Select Elvish Words 10.14: to Wind, Wrap

10.14 to Wind, Wrap

Q. lapa- v. “to wrap, swathe, wind”

A verb appearing as ᴱQ. lapa- “wrap, swathe, wind” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√LAPA “enfold” (QL/51).

Neo-Quenya: The root √LAP reappeared in Tolkien’s later writings with similar glosses “fold, bend” (VT47/35), so I would retain ᴺQ. lap- “to wrap, swathe, wind” for purposes of Neo-Quenya.

ᴹQ. natse n. “web, net[work]”

A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “web, net” under the root ᴹ√NAT “lace, weave, tie” (Ety/NAT).

Neo-Quenya: There are later words for “[spider’s] web” (ungwë) and “[physical] net” (raima or rembë), but I would retain natse for a more general sense “web, net[work]” applying to any interlacing of connected things (physical or metaphorical). This allows the retention of several early neologisms having to do with the internet.

Q. raima n. “net”

A word for “a net” in notes on The Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor from the end of the 1960s, derived from the root √RAY “net, knit, contrive network or lace” (VT42/12). Tolkien briefly changed this word to raime “network, lace”, but then wrote “stet [let it stand]” indicating a restoration of the original form (VT42/28 note #24), giving raiwë for “lace” instead (see that entry for discussion). This word was also contrasted with rembë “net (for catching)” on the same page, so it seems raima applied to woven or crafted nets for any purpose, not just catching prey. The word raima “a net” also appeared in Late Notes on Verb Structure (LVS) from 1969 as a derivative of √RAY “net, knit (contrive a network)”, but in that (probably earlier) document the root also meant “catch, involve (in a net)” (PE22/159).

Conceptual Development: The Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had ᴱQ. makse “net” based on the early root ᴱ√MAKA² [ŊʷAKA] (QL/58).

Q. raina adj. “netted, enlaced; caught in a net”

An adjective glossed “netted, enlaced” in notes on The Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor from the end of the 1960s based on the root √RAY “net, knit, contrive network or lace; involve in a network, enlace” (VT42/11). In a draft of this etymology appearing in Late Notes on Verb Structure (LVS) from 1969, the adjective was instead glossed “netted, caught in net” and the root was glossed “net; knit (contrive a network); catch, involve (in a net)” (PE22/159).

Q. raita- v. “to make network or lace; to catch in a net”

A verb appearing as rea or raita in notes on The Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor from the end of the 1960s, with glosses “make network or lace” and “catch in a net” as derivatives of the root √RAY “net, knit, contrive network or lace; involve in a network, enlace” (VT42/11). In a draft of this etymology appearing in Late Notes on Verb Structure (LVS) from 1969, the verb was simply glossed “to net” and the root was glossed “net; knit (contrive a network); catch, involve (in a net)”, while the verb’s present form †rea was marked as archaic beside modern[?] ráya, along with a strong past raine (PE22/159).

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya I would use the easier-to-conjugate verb form raita with strong-past raine and (modernized) present raitea, and would assume rea was archaic. Compare its homonym raita- “smile” which has a half-strong past reante “smiled” (PE17/182).

Q. remba- v. “to net, entrap”

A word for “net, entrap” in notes on The Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor from the end of the 1960s, a verb form of rembë “net (for catching)” (VT42/12).

Conceptual Development: The Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had ᴱQ. makseta- “enmesh”, a verb form of ᴱQ. makse “net” (QL/58).

Q. rembë n. “mesh; net (for catching), hunter’s or fisher’s net”

A word appearing in a footnote in The Lord of the Rings appendices as a cognate to S. rem “mesh” (LotR/1115). In notes on The Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor from the end of the 1960s Tolkien translated this word as “net (for catching)” (VT42/12) or “a hunter’s or fisher’s net” (VT42/29), derived from the root √REB or √REM “entangle, snare, trap” (VT42/12). As such, I think “net (for catching)” is its original Quenya sense, and it would be used for “mesh” only metaphorically. The word rembe also appeared in Late Notes on Verb Structure (LVS) from 1969 in the untranslated phrase raita rembë, probably meaning “*knit a net” (PE22/159).

Conceptual Development: The Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had ᴱQ. maksella “mesh”, a diminutive form of ᴱQ. makse “net” (QL/58).

Q. rembina adj. “entangled; meshed, netted, woven”

The Quenya equivalent of S. remmen “meshed, netted, woven” in notes on Words, Phrases and Passages from the Lord of the Rings as an element in Q. aldarembina, equivalent to S. galadhremmen “tree-meshed” (PE17/26). In notes on The Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor from the end of the 1960s, Q. rembina was glossed “entangled” and derived from the root √REB or √REM “entangle, snare, trap” (VT42/12).

Q. vaita- v. “to enfold, [ᴱQ.] wrap”

A verb for “enfold” in The Etymologies of the 1930s derived from the root ᴹ√WAY of similar meaning (Ety/WAY; EtyAC/WAY).

Conceptual Development: In the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, ᴱQ. vaita- was glossed “wrap” under the early root ᴱ√VAẎA “enfold, wind about” (QL/100).

ᴹQ. vai(y)a n. “envelope”

A noun for “envelope” in The Etymologies of the 1930s with forms vaia or vaiya, and derived from ᴹ✶wāyā under the root ᴹ√WAY of similar meaning (Ety/WAY). It was used “especially of the Outer Sea or Air enfolding the world within the Ilurambar or world-walls”. It was also the name of a tengwar consisting of a circle with line leading from its bottom out horizontally to the right (EtyAC/WAY), but this tengwar did not appear in The Lord of the Rings.

