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Select Elvish Words 6.26-6.29: Lace, Fur, Leather

6.26 Lace

Q. raiwë n. “lace”
A word for “lace” appearing in The Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor from the late 1960s from the root √RAY “net, knit, contrive network or lace, involve in a network, enlace” (VT42/12). The glossed form raiwe “lace” was deleted, but later in the same note Tolkien gave “S. raef or raew (blend of Q. raima and raiwe) ‘net’,” and this second instance of raiwe was not deleted.

6.28 Fur

N. helf n. “fur, *hide”
A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “fur” appearing beside N. heleth “fur, fur-coat”, both derived from the root ᴹ√SKEL (Ety/SKEL). Since N. helf seems to be the cognate of ᴹQ. helma “skin, fell”, I believe helf refers to both skin and fur together and hence = “*hide”, whereas heleth refers to just the fur itself.

Conceptual Development: Various rejected forms appeared in The Etymologies, including halath “skin, fell” from an earlier version the root ᴹ√SKAL, revised to helath “skin, fell” before being deleted (EtyAC/SKEL). Possible precursors include ᴱN. gwadh “bark, skin, peel” vs. ᴱT. suada “hide” (PE13/146), and G. dafros “bark, skin, peel” (GL/29); see those entries for details.

6.29 Leather

ᴱQ. alu n. “(dressed) leather”
A word appearing as ᴱQ. alu “dressed leather” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√ALU (QL/30).

Neo-Quenya: As there are no other suitable words for “leather” in later Quenya, I retain ᴺQ. alu for “(dressed) leather”, though its later etymology is unclear.

ᴹQ. latta n. “strap”
A noun for “strap” in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√LATH (Ety/LATH).

Conceptual Development: A possible precursor is ᴱQ. līmen “thong, band” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√LIMI (QL/54).

N. lhath n. “thong of (?leather)”
A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s appearing as N. lhath “thong of (?leather)” [the last word is unclear] under the root ᴹ√LATH (Ety/LATH).

Conceptual Development: The word G. laim “thong, rope” appeared in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/52), clearly based on the early root ᴱ√LIMI given its Early Qenya cognate ᴱQ. līmen “thong, band” (QL/54). It was also compared to G. lim² “a sheaf, bundle” (GL/54).

Neo-Sindarin: Most Neo-Sindarin writers adapt this word as ᴺS. lath “thong (of leather)” since the unvoicing of initial l did not occur in Sindarin. For example, lath was suggested in Hiswelókë’s Sindarin Dictionary (HSD).

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