Select Elvish Words 10.23: to Fall [Quenya]

10.23 to Fall

Q. atalantë n. “collapse, downfall”

A noun for “collapse, downfall” mentioned in notes for the Markirya poem of the 1950s along with its adjectival form atalantëa (MC/223), likely derived from the root √TALAT. It is also used as one of the names of Númenor: Atalantë “Downfall(en)” (S/281; Let/347).

It seems Tolkien originally based this noun on the past tense of the verb [ᴹQ.] atalta- “collapse, fall in” (Ety/TALÁT); the past form atalante “down-fell” appears in various versions of the ᴹQ. Lament of Atalante from the 1930s and 40s (LR/47, 56; SD/247, 249, 310). This form was also mentioned as an (archaic?) “perfective” past tense atalante “slipped down, fell in ruin” [vs. ordinary past talante “slipped, slid”] of the talat-stem verb talta- in the second version of Tengwesta Qenderinwa from around 1950 (TQ2), though the notes where it appeared were rejected (PE18/88 note #83).

Q. atalantëa adj. “ruinous, downfallen”

An adjective translated “fallen” in the phrase atalantëa mindonnar “upon fallen towers” in the Markirya poem of the 1960s (MC/222). In notes associated with the poem Tolkien gave it the glosses “ruinous, downfallen” as an adjectival form of atalantë “collapse, downfall” (MC/223). In the poem itself, Tolkien revised it to its plural form atalantië before reverting it back to atalantëa. This reversion is somewhat strange, since the adjective modifies a plural noun [“towers”] so itself should be plural.

Conceptual Development: In the Oilima Markirya version of the poem from around 1930, Tolkien used ᴱQ. lanta for “fallen” instead; see that entry for discussion.

ᴹQ. atalta- v. “to collapse, fall in, fall down, slip down in ruin”

A verb in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “collapse, fall in”, an elaboration of ᴹQ. talta- “slope, slip, slide down” under the root ᴹ√TALAT “to slope, lean, tip” (Ety/TALÁT). The verb talta- seems to refer to the process of sliding down or collapsing, while atalta- is the completion of that process = “*total collapse, falling into ruin”. The past tense atalante of this verb appeared in various versions of the Lament of Atalante and associated notes from the 1930s and 40s, with glosses like “down-fell”, “fell down” and “slip down in ruin” (LR/47; SD/247, 249).

Q. lanta n. and adj. “fall; falling, ⚠️[ᴱQ.] fallen”

A noun for “a fall” in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√DA(N)T “fall down”, also appearing as an element in ᴹQ. lasselanta “leaf-fall, autumn” (Ety/DAT). Since lasse-lanta “leaf-fall” appeared in The Lord of the Rings appendices, this noun probably remained valid in the 1950s and 60s (LotR/1107). As a noun, its use dates back to the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, where Tolkien had ᴱQ. lanta “a fall, falling” under the early root ᴱ√LANTAN [LṆTṆ] (QL/51).

This word was also used adjectivally in the 1950s version of the Nieninquë poem in the phrase Q. táli lantalasselingie (PE16/96). Base on the circa-1930 version of the poem, this phrase can be loosely translated as “with feet like the music of falling leaves” (MC/216). It was also used adjectivally in the circa-1930 version of the ᴱQ. Oilima Markirya poem, in the phrases ᴱQ. lanta-ránar “in the moon falling” and ᴱQ. lante no lanta-mindon “falling upon fallen towers” (MC/214); the 1960s version of Markirya used different words than lanta.

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would assume lanta is primarily a noun meaning “a fall”, but could be used adjectivally in compounds like lantalasselingëa “*falling-leaf-musical”, especially in poetry. As a noun, it might just be the infinitive form of the similarly formed verb lanta- “to fall”. A more properly noun-like word for “fall” is lantë (S/87) and its use may be preferable to lanta for an independent noun; see that entry for discussion.

Q. lanta- v. “to fall; [ᴱQ.] to drop”

The Quenya verb for “to fall”, dating all the way back to the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, though in that document it had the form ᴱQ. lant- and the additional gloss “drop” (QL/51). In the Qenya Lexicon it was derived from the early root ᴱ√LANTAN [LṆTṆ], but in The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien changed the root {ᴹ√LANTA >>} ᴹ√DA(N)T “fall down” as the basis for ᴹQ. lanta- “to fall” (Ety/DAT; EtyAC/LANTA). Q. lanta- “fall” appeared regularly in Tolkien’s later writings as well (MC/222; PE17/62; VT49/47), most notably in the Namárië poem in its first phrase: ai! laurië lantar lassi súrinen “ah! like gold fall the leaves in the wind” (LotR/377).

