3.99 Animals (other)
- Q. ecellë n. “urchin, hedgehog”
- A word for “urchin, hedgehog” appearing in its plural form ekelli in 1965 notes on the land and beasts of Númenor, though not necessarily describing the terrestrial creature (NM/336). This word is probably based on the root √EK “sharp point”.
- Q. lopoldë n. “rabbit”
- A word for “rabbit” appearing in its plural form lopoldi in 1965 notes on the land and beasts of Númenor (NM/335).
Conceptual Development: The earliest “rabbit” word is ᴱQ. lapatte the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, derived from primitive ᴱ✶lopatte (QL/51), and thus probably connected to the early root ᴱ√LOPO whose derivatives had to do with running animals (QL/56). ᴱQ. lapatte also appeared in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon as the equivalent of G. laboth “a hare” (GL/52). In the Declension of Nouns from the early 1930s, Tolkien instead had ᴹQ. lopo “rabbit” from primitive ᴹ✶lopō (PE21/31), again probably connected to the root ᴹ√LOP. Thus it seems likely that 1965 lopoldi was also connected to √LOP.
- Q. nendil n. “beast that lives in the water”
- A general term for aquatic animals, including fish (lingwi) as well as other species such as whales and dolphins (NM/336). It appears to be a combination of nén “water” and -(n)dil “-lover”.
- ᴱQ. nolpa n. “mole”
- A noun appearing ᴱQ. nolpa and noldare “mole” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/30). In the Qenya Lexicon proper, only noldare appeared under the early root ᴱ√NDOLO “delve” (QL/65), though it was initially grouped with ᴱQ. Noldo under the root ᴱ√ŊOLO (GL/67). The form nᵈoldare “mole” also appeared in the Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa (PME/65.)
Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya I would retain the word ᴺQ. nolpa “mole”, reconceived of as a derivative of the root ᴹ√NDOL “*hill, head”, describing these creatures as hill-makers.
- ᴱQ. oryat (oryap-) n. “badger”
- A word appearing as ᴱQ. oryat “badger” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√ORO¹ “steepness, rising” (QL/70). Tolkien marked the word with a “?” and gave it two different stem forms oryak- and oryap-. In the contemporaneous Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa, the word had only one stem form oryap-, and appeared beside a longer form oryapin, perhaps an accusative or feminine form (PE12/xxi). With this stem form, it might be a combination of ᴱ√ORO¹ “high” with (onomatopoeic?) ᴱ√YAPA “snarl”, so perhaps originally meaning “*high-yapper” referring to the badger’s high-pitched bark, as suggested by Lokyt in a 2021 Discord chat.
Neo-Quenya: I would retain ᴺQ. oryat (oryap-) “badger” for purposes of Neo-Quenya, with the semi-onomatopoeic derivation “*high-yapper” suggested above.
- Q. quácë n. “frog”
- A word given as {koake >>} quāke “frog” derived from primitive ✶kāwāk in notes from 1968 (VT47/36).
- ᴱQ. qildare n. “bat”
- The word ᴱQ. qildare “bat” appeared in both the Qenya Lexicon and Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa of the 1910s as an elaboration of ᴱQ. qilda “quiet” (QL/78; PME/78).
Neo-Quenya: I’d retain ᴺQ. quildarë “bat” for purposes of Neo-Sindarin, still based on ᴺQ. quilda “quiet”.
- N. cabor n. “frog”
- A noun for “frog” in The Etymologies of the 1930s, an agental form of the root ᴹ√KAP “leap” (Ety/KAP). This was initially glossed “a dog” (EtyAC/KAP).
- G. cwildred n. “bat (animal)”
- A word appearing as G. cwildred “bat (animal)” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, an (agental?) elaboration of G. cwîl “quiet” (GL/28). According to the editors, the first d was circled, perhaps indicating it was optional or lost (cwilred).
Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I would revise this word to ᴺS. pillor as an agental form of the Neo-Root ᴺ√KWILID.
- G. dolfa n. “mole”
- A noun appearing as G. {doldos >>} dolfa and {doldrin >>} dolmeg in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, derived from the early root ᴱ√NDOLO “delve” (GL/30). The form G. doldrin “mole” appeared undeleted in the Gnomish Grammar and the Official Name List for the Lost Tales (GG/8; PE13/104).
Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin I would adapt these words as ᴺS. dolph, reconceived of as a derivative of the root ᴹ√NDOL “*hill, head”, describing these creatures as hill-makers.
- ⚠️S. felagund n. “den-dweller; brock, badger”
- A word for “brock, badger”, more literally “den-dweller”, appearing in 1969 notes as a late etymology for the name Felagund (NM/304). In this scenario, the name “den-dweller” was given to Felagund somewhat derisively by the sons of Fëanor referring to his tendency to hide away in Nargothrond (NM/304). However, in The Sillmarillion as published, Christopher Tolkien used the explanation that the name was given to Finrod by the Dwarves and meant “cave-hewer”, based on marginal notes from 1959 in Tolkien’s copy of The Silmarillion itself (PM/352).
Neo-Sindarin: Since I prefer the Silmarillion origin for the name Felagund, I would not use this word for “badger”. I would instead suggest a neologism ᴺS. eriab based on ᴱQ. oryat (oryap-).
- G. laboth n. “hare, *rabbit”
- A noun appearing as G. laboth “a hare” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s as a cognate of ᴱQ. lapatte (GL/52).
Neo-Sindarin: I would retain ᴺS. laboth “hare, rabbit” for purposes of Neo-Sindarin, based on the later verb S. laba- “hop” in Labadal “Hopafoot” (UT/60).
- G. uimoth n. “whale, (lit.) sheep of the waves”
- A noun appearing as G. uimoth “a whale” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, literally meaning “sheep of the waves”, a combination of G. uin “†wave” and G. moth “sheep” (GL/74). In the Gnomish Lexicon, the sense “wave” for uin was marked as archaic (†), and it also came to mean “whale” in ordinary speech after the name of the great whale Uin.
Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I would update this word to ᴺS. gwimmam “whale”, a combination of gwing “foam” and [ᴺS.] bam “sheep”.