loth

noun. flower, single blossom; inflorescence, head of small flowers

The best known Sindarin word for “flower”, usable individually or collectively. It behaves somewhat like the English word “sheep” that is its own plural, since loth can likewise refer to a single flower or a group of flowers. It occasionally takes the form -los in compounds like Edhellos “Elven-flower” (PM/346) and mallos [< ✱malthoth] “golden flower” (PE17/100), probably due to the dissimilation of dental spirants with final -th becoming -s due to a preceding dh or th.

Conceptual Development: The earliest iteration of this word was G. lôs “flower” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, which Tolkien said was related to G. lass “leaf, petal” (GL/52, 55). This word also appeared in the Name-list to the Fall of Gondolin (PE15/28). In drafts to the Lays of Beleriand from the 1920s, Tolkien had ᴱN. loth “flower”, also translated “lily” in the name ᴱN. Loth-a-ladwen “Lily of the Plain” (LB/149).

In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien had N. lhoth “flower(s)” under the root ᴹ√LOT(H) (Ety/LOT(H); EtyAC/LOT(H)). In The Etymologies as published in The Lost Road the gloss was “flower” (LR/370). Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne indicated the actual gloss was “flower(s)” in their Addenda and Corrigenda to the Etymologies so that lhoth could be use singly or collectively, and it was followed by a specifically singular form N. lhothod (VT45/29).

In Tolkien’s later writings it became S. loth and was mostly glossed “flower” (PE17/26, 48, 161) but the notion that it could be used collectively appeared in some notes from the late 1960s where Tolkien said:

> ... loth, meaning “inflorescence, a head of small flowers”. Loth is actually most often used collectively in Sindarin, equivalent to goloth; and a single flower denoted by elloth (er-loth) or lotheg (VT42/18).

Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I assume loth can be used individually or collectively and thus functions as its own plural, though in compounds it is generally singular. If necessary, a collection of flowers may be designated goloth, and an individual flower by elloth or lotheg.

loth

noun. flower, inflorescence, a head of small flowers

The noun is collective, a single flower being lotheg

loth

noun. a flower

a flower (of defined shape). Q. lóte. >> Lothlórien, Lothlúrien, Lothlýrian

loth

noun. flower

_n._flower, a single bloom. Q. lóte, lōs.

lothlórien

place name. Dreamflower, (lit.) Lórien of the Blossom

The full name of Lórien, loosely translated by Treebeard as “Dreamflower” (LotR/467), more accurately “Lórien of the Blossom” (RC/300). This name is a combination of loth “flower” with its shorter name Lórien (SA/loth, PE17/48). The translation “Dreamflower” alluded to the Quenya name that inspired it: Q. Lórien “✱Dream Lands” (PE17/48).

Conceptual Development: This name was already N. Lothlórien when it first appeared in Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s (TI/218). In his Words, Phrases and Passages from the Lord of the Rings (WPP) from the late 1950s or early 1960s, Tolkien indicated that the pure Sindarin form of the name would have been Lothlewerian(d), plural Lothlewerien(d), if it were derived from the sense “gold” as its Nandorin name Lórinand and it would have been Lothlýrian, plural Lothlúrien, if it were derived from the sense “dream” as the Quenya name Lórien (PE17/48).

lotheg

noun. (single) flower

si loth a galadh lasto dîn

*here flower and tree listen [in] silence

The third phrase of Lúthien’s Song (LB/354). Three translations of this phrase are:

• Patrick Wynne: “✱Here/now let flower and tree listen in silence/below” (NTTLS/11)

• David Salo: “✱now flower and tree, listen silent” (GS/211)

• Bertrand Bellet and Benjamin Babut: “✱then flower and tree, listen in silence” (GTLC)

The first word si resembles the Sindarin word sí “here”, though that word usually appears with a long vowel. All of Wynne, Salo, Bellet and Babut suggested instead that it might in this particular case be used temporally like its Quenya cognate Q. sí “now”. However, in notes published after all of their analyses, Tolkien stated that S. sí only meant “here”, and used hí for “now” (PE17/27). I think it is safer to assume that si means “here”.

