cas

noun. head, head, [ᴱQ.] top, summit

This is the Quenya word for “head”, with a stem form of car- because medial s generally became z and then r, but the s was preserved when final. This word can refer to the head of people and animals, as well as the metaphorical “head” (or top) of other things, in much the same way that Q. tál “foot” can refer to their base.

Conceptual Development: This word was established very early in Tolkien’s writing, being derived from the root ᴱ√KASA “head” all the way back in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s (QL/45), but its exact form varied as Tolkien changed his mind on the phonetic development of s in Quenya. Its form in the Qenya Lexicon was in fact ᴱQ. kar (kas-), since in Early Qenya period medial s survived and it was final s that became r (PE12/26). This kar (kas-) was the usual word for head in the 1910s and 20s, but in the typescript version of the Early Qenya Grammar Tolkien instead revised it to ᴱQ. kas (kast-) “head” (PE14/72 and note #5).

In noun declensions from the late 1920s and early 1930s, Tolkien instead had cas (car-), reflecting a conceptual shift in the phonologic development of s (PE13/112-113; PE21/22). However, for reasons unclear, the form ᴹQ. kár (kas-) was restored in The Etymologies written around 1937 under the root ᴹ√KAS “head” (Ety/KEM), despite s > z > r being the normal medial phonetic development in this period (PE19/33). This abnormal form slipped into The Lord of the Rings itself as part of the name Q. Eldacar “Elfhelm” (LotR/1038).

Tolkien generally used the form cas for “head” in his later writings (PE19/103; VT49/17), but in his notes on Words, Phrases and Passages from the Lord of the Rings from the late 1950s or early 1960s, Tolkien was forced to contrive another explanation for Eldacar:

> What is -kar in names. How could it stand for helm? E.g. as stem ✱kāsā (√KAS, head) would give kāra, but in compound forms -kāsă > -kas. Would not an ă be lost before voicing of s or at least before z > r (PE17/114).

In this note Tolkien considered having Q. carma “helm” < kas-mā, but discarded the idea since he felt karma “tool or weapon” < KAR “do, make” + mā was the more likely meaning. He then said “Eldă|kāzā in compounds to -kār(ă) > -kar” despite its phonological implausibility, and indeed kāza/kára appeared in a discussion of helms within 1964 notes on Dalath Dirnen (DD: PE17/188).

As for the sense “top”, there is better evidence for it among Tolkien’s earlier writings, such as the glosses “head, top” in Early Qenya Grammar of the 1920s (PE14/79) and the early-1930s allative form kasta “up (to the top)” (PE21/22). I see no reason to assume this alternate meaning did not survive in Tolkien’s later conception of the language.

cassa

helmet

cassa ("k")noun "helmet" (KAS; though spelt cassa also in the Etymologies as printed in LR, VT45:19 indicates that Tolkien's own spelling was kassa). Cf. carma in a later source.

cár

head

cár (cas-) ("k")noun "head" (KAS).The given stem-form appears doubtful within the phonological framework of LotR-style Quenya. Probably we should read cas with stem car- (PE14:69 indeed reads "kas head, pl. kari", and VT49:17 quotes the sg. "kas" from a post-LotR source). Compare other forms found in late sources: hlas "ear" with stem hlar- (PE17:62) and olos "dream", pl. olori (UT:396). In Tolkiens early "Qenya", post-vocalic -s became -r at the end of words but was preserved when another vowel followed. His later scheme either lets -r appear in both positions, or reverses the scenario altogether (hence olos, olor-). It would seem that the forms cár, cas- were distractedly carried over into the Etymologies from the Qenya Lexicon (kar, kas-, QL:45) even though they presuppose an earlier version of the phonology. An apparent variant form in late material, cára from earlier cáza ("k"), however fits the later phonology since intervocalic s would become z > r (PE17:188).

casar

noun. Dwarf

cas(ta)

adverb. to(wards) the top, upwards

casallië

proper name. *Dwarf-folk

A term for the Dwarves as a race (WJ/388), a compound of Casar “Dwarf” and lië “people”, with the r assimilated to l.

castamir

masculine name. Castamir

The usurper who took the throne of Gondor from Eldacar for a decade until he was in turn overthrown (LotR/1047). The final element of his name is probably mírë “jewel”, but the meaning of the initial element is unclear.

ca(na)sta

fraction. one fourth, one fourth, *quarter

caista

fraction. one tenth

castol(o)

noun. helmet

caista

one tenth

[caista] ("k"), fraction "one tenth" (1/10), also cast, an unusual Quenya form since the language does not normally tolerate two consonants finally (VT48:11). Compound caistanótië ("k") "decimal system" (in counting) (ibid.) However, Tolkien later rejected the root KAYAN "ten" in favour of KWAYA(M), changing the cardinal "ten" from cainen to quain, quëan (VT48:13). Apparently we must therefore read *quaista as the new fraction "one tenth".

canasta

one fourth

canasta ("k")fraction "one fourth" (1/4). Also cansat, casta (VT48:11)

cansat

one fourth

cansat ("k")fraction "one fourth" (1/4). Also canasta, casta (VT48:11)

cansat

fraction. one fourth

cas

head

cas ("k")"head" (VT49:17), cf. also deleted [cas] ("k")noun "top, summit" (VT45:19). This noun should evidently have the stem-form car-. See cár.

cast

one tenth

[cast] ("k"), fraction "one tenth", but the form is apparently obsolete; see caista. (VT48:11)

cast

fraction. one tenth

casta

one fourth

casta (1) ("k")fraction "one fourth" (1/4). Also canasta, cansat (VT48:11)

casta

cause

casta (2) noun "cause" (reason) (QL:43)

castol

helmet

castol noun "helmet", synonyms tholon (q.v.), sól (q.v), also variant castolo ("k")(PE17:186, 188)

cára

noun. head

harna

helmet

harna (3) noun "helmet" (VT45:21)

harpa

helmet

harpa noun "helmet" (VT45:21)

inga

top, highest point

inga (1) noun "top, highest point" (PM:340), "only applied to shapes pointing upwards...[it] referred primarily to position and could be used of tops relatively broad". Compounded in the nouns aldinga "tree-top" (alda + inga) (VT47:28), ingaran "high-king" (PM:340)

nauco

noun. dwarf

naucon

noun. Dwarf

norno

noun. Dwarf

A word for a Dwarf (WJ/388), a personalized form of the adjective norna “stiff, tough” (WJ/413), patterned after S. dorn.

or

preposition. above, above, [ᴱQ.] upon; on

quaista

one tenth

*quaista, reconstructed/updated fraction "one tenth"; see caista.

sól

helmet

sól, also solma or solos, noun variant words apparently for "helmet", cf. castol, q.v. (PE17:188)

tholon

helmet

tholon noun "helmet", variant of castol (q.v.), though Tolkien might have mistakenly marked it as Quenya instead of Sindarin (PE17:186)

tyar-

cause

tyar- vb. "cause" (KYAR)

tyar-

verb. cause

þolon

noun. helmet

ingëa

adjective. top

@@@ Discord 2022-05-23

quaista

fraction. one tenth

@@@ as suggested by Helge Fauskanger (QQ/quaista)