)me_. Compare the stem SIL- (variant of THIL-; V:385)
with derivatives _silimâ_ 'silver, shining white (adj.)' > Q. _silma_,
N. _*silef_. The latter form is theoretical and does not occur in Noldorin;
generally Sindarin and Noldorin do not show _-ef_, see "Quendi & Eldar":

"_Fíreb_ as compared with _Fírima_ shows the use of a different suffix,
[...] since the S equivalent of Q _-ima_ (*_-ef_) was not current." (XI:387)

I guess that Tolkien disliked the sound of _-ef_ and avoided it
(although it is a straightfoward etymological consequence). In the
given example he may have rejected the lenition of _m_, whatever
internal explanation may have stood behind this (lacking lenition  of
_m_ is known in the northern dialect of Sindarin, e.g. in the name
_Celegorm_).

There is also no a-affection, so I suppose _thilim_ derives from
_*thilimê_ 'silvery light' (cf. _silimê_ 'light of Silpion' (V:385))
and is put into genitive position - _Neleg Thilim_ *'a tooth of
silvery/gleaming light'. On the other hand forms without a-affection
sometimes occur as well, e.g. _celebrin_ (V:367), later changed to
_celebren_. This way, _thilim_ would be an adjective from _*thilimâ_,
a variant of _silimâ_.

Apparently Tolkien made up another solution later - we find _silivren_
in _The Lord of the Rings_, where a second ending _-ren_ seems to be
attached.


Roman Rausch

In VII:223 is a nice poem (written around August 1940) in which
the name _Nimrodel_, and its precedent forms, first appears. We have
_Linglorel_, _Inglorel_, _Nimladel_, _Nimlorel_, _Nimlothel_ >>
_Nimrodel_; note that the third and fourth forms were composed before
the song (cf. VII:222, note 17). Only the last forms were apparently
corrected while the other forms were allowed to stand. Via Google I
found a forum archive containing translations for some of these forms
written by a pseudonymous "Dark Lord Andúril" ("DLA")
<http://www.minastirith.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?
ubb=print_topic;f=20;t=000140>; I shall note them at the end of each
word-discussion. My analysis is presented here in a more "compact"
manner than my previous posts: All the (suggested) elements of words,
or compounds (for that's what they primarly are), are given with the
meaning as far as known or reconstructable. To distinguish each
word-element every one of them is followed by the semicolon. Further
discussion follows regularly after that. I want to note that I have
used the same analysis style as Christopher Gilson did in his
discussion of "_Sí Quente Feanor_".

_Linglorel_: Cf. _lin[?n]_ "air, tune", V:369 LIN-(2); _glor-_,
_lor-_ *"gold" appearing "in names, as _Glorfindel_, ... N
_Galad-loriel_" cf. V:368 LÁWAR-, N GLÁWAR- ; *_-el_ might be the
feminine suffix from primitive form *_elle_ exhibited in
_galata-rîg-elle_ "lady with garland of sunlight" which is the
primitive form of _Galadriel_ (X:182, cf. sidenote below), cf. also
_Gilthoniel_ (R:72-3) or _Nimrodel_ (below).

If it is indeed N. _lhinn_/_lin-(?)_ we would see _glor-_ being
left unmutated, a phenomenon maybe also seen in _Ninglor_ *"golden
water[flower]" (UT:280-1); the initial consonant cluster GL in _glor_ is
apparently unchanged when suffixed to final -N-. However, we have to
consider another possible explanation for medial -NGL-. The
Etymologies provide us with very similiar forms _Inglor_, _Indlour_
and their primitive cognates _Indo-klâr_, _Indo-glaurê_ (ID-, V:361).
Thus, a change of medial -NDL- to -NGL- could also be very likely.
_Linglorel_ might be translated as *"woman of the golden tune".
"DLA" gives a weird translation "song of the golden elf? Q". First, it
is surely not a Q(u)enya form (given medial -NGL-), secondly there is no
hint that any word-element could be simply translated with "elf".

_Inglorel_: Cf. _în_ "year" s. V:400 YEN-, or _inn_, _ind_ "inner
thought, meaning, heart"; _glor-_ and *_-el_ see above.

Under the stem GENG-WÂ- we find "N. _gemb, gem_; cf. _ingem_
`year-sick' " [Author's note: < PE. *_în_ "year" + *_gengwâ_
"sick"] showing that bare -G- is retained after -N-. If that is also
the case here, the translation might be *"woman of the golden year".
On the other hand, under stem ID- we perceive _Inglor_ (in various
drafts an earlier name of Finrod; cf. X:93, 104), apparently a masculine
cognate to _Inglorel_. Suggesting that _Inglorel_ is indeed inspired
by _Inglor_ we could assume that it has to mean *"Woman of the
golden heart". "DLA" translates it with "Not-gold-star/elf? S"; I don't
know how he supposes that *_in_ could here be used for negation.