The second word is loth “flower” joined by the conjunction a “and” to galadh “tree”. The fifth word lasto is the imperative form of the verb lasta- “to listen”. The last word is probably the noun dîn “silence”, though Wynne suggested it might be some form of di “beneath” (NTTLS/9).

edlothia-

verb. to blossom, flower

The sentence from WR/293 is hardly legible and is not translated, but this word is however a plausible form

elloth

noun. (single) flower

goloth

noun. inflorescence, a head of small flowers

loth

flower

loth, pl. lyth (but loth is also glossed ”blossom” and may itself function as a collective term: all the flowers of a plant. For individual flowers cf. the following:)

loth

flower

pl. lyth (but loth is also glossed ”blossom” and may itself function as a collective term: all the flowers of a plant. For individual flowers cf. the following:)

loth

blossom

loth (see

loth

blossom

(see

lotheg

single flower

lothod (”singulars” derived from the more collective term loth; it is unclear whether lotheg, lothod can themselves have ”plural” forms. If so it would be lethig, lethyd, for archaic löthig, löthyd.) (VT42:18, VT45:29) Another word for a single flower is elloth (pl. ellyth) (VT42:18). An alternative to loth is loss (construct los; pl. lyss), but the form loth seems to be more common (and loss also means ”fallen snow” and ”wilderness”).

Loth i-Lonnath

noun. Flower of the Havens

lossoth

snow-men

(a coll. pl.)

edlothia

flower

(verb) #edlothia- (i edlothia, in edlothiar) (to blossom);

edlothia

flower

(i edlothia, in edlothiar) (to blossom);

edlothia

blossom

(verb) #edlothia- (i edlothia, in edlothiar) (flower);

edlothia

blossom

(i edlothia, in edlothiar) (flower);

edlothiad

flowering

(blossoming), pl. edlothiaid if there is a pl.**

edlothiad

blossoming

(flowering), pl. edlothiaid if there is a pl.

goloth

flower

(i ’oloth) (collection of flowers), pl. gelyth (i ngelyth = i ñelyth). Archaic pl. gölyth. Also in the form gwaloth (i ’waloth), pl. gwelyth (in gwelyth). Also goloth.

gwaloth

collection of flowers

(i ’waloth) (blossom), pl. gwelyth (in gwelyth). Also goloth (i ’oloth) (blossom), pl. gelyth (i ngelyth = i ñelyth). Archaic pl. gölyth. (VT42:18). Specific flowers, see

loss

snow

(construct los; pl. lyss if there is a pl.) (RGEO:61-62, Letters:278, VT42:18) (Note: homophones mean ”flower” [more commonly loth] and ”wilderness”.).

loss

fallen snow

(construct los; pl. lyss if there is a pl.) (RGEO:61-62, Letters:278, VT42:18) (Note: homophones mean ”flower” [more commonly loth] and ”wilderness”.)

loss

wilderness

(construct los; pl. lyss). (Note: homophones mean ”flower” [more commonly loth] and ”fallen snow”.)

rhovannor

wilderness

1) rhovannor (?i throvannor or ?i rovannor the lenition product of rh is uncertain), pl. rhovennyr (?idh rovennyr) (VT46:10); 2) Eriador (a region in Middle-earth), pl. eriadyr if there is a pl.; 3) gwaith (i **waith) (also meaning manhood, manpower, troop of able-bodied men, host, regiment, people, region), no distinct pl. form except when marked as pl. by article (in gwaith). 4) loss (construct los; pl. lyss). (Note: homophones mean ”flower” [more commonly loth**] and ”fallen snow”.)

alf

noun. flower

elanor

noun. a flower, a kind of enlarged pimpernel bearing golden and silver flowers

glawar

blossom

n. (golden) blossom. Q. loar, lávar.

los

noun. snow

loss

noun. snow

The usual Sindarin word for “snow” (Let/278; PE17/161; RGEO/62), especially fallen and long-lying snow (VT42/18), derived from primitive ✶lossē (PE17/161) based on the root √(G)LOS (PE17/26; RGEO/62). It sometimes appeared in a shorter form los (PE17/26, 161). See the entry on [s] for a discussion of these long vs. short variations; for purposes of Neo-Sindarin loss is probably preferable.

