3.64 Bird Q. aiwë n. “(small) bird” A noun meaning “(small) bird” (SA/lin¹, Ety/AIWĒ), appearing in Radagast’s Quenya name Aiwendil “Lover of Birds” (UT/401). It was derived from primitive ᴹ✶aiwē like its Sindarin cognate aew (Ety/AIWĒ). Conceptual Development: In the Gnomish Lexicon from the 1910s, ᴱQ. aiwe appeared as the
Select Elvish Words
Studies on selected elvish words to sort out their semantics.
Select Elvish Words 3.62-3.63: Cat, Mouse, Rodent
3.62 Cat ᴹQ. miue (miuy-) n. “cat” A word for “cat” in the Declension of Nouns from the early 1930s, from primitive {mauı̯ǝ >>} miuı̯ǝ (PE21/12-13), and so probably related to the root ᴹ√MIW “whine” from The Etymologies which had the derivative ᴹQ. miule “whining, mewing” (Ety/MIW). The stem form
Select Elvish Words 3.61-3.612: Dog, Puppy
3.61 Dog ⚠️Q. hú n. “hound (or ?heart)” A Quenya word appearing in rough notes on Words, Phrases and Passages from The Lord of the Rings from the late 1950s or early 1960s exploring the possible origins of S. huorn (PE17/86). The gloss “hound” is uncertain and could be “heart”
Select Elvish Words 3.51-3.57: Chicken, Goose, Duck
3.51 Chicken ᴱQ. kekteket (kektekett-) n. “clucking” The word ᴱQ. kekteket “clucking” appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√KEKE “cluck” (QL/46). In the margin Tolkien wrote cectecet, an early example of him using c in spelling for the sound [k]. Neo-Quenya: For purposes of
Select Elvish Words 3.41, 3.44: Horse, Mare
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
Select Elvish Words 3.32: Boar, Pig, Goat
3.32 Boar ᴱQ. karkapolka n. “boar, *(lit.) tusk-pig” The word ᴱQ. karkapolka “boar” appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s as a combination of ᴱQ. karka “fang, tooth, tusk” and ᴱQ. polka “pig” (QL/48), hence literally “*tusk pig”. Conceptual Development: The word for “boar” in the Early Qenya Word-lists
Select Elvish Words 3.25-3.29: Sheep, Ram, Lamb
3.25 Sheep Q. máma n. “sheep” A word for “sheep” appearing in the Quendi and Eldar essay of 1959-60 as a derivative of ✶māmā (WJ/395). It appeared again in notes from 1968 as a derivative of ✶mbāba (VT47/35), apparently with some amount of assimilation since the second primitive b >
Select Elvish Words 3.21-3.24: Bull, Cow, Calf
3.21 Bull Q. mundo n. “bull, ox” A word for “bull” in a 1972 letter to Meriel Thurston (Let/422). A similar form mondo appeared as an element in the name Q. Mondósar “Oxford” from a 1968 letter (DTS/70). See S. mund for other possible conceptual precursors. S. mund n. “bull”
Select Elvish Words 3.16-3.18: Pasture, Herdsman
3.16 to Pasture ᴱQ. nesta- vb. “to feed” The verb ᴱQ. nesta- “feed” appeared in the Quenya Lexicon of the 1910s as a derivative of the early root ᴱ√NESE “give to feed; feed, pasture; graze” (QL/66). It has past forms nēse and nesse, indicating a close relationship to the verb
Select Elvish Words 3.11: Animal
3.11 Animal Q. celva n. “animal, living thing that moves” A word used in its plural form kelvar to describe animals in The Silmarillion, as opposed to Q. olvar = “plants” (S/45). In a marginal note to a short document on Ents and Eagles from 1958-9 (or later), it was