ad

conjunction. and

conj. and. a/adh before vowel, with soft mutation. Q. ar. >> a, ada, adh

brand

adjective. towering; tall and massive, towering, tall and massive, [N.] high; lofty, noble, fine

In notes from the 1950s or 60s the word brand, brann meant “towering; tall and massive” (PE17/22, 61). In these notes Tolkien said it was derived from √BARAT (PE17/22), but that root would probably produce ✱✱brant so I think it is more likely to be based on (or blended with) √BARAD. The Etymologies from around 1937 had N. brand, brann “lofty, noble, fine” derived from primitive ᴹ✶b’randā under the root ᴹ√BARAD (Ety/BARÁD). In a phrase from Thrór’s Map written in 1936, brann was translated “high”: lheben teil __brann__ i annon ar neledh neledhi gar godrebh “five foot high the door and three may walk abreast” (TAI/150).

Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I would assume brand was a blending of various ancient words meaning both “tall” and “noble”, so useable for either depending on context. I further assume it can only be used for “high, tall (and massive)” of things mostly of exceptional height, while of people it means “lofty, noble, fine”. For tall people I would probably instead use tond.

brand

towering; tall and massive

1 _ adj. _towering; tall and massive. >> brann

a

and

conj. and.Form of ad/ada before vowel, with soft mutation. Q. ar. >> ad, ada, adh

a

and

conj. and. About his mutation, see PE17:145.

a

conjunction. and

conj. and. Pedo mellon a minno! 'Say friend and enter'. Q. ar

ada

conjunction. and

conj. and. a/adh before vowel, with soft mutation. Q. ar. >> a, ad, adh

Ídh

and

{ð} conj. and.Form of ad/ada before vowel, with soft mutation. Q. ar. >> a, ad, ada

Ídh

and

{ð} conj. and. About his mutation, see PE17:145.

Ídh

and

{ð}_ conj. _and. It was not mutated before vowels. >> a

a

conjunction. and

See ah for the form that this conjunction might take before a vowel

adh

conjunction. and

ah

conjunction. and

ar

conjunction. and

See ah for the form that this conjunction might take before a vowel

ar

conjunction. and, and, [G.] too, besides

a

conjunction. and; †by, near, beside

In The Lord of the Rings, the Sindarin conjuction for “and” was a, as seen in the famous phrase from the Moria Gate Inscription: pedo mellon __a__ minno “speak, friend, and enter” (LotR/305).

Conceptual Development: In Tolkien’s earlier writings, the word for “and” was usually ar, consistent with the usual Quenya form of this word: Q. ar. The first appearance of this form of the word was in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, which had G. ar “and, too” (GL/20). This version of “and” appeared in numerous phrases from the 1920s-50s, that latest being the Sindarin version of the Lord’s Prayer: Ae Adar Nín from the mid-1950s (VT44/21).

In Lord of the Rings drafts of the 1940s, however, Tolkien introduced a “and” in the initial versions of the gate inscription (TI/182). He gradually transitioned to the a version over the next few years.

Possible Etymologies: It is not obvious what Tolkien intended the etymology of S. a “and” to be when he first introduced it. He did revisit the question in notes on Words, Phrases and Passages from the Lord of the Rings (WPP) from the late 1950s or early 1960s, where he considered two primitive forms: ✶as(a) and ✶ad(a) (PE17/41). In both cases, the consonant of the primitive word would vanish if the following word began with a consonant, either as > ah > a or ad > að > a. However, there would be remnants of the primitive consonant before words beginning with a vowel, such as ah Edhel or að Edhel “and an Elf”. This is similar to how the English indefinite article “a” is “a” before a consonant but “an” before a vowel.

In the previously mentioned note Tolkien eventually settled on a(ð), and this was also the etymology of “and” in Quenya Notes (QN) from 1957 (PE17/145). In writings elsewhere Tolkien seems to have used a(h). For example, ah appeared in the phrase Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth “The Debate of Finrod and Andreth” written around 1959 (MR/329). In notes from 1968, Tolkien had Common Eldarin as “and” producing S. ah which became a before consonants (VT43/30).

Possible Mutations: In notes from 1969, Tolkien said that conjunctions like “and, or” induced mutation in Sindarin (PE23/142). The exact mutation would depend on the etymology of the word. The a(ð)-variant would induce stop mutation and the a(h)-variant would induce sibilant mutation, as described in Tolkien’s notes on the etymology of this word mentioned above (PE17/41).

