12.74 Crooked
- ᴹQ. hwarin adj. “crooked”
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An adjective for “crooked” in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√SKWAR of the same meaning (Ety/SKWAR).
- Q. raica adj. “crooked, [ᴹQ.] bent, wrong”
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A word for “crooked” derived from √RIK “twist” appearing in notes associated with the Quendi and Eldar essay of 1959-60 (VT39/7, 9). ᴹQ. raika also appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s with the glosses “crooked, bent, wrong” under the root ᴹ√RAYAK (Ety/RÁYAK). It appeared in its (1930s-style) plural form raikar in various versions of the Lament of Atalante from the 1930s and 40s in the phrase ilya sí maller raikar “now all roads (are) bent” (LR/47; LR/56; SD/310).
Note that The Etymologies of the 1930s also had ᴹQ. téra “straight, right” (Ety/TEƷ). So it seems Quenya used the metaphor “straight = right” and “crooked = wrong” (at least in the 1930s).
Conceptual Development: The Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had similar forms ᴱQ. pere̜qa “crooked” and ᴱQ. perqa “wrong” (QL/73).
- ᴹQ. rempa adj. “crooked, hooked”
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A word in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “crooked, hooked” under the root ᴹ√REP “bend, hook” (Ety/REP). The language of this word is not indicated, but it is almost certainly Quenya.
- N. rhaen adj. “crooked”
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The Etymologies of the 1930s had N. rhaen “crooked” derived from from primitive ᴹ✶ragnā under the root ᴹ√RAG (Ety/RAG).
Neo-Sindarin: Many Neo-Sindarin writers adapt this adjective as ᴺS. raen as suggested in Hiswelókë’s Sindarin Dictionary (HSD), since the unvoicing of initial r to rh was a feature of Noldorin of the 1930s but not Sindarin of the 1950s and 60s. However, in this case the nearest equivalent root in Tolkien’s later writing is √SRAG “awkward, hard, difficult” (PE17/154, 158, 172, 185). Using this root I would keep the form ᴺS. rhaen “crooked” without modification, since primitive sr- produces rh- in Sindarin. This eliminates conflicts with several later Sindarin words of the form raen.
Conceptual Development: The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had G. gwegla “crooked” based on the early root ᴱ√gwedh-¹ (GL/46), and it also had G. craig “crooked” (GL/46), probably based on the early root ᴱ√KṚKṚ (QL/48). The word craig “crooked” also appeared in Gnomish Lexicon Slips modifying that document (PE13/111). The Early Noldorin Grammar of the 1920s instead had ᴱN. gwag or gog “crooked” (PE13/122), and Early Noldorin word-lists from this same period had {gog >>} gaug “crooked” (PE13/144).