Select Elvish Words 10.72: Path

10.72 Path

Q. men n. “way, *direction; [ᴹQ.] place, spot [in compounds only]”

A noun or word element, most notably appearing in the four cardinal directions formen, hyarmen, númen, and rómen, which Christopher Tolkien translated as “way” in The Silmarillion appendix (SA/men). This is consistent with the later meaning of its root: √MEN “go, move, proceed”, and in Definitive Linguistic Notes (DLN) from 1959 Tolkien had a primitive form ✶mēn- “a way, a going, a mov[ement]” (PE17/165) which might be the source of Christopher Tolkien’s translation of Q. men.

The situation in Tolkien’s earlier writings was different, however. In The Etymologies of the 1930s ᴹQ. men was translated “place, spot” under the root ᴹ√MEN (Ety/MEN). In this document, it seems the literally meaning of direction words were “*north-place”, “*south-place”, etc., as opposed to later “*north-direction, *south-direction”. This can be seen in other words Tolkien used in this period, such as ᴹQ. Ilmen “Place of Light” (SM/241).

This ambiguity continued into Tolkien’s later writings, as can be seen in a 1965 letter to Dick Plotz, where Tolkien translated númen “the direction or region of the sunset” (Let/361). Another example is menel “firmament, high heaven, the region of the stars”, which Tolkien said was “a Q. invention from men (direction, region) + el (the basis of many stars)” in The Road Goes Ever On as published in 1967 (RGEO/65). There are other Quenya words where men refers to a location rather than a direction: ruimen “fireplace, hearth” (PE17/183) and turmen “realm” = “*mastered-region” (PE17/28), both from the mid-1960s.

However, some words are hard to explain as locations, such as alamen “a good omen on departure”, also from DLN of 1959 (PE17/162). Tolkien used men as an element in the terms coimen “life-year” and olmen “growth-year” in notes from around 1959, which are probably best explained as a “way” or “process” of life or growth (NM/84-85). However the stems of these words ended in mend-, so their element men may be different from what is seen in formen, etc. As another wrinkle, Tolkien regularly used nómë to mean “place” in his later writings, as in sinomë “in this place [= here]” (LotR/967) and tanomë “in that place [= there]” (VT49/11).

It is hard to determine how much of this variation is due to conceptual vacillation on Tolkien’s part. My best guess of the timelime is that:

• In the 1930s men meant “place, spot”, and the root ᴹ√MEN was not verbal (Ety/MEN).
• In the 1940s Tolkien decided that √MEN was verbal, meaning {“intend” >>} “go” (PE22/103).
• By the 1950s Tolkien reformulated men to mean “way, a going” in keeping with the new meaning of the root (PE17/165). In this period Tolkien also introduced nómë “place”.
• By the 1960s Tolkien partially reversed himself, deciding men could mean either “way, direction” and “place, region”, but without abandoning nómë.

Neo-Quenya: The word men is somewhat contentious in Neo-Quenya. The word men is a very popular element for “place” in many neologisms (especially older ones), such as ᴺQ. natsemen “website = *web-spot”, ᴺQ. tirmen “theater = *watch-place” and ᴺQ. mótamen “office = *work-place”. However, others feel that this sense has been entirely replaced by nómë, so that men in such compounds should be replaced by a suffix ᴺQ. -non (-nom-).

Given this ambiguity, I would use men only for “way, *direction” as a standalone word, and would instead use nómë = “place”. However, given Tolkien’s vacillations as described above, I would allow the use of men as “place, spot” in compounds [perhaps originally conceived of as a destination], though I think ᴺQ. -non “-place” is also fine.

ᴹQ. ranta n. “course”

The word ᴹQ. ranta “course” appeared in a page of the verbal roots from Quenya Verbal System (QVS) written in 1948 as a derivative of ᴹ√RAT “go in a line (as a road)” (PE22/127), likely as a cognate to S. rant which Tolkien often translated as “course” or “lode” (LotR/341; RC/775). While the page of 1948 roots containing ranta was rejected, the Sindarin word rant survived, most notably as an element in Celebrant “Silver Lode”. For “lode” compare Old English “lād”, basis for Modern English “lode”, which originally meant “way, course”.

Conceptual Development: A possible precursor is ᴱQ. raume “running, course” in the Qenya Lexicon under the early root ᴱ√RAẆA having to do with running and chasing (QL/79).

Neo-Quenya: Notes from the late 1960s had S. rant “course” derived from primitive ✶rantā meaning “tracks and trails of travellers or explorers that had become habitual and could be followed by others”, though in this note Tolkien said it “was also, especially in Sindarin, applied to the courses of rivers” (NM/363). In this document the root √RAT meant “to find a way” and “applied to persons journeying in the wild; to travel in roadless land; and also to streams and rivers and their courses” (NM/363). All this seems to indicate [ᴺQ.] ranta “course” remains viable for purposes of Neo-Quenya, though unlike its Sindarin equivalent I would not use it for veins of ore.

Q. tië n. “path, road, way, line, [ᴹQ.] course, direction, [ᴱQ.] route”

This was the basic Quenya word for “path” for most of Tolkien’s life. This word dates all the way back to ᴱQ. tie “line, direction, route, road” under the early root ᴱ√TEHE “pull” (QL/90). In Early Qenya Word-lists Tolkien revised {ᴱQ. tie} “path” to kie (PE16/143), and in the Declension of Nouns from the early 1930s, the form was tē “path” (PE21/40). These seem to have been temporary ideas since by The Etymologies of the 1930s the form was again ᴹQ. tie “path, course, line, direction, way” under the root {ᴹ√TEƷ >>} ᴹ√TEÑ “line, direction” (Ety/TEƷ).