_Nimladel_: Cf.  _nimp, nim_ "pale, *white" (V:378, NIK-W-) often seen
in compounds as in _Nimdil-dor_ "Q. Taniqetil(de), High White Horn"
(V:378); _lad_ *"plain(?)" probably derived from LAT-, cf. also
_Tumladen_ "plain of Gondolin" (V:368) (Note that the GL gives a form
_lad_ "(1)level, smooth ..." (PE11:52) derived from stem LAHA or LA'A
(PE12:50)); *_-el_ see above.

Translation might be *"woman of the white valley". "DLA"
translates it as "White valley of stars S". It is not unthinkable that
*_-el_ could be derived from EL- (V:355) but I don't think it is here
the case, moreover in respect to Tolkien's translation of _Nimrodel_,
which surely implies that *_-el_ HAS to mean *"lady, woman". See also
discussion of _Nimrodel_ and sidenote on *_elle_.

_Nimlorel_: Cf. _nim, nimp_ above; _lor_ see above; *_-el_ see above.

Another compound consisting generally of components mentioned above.
Translation might be *"woman of the white gold". "DLA" suggests as
a possible translation "White dream of stars Q"; I don't think that we
have here a Q(u)enya word, though the word might be acceptable in
Q(u)enya phonology (the context here shows us clearly that Tolkien
intended to compose a Noldorin word). Moreover, there is no word
**_lor_ in Noldorin and  we rather find _ôl_ (LOS-, V:370) for "dream".

_Nimlothel_: Cf. _nim, nimp_ see above; _loth_ "flower" cf. V:370 LOT(H)
giving a similiar form _Nimloth_; *_-el_ see above.

Translation might be *"woman of the white flower". "DLA" supposes
"Blossom of stars S", leaving out _nim_ "white" and ignoring Tolkien's
translation for _Nimloth_ "white blossom" (_Silmarillion_ Appendix).

_Nimrodel_: Cf. _nim, nimp_ above; _groth, grod_ "cave" cf.
_Silmarillion_ Appendix entry _groth (grod)_; *_-el_ see above.

The _Silmarillion_ Appendix gives for _Nimrodel_ the translation "Lady
of the caves". Since _nim_ means "white" and _grod_ "cave" (here
mutated to weak _rod_) we are left to assume that ending *_-el_ has to
mean *"Lady, woman" as proposed above of _Linglorel_. A more
"accurate" translation of _Nimrodel_ is given in the index to
_Unfinished Tales_: "Lady of the White Grotto".

Sidenote on *_-elle_ :

I assume that *_-elle_ might be derived from stem SEL-D- (V:385). We
are informed that when _selde_, the (apparently) ultimate predecessor
of *_-elle_, is used in a compound there is "a change assisted by the
loss of _s_ in cpds. and patronymics". The example mentioned fits well
with the further statements made: "(_tindômiselde_, Q _Tindómerel_)"
(V:385). Yet, this is debatable since _selde_ means precisely
"daughter", making it hard to see how this can be used to have a
meaning like "Lady" in the exact case of *_-el_ in _Nimrodel_.

Philipp Marquart

Greetings all,

My friend Benjamin Babut and myself would like to present a new website
about Tolkien's languages we just released, entitled :  _Glaemscrafu -
Tolkien's linguistic cellar_.

Its purpose is to allow all kinds of interested people, advanced students as
well as newcomers, to taste and enjoy how Tolkien's invented languages look
and, especially, sound, by means of actual texts, presented, translated and
read aloud with MP3 files to download. A large selection of languages is to be
found: Quenya and Sindarin of course, but also their forerunners, Qenya and
Noldorin, together with lesser studied languages: Telerin, Adûnaic,  Khuzdul,
Black Speech, Valarin. We found it interesting to include too some samples  of
primary world languages that were of significance to Tolkien and influenced
him: Old English, Gothic, Old Norse, Finnish, Welsh and Latin.

In another part of the website, we give very short excerpts of Tolkien's own
records to illustrate how he himself pronounced many of the names that
appear in his works. It should be especially helpful to say them aloud
correctly, and will also give an idea of Tolkien's reading styles.