Conceptual Development: Perhaps the earliest iteration of this word was G. glui “snow” from the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, likely related to nearby words like G. gloss “white” (GL/40). In The Etymologies of the 1930s, N. gloss from the root ᴹ√GOLOS was both noun “snow” and adjective “snow-white” (Ety/GOLÓS), but in later writing Tolkien split these into S loss “snow” (see above) and S. gloss “(dazzling) white” (RGEO/62; VT42/18).

lúth

noun. blossom

_ n. Bot. _blossom, inflorescence. >> Lúthien

mallos

noun. a golden flower

ninglor

noun. golden water-flower, gladden

niphredil

noun. a pale winter flower, snowdrop

rhovan

noun. wilderness

dannen

fallen

dannen (lenited dhannen, pl. dennin); see FALL. Notice the homophone dannen ”ebb, low tide”, which however has different mutations.

dannen

fallen

(lenited dhannen, pl. dennin); see

dannen

fall

”ebb, low tide”, which however has different mutations.

eriador

wilderness

(a region in Middle-earth), pl. eriadyr if there is a pl.

gloss

white as snow, dazzling white

(in compounds -los), lenited ’loss; pl. glyss.  

gwaith

wilderness

(i ’waith) (also meaning manhood, manpower, troop of able-bodied men, host, regiment, people, region), no distinct pl. form except when marked as pl. by article (in gwaith).

lossen

snowy

(pl. lessin, for archaic lössin). Adj.

nínim

snowdrop

(”white tear”), no distinct pl. form; coll. pl. nínimmath. – The niphredil seems to be a flower similar to the snowdrop (no distinct pl. form; coll. pl. niphrediliath)

rhovannor

wilderness

(?i throvannor or ?i rovannor – the lenition product of rh is uncertain), pl. rhovennyr (?idh rovennyr) (VT46:10)

loth

noun. inflorescence

lot(h)

root. flower

This root and ones like it were connected to flowers for all of Tolkien’s life. The earliest manifestation of this root was ᴱ√LOHO or ᴱ√LO’O from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s; the entry for ᴱ√LOHO appears immediately below ᴱ√LO’O, and Tolkien indicates they are related roots, both extended from ᴱ√OLO “tip” (QL/55). These roots include derivatives like ᴱQ. lōte “flower”, ᴱQ. lotōrea “flourishing” and ᴱQ. lokta- “sprout, bud, put forth leaves or flowers”. There are also derivatives of these roots in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon: G. lost “blossom, bloom”, G. lothli “floret”, G. luitha- “to bloom” (GL/54-55), though G. lôs “flower” was said to be unrelated, connected to G. lass “leaf” instead (GL/55). ᴱQ. losse “rose” probably had a similar derivation (QL/56).

This confusion of √LOT(H) and √LOS carried forward into Tolkien’s later writings. In The Etymologies of the 1930s ᴹ√LOT(H) was given as the root for “flower” (Ety/LOT(H)), but this entry originally included a variant ᴹ√LOS (EtyAC/LOT(H)). Tolkien then said ᴹQ. losse “blossom” (< ᴹ√LOT(H)) was “usually, owing to association with olosse snow, only used of white blossom” (Ety/LOT(H)), where ᴹQ. olosse was derived from ᴹ√GOLOS “✱snow, white” (Ety/GOLÓS). This intermingling carried forward into etymological notes from the late 1950s or early 1960s, where Tolkien said (PE17/26):

> The stems √LŎS, √LOTH, √LOT are much entangled both for formal reasons, and because of actual associations of meaning (probably from beginning of Primitive Quendian and explaining the approach of the forms). Quenya word for “flower, a single bloom” is lóte, but S loth (< lotho/a), but Quenya also has lōs. Q. for snow is losse (S los).

