1.21 Earth, Land Q. cemen, n. “the Earth; earth, [ᴹQ.] soil” Tolkien often used this Elvish word for “the Earth”, but in notes on Words, Phrases and Passages from The Lord of the Rings from the late 1950s or early 1960s, he clarified that “kemen ‘the Earth’ [was] an apparent
Select Elvish Words 1.11-1.12: World, Universe
1.11 World Q. Ambar, n. “The World, Earth, (lit.) Habitation, Settlement” The word Ambar is probably the most common Quenya word for the “World”. Its more literal meaning is “Habitation” (MR/337; NM/226) or “Settlement” (PE17/163) in the sense that it is the realm in which the children of Eru (Elves
Select Elvish Words: Introduction
Since I have wrapped up my series on “Select Primitive Elvish Roots”, I am starting a new series on “Select Elvish Words”. This series is for the next major phase of Eldamo’s development: dictionary entries for Elvish words. My plan is to discuss the meanings, etymologies, and conceptual development of
Eldamo 0.8.0 is released
See eldamo.org. Updates for this release: Added information from The Nature of Middle Earth. Finished dictionary entries for Primitive Elvish roots: √N – √YUR. Add semantic category link to word pages. Finished semantic categorization of Sindarin/Noldorin/Gnomish. Edited and reviewed Quenya semantic categories.
Select Primitive Elvish Roots: YOD-YUR
√YOD “fence, enclose” This root appears in a discussion of the possible origin of Sindarin -ion² “-land”, blended with the root √YON² “wide, extensive” (PE17/43). A more common variation of the latter root was √YAN¹, making the status of √YOD uncertain. The derivatives of √YOD are similar to those of
Select Primitive Elvish Roots: YEL-YṆTṆ
√YE(L) “daughter” The root √YEL was one of several competing Elvish roots for “daughter”. In The Etymologies of the 1930s ᴹ√YEL “daughter” was first used as the basis for ᴹQ. yelde/N. iell “daughter”, but it was deleted (Ety/YEL). N. iell was given a new derivation from ᴹ√SEL-D “child”, by analogy
Select Primitive Elvish Roots: YAN-YAY
√YAN¹ “wide, extensive, large, vast, huge; extend” A root Tolkien introduced in the late 1950s to serve as the basis for various “land” suffixes in Sindarin. The most detailed explanation appeared in a set of documents labeled “Changes affecting Silmarillion nomenclature”: The endings -ion, -ien, -ian(d) in place names. These
Select Primitive Elvish Roots: YA-YAL
√YA “[ᴹ√] there, over there; (of time) back, ago” √YA was demonstrative and relative pronominal root with particular reference to the past for much of Tolkien’s life. Its first appearance was as ᴱ√YA “demonstrative pointing back” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with variants ᴱ√DYA, ᴱ√YE, ᴱ√DYE, appearing above
Select Primitive Elvish Roots: WIG-WOR
ᴹ√WIG “*foam” The Elvish words for “foam” were establish very early, retaining forms similar to Q. wingë and S. gwing throughout Tolkien’s life. The earliest basis for these words were the (unglossed) roots ᴱ√GWIŊI and ᴱ√GWIGI in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives ᴱQ. winge (QL/104) and G.
Select Primitive Elvish Roots: WE-WEN(ED)
ᴱ√WE “dual” A primitive “dual” element mentioned in notes on numbers from the late 1960s, contributing to the forms of primitive ✶enekwe “six” and ✶yun(e)kwe “twelve” in the Quenya branch of Elvish, as well as the ancient 1st person inclusive pronoun ✶ñwe (VT48/10). It was probably related to the ancient