G. cang adj. and n. “tangled, confused, mixed up, awry; tangle, confusion, mêllay”

A word appearing as G. cang in the Gnomish Lexicon, functioning as both an adjective “tangled, confused, mixed up, awry, wrong” and a noun “tangle, confusion, mêllay” (GL/25). It is likely based on the early root ᴱ√KANGA or ᴱ√KAŊA “weave, twine” from the contemporaneous Qenya Lexicon (QL/45, 98).

Neo-Sindarin: I would retain the word ᴺS. cang for purposes of Neo-Sindarin based on a Neo-Root ᴺ√KANGA “*tangle”.

G. canga- v. “to tangle; *to get tangled, [by extension] go wrong”

A verb appearing as G. canga- “to tangle” in the Gnomish Lexicon (GL/25), probably based on the early root ᴱ√KANGA or ᴱ√KAŊA “weave, twine” (QL/45, 98). Elsewhere in GL Tolkien had the similar and probably related intransitive verb cinga- or cangi- “to go wrong, get tangled”.

Neo-Sindarin: I would retain the verb ᴺS. canga- for purposes of Neo-Sindarin based on a Neo-Root ᴺ√KANGA “*tangle”, meaning both transitive “tangle” and intransitive “get tangled, [by extension] go wrong”.

N. gonathra- v. “to entangle, enmesh”

A word in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “entangle, enmesh”, a verb based on a combination of go- “together” and nath “web” (Ety/NAT).

N. gonathras n. “entanglement”

A word in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “entanglement”, a noun form of gonathra- “entangle, enmesh” (Ety/NAT).

N. gwaeda- v. “to enfold”

A verb for “enfold” appearing its (Noldorin) infinitive form gwaedo in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√WAY of similar meaning (Ety/WAY; EtyAC/WAY).

⚠️N. gwî n. “net, web”

A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “net, web” under the root ᴹ√WEY “wind, weave” (Ety/WEY).

Conceptual Development: The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had G. gwith “net” based on the early root ᴱ√gwidh- “weave”, with an alternate form gwinn (GL/46).

Neo-Sindarin: In Tolkien’s later writings the root for “weave” became √WIR or √WIG, so I think this Noldorin word is not salvageable. For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I would use N. nath for “web” and S. rem for “net”.

S. raen adj. “netted, enlaced”

An adjective glossed “netted, enlaced” in notes on The Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor from the end of the 1960s based on the root √RAY “net, knit, contrive network or lace; involve in a network, enlace” (VT42/11-12). It was an element in the name Gilraen.

S. raew n. “net”

A noun given as raef or raew “net” in notes on The Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor from the end of the 1960s based on the root √RAY “net, knit, contrive network or lace; involve in a network, enlace”, a blending of the ancient forms of its Quenya equivalents Q. raima “net” and Q. raiwë “lace” (VT42/12). In a draft of this etymology appearing in Late Notes on Verb Structure (LVS) from 1969, the only form given was raef, equivalent to Q. raima “a net” (PE22/159). Since usually final -m > -f [v] > -w after the diphthong ae, I suspect raef is an archaic form and raew is modern Sindarin.

S. rem n. “mesh, net (for catching)”

A noun for “mesh” appearing in a footnote in Lord of the Rings appendices as the basis of Remmirath “Netted Jewels” and the plural adjectival element remmin in galadhremmin “tree-tangled, tree-meshed” (LotR/1115). In notes on The Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor from the end of the 1960s Tolkien translated this word as “net (for catching)” (VT42/12) or “a hunter’s or fisher’s net” (VT42/29), derived from the root √REB or √REM “entangle, snare, trap” (VT42/12).

S. remmen adj. “meshed, netted, woven, (en)tangled”

An adjectival element in (plural) galadhremmin “tree-tangled, tree-meshed” from the prayer A Elbereth Gilthoniel (LotR/1115; RGEO/64; PE17/20-21). In notes on Words, Phrases and Passages from the Lord of the Rings, Tolkien gave the singular form as remmen < ✶rembinā and translated it as “meshed, netted, woven” (PE17/26). In notes on The Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor from the end of the 1960s, remmen was glossed “entangled” as an adjectival form of rem(m) “net (for catching)”, all based the root √REB or √REM “entangle, snare, trap” (VT42/12).

N. ui v. “envelope”

A noun appearing as N. ui “envelope” in The Etymologies of the 1930s derived from ON. uia < wōia [wǭia] < ᴹ✶wāyā under the root ᴹ√WAY of similar meaning (Ety/WAY). It was used “especially of the Outer Sea or Air enfolding the world within the Ilurambar or world-walls”. In Noldorin of the 1930s, it seems the normal development of ancient āy was ui, with the initial w vanishing before u: wāyā > wǭia > uia > ui.

Neo-Sindarin: In Sindarin of the 1950s and 60s it seems ancient āy became oe, as with goe < ✶gāyā (PM/363). As such the initial w- from ✶wāya would survive to become gw-. Indeed, Tolkien had ancient *wāya become gwoe in notes from around 1957 attempting to derive an etymology for gwae “wind” (PE17/34). As such, I would adapt this Noldorin word as ᴺS. gwoe “envelope” for purposes of Neo-Sindarin. I would use it in the more general sense of “a thing enveloping something else”, and not just limited to envelopes used for letters.