12.55 Big, Large, Great
- ᴹQ. alta adj. “large, great in size”
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A word in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√ÁLAT “large, great in size”, so probably of similar meaning (Ety/ÁLAT). It had a prefixal form alat- as in ᴹQ. Alataire “Great Sea”, a name appearing in The Etymologies and nowhere else.
- Q. höa adj. “big, large”
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An adjective for “big, large” derived from the root √KHAWA in a page of notes having to do with “large & small” words, probably from the late 1960s (PE17/115).
- Q. polda adj. “big; [ᴹQ.] strong, burly; ⚠️[ᴱQ.] mighty, powerful”
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An adjective for “big” derived from √pol “large, big (strong)” in a page of notes having to do with “large & small” roots, probably from the late 1960s (PE17/115). Another note from the same period had deleted forms polda, polya, also meaning “big” (PE17/115). The Etymologies of the 1930s had ᴹQ. polda “strong, burly” derived from the root ᴹ√POL(OD) “physically strong” (Ety/POL). Early Qenya word-lists of the 1920s had ᴱQ. polda “mighty, powerful” along side ᴱQ. poldórea “powerful” (PE16/137), while the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had ᴱQ. poldorea “muscular” under the early root ᴱ√POLO “have strength” (QL/75).
Neo-Quenya: For most of Tolkien’s life, the root √POL was connected to physical ability and strength, so for purposes of Neo-Quenya I would assume polda means someone that is both “big and strong” simultaneously, with “burly” being a single English word that approximates its meaning.
- Q. túra adj. “great [in power or majesty], ⚠️big”
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A word for “big, great” derived from the root √TUR “strong, mighty, in power” in a page of notes having to do with “large & small” words, probably from the late 1960s (PE17/115).
Neo-Quenya: The use of this word to mean “big” in size seems out of step with the most common meanings of this root and its other derivatives. For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would use it only to mean “great [in power or majesty]”.
- S. beleg adj. “great, mighty; large, big, [ᴱN.] huge”
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The Sindarin word for “great” which appears in names like Belegaer “Great Sea” (S/37), Belegurth “Great Death” (PM/358), and especially the name Beleg (SA/beleg). Like English, the word beleg can mean “great” = “mighty” as well as “great” = “large” (PE17/115), but unlike English does not mean “great” = “good”.
Possible Etymology: The Etymologies of the 1930s had N. beleg “great” derived from ON. beleka “mighty, huge, great” under the root ᴹ√BEL “strong” (Ety/BEL). In this document, the name ᴹQ. Melko was derived from unrelated ᴹ✶Mailikō under the root ᴹ√MIL-IK having to do with greed and lust (Ety/MIL-IK). Notes on The Feanorian Alphabet from the 1930s and 40s show the mutated form feleg [veleg] “large” or “great” (PE22/31; PE23/20, 51).
At some point Tolkien reconceived of the etymology of Melkor’s names as being derived from ✶mbelekōro “He who arises in Might” (WJ/402), and in notes on “large & small” roots from 1968 Tolkien also connected this primitive form to S. beleg (PE17/115). This would imply specialized mutations for beleg as derived from an ancient nasalized stop mb-. However, attested mutations imply the primitive form of beleg began with b-, such as Cûl Veleg “Big Load” (RC/536) or Taur-i-Melegyrn “Forest of the Great Trees” (WJ/185).
Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I would assume the strengthening of the ancient initial consonant to mb- occurred only in Quenya to explain the Sindarin mutations demonstrating primitive initial b-.
Conceptual Development: This word dates all the way back to the earliest forms of the language, no doubt due to the influence of the name Beleg which was equally old. The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had G. Beleg “mighty, great” (GL/22). ᴱN. beleg “great, large” appeared in the Early Noldorin Grammar of the 1920s (PE13/125), and beleg “huge” appeared in Early Noldorin word-lists from this same period (PE13/138). N. beleg “great” appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s as noted above (Ety/BEL), and this word continued to appear regularly in Tolkien’s writings thereafter.
- N. borg adj. “large”
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A word for “large” in notes on The Feanorian Alphabet from the 1940s, in borg’ā “large ā” (PE23/26). Its etymology is unclear.
- S. daer adj. “great, large”
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A word for “great” appearing in various names like Lond Daer (UT/263), Athrad Dhaer “Great Ford” (WJ/338), or Duin Dhaer “Great Ford” (WJ/191). In many of these names, Tolkien vacillated between Daer and Dhaer as the mutated form, indicating vacillation between Taer and Daer as the unmutated form. The clearest representation of this word appears in notes on The Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor from the late 1960s, where Tolkien said the name Daeron was based on S. daer “large, great”, whose primitive form was ✶daira based on the root √DAY (VT42/11).
Conceptual Development: A likely precursor is N. daur “great, large” from The Etymologies of the 1930s derived from primitive ᴹ✶daʒrā under the root ᴹ√DAƷ “great”, though this entry was rejected (EtyAC/DAƷ).