10.36 to Sail
- ᴹQ. kiryasta- v. “to sail [a ship], *make a ship go”
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A verb for “to sail” appearing in the phrase ᴹQ. qe e·kárie i kirya aldaryas, ni kauva kiryasta menelyas “if he finishes the boat by Monday, I shall be able to sail on Wednesday”, from the Quenya Verbal System (QVS) of 1948 (PE22/121). It is a verb form of kirya [cirya] “ship”, so more exactly appears to mean “to sail [a ship], *make a ship go”.
Conceptual Development: The English-Qenya Dictionary of the 1920s had ᴱQ. salta- “sail, used of any smooth steady progression” (PE15/77), while the slightly later Early Qenya Word-list had ᴱQ. lut- “float, sail” (PE16/134).
Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would ciryasta- only for the act of making a ship go: i hesto ciryasta i cirya “the captain sails the ship”. For the movement of the ship itself, I would us [ᴱQ.] lut- “float, sail”: i cirya lute i earessë “the ship sails on the sea”.
- N. rhenia- v. “to fly, sail”
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This verb appeared in its [Noldorin] infinitive form N. rhenio in The Etymologies of the 1930s, derived from primitive ᴹ✶ramya- under the root ᴹ√RAM having do with wings (Ety/RAM). The verb was glossed “fly, sail; wander”, but the last gloss “wander” was technically for a separate verb N. rhenio, elsewhere translated “to stray” and based on the root ᴹ√RAN “wander, stray” (Ety/RAN). The two verbs collided because ancient my became ny in Noldorin of the 1930s.
Neo-Sindarin: Many Neo-Sindarin writers adapt this verb as ᴺS. renia- “to sail, fly” for purposes of Neo-Sindarin, as suggested by David Salo (GS/282), since the unvoicing of initial r to rh was a feature of Noldorin of the 1930s but not Sindarin of the 1950s and 60s. Didier Willis instead suggested ᴺS. revia- (HSD/revia) assuming that my > ny was also a Noldorin-only change, but there is strong evidence that ancient my became ny in Sindarin of the 1950s and 60s as well, notably √MAY > amya- > anya- > S. ein- “excellent, admirable” (PE17/163), published after Willis made his suggestion.
10.37 to Fly
- ᴹQ. vil- [w] v. “to fly, ⚠️[ᴱQ.] float, sail”
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A verb given as {vilin >>} wilin “I fly” in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√WIL “fly, float in air” (Ety/WIL). Tolkien gave a past form ville that was allowed to stand even after {vilin >>} wilin.
Conceptual Development: The Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had ᴱQ. ’wili- “sail, fly, float” under the early root ᴱ√GWILI (QL/104). The contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon had ᴱQ. vil- as the cognate to G. gwil- “sail, float, fly” (GL/45).
Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would use the form vil- “to fly” in keeping with the general principle that w was pronounced and spelt v in modern Quenya; see the entry for [w] for discussion. For “sail, float” I would use other verbs such as [ᴱQ.] lut-.
- ᴹQ. vilva [w] v. “fluttering to and fro”
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An adjective appearing as wilwa “fluttering to and fro” in the glossary to the Markirya poem from the 1960s (MC/223). In the poem itself, it was loosely translated “vague as”, in the phrase wilwarin wilwa “vague as a butterfly” (MC/222).
Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would use the form vilva “fluttering to and fro” in keeping with the general principle that w was pronounced and spelt v in modern Quenya; see the entry for [w] for discussion.
- G. biltha- v. “to flutter, flit”
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The verb G. biltha- “flutter, flit” appeared in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, an elaboration of G. bil “bird” (GL/23).
Neo-Sindarin: Since G. bil “bird” is no longer used, for purposes of Neo-Sindarin I would alter this verb to ᴺS. gwilwa- “to flutter, flit”, inspired by Q. wilwa “fluttering to and fro”.
- G. gwil- v. “to fly, ⚠️sail, float”
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A verb appearing in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s as G. gwil-¹ “sail, float, fly” derived from ᴱ√gu̯il (GL/45). It was cognate to ᴱQ. vil- or ’wili- “sail, fly, float” (QL/104).
Neo-Sindarin: Since [ᴹQ.] vil- or wil- “fly” survived in Tolkien’s later writings (Ety/WIL), I would retain ᴺS. gwil- as well, but only for the sense “to fly”. For “float” and “sail” I would use other verbs like ᴺS. loda- “float” [N. lhoda-] and ᴺS. renia- “sail” [N. rhenia-].