These associations were also mentioned in etymological notes on roots for flowers from this same period, where Tolkien clarified that √LOT, √LOTH were the roots for “flower” and √LOS for “snow” (PE17/160-161). These roots were mentioned again in notes associated with The Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor from 1967-69 (VT42/18):

> S. loss is a derivative of (G)LOS “white”; but loth is from LOT. Sindarin used loss as a noun, but the strengthened form gloss as an adjective “(dazzling) white”. loth was the only derivative of LOT that it retained, probably because other forms of the stem assumed a phonetic shape that seemed inappropriate, or were confusible with other stems (such as LUT “float”), e.g. ✱lod, ✱lûd. loth is from a diminutive lotse and probably also from derivative lotta-.

In this last note, Tolkien seems to have abandoned √LOTH, explaining S. loth “flower” as derived from √LOT via ✱lotse. In any case, starting in the 1930s Tolkien was consistent that the roots for “flower” and “snow” were distinct but often confused, and that snow-words were derived from roots like √(G)LOS and flower words from roots like √LOT(H), though he waffled a bit on the exact details.

lotho/a

noun. flower

lotse

noun. flower

galab

root. flower

galmā

noun. flower

lossē

noun. snow

roban

noun. wilderness

sris

root. snow

An apparently verbal root as √SRIS “snow” appearing in etymological notes from around 1959 with derivatives like Q. hrisse “fall of snow” and Q. hríza “it is snowing”; it replaced a deleted root √SRITH “snow” (PE17/168).

srith

root. snow

ñwa-lōth

noun. inflorescence, mass of flowers (on one plant)

lhoth

noun. flower, inflorescence, a head of small flowers

The noun is collective, a single flower being lotheg

lothod

noun. (single) flower

lhothod

noun. (single) flower

gwaloth

noun. blossom, collection of flowers

This form replaced deleted goloth in the manuscript of The Etymologies, see VT/45:29. The deleted form is however also later attested in VT/42:18

lhoss

noun. wilderness

dannen

noun. fallen

dannen

adjective. fallen

The passive participle of the verb N. dant- “fall” in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√DA(N)T (Ety/DAT).

Neo-Sindarin: The later Sindarin form of the verb is danna- whose passive participle would ordinarily be dannannen; compare covannen the passive participle of cova- (PE17/158). But I think dannen “fallen” may remain viable as a reduction of dannannen. Another possibility is ✱dannan; compare the archaic passive participle of †covan(n) of cova- (PE17/158).

nifredil

noun. a pale winter flower, snowdrop

rhofan

noun. wilderness

rhofan

noun. wilderness

rhofannor

place name. Wilderness

olos

noun. inflorescence, mass of flowers (on one plant), inflorescence, mass of flowers

A word for “inflorescence, mass of flowers (on one plant)” in notes on flowers from the same bundle containing Definitive Linguistic Notes (DLN) written in 1959, with forms lōs and olos (olōs-) which were both based on √LOTH “flower”, the latter with the prefix o- “together” (PE17/160). There was also a form {lūsse, lōs >>} lōs in notes from around 1967, appearing near lótë “flower, a single blossom” and (deleted) {loste} “blossom (conglomeration of small flowers)” (PE17/26). The intended meaning of lōs in these 1967 notes isn’t clear other than that it was flower-related.

Conceptual Development: The Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had ᴱQ. lokte (lokte-) “blossom, flowers in bunches or clusters” under the early root ᴱ√LOHO (QL/55). In the contemporaneous Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa it was glossed “flower-cluster” (PME/55) and in the Gnomish Lexicon it was lokse “bunch, cluster” (GL/54).