The word lanta was occasionally used as a noun for “a fall”; see that entry for discussion.

Neo-Quenya: In Tolkien’s later writings, lanta- was used only for intransitive “fall”. However, we have no Quenya verbs for transitive “drop” other than 1910s ᴱQ. lant-, so I would assume that lanta- can be used this way as well for purposes of Neo-Quenya (QL/51). For example, lantan “I fall” vs. lantan i macil “I drop [make fall] the sword”.

ᴱQ. lantanwa adj. “*fallen”

An unglossed adjective, probably meaning “*fallen”, appearing in The Qenya Phonology of the 1910s based on primitive ᴱ✶lṇ̹ta̜nwa [lṇ́tànwa] (PE12/6).

Neo-Quenya: Both the verb lanta- and the passive/perfective suffix -nwa survive in Tolkien’s later writings, so ᴺQ. lantanwa is still viable as a (Neo) Quenya word.

Q. lantë n. “fall”

A noun for “fall” appearing as an element of the title Noldolantë “Fall of the Noldor” (S/87).

Neo-Quenya: The word lasse-lanta “leaf-fall” (LotR/1107) indicates the noun for “a fall” should be lanta, which is also how the noun appears in The Etymologies of the 1930s (Ety/DAT). However, there is an alternate form lassewinta “leaf fall” in drafts of the Lord of the Rings appendices (PM/376) where the second element seems to be the infinitive of the verb winta-, so perhaps lasselanta also includes the infinitive of the verb lanta- “to fall”.

The form lantë more strongly resembles other Quenya nouns, which more often end in -e rather than -a. As such, I prefer lantë over lanta as the independent noun for “a fall”.

Q. núta- v. “to lower; ⚠️[ᴹQ.] to set, sink (of Sun or Moon); [ᴱQ.] to stoop”

A transitive (ta-causative) verb appearing as andúta or núta “lower” in Late Notes on Verb Structure (LVS) from 1969, as opposed to intransitive (ya-formative) núya- “descend” (PE22/156). It was clearly based on ✶ndūtā- “cause to sink”, which appeared in Common Eldarin: Verb Structure (EVS2) from the early 1950s (PE22/135).

Conceptual Development: In earlier documents this verb had intransitive meanings, such as ᴱQ. nūta- “stoop, sink” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√NUHU “bow, bend down; stoop, sink” (QL/68), and ᴹQ. núta- “set, sink (of Sun or Moon)” in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√NDŪ “go down, sink, set (of Sun, etc.)” (Ety/NDŪ). In the Quenya Verbal System (QVS) from 1948, Tolkien revised intransitive {núta} “come down” to ᴹQ. unta (PE22/125 note #136); see that entry for discussion.

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would limit the verb núta- to transitive “lower = *cause to sink or go down”. I would use núya- “descend” and [ᴹQ.] unta- “*sink, stoop” for the intransitive senses.

Q. nútaitë (nútaiti-) adj. “*(naturally) lowering, ?degrading”

An unglossed adjective in Late Notes on Verb Structure (LVS) from 1969, based on the verb núta- “lower” combined with the suffix -itë “apt to do, generally or naturally doing” (PE22/156), so perhaps meaning something like “*(naturally) lowering = degrading”, though probably without the inherently negative connotations of the English word “degrading”.

Q. nútima adj. “*lowerable”

An unglossed adjective in Late Notes on Verb Structure (LVS) from 1969, based on the verb núta- “lower” combined with the suffix -ima “-able” (PE22/156), so meaning something like “*lowerable = able to be lowered”. Based on notes elsewhere on the same page, I would expect the form *nútaima “lowerable” for a ta-causative; see the discussion on the entry for -ima for further details.

Q. núya- v. “to descend, *come down, set (of the sun)”

Tolkien gave núya- as an intransitive verb meaning “descend” several times in Late Notes on Verb Structure (LVS) from 1969 as an example of a ya-formative verb, having the forms (a)n(d)úya (PE22/156) or núya- (PE22/163), the latter derived from primitive ✶ndūya- based on the root √ndu “down”. It was contrasted with ta-causative núta- “lower = *cause to go down” (PE22/156).