Finally, there are a few links to similar projects and a bibliography.
Though Glaemscrafu is not intended to be a _thorough_ study of each text, we
systematically list our sources at the end of each page in order to allow
everyone to check. Regarding the pronunciation, we tried to do our best
according to the documentation we gathered - but inevitably  some linguistic
habits of ours will have crept through. (Hence the interest of having several
websites featuring record with people from different linguistic backgrounds)

We wish to thank Petri Tikka, who helped us with the Finnish part of the
website, and Didier Willis for his support and encouragements.

The website is wholly bilingual in French and English. It is hosted as a
specialised wing by the Tolkien-related website JRRVF <http://jrrvf.com>.
Thanks also to its webmaster Cédric Fockeu for his hospitality!

The general URL for _Glaemscrafu_ is: <http://jrrvf.com/glaemscrafu>.

You can reach the English version of the homepage directly at :
<http://www.jrrvf.com/~glaemscrafu/texts/index-a.htm>

If you wish to contact us, please use the e-mail address of the website (at
the bottom of every page). Do not hesitate especially to tell us  about the
various typos that will inevitably remain despite proofreading.

We hope you will enjoy the visit !

Yours,
Bertrand Bellet

"It is told that in that feast of the Spring of Arda Tulkas espoused
_Lëa-vinya_, fairest of the maidens of Yavanna, and Vana robed her in
flowers that came then first to their opening; and she danced before
the Valar..." (Excerpted from "Morgoth's Ring" p. 67, note 18)

In 1958 Tolkien sat down to work on the "Annals of Aman" and there the
names of the _Vali_ were often altered. And indeed, we are informed
in note 18, pointing to the passage on page 53, that the ultimate
predecessor of _Nessa_ is _Lëa-vinya_ "Lëa the young".

_Lëa_: There are two possible stems from which _Lëa_ could be derived:
1) LAYA- (VT45:26), and 2) LÁYAK- (V:368).

Dissyllabic words exhibiting the use of –ea- are somewhat rare in our
corpus of Q(u)enya words. But there exist some specific examples which
could shed light on the matter of how the meaning of _Lëa_ could be
reconstructed. In V:349 we find stem ÁYAR-, AIR- (VT45:6) which gives
the derivates _ear (earen)_ and _aire (airen)_ letting us assume that
primitive *_áya_, *_ai_ becomes in Q(u)enya _ëa_, _ai_.

Another examples show a similiar pattern of derivation:
_leo_ "shade, shadow cast by any object" (V:354) with primitive
_daiô_(VT45:8), *_dayô_ (adding possible primitve development -ay- >
-e-); PE. _Phay-anâro_ "radiant sun" > _Feanáro_ (PHAY-, V:381)*.
Though we have to dismiss DAY- as a possible stem because of the
meaning (DAY- is associated with "darkness, shadow" and _Lëa_ has to
refer to something more joyful, hence the byname "the young") and
the lack of an –a- in the primitive form. In V:368 we find stem
LÁYAK-, giving for example _laiqa_ "green". Yet, this stem is
irritating because we perceive a final –k- which can't be easily
eliminated; but in VT45:26 the stem LAYA- was added in the margin
against LÁYAK- with derivative _laire_ "summer". I think it is very
possible that _Lëa_ has to derive from LAYA- (standing surely in
connexion to LÁYAK-) -- the meaning we'd get wouldn't be that far-
fetched, and it does not contradict the morphology of –aya- stem
types: PE. *_laya_ > _Lëa_ *"the summerlike, the young".

_vinya_: _vinya_ "young" (X:67).

*But note also that later drafts (concerning the etymology of _fëa_)
show that this conception had maybe changed over the years: "Quenya
_fëa_ (dissyllabic) is from older *_phaya_ ..." (X:349).

Philipp Marquart

Hello all!

In his _Early Quenya Grammar_, Tolkien presents the use of the
conjunction _mai_ 'if'. Unfortunately he does not translate one of the
example sentences (EQG:59):

_Mai ni-túlie, tu-tútiel_.

I would translate it in English as : "If I had come, they would have
come". But I am not a native English speaker. Any comment ?

[Sounds right to me. CFH]

I take this opportunity to ask "_mai_" a _Vinyar Tengwar_ or a _Parma_
is scheduled before the end of this year ? ;-)

[Actually, it's not clear to me that _mai_ can be used in the sense of
"whether" (which is proper to your question) as English "if" (now) can.