One complication for the etymology of a was the phrase Daur a Berhael, Conin en Annûn “Frodo and Sam, princes of the west” (LotR/953). Here the name Perhael “Samwise” clearly undergoes soft mutation. Tolkien noticed this in his notes on the phrase, saying: “a·Berhael. ‘And’ cannot therefore be [derived from] arĭ! aŋa. ā̆. {an >>} ŋ̃a [and later in the same context] ‘And’ ad(a). Q ar. N [sic., should be S] a(ð). a, að before vowel. with soft mutation” (PE17/102).

However, there are no signs of soft mutation after a in other phrases like pedo mellon __a__ minno [rather than vinno] (LotR/305) or si loth __a__ galadh lasto dîn [rather than ’aladh] (LB/354). The earlier ar-variant also seems not to have induced mutation in some documents, such as the King’s Letter [ar Hîr; ar Meril] (SD/128) or Ae Adar Nín [ar díheno] (VT44/21, 28-29).

In the previously mentioned notes on Daur a Berhael, Tolkien seems to have considered another explanation where Daur “Frodo” was also a mutation, with an unmutated form Taur (PE17/102). If so, it may be that the mutations in Daur a Berhael are the result of some other grammatical operation rather than the normal mutation of a “and”.

Other than Daur a Berhael, the only clear example of consonant mutation after the conjunction “and” is ar·phent Rían... “✱and Rían said” from the Túrin Wrapper from the early 1950s (VT50/5). This seems to be an example of liquid mutation for the ar-version of this word.

Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I prefer the a(h)-variant for Sindarin “and”, with sibilant mutation before consonants and ah before vowels. This variant appears in notes from 1968 (VT43/30) and the sibilant mutation occurs only before words beginning with p, t, c, h (→ ph, th, ch, ch) and l, r (→ lh, rh). That means conflict with unmutated examples is minimized. In earlier versions of Eldamo I recommended ignoring mutation entirely for a(h), but since PE23 made it clear that conjunctions induce mutation I now recommend the “least disruptive” mutation: sibilant mutation.

This means a separate explanation is required for Daur a Berhael. For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I assume that soft mutation is used as a marker for Sindarin direct objects, even when those objects do not immediately follow the verb. Thus I assume Daur a Berhael are soft mutations of Taur “Frodo” and Perhael “Samwise” because they are the objects of the verb eglorio “glorify” in the phrase Daur a Berhael, Conin en Annûn, eglerio “Frodo and Sam, princes of the west, glorify (them)”.

There is some evidence that a “and” is omitted in lists of items in Sindarin; see Vyacheslav Stepanov’s article on How to List the Children of Master Samwise Properly for discussion.

Bear in mind that this system is based on a very small number of examples, and could be overturned by new publications.

amrod

masculine name. *High and Lofty

Twin brother of Amras and youngest(?) of the sons of Fëanor (it is unclear which of the twins was born first). The name is a compound of am “up” and the suffixal form -rod of raud “lofty, noble” (PM/353, VT41/10), an adaption of his Quenya name Q. Ambarto (PM/353).

Conceptual Development: In the earliest Lost Tales, this character was first named G. Damrod (LT2/251), and the name remained N. Damrod in Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s (LR/223). It appeared in The Etymologies with the gloss “hammerer of copper”, a combination of N. dam “hammer” and the lenited form of N. rhaud “metal” (Ety/NDAM, RAUTĀ).

The name was changed to S. Amrod in Silmarillion revisions from the 1950s-60s (WJ/197). Elsewhere Tolkien said that Amrod would also have been the proper Sindarin adaption for the name of Ambarto’s cousin Q. Ambaráto, but that Noldorin Elf chose the Sindarin name Aegnor instead (PM/347).

athra-

verb. to cross (to and fro)

A verb for “to cross (to and fro)” based on the root √THAR, also used as a prefix (PE17/14).

Conceptual Development: The Early Noldorin Dictionary of the 1920s had ᴱN. athra- “to face, look in a certain direction, oppose” < ᴱON. anthra- based on ᴱN. ant “face, front”.

Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I would assume this verb (and prefix) is used for either crossing back and forth as in athrabeth “conversation”, or a static crossing such as i iant athra i hîr “the bridge crosses the river”. For crossing in a single direction, I would use [N.] athrada- “to cross, traverse”, as in i adan athrada i eryd “the man crosses the mountains [one way]”. For the Early Noldorin sense “to face” I would use ᴺS. nevra-.

dor-cúarthol

place name. Land of Bow and Helm

The region where Túrin and Beleg campaigned against Morgoth, translated “Land of Bow and Helm” (S/205), a combination dôr “land”, cû “bow”, a variant ar of a “and” with thôl “helm” (SA/cú, thôl).

pirin

noun. flower that opened and shut quickly with any change of light

A word in Definitive Linguistic Notes (DLN) from 1959 for a “flower that opened and shut quickly with any change of light” based on √PIRI “blink” (PE17/146). This flower name was part of an attempt by Tolkien to come up with a new etymology for S. alfirin after he decided that √LA was not a negative element, so that alfirin could no longer mean “immortelle”.

lothlann

place name. Wide and Empty

A great plain in northeast Beleriand translated “Wide and Empty” (S/123). This name is a combination of lost “empty” and land “wide” (Ety/LAD, LUS), where the [[s|[st] became [s] before a consonant]] and then the [[s|medial [s] became [θ] before [l]]].

Conceptual Development: This name first appeared as N. Lothland “Wide and Empty” in Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s (LR/264), but in The Etymologies it also appeared as N. Lhothlann or Lhothlann, reflecting the Noldorin phonetic rule that [[n|initial [r-], [l-] were unvoiced]]. In Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s, the name Lothlann was used for the region south of Mordor along with variant N. Lostladen (TI/313, WR/426), but this use of the name was later abandoned.

Gondolin

A blend of Noldorin-Quenya and Sindarin

_topon. _A blend of Noldorin-Quenya and Sindarin. Tolkien notes that "it is obviously neither Sindarin nor Noldorin" (PE17:29).

ah

preposition/conjunction. and, with

The title Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth is translated as "converse of Finrod and Andreth", but some scholars actually believe this word to be unrelated with the conjunction a.1 , ar "and", and they render it as "with". Other scholars consider that "and" and "with" (in the comitative sense) are not exclusive of each other, and regard ah as the form taken by this conjunction before a vowel. That a, ar and ah are etymologically related has finally been confirmed in VT/43:29-30. Compare also with Welsh, where the coordination "and" also takes different forms whether it occurs before a vowel or a consonant (respectively ac and a). In written Welsh, a often triggers the aspirate mutation: bara a chaws "bread and cheese". This usage is seldom applied in colloquial Welsh (Modern Welsh §510)

ann-

prefix. long and far

_ pref. _long and far. Only preserved in certain compounds, owing to competition with ann 'gift' and ann(on) 'gate'.

ar díheno ammen i úgerth vin

and forgive us our trespasses

The seventh line of Ae Adar Nín, Tolkien’s Sindarin translation of the Lord’s Prayer (VT44/21). The first word ar is a form of a “and”. The second word díheno is the imperative form of díhena- “to forgive”, followed by ammen “for us”, a combination of an “to, for” and men “us”.

The fourth word is the definite article i “the”, followed by the plural form úgerth of úgarth “trespass, ✱misdeed” and the lenited form vin of the possessive pronoun min “ours”. The adjectival elements follow the noun as is usual in Sindarin. See the entry for the second line of this prayer for a discussion of the use of the definite article i “the” before the possessed noun in this phrase.

Decomposition: Broken into its constituent elements, this phrase would be:

> ar díhen-o am-men i úgerth vin [← min] = “✱and forgive-(imperative) for-us the trespasses ours”

Conceptual Development: Tolkien initially wrote the (singular) form ugarth “trespass” after the verb before deleting it and writing the rest of the phrase, which may help explain why the definite article is not in its usual plural form before vowels: in. Tolkien first wrote the unlenited form min of the pronoun “our” before replacing it with the lenited form vin. In both min and vin, the vowel i was short where it was long in the previous line of the prayer, but this may have been a slip.

athra

adverb. to and fro; cross to and fro

adv. to and fro; cross to and fro (as a river ford). . This gloss was rejected.

fain

white and shining

_adj. _white and shining, white, shimmering. Q. fanya. >> fân, fanui

grond

adjective. very weighty and ponderous

adj. very weighty and ponderous. >> gronn

grond

noun. 'very weighty and ponderous'

prop. n. 'very weighty and ponderous', Morgoth's mace or hammer. >> grond, gronn

gronn

adjective. very weighty and ponderous

adj. very weighty and ponderous. >> grond, Grond

gwaith

noun. a 'people' associated by place and occupation

_n. _a 'people' associated by place and occupation. >> lî, rim, -waith

gûl

evil and necromantic arts

_n. _evil and necromantic arts, black arts, sorcery. A loan from B.S. Tolkien notes that "gūl in B.S. is probably from S.". Q. ñūle.

