3.41 Horse
- ⚠️ᴹQ. olombo n. “horse”
- A word for horse in The Etymologies of the 1930s, derived from the root ᴹ√LOP (EtyAC/LOP). This root did not appear in The Etymologies as published in The Lost Road, but Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne reported it in their Addenda and Corrigenda to the Etymologies (VT45/28). Tolkien first gave the root as ᴹ√LOB, and it seems the form olombo was derived from this earlier form, and was not updated after {ᴹ√LOB >>} ᴹ√LOP, as pointed out by Hostetter and Wynne.
Conceptual Development: The word ᴱQ. lópa “steed, horse” appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s as a derivative of the early root ᴱ√LOPO that was the basis for “horse” words in the Qenya Lexicon (QL/56).
Neo-Quenya: Given the dubious derivation of olombo, I recommend limiting yourself to better attested Q. rocco “horse” for purposes of Neo-Quenya. If you do use it, it should probably be revised to *olompo.
- N. lobor n. “[heavy riding] horse”
- A word for “horse” in The Etymologies of the 1930s, derived from the root ᴹ√LOP (EtyAC/LOP). It did not appear in The Etymologies as published in The Lost Road, but Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne reported it in their Addenda and Corrigenda to the Etymologies (VT45/28).
Conceptual Development: The similar word G. lobros “steed, horse” appeared in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/54), clearly based on the early root ᴱ√LOPO that was the basis for “horse” words in the Qenya Lexicon (QL/56). In The Etymologies, Tolkien first gave the root as ᴹ√LOB and the Noldorin form as {lum >>} lhuv, perhaps from *lōbo, but these were deleted and replaced by ᴹ√LOP and lobor.
Neo-Sindarin: Since Tolkien sometimes described S. roch as a “swift horse”, I’d assume lobor was a heavy riding horse or war horse.
- G. raibrog n. “zebra”
- The word for “zebra” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s was raibrog or ribrog with a feminine variant raibros, a combination of G. raib “striped” and G. brog “horse” (GL/64).
Neo-Sindarin: I’d adapt this word as ᴺS. raebroch for purposes of Neo-Sindarin, using the later word S. roch for “horse”.
- S. roch n. “horse”
- The usual word for “horse” in Sindarin, a derivative of ✶rokkō (Let/282, 382) and very well attested. There are indications that this word was more specifically a “swift horse” (Let/382; EtyAC/ROK), but in most cases Tolkien used it generically.
Conceptual Development: The first precursor to this word seems to be G. brog “horse” from the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/24), though at the time it had no Qenya cognates. ᴱN. brog “horse” reappeared in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s (PE13/139), but by The Etymologies of the 1930s it had become N. roch “horse”, already with the derivation given above (Ety/ROK; EtyAC/ROK). Tolkien seems to have mainly stuck with this form thereafter.
- G. tôdhi n. “paddock”
- A word appearing as G. tôdhi {“fringe” >>} “paddock” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s based on ᴱ√tadh- (GL/71), probably from ancient *tāðī since [ā] became [ō] in Gnomish.
Neo-Sindarin: I would adapt this word as ᴺS. tódhi “paddock” based on the Neo-Root ᴺ√TAD “enclosure”, because while [ā] became [au] in Sindarin, it later become [ō] or [o] in polysyllables. I would assume the final -i was the result of some ancient abstract noun suffix (< *tādiyē), much like in S. serni “pebble bank”.
3.44 Mare
- ᴱN. bregil n. “mare”
- The words ᴱN. bregil “mare” appeared in Early Noldorin Word-lists along with a variant brois, both feminine forms of ᴱN. brog “horse” (PE13/139). In the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, there was a different list of “mare” words: G. bros, bross and broch, though still based on G. brog; the earliest version of the entry had only the form bross (GL/24).
Neo-Sindarin: Since -il continues to appear in later Sindarin as a feminine suffix, I would adapt this word as S. regil “mare” based on the later root √ROK used for “horse” words from the 1930s and forward; compare for example [N.] brennil “lady” versus [N.] brannon “lord”, both based on brann.