I can't speak for Chris Gilson, editor or _Parma_, but my intent is
certainly to try to get _VT_ 49 out by the end of the year, if I
can wrap up some other writing commitments in time to do so. CFH]

Namárie,

E. Kloczko

You know, I've felt guilty for the better part of a decade for
my unthinking and unauthorized posting of that snippet on
Usenet- especially since soon therafter the copyright-law war
erupted with the Salo/Star/Fauskanger axis. Fortunately it seems
that it hasn't spread that far, since even Arden appears to have
been unaware of it (although it has turned up in a couple of
online "encyclopedias").

In any event, it's out, and surely there would be no harm if Wayne
Hammond and Christina Scull were to use it, since they carry the
Imprimatur.

I suspect that _asea aranion/athelas_ is one of those Q-S pairs
that aren't literal translations. Now, I'm no linguist; but we
can at least be certain that _asea_ and _athe-_ are equivalent
elements, and, as Frederik points out, that the Quenya assumed
or omitted the leaf-element.   Or, viewed the other way around,
that the leaf-element was added by the Exiles when they formed
their Sindarin equivalent (acc. to the late note, the plant was
known to the medical loremasters of the Noldor- with no
indication whether the Sindar were aware of its properties, or
even if it was native to Middle-earth). The snippet's wording
has _asea_ regularly > _athe-_, "compounded with _-las_," which
to me suggests that the _-las_ element only entered with the
Sindarin conversion. Why would this be? Another note cited by
Wayne and Christina indicates that only the leaves were used,
which may be relevant.  Or perhaps the linguistic loremasters
found "athe" alone to be ugly?

[Tolkien wrote in his note on "Stress" in Section I of Appendix E
that words in which the stress falls on the third syllable from the
end -- e.g. _Denethor, Fëanor_ -- "are favoured in the Eldarin
languages, especially Quenya." It seems natural then that the
medical loremasters of the Noldor, whose native tongue was
Quenya, would expand _athe-_ to the more euphonious (not to
mention distinctive) _athelas_. PHW]

One might speculate whether "aranion" was a pre- or post-
Downfall Numenorean addition ("balm" > "kingsbalm"), since the
specific association of healing with the King appears to have
been theirs, not the Elves'.  This leads to yet another
question- whether Ad/CS _kingsfoil_ followed or in fact underlay
the hypothesised Num. addition of _aranion_ .

-- William Cloud Hicklin

>   I think no-one queries the translation *'of kings'. However,
in the  light of Tolkien's gloss on _athea_ (regularly > _asea_
after the  change of Q. _th_ > _s_ described in 'The Shibboleth
of Feanor'  [XII:331]), I'm not sure that the translation
*'leaf' should be  defended (and I don't think Arden said so,
either). I think that the  note on RC:183 is correct except for
the parenthesis, '(but if so,  _athelas_ = ''leaf-leaf'')',
since the attested etymological connection  between _athe-_ and
_asea_ does not imply that _athe-_ means 'leaf'. In  the note on
RC:580 ll. 2-3 from bottom, perhaps one should substitute
Tolkien's actual gloss ('beneficial') for 'leaf' (or simply omit
the  words 'leaf of kings')?
>
>   /Fredrik

Mellyn!

In Christie's sale November 15 (catalogue named _Valuable Printed
Books and Manuscripts_), lot 152 is an inscribed set of _The Lord of
the Rings_, which has belonged to Leslie Megahey, the producer of the
1968 BBC documentary "Tolkien in Oxford". The lot includes a letter
from Tolkien (20 February 1968), with a leaf on which Tolkien gives
tengwa versions of the caption "Tolkien in Oxford" and a translation
of this, apparently to Quenya. The translation seems to me to read
_arkastar mondósaresse_.

The inscription in the book is a version of the "Elen síla" phrase,
in which the word _lúmenna_ was left out and then added above the
line, an expansive insertion mark showing where it should go.

To inspect the material, search for "Tolkien" on Christie's
website. Clicking on "Lot details" will bring up a larger image and
the full description. Clicking on that image will bring up a third
one, in more or less readable size.

Meneg suilaid,

Beregond

[The URL of Christie's home page is:
http://www.christies.com/home_page/home_page.asp
-- PHW]

Thanks to Anders for passing along notice of this very interesting
letter!

I can add one bit of information not mentioned in the exhibit
catalogue, which is that the accompanying copy of _The Fellowship of
the Ring_, inscribed by Tolkien (in _tengwar_) with "_elen síla
lúmenna omentielvo_" (this was 1968, so the change from inclusive _-
lmo_ to _-lvo_ had been made some years ago), appears to be the very
copy that Tolkien is shown inscribing in the "Tolkin in Oxford"
documentary itself. Although I've never seen that documentary, parts
of it were excerpted for the 1996 documentary (filmed in 1992),
"J.R.R.T.: A Film Portrait of J.R.R. Tolkien", and it includes part
of this scene, showing Tolkien beginning the inscription, reaching
_omentielvo_ and realizing he's left out _lúmenn'_, saying something
like "Oh, I've made a mistake, haven't I?", and then inserting
_lúmenna_ above the line.