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would mainly used olos (olós-) for “inflorescence, mass of flowers”; compare olass(i)ë “foliage, collection of leaves”. I would use it for any mass of flowers, as opposed olótë “bloom, the flowers collectively of a single plant” from the late 1960s (VT42/18).

lós

flower

lós (þ?) noun "flower" (PE17:26). If this is to be the cognate of Sindarin loth, as the source suggests, the older Quenya form would be *lóþ.

lótë

flower

lótë noun "flower", mostly applied to larger single flowers (LOT(H), LT1:259, VT42:18). (The shorter form -lot occurs in compounds, e.g. fúmellot, q.v.) In the names Ninquelóte *"White-flower" (= Nimloth), Vingilótë "Foam-flower", the name of Eärendil's ship (SA:loth), also in Lótessë fifth month of the year, "May" (Appendix D). See also olótë, lotsë.

alalbë

noun. inflorescence

alalmë

inflorescence

alalmë (1) noun "inflorescence" (PE17:153), cf. alma #2.

alalmë

noun. inflorescence

A word appearing as {alalbe >>} alalme “inflorescence” in notes from around 1959, derived from √GAL (PE17/153). Compare this to [ᴹQ./ᴱQ.] alalme “elm” from The Etymologies of the 1930s and the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s (Ety/ÁLAM; QL/29); in the 1959 notes Tolkien decided “elm” was albe.

Neo-Quenya: In these 1959 notes, the root √GAL had a connection to flowers seen nowhere else; see alma “flower” for discussion. As such, I think this “inflorescence” word was a transient idea, and I would use other words like lós and olos “inflorescence” for purposes of Neo-Quenya.

alba

noun. flower

alma

flower

alma (2) "flower" (PE17:153), said to be the "usual Quenya word" or "general Quenya word" (i.e. for flower), but its coexistence with #1 is problematic. Compare lós, lótë, lotsë, indil.

alma

noun. flower

A word for “flower” derived from primitive ✶galmā in notes on flowers in the same bundle containing Definitive Linguistic Notes (DLN) from 1959 (PE17/153). Initially Tolkien said alma meant both “a blessed thing and a flower”, then said that Q. almë was “a blessed thing” and alba was “flower” (< √GAL-AB), before saying that alma was “flower”. Tolkien implied that alma was a usual or general word for “flower” in Quenya. These same notes also said the word alda < ✶galadā was used mainly of flowering trees. It seems in this instance Tolkien connected the root √GAL (normally just “grow, flourish”) specifically to flowers, giving it the gloss “bloom” along with other glosses like “grow, flourish, be vigorous”.

Neo-Quenya: Elsewhere alda was the general word for a “tree” and √GAL had no special connection to flowers. I think alma as a “flower” word was a transient idea. I would use lótë “flower” instead for purposes of Neo-Quenya, since it is much better established.

fauta-

verb. to snow

fauta- vb. *"to snow" (actually glossed fauta = "it snows") (GL:35)

hriz-

verb. to snow

#hriz- vb. "to snow", impersonal, given in the form hríza "it is snowing". Normally z would turn to r in Exilic Quenya, but since two r's close to one another were disliked, it may be that hriz- became *hris- instead (compare razë "sticks out" becoming rasë instead of **rarë, PE19:73) Past tense hrinsë (with s from the original root SRIS) and another form which the editor tentatively reads as hrissë (the development ns > ss is regular). (PE17:168)

insil

noun. flower

TQ. flower, lily

insil

noun. flower, lily

lossë

blossom

lossë (2) noun "blossom" ("usually, owing to association with olosse snow, only used of white blossom") (LOT(H) )

lóte

noun. flower

ravanda

wilderness

?ravanda noun?, a form cited by Tolkien to elucidate the Noldorin word rhofan "wilderness"; it is not clear whether ravanda is meant as a Quenya cognate or just as an etymological (Old Noldorin?) form (VT46:10)

hravanda

noun. wilderness

inzil

noun. flower, lily

A noun meaning “flower” or more specifically “lily” (PE19/99). It appears as an element in Adûnaic names from the 1940s (Rôthinzil, SD/360) and later (Inziladûn, LotR/1035).