amrent

noun. lark

The word ᴱN. amrent or amrint “lark” appeared in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s (PE13/137, 159), and the word amrint “lark” also appeared in the Gnomish Lexicon and Gnomish Lexicon Slips of the 1910s (GL/19; PE13/110), though in the Gnomish Lexicon the word was initially glossed “robin” (GL/19).

Possible Etymology: The etymology of this word isn’t entirely clear. When glossed “robin”, its initial element seems to have been G. am “breast” and hence probably = “red breast” with its second element a variant of G. crintha “rosy, pink”. When the word was changed to amrint “lark”, Tolkien marked this new entry with a “✱”, indicating it was part of its own derivational group rather than related to G. am “breast”. In the Gnomish Lexicon Slips Tolkien gave its primitive form as ᴱ✶ambarinþǝ (PE13/110) and in the Noldorin Dictionary of the 1920s Tolkien gaves its Qenya equivalent as ᴱQ. ambarin(d-). That document also had the new form ᴱN. amrent indicating some kind of a-affection. It is conceivable that the initial element might be ᴱ√AM(U) “up”, but that seems unlikely since the lark is a ground bird.

Neo-Sindarin: I would adapt ᴺS. amrent “lark” for purposes of Neo-Sindarin, and assume it is derived from ✱ambarint(h)a of now-obscure meaning.

Cognates

• Eq. ambarin “lark” ✧ PE13/159

Variations

• amrint ✧ PE13/137

amrint

noun. lark