iarwain ben-adar

masculine name. Oldest and Fatherless

Fuller title of Tom Bombadil, loosely translated “oldest and fatherless” (LotR/265). This first word is the name Iarwain, and the second is a combination of the lenited form of the prefix pen “without” and the noun adar “father” (PE17/34).

nor-

verb. run (of men and animals using legs : not of fluids

_v. _run (of men and animals using legs : not of fluids, etc.). Pret. onur. >> noro, northa-

aran gondor ar arnor ar hîr i mbair annui

king of Gondor and Arnor and Lord of the Westlands

pedo mellon a minno

speak, friend, and enter; (alternately) say ‘friend’ and enter

alfirin

noun/adjective. name of a flower, bell-like and running through many soft and gentle colours

ann-thennath

noun. a verse mode, lit. "long-shorts" (alternance of long and short vowels, or rather alternance of long and short verse units, possibly of masculine and feminine rhymes)

The word is not translated by Tolkien. Refer to Tolkien's Legendarium p. 115 for a discussion of its probable meaning

ar iorhael, gelir, cordof, ar baravorn, ionnath dîn

and Frodo, Merry, Pippin and Hamfast his sons

@@@ should be revised to use v3 of the letter from AotM

ar meril bess dîn, ar elanor, meril, glorfinniel, ar eirien sellath dîn

and Rose his wife; and Elanor, Rose, Goldilocks and Daisy his daughters

@@@ should be revised to use v3 of the letter from AotM

arphent

noun. "and (he/she) said"

estel

noun. hope, trust, a temper of mind, steady fixed in purpose, and difficult to dissuade and unlikely to fall into despair or abandon its purpose

plad

noun. palm, flat of the hand, hand held upwards or forwards, flat and tensed (with fingers and thumb closed or spread)

a

and

a, or ah when the next word begins in a vowel: Finrod ah Andreth, Finrod and Andreth. In some sources, Tolkien uses ar as the conjunction "and", but a(h) would seem to be the proper Sindarin form.

a

and

or ah when the next word begins in a vowel: Finrod ah Andreth, Finrod and Andreth. In some sources, Tolkien uses ar as the conjunction "and", but a(h) would seem to be the proper Sindarin form.

tuilu-

verb. to bud, open (of flowers and leaves)

A neologism coined by Paul Strack in 2018 specifically for Eldamo inspired by ᴹQ. tuilu- and derived from ✶tuilu-, both of the same meaning (PE22/114, 136). However, we don’t know how u-verbs are inflected in Sindarin, so Elaran suggested the easier-to-conjugate ᴺS. tuila- as an alternative.

ulunn

deformed and hideous creature

*ulunn (monster), pl. ylynn. (The archaic form ulund and the later form ulun is cited in LR:396 s.v. Ú

ulunn

deformed and hideous creature

*ulunn (monster), pl. ylynn. (The archaic form ulund and the later form ulun is cited in LR:396 s.v. Ú _(see also

tuila-

verb. to bud, open (of flowers and leaves)

gochest

noun. brother and brother, brother and sister, etc., *a set of siblings

graug

powerful, hostile and terrible creature

(demon) graug (i **raug), pl. groeg (in groeg), coll. pl. grogath** (WJ:415)

graug

hostile, powerful and terrible creature

graug (i **raug), pl. groeg (in groeg), coll. pl. grogath** (WJ:415). See DEMON.

graug

powerful, hostile and terrible creature

graug (i **raug), pl. groeg (in groeg), coll. pl. grogath**_ (WJ:415) _See DEMON.

graug

terrible, hostile and powerful creature

graug (i **raug), pl. groeg (in groeg), coll. pl. grogath** (WJ:415). See DEMON.

heria

begin suddenly and vigorously

heria- (i cheria, i cheriar) (have an impulse, be compelled to do something, set vigorously out to do) (VT45:22)

heria

begin suddenly and vigorously

heria- (i cheria, i cheriar) (have an impulse, be compelled to do something, set vigorously out to do) (VT45:22).

host

hundred and forty-four

host (i chost, o chost) (gross), pl. hyst (i chyst)

taen

long (and thin)

taen (lenited daen, no distinct pl. form). Note: a homophone means ”height, summit of high mountain”.

taen

long (and thin)

taen (lenited daen, no distinct pl. form). Note: a homophone means ”height, summit of high mountain”.

ulunn

noun. monster, deformed and hideous creature