Its most notable appearance in Tolkien’s later writings in the Namárië poem, within the phrase ar ilyë tier undulávë lumbulë “and all paths are drowned deep in shadow” (LotR/377). In green-ink revisions to the Outline of Phonology (OP2) from around 1970, Tolkien derived tie from primitive ✶tegē “line, road” (PE19/71); in this document the root √TEG was glossed “line”, as opposed to √TEÑ “signify” (PE19/97).

Neo-Quenya: The word tie had many possible translations, such as “path, road” (PE17/13), “road, way” (PE17/72), or “line, direction” (Ety/TEƷ). I believe its basic meaning is “*line of travel” (not necessarily straight), and can refer to both the path or road travelled upon as well as the way or route of the travel itself. For a simple “straight line”, I would use the related word [ᴹQ.] tea.

N. bâd n. “beaten track, pathway, [ᴱN.] way, [G.] path”

A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “beaten track, pathway” derived from ON. bata < ᴹ✶batā̆ under the root ᴹ√BAT “tread” (Ety/BAT).

Conceptual Development: A deleted noun G. {bad “way, path”} appeared in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, apparently replaced by bad “building, outhouse, shed”; a similar word bad- “travel” was mentioned but not deleted (GL/21). The word bad also appeared (undeleted) in the name G. Bad Uthwen or Uswen “Way of Escape” in contemporaneous narratives and name lists of the 1910s (LT2/203; PE13/102; PE15/21). In this early period it was likely derived from the early root ᴱ√VAHA having to do with departure and travel (QL/99).

ᴱN. bad “way” reappeared in the Early Noldorin Grammar of the 1920s (PE13/120) and Early Noldorin Word-lists from the same period (PE13/137, 160). A possible later variant can be seen in S. pâd “road, track” mentioned in an explanation of the name Tharbad (PE17/34); see that entry for discussion.

S. *fû n. “path”

A noun appearing only it is plural form fui “paths” in the name Fui ’Ngorthrim “Paths of the Dead” (RC/526). The most plausible singular form is *fû “path”.

N. iôr n. “course”

A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “course” derived from ON. yura under the root ᴹ√YUR “run” (Ety/YUR).

S. râd n. “path, pass, [N.] track, [G.] way”

G. rada “track, path, way” appeared in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s under a root ᴱ√rad· [RATA] (GL/64). This became N. râd “path, track” in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√RAT “walk”, where it was an element in the words N. ostrad “street [= city-path]” and N. athrad “crossing, ford [= cross-path]” (Ety/RAT).

S. athrad “ford, crossing” survived in Tolkien’s later writings, but may have been reconceived as the gerund of the verb athra- “to cross” (PE17/14). However, the word imrad appeared in notes from the late 1960s with the gloss “a path or pass between mountains, hills or trackless forest [= between-path]” (VT47/14), indicating the ongoing validity of S. râd “path”.

S. rant n. “course, water-channel; lode, [N.] vein”

The noun N. rant first appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s with the gloss “lode, vein” under the root ᴹ√RAT “walk” (Ety/RAT). Most notably it was an element in the name Celebrant “Silver Lode” flowing through Dimrill Dale, appearing in the form Kelebrant in Lord of the Rings drafts of the 1940s (TI/235) and as Celebrant “Silverlode” in the finished version of The Lord of the Rings (LotR/341). In the “Unfinished Index” of The Lord of the Rings the name Celebrant was translated “silver-course” (RC/262).

The translation “course” seems to be consistent with the river name Adurant “Double Stream” that was among the seven rivers of Ossiriand as mentioned in The Silmarillion (SI/Adurant). In the 1930s this river name was Ilkorin (Ety/AT(AT)), but by the 1950s or 60s the river name was probably Sindarin or Nandorin.

In Nomenclature of the Lord of the Rings Tolkien indicated that the second element of Celeb-rant meant “lode” in the older English sense “course, water-channel” (RC/775). In notes from the late 1960s he said rant was derived from primitive ✶rantā meaning “tracks and trails of travellers or explorers that had become habitual and could be followed by others … also, especially in Sindarin, applied to streams and rivers in their courses” (NM/363). As an example of its use for a “trail” Tolkien gave the name Gondrant “stone-trail” (NM/363).

Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I would assume that rant is used of any course or flow of materials, such as water or ores, within a larger environment. Thus it could mean “water-course” when applied to rivers, or “lode, vein” when applied to trails of ore. In names like Gondrant “stone-trail”, I would assume that it referred mainly to the course of stone rather the trail being followed. For a “trail” created by the passing of men or animals I would use other words like bâd or râd.

Conceptual Development: Possible precursors include ᴱN. lhant “path” and G. lant “road”; see those entries for discussion.

G. taleg n. “(foot)path”

A word appearing in the Gnomish Lexicon G. taleg or taloth “a (foot)path”, both elaborations of G. tâl “foot” (GL/69).

Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I would update this word to ᴺS. talvad “footpath”, a combination of tâl and [N.] bâd “pathway”.