13.19 Crowd, Multitude
- ᴹQ. hosto n. “crowd, assembly”
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A word for “assembly, crowd” in the Declension of Nouns (DN) from the early 1930s with a reduced form hos, host- typically used when inflected (PE21/20, 27). It is probably derived from the root ᴹ√KHOTH “gather” (Ety/KHOTH); compare later N./S. hoth “crowd, host, horde”.
Conceptual Development: The Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had ᴱQ. horma “horde, host” and ᴱQ. hostar {“town” >>} “tribe” under the early root ᴱ√HOSO [XOÞ-] (QL/41). In the Official Name List for the Lost Tales from this same period, hosta/hos- was given as the equivalent of G. hoth “folk” (PE13/102).
Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would stick to the longer form hosto “assembly, crowd”, since the reduced forms from DN are rare in Tolkien’s later writings.
- Q. liyúmë n. “host”
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A word for “host” appearing in notes from the late 1960s, a combination of li(n)- “many” and -úmë “large (of quanity)” (VT48/32).
- Q. rimbë n. “host, great number, [ᴹQ.] crowd”
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A word for a “great number” (PE17/50), “host” (Let/382), or “crowd” (Ety/RIM). In The Etymologies of the 1930s it was derived from ᴹ✶rimbē based on the root ᴹ√RIM (Ety/RIM).
Conceptual Development: The Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had ᴱQ. limbe “a number” under the early root ᴱ√LĪ (QL/53). In the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon the word limbe was given as a cognate to G. lim¹ “many” (GL/54).
- Q. sanga n. “press, pressure; throng, [ᴹQ.] crowd, pack; [ᴱQ.] tight mass; [ᴹQ.] crowded, packed”
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This word had a lengthy history in Tolkien’s writings, most notably as an element in Sangahyando “Throng-Cleaver”. It first appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s as ᴱQ. sanga “throng, tight mass, crowd” under the early root ᴱ√SAŊA (QL/81). It reappeared in the Declension of Nouns (DN) of the early 1930s with the gloss “throng” (PE21/32) and in another slightly later chart with the gloss “crowd” (PE21/42). In The Etymologies from around 1937 it was ᴹQ. sanga “crowd, throng, press” derived from ᴹ√stangā under the root ᴹ✶STAG “press, compress” (Ety/STAG).
In the Quenya Verbal System from 1948 it had an adjectival sense “crowded, packed” along with the noun sense “pack, throng” (PE22/107). It reappeared in Tolkien’s later writings with glosses like “press, pressure, throng” (PE17/116), and in a footnote to a 1972 letter to Richard Jeffery, Tolkien said it could refer to “a closely formed body of enemy soldiers” (Let/425).
Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would assume the basic noun sense of sanga is a “tight mass”, usable abstractly for a “press” or “pressure”, or as for a tightly packed group of people or animals such as “throng, crowd, pack”. I would also it as an adjective meaning “crowded” or “packed”, such as sanga sambe “a packed room”.
- Q. úma- v. “to teem”
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A verb for “teem” from around 1968 based on the root √UM “abound” (VT48/32).
- S. hoth n. “host, horde; [N.] group plural; ⚠️ crowd; [ᴱN.] folk, [G.] people; †army”
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A word for a “host” or “horde” that was “nearly always used in evil or at least unfriendly sense in Sindarin” (PE17/39; UT/313). It was based on the root √KHOT “gather, together in confusion, jumble” and is used a class plural suffix for “unpleasant” groups such as Glamhoth, the collective name for orcs = “Din-horde” (UT/54).
Conceptual Development: This word has a long legacy, with G. hoth “folk, people, †army” appearing all the way back in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/49), derived from the early root ᴱ√HOSO [ΧOÞ] (QL/41). ᴱN. hoth “host, folk” appeared in Early Noldorin word-lists of the 1920s (PE13/147), and The Etymologies of the 1930s had N. hoth “host, crowd” derived from ᴹ✶khotsē “assembly” under the root ᴹ√KHOTH “gather” (Ety/KHOTH). At all these earlier stages it was used in the formation of group names, but the notion that it was limited to “unfriendly” groups seems to be a late idea.
- N. hûd n. “assembly, *gathering, moot”
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A word for “assembly” in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√KHOTH “gather” (Ety/KHOTH).
Conceptual Development: The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had G. hûs “crowd, heap, pile; very great number”, cleary based on the early root ᴱ√HOSO [ΧOÞ] (GL/49).
Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I would also use hûd for a “moot” or “gathering” to replace other early Gnomish words like G. lest.
- N. ovras n. “crowd, heap”
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A word for “crowd, heap” in The Etymologies of the 1930s, noun form of N. ovro “to abound” (Ety/UB).
- S. rim n. “host, great number, people (of one kind or origin), [N.] crowd”
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A word for a “great number” (PE17/50), a “people (of one kind or origin)” (PE17/190), or a “host” (Let/382). It was frequently used as a class plural suffix -rim.
Conceptual Development: The Etymologies of the 1930s has N. rhim “crowd, host” derived from ᴹ✶rimbē under the root ᴹ√RIM, reflecting the 1930s sound change whereby initial r unvoiced to rh (Ety/RIM). In Early Noldorin word-lists of the 1920s it was ᴱN. drim “a host, countless number” (PE13/142), while in the Gnomish Lexicon (GL) of the 1910s it was G. grim “host” (GL/54). In GL, there was also had an adjective G. lim¹ “many” often used as a plural suffix -lim or -rim, the latter by dissimilation after l and by confusion with grim (GL/54).