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Select Elvish Words 6.31-6.32: Spin, Spindle

6.31 to Spin

ᴹQ. hwinya- n. “to swirl, eddy, gyrate”

A verb for “to swirl, eddy, gyrate” in The Etymologies of the 1930s derived from the root ᴹ√SWIN “whirl, eddy” (Ety/SWIN).

ᴱQ. qiri- v. “to stir (make spin)”

A verb appearing as ᴱQ. qiri- or qirna- in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s glossed “stir (make spin)” under the early root ᴱ√QIŘI [QIÐI] (QL/77).

Neo-Quenya: A similar root √KWER “revolve” appeared in Tolkien’s later writings (PE17/65), so I think a Neo-Root ᴺ√KWIR “stir, spin” might be used as a variant of that root; I would use ᴺQ. quirna- “to stir, make spin” as its Quenya verb form.

ᴱQ. werelinda adj. “twirling, pirouetting”

A word appearing as ᴱQ. ’werelinda “twirling, pirouetting” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, an adjectival form of ᴱQ. werelin(d-) “whirligig” under the early root ᴱ√GWERE “whirl, twirl, twist” which Tolkien said was the equivalent of ᴱ√qiři (QL/103). A similar-meaning adjective ᴱQ. pirūkea or pirukenda “pirouetting” appeared in the same document under the early root ᴱ√PIRI (QL/74).

A variant of this second adjective reappeared in the Nieninqe poem written around 1930, in the phrase ᴱQ. norolinde pirukendea “tripping lightly, whirling lightly” (MC/215, PE16/90, 92). However, in the updated version of Nieninquë from 1955, Tolkien said the word Q. pirucendëa meant “on the point of her toes”, where the initial element was the dual of Q. pirë “toe” (PE16/96).

Neo-Quenya: The later version of the root ᴱ√GWERE had to do with weaving (see: √WIR), and the later versions of ᴱ√PIRI had to do with toes and blinking (see: √PIR), so I would update these early “pirouetting” words to be based on the root ᴺ√KWIR “spin” which I retain for purposes of Neo-Eldarin, so: ᴺQ. quirilda “twirling, pirouetting”.

N. chwinia- v. “to twirl, whirl, eddy”

A verb for “twirl, whirl, eddy” in The Etymologies of the 1930s appearing in its (Noldorin) infinitive form N. chwinio and derived from the root ᴹ√SWIN “whirl, eddy” (Ety/SWIN).

Neo-Sindarin: Most Neo-Sindarin writers adapted this word as ᴺS. hwinia- “to twirl, whirl, eddy” since ancient initial sw became hw in Sindarin of the 1950s and 60s rather than chw as it did in Noldorin of the 1930s and 40s.

N. chwiniol adj. “whirling, giddy, mad, fantastic”

A word appearing N. chwiniol “whirling, giddy, mad, fantastic” in The Etymologies of the 1930s, an adjectival form of N. chwinia- “twirl, whirl, eddy” (Ety/SWIN; EtyAC/SWIN). The gloss “mad” was missing from The Etymologies as published in The Lost Road (LR/388) but was noted by Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne in their Addenda and Corrigenda to the Etymologies (VT46/16).

Neo-Sindarin: Most Neo-Sindarin writers adapted this word as ᴺS. hwiniol “whirling, giddy, mad, fantastic” since ancient initial sw became hw in Sindarin of the 1950s and 60s rather than chw as it did in Noldorin of the 1930s and 40s.

G. cwir- v. “to stir, stir round, make spin”

A verb appearing as G. cwir- “to stir, stir round, make spin” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/29), clearly a cognate to ᴱQ. qiri- “stir (make spin)” in the contemporaneous Qenya Lexicon and thus derived from a variant of the early root ᴱ√QIŘI [QIÐI] (QL/77).

Neo-Sindarin: A similar root √KWER “revolve” appeared in Tolkien’s later writings (PE17/65), so I think a Neo-Root ᴺ√KWIR “stir, spin” might be used as a variant of that root. As such, I would update this Gnomish word to ᴺS. pir- “to stir, stir round, make spin”, since (unlike in Gnomish of the 1910s) [kw] became [p] in Sindarin of the 1950s and 60s.

G. cwiruin n. “spinning wheel”

A word appearing as G. {cwirmin >>} cwiruin “spinning wheel” in the Gnomish Lexicon, an elaboration of G. cwir- “make spin” though the function of the suffix -uin is unclear (GL/28).

Neo-Sindarin: Since I update the Gnomish verb to ᴺS. pir- “make spin”, I would likewise update this noun to ᴺS. piruin “spinning wheel”.

G. gweron adj. “spun, rounded, cylindrical”

An adjective appearing as G. gweron “spun, rounded, cylindrical” in the Gnomish Lexicon based on G. gwer- “wind, turn, bend” (GL/46).

Neo-Sindarin: Later iterations of gwer-related words had more to do with weaving than spinning. As such, I would update this adjective to ᴺS. piren “spun, rounded, cylindrical” based on ᴺS. pir- “make spin” < ᴺ√KWIR “spin”, with some blending with ᴺ√PIR “*cylinder”.

6.32 Spindle

ᴱQ. qindl n. “a spindle, top”

A noun appearing as ᴱQ. qindl “a spindle, top” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√QIŘI [QIÐI] “*spin” (QL/77).

Neo-Quenya: Since I update this early root to ᴺ√KWIR for purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I would also update “spindle” to ᴺQ. quiril. I would extend its meaning to cover spinning toys like tops and whirligigs.

G. cwiril n. “spindle”

A word appearing as G. cwiril “spindle” in the Gnomish Lexicon based on G. cwir- “make spin” (GL/29). Tolkien also gave G. gwiril of the same meaning, apparently based on ᴱ√GWERE “whirl, twirl, twist” (GL/46; QL/103).

Neo-Sindarin: Of these two, I prefer to use ᴺS. gwiril “spindle” because its unmodified form can be based on the later root √WIR “weave”, while cwiril would need to be updated to ᴺS. *piril. The form gwiril could be the result of ancient blending of *kwiril and *wiril.

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