Quenya 

malo

pollen, yellow powder

malo (1) (stem *malu-, given the primitive form ¤smalu) noun "pollen, yellow powder" (SMAL)

malo

moth

malo (2) (*malu-, pl. malwi) noun "moth" (QL:58)

málo

noun. friend

friend, comrade

Quenya [PE 18:46 PE 18:96] Group: Mellonath Daeron. Published by

málo

friend

málo noun "friend" (MEL, VT49:22)

málo

noun. friend, comrade

Derivations

  • √MEL “love, love, [ᴹ√] love (as friend)” ✧ PE18/096

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
√MEL > mālo[mę̄lō] > [mālō] > [mālo]✧ PE18/096

Variations

  • mālo ✧ PE18/096

meldo

friend, lover

meldo noun "friend, lover". _(VT45:34, quoting a deleted entry in the Etymologies, but cf. the pl. #_meldor in Eldameldor "Elf-lovers", WJ:412) **Meldonya *"my friend" (VT49:38, 40). It may be that meldo is the distinctly masculine form, corresponding to feminine #meldë** (q.v.)

heldo

friend

[heldo, also helmo, fem. heldë, noun "friend" (VT46:3)]

meldë

friend

#meldë noun "friend", feminine (meldenya "my friend" in the Elaine inscription [VT49:40], Tolkien referring to Elaine Griffiths). Compare meldo.

nildo

friend

nildo noun "friend" (apparently masc.; contrast nildë) (NIL/NDIL)

nilmo

friend

nilmo noun "friend" (apparently masc.) (NIL/NDIL)

sermo

friend

sermo noun "friend" (evidently masc., since sermë is stated to be fem.) (SER)

-ndil

friend

-ndil (also -dil) ending occurring in many names, like Amandil, Eärendil; it implies devotion or disinterested love and may be translated "friend" (SA:(noun)dil); this ending is "describing the attitude of one to a person, thing, course or occupation to which one is devoted for its own sake" (Letters:386). Compare -ndur. It is unclear whether the names derived with the ending -ndil are necessarily masculine, though we have no certain example of a woman's name in -ndil; the name Vardilmë (q.v.) may suggest that the corresponding feminine ending is -(n)dilmë.

nildë

friend

nildë noun "friend" (fem.) (NIL/NDIL)

sermë

friend

sermë noun "friend" (fem.) (SER)

seron

friend

seron noun "friend" (SER)

sondo

friend

[sondo noun "friend" (VT46:15)]

-ndur

friend

-ndur (also -dur), ending in some names, like Eärendur; as noted by Christopher Tolkien in the Silmarillion Appendix it has much the same meaning as -ndil "friend"; yet -ndur properly means "servant of" (SA:(noun)dil), "as one serves a legitimate master: cf. Q. arandil king's friend, royalist, beside arandur 'king's servant, minister'. But these often coincide: e.g. Sam's relation to Frodo can be viewed either as in status -ndur, in spirit -ndil." (Letters:286)

-ser

friend

-ser noun "friend" (SER)

malo

noun. moth

Derivations

  • ᴹ√MBAL “?crush, pound, [ᴱ√] crush, *pound; hurt, pain, damage, give maim to”

Sindarin 

mellon

noun. friend

Sindarin [Ety/372, LotR/II:IV, SD/129-31, Letters/424] Group: SINDICT. Published by

mellon

noun. friend

_ n. _friend. Pedo mellon a minno! 'Say friend and enter'. 

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:41] < _melnā_ < MEL love. Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

mellon

noun. friend

Cognates

  • Q. meldo “friend, lover” ✧ WJ/412

Derivations

  • √MEL “love, love, [ᴹ√] love (as friend)” ✧ SA/mel

Element in

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
√mel- > mellon[meldondo] > [melðondo] > [melðond] > [mellond] > [mellonn] > [mellon]✧ SA/mel

Variations

  • Mellon ✧ LotR/0308; LotRI/Mellon
Sindarin [AotM/062; Let/424; LotR/0305; LotR/0308; LotRI/Mellon; PE17/041; PE17/097; SA/mel; SD/129; VT44/26; WJ/412] Group: Eldamo. Published by

mâl

pollen

mâl (i vâl; construct mal) (yellow powder), pl. mail or archaic mely (i mail, i mely). Older pl. meil (LR:386 s.v. SMAL).

mâl

pollen

(i vâl; construct mal) (yellow powder), pl. mail or archaic mely (i mail, i mely). Older pl. meil (LR:386 s.v. SMAL).

mâl

noun. pollen, yellow powder

Sindarin Group: Eldamo - neologism/adaptations. Published by

mellon

friend

1) (masc.) mellon (i vellon) (lover), pl. mellyn (i mellyn), coll. pl. mellonnath. Also meldir (i veldir), no distinct pl. form except with article (i meldir). Also seron (i heron, o seron), pl. seryn (i seryn), coll. pl. seronnath. 2) (fem.) meldis (i veldis), no distinct pl. form except with article (i meldis), coll. pl. meldissath.

mellon

friend

(i vellon) (lover), pl. mellyn (i mellyn), coll. pl. mellonnath. Also meldir (i veldir), no distinct pl. form except with article (i meldir). Also seron (i heron, o seron), pl. seryn (i seryn), coll. pl. seronnath.

fyvril

noun. moth

Derivations

  • ᴺ✶. PHUM “moth”
Sindarin Group: Eldamo - neologism/adaptations. Published by

meldis

friend

(i veldis), no distinct pl. form except with article (i meldis), coll. pl. meldissath.

Primitive elvish

phum

root. moth

Derivatives

Primitive elvish Group: Eldamo - neologism/reconstructions. Published by

Noldorin 

mâl

noun. pollen, yellow powder

Noldorin [Ety/386, X/EI] Group: SINDICT. Published by

hmâl

noun. pollen, yellow powder

A noun appearing as N. {mâl >>} hmâl “pollen, yellow powder” in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√SMAL “yellow” (Ety/SMAL; EtyAC/SMAL).

Neo-Sindarin: In the 1930s Tolkien vacillated on whether voiceless initial nasals were a feature of Noldorin, but he abandoned them in Sindarin of the 1950s and 60s, for example with ✶snagdē > S. naedh “wound” (PE19/91). Thus, I would adapt this word as ᴺS. mâl “pollen, yellow powder” for purposes of Neo-Sindarin.

Changes

  • mâl → hmâl “pollen, yellow powder” ✧ EtyAC/SMAL

Cognates

  • ᴹQ. malo “pollen, yellow powder” ✧ Ety/SMAL

Derivations

  • On. smalo “pollen, yellow powder” ✧ Ety/SMAL; Ety/SMAL; EtyAC/SMAL
    • ᴹ✶smalu “pollen, yellow powder” ✧ Ety/SMAL
    • ᴹ√SMAL “yellow” ✧ Ety/SMAL

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
On. malo > mâl[malo] > [mal] > [māl]✧ Ety/SMAL
On. malo > meil[mali] > [meli] > [meil]✧ Ety/SMAL
On. malui > mely[malui] > [melui] > [mely]✧ Ety/SMAL
On. smalo > hmâl[smalo] > [m̥alo] > [m̥al] > [m̥āl]✧ EtyAC/SMAL

Variations

  