Regarding the letter with the two _tengwar_ inscriptions, A "Tolkien
in Oxford" and B "_arcastar mondósaresse_" (<< _arkastar_):

The note Tolkien wrote above the second inscription appears to read:

"in Elvish language [? script]"

The note in green at the bottom of the sheet appears to read:

"[?Shown over] some explanations. A is a transliteration of English,
[?that thus] happens not to be very decorative [?since lacking] the [?
<a-_tehta_> = a]. B is a translation into Elvish (Quenya)"

The final note, in black, reads:

"NB the vowel signs i, e, a, o, u <corresponding _tehta_ above each
vowel> are placed _after_ the consonant which they follow in speech."

I was also going to provide some initial thoughts on the two new Quenya
words, Roman Rausch's message came in as I was writing them, so I'll just
add a few points to his comments.

>_arcastar mondósaresse_

Very interesting! I cannot resist analyzing this right away:

_mondósaresse_ 'in Oxford'

In Letter no.342 Tolkien gives "the elvish word for 'bull'" as _mundo_
(apparently in Quenya), so that one can identify _mondo_ 'ox' here.
An element 'ford, crossing' would be then expected to follow and
indeed _-sar-_ can be related to THAR- 'across, beyond' (V:392), also
_thar-_ 'athwart, across' in the _Silmarillion_ glossary with _Tharbad_
< _thara-pata_ 'crossway'.

[Note also numerous Q. words in _sar-_ having to do with stones or
stoniness, as _sarne_ 'stony place' < SAR- (V:385, VT46:12). CFH]

The long _-ó-_ seems to suggest that one should isolate _#ósar(e)_
'ford', rather than just _#sar(e)_ with the prefix _ó-_ 'used in words
describing the meeting, junction, or union of two things or persons,
or of two groups thought of as units' (XI:367); and _-s-_ < _th_ would
naturally resist rhotacism here.

The ending _-sse_ is of course locative, while the vowel _-e-_ before
it may belong to the preceding word (#_ósare-sse_) or just link the
ending to it (#_ósar-e-sse_).

_arcastar_ 'Tolkien'

Tolkien's name is an anglicization of _Tollkiehn_ , German _tollkühn_
'foolhardy, reckless, desperately brave' (compare Letter no.165),
containing _toll_ 'insane, mad, wild' and _kühn_ 'brave'. A more or
less literal translation into English Tolkien himself also made, was
'Rashbold' (IX:151).

I would analyze the Quenya word as _*arca-star_.

The initial element _arca-_ looks similar to Q _arauka_ 'swift,
rushing' (PE12:34) from RAVA or RAWA (PE12:79) with many derivatives
for chase, running, hunting, fierceness; also _rauka_ = _arauka_ 'swift'.
But of course a diphthong cannot be syncopated, so that one has to
assume a different derivation from a changed or parallel root, e.g. <
_*araka_ < (A)RAK- (?); cf. Q _narka_ 'to rend' from NÁRAK- 'tear, rend
(tr. and intr.)' (V:374, VT45:37).

The latter element _-star_ seems to be related to STAR- 'stiff'
(V:388), with _st_ preserved medially. Although this stem yields words
for grass only — Q _sara_ 'stiff, dry grass, bent', N _thâr_ 'stiff
grass' and so on — there is a different root TÁRAG- 'tough, stiff'
producing Q _tarya_ 'tough, stiff' and N. _tarias_ 'stiffness, toughness,
difficulty', _tarlanc_'stiff-necked, obstinate' with reference to more
abstract meanings. Hence, _arcastar_ would be something like
*'rushing [and] stiff-necked'.

[I like your analysis, though I think _-star_ as 'stiff' (without any
reference to necks) is a fine rendering of the sense of 'hardy' in
'foolhardy', both as physically 'hard, tough' and as metaphorically
'unyielding, resolute'. CFH]

Roman Rausch

On Oct 27, 2006, at 11:06 AM, Carl F. Hostetter wrote:

> The final note, in black, reads:
>
> "NB the vowel signs i, e, a, o, u <corresponding _tehta_ above each
> vowel> are placed _after_ the consonant which they follow in speech."

That should read "placed _above_ the consonant", of course; sorry for
the typo.

Carl