ir

root. desire, long for, desire, long for; [ᴹ√] desirable, beautiful

Tolkien experimented with a variety of roots for “desire, desirable”, some in connection to the name Idril. Perhaps the earliest iteration of this root is indicated by the Gnomish word G. irn “desired, wished for” (GL/52), but given its other related forms such as G. îr- “will, intend to”, G. irm “wish, intention, resolve” and ᴱQ irya “wish” (GL/52; PE13/116), the (unattested) early root ✱ᴱ√IRI probably meant “wish, intend”.

In The Etymologies of the 1930s there was a root ᴹ√ĪR “desirable, beautiful”, but it had no derivatives (EtyAC/ĪR). Elsewhere in the document ᴹQ. íre “desire” was derived from the root ᴹ√ID (Ety/ID), perhaps a new iteration of the (hypothetical) early root ✱ᴱ√ITI “precious”. This second root ᴹ√ID had various derivatives having to do with both thoughts and desires, such as ᴹQ. indo “heart, mood”, N. ind “inner thought, meaning, heart”, ᴹQ. írima “lovely, desirable”, and N. idhren “pondering, wise, thoughtful”. Among its derivatives Tolkien also gave N. Idhril, untranslated but probably meaning “✱Desirable One”.

The problem with this last derivation is that in the contemporaneous narratives, Tolkien generally gave her name as Idril (SM/36, LR/141), which was the form of her name dating all the way in The Lost Tales of the 1910s (LT2/164). When writing the appendices to The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien again used Idril (LotR/1034).

This form of the name could not be derived from √ID, and Tolkien wrestled with this question in his Notes on Names (NN) written in 1957 (PE17/112). Acknowledging the problem, Tolkien first considered introducing a new root √IT “(great) enhancement” to serve as the basic of Idril, but he reversed himself, giving √ID “desire, long for” as a better basis for the name, saying: “Decision: [S.] íđril, Q Írilde”. But then he crossed all this through, and considered reintroducing √IT with a modified meaning “repeat, multiply” (PE17/112).

Based on The Shibboleth of Fëanor written 1968, it seems Tolkien stuck with the notion of basing Idril on a √IT, though he revised the meaning of the root again to “glitter” or “sparkle” (PM/363). As for √ID, the meaning “desire” seems to have been transferred back to √IR, which Tolkien gave with the gloss “desire” in notes on roots having to do with “beautiful” written in 1959-60 (PE17/155). Also, around 1957 Tolkien introduced a new root √IN-I-D to serve as the basis for Q. indo “mind” (PE17/155). The various words having to do with “thoughts” derived from 1930s ᴹ√ID may have been transferred to √IN-ID, a possibility suggested by Elaran in a Discord chat on January 26, 2018. If so, Tolkien may have abandon √ID, using only √IR and √INID going forward.

Assuming the above reasoning is correct, the conceptual development would be 1910s ✱ᴱ√IRI “wish, intend” >> 1930s ᴹ√ID “desire, thoughts” >> 1957 √ID “desire” >> 1959 √IR “desire”, with thought words transferred to √IN-ID (later √I-NID) and the name Idril transferred to √IT “glitter”.

irit

root. peck, prick

anga

root. iron

The root √ANGA was established as the Primitive Elvish root for “iron” quite early in Tolkien’s writing, with the derivatives Q. anga and S. ang. The form ANGA appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s (QL/31) serving as both the root and the Early Qenya form, and G. ang appeared in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon (GL/19). The root ᴹ√ANGĀ reappeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s (Ety/ANGĀ), and it appeared once more in notes associated with The Shibboleth of Fëanor from 1968 (PM/366).

angā

noun. iron

rik

root. twist, twist; [ᴹ√] jerk, sudden move, flirt

This root first appeared as unglossed ᴱ√RIQI or ᴱ√RIKI in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives ᴱQ. riqi- “wrench, twist” and ᴱQ. marikta “wrist” (QL/80). This root also had derivatives in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon such G. raig “awry, twisted, distorted, perverse, wrong, leering (of face)”, G. rig “a snarl, a sneer”, and G. rig- “twist, contort” (GL/64-65). These forms were also linked to G. grinn “ankle (talgrin), wrist (mabrin)” (GL/42) and G. arc “fierce, harsh, ill tempered; awkward, difficult” < ᴱ✶r̄k- (GL/20). The latter reappeared as ᴱN. arch “rough, fierce” >> “rough” in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s (GL/137), though in the somewhat later Early Noldorin Dictionary, ᴱN. arch “rough” was given a new derivation from ᴱ✶a-rak-wa (PE13/160), and thus was no longer tied to ᴱ√RIKI.

The root ᴹ√RIK reappeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s (EtyAC/RIK(H)) but it was revised to ᴹ√RIK(H) “jerk, sudden move, flirt” with derivatives like ᴹQ. rinke “flourish, quick stroke” and ᴹQ. rihta-/N. rhitha- “jerk, twitch” (Ety/RIK(H)). In notes from 1959-60 the root appeared again as √RIK “twist” with a single derivative Q. raika “crooked” (VT39/7), a word that in The Etymologies of the 1930s was derived from ᴹ√RAYAK. This 1959-60 appearance seems to be harkening back to its meaning in the 1910s.

id

root. desire, long for

itith

root. annoy, *itch, irritate; peck, bite (of flies)

min

cardinal. one

imin

masculine name. One

pathnā

adjective. smooth