Conceptual Development: Prior to the 1950s, the verb form ᴱQ./ᴹQ. núta- had intransitive glosses like “stoop, sink” (Qenya Lexicon: QL/68) or “set, sink (of Sun or Moon)” (Etymologies: Ety/NDŪ); see that entry for discussion. However, intransitive núta- had competition from other verbs in Tolkien’s earlier writings.

The Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s also had ᴱQ. nūmeta- or numenda- “get low (of sun)”, both verb forms of ᴱQ. núme “west” (QL/68). This verb appeared in the Oilima Markirya poem from around 1930 and its drafts in the phrase ᴱQ. rána númetar “the moon went down in the West” (MC/221). In notes associated with one of these drafts, Tolkien glossed the verb númeta- as “go down in the west” (PE16/75). The verb númeta- did not appear thereafter.

As noted above, in The Etymologies of the 1930s the verb ᴹQ. núta- was glossed “set, sink (of Sun or Moon)” (Ety/NDŪ). It was glossed “come down” in the Quenya Verbal System (QVS) of 1948, but there it was revised to unta in the phrase ᴹQ. lairesse nihare to tarassi, yu {núta >>} unta hrívesse landannar “in the summer I live in the hills [as a rule], and come down to the plains in the winter” (PE22/125 and note #136). This new intransitive verb appeared a second time in LVS in a rejected page of verbal roots as unta “descend, as of sun or of a man from a mountain” with a half-strong past form ununte “came/went down” (PE22/127 note #152).

The reason for the introduction of 1948 unta- “descend” isn’t explicitly given, but likely Tolkien decided núta- should be transitive/causative, and indeed in Tolkien gave causative ✶ndūtā- “cause to sink” in Common Eldarin: Verb Structure (EVS2) from the early 1950s (PE22/135). It seems núta- remained causative thereafter, but in 1969 LVS Tolkien gave the intransitive/ya-formative form as núya- “descend” (PE22/163), as described above.

Neo-Quenya: Based on this discussion, I would use núya- as the basic Quenya verb for “to descend, *come down”, and thus also useable as “*set (of the Sun)”. However, I think it is worth salvaging 1948 ᴹQ. unta- with the modified sense “descend [below a horizon]”, based on the use of undu for “under, beneath”. Thus I would use núya- to mean “descend [generally or towards a horizon]” while untu- would mean “descend [below a horizon]” and so meaning “*sink, stoop”. Compare also suv- “sink (esp. in water)” (PE22/127).

Q. talta adj. “tottering, unsteady, [ᴱQ.] shaky, wobbling; [ᴹQ.] sloping, tilted, leaning, [ᴱQ.] slanting”

An adjective variant of the verb talta- “slip or slide down, collapse”, derived from primitive ✶taltā based on the root √TALAT (PE18/89). In the second version of Tengwesta Qenderinwa (TQ2) from around 1950 it was glossed “tottering, unsteady” (PE18/89), but in The Etymologies of the 1930s ᴹQ. talta was glossed “sloping, tilted, leaning” (Ety/TALÁT). However, in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s ᴱQ. talta was glossed both “shaky, wobbly, tottering” and “sloping, slanting” under the early root ᴱ√TḶTḶ (QL/93), so perhaps this word can incorporate all these meanings. If so, it may mean “tottering, unsteady” when referring to an unfixed object, but “sloping, slanting” when referring to a fixed object like a hill, perhaps due to the unsteadiness induced for those standing on a slant.

Q. talta- v. “to slip, slide down, collapse, fall, [ᴹQ.] slip down, ⚠️slope”

A verb derived from the root √TALAT, with various glosses like “slip, slide down, collapse” (MC/223), “slope, slip, slide down” (Ety/TALÁT), or “slip, fall” (PE22/113). In the Markirya poem of the 1960s it was translated “fall(ing)” in the phrase elenillor pella talta-taltala “beyond the stars falling”, but this seems to be a loose translation since in the glossary of the poem talta- was translated “slip, slide down, collapse” (MC/222-223). However, in Late Notes on Verb Structure (LVS) written in 1969, talta was simply glossed “fall” (PE22/164).

Tolkien used this verb as the primary example for the class of talat-stem verbs.

Conceptual Development: The Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had a similar but transitive verb ᴱQ. tilt- “make slope, incline (tr.), decline, shake at foundations, make totter, etc.” under the early root ᴱ√TḶTḶ (QL/80). Its past tense form talte is the result of differing phonetic developments for long ḹ vs. short ḷ in Early Qenya.