10.23 to Fall
- S. danna- v. “to fall”
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A Sindarin verb for “fall” in Notes on Galadriel’s Song (NGS) from the late 1950s or early 1960s, cognate to Q. lanta- and derived from √DAN-TA (PE17/62). Elsewhere the root for “fall down” was √DAT (VT47/29; VT48/24; Ety/DAT), so √DAN-TA was probably a nasal-infixed variant of the root; compare ᴹ√DAT vs. ᴹ√DANT from The Etymologies of the 1930s (Ety/DAT). In Sindarin, medial ancient nt became nn, so *danta- > S. danna-.
Conceptual Development: The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had G. {lanta- >>} lantha- “fall onto, settle on, alight”, with a past form lantathi which had a light pencil stroke through and was thus tentatively rejected (GL/52). This Gnomish verb is clearly cognate to ᴱQ. lant- “drop, fall” in contemporaneous the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√LANTAN [LṆTṆ] (QL/51).
The Etymologies of the 1930s had the root {ᴹ√LANT >>} ᴹ√DAT or ᴹ√DANT “fall down” (Ety/DAT, TALÁT; EtyAC/LANTA). Under the entry for ᴹ√DAT, Tolkien had N. dant- “to fall” with passive participle dannen “fallen” (Ety/DAT). Likely N. dant- was a stem form which would become dann- when inflected, since in Noldorin of the 1930s and 40s ancient medial nt also became nn, as it did in Sindarin.
- N. dannen adj. “fallen”
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The passive participle of the verb N. dant- “fall” in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√DA(N)T (Ety/DAT).
Neo-Sindarin: The later Sindarin form of the verb is danna- whose passive participle would ordinarily be dannannen; compare covannen the passive participle of cova- (PE17/158). But I think dannen “fallen” may remain viable as a reduced of dannannen. Another possibility is *dannan; compare the archaic passive participle of †covan(n) of cova- (PE17/158).
- S. dant n. “*fall”
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An untranslated noun appearing in the phrase Narn e·Dant Gondolin ar Orthad en·Êl in Silmarillion drafts from the 1950s (MR/373). The entire phrase probably means “*Tale of the Fall of Gondolin and the Raising of the Star”, so that dant is probably “*fall [as a noun]” and is a derivative of the root √DA(N)T “fall down” (PE17/62; VT48/24). Strictly speaking, e·Dant is the form after it has undergone mixed mutation, but an initial d is not modified by mixed mutation, so the unmutated form would be dant as well.
Conceptual Development: This word appears several times in Lord of the Rings drafts of the 1940s. It was as an element of Dant-ruin(el), a draft name for the falls of Rauros, so probably meaning “*Fall of Ruinel” (TI/283, 316). It also appeared in drafts of Lord of the Rings appendices in some rejected words for “autumn”: Dant or Dantilais [the latter apparently meaning “*Fall-of-leaves”], both of which were revised to Dannas (PM/136).
The earliest precursor for this word seems to be G. dont “a fall, a bump, a drop” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/30), related to G. dod- “fall down, drop” and thus likely based on the early root ᴱ√ÐOTO from the contemporaneous Qenya Lexicon (QL/86).
- S. dúnad v. “descent”
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A word for “descent” in notes from 1968 in the name Dúnad in Gyrth “Descent of the Dead” (NM/364). It is clearly based on √NDU “down; descend”.
- S. penna- v. “to come down (in a slant), fall”
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A word appearing in the phrase silivren penna míriel within the A Elbereth Gilthoniel prayer from The Lord of the Rings (LotR/238). In The Road Goes Ever On (RGEO) from 1967, Tolkien loosely translated this phrase as “from glittering crystal slanting falls with light like jewels” and more exactly as “(white) glittering slants-down sparkling like jewels” (RGEO/63-64). In various private notes, Tolkien specified that penna- was a verb meaning “come down” or “come down in a slant, fall” derived from the root √PED “fall in steep slant, incline, slope” (PE17/24, 173).
- N. talt adj. “slipping, falling, insecure”
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An adjective in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “slipping, falling, insecure” under the root ᴹ√TALÁT “to slope, lean, tip” (Ety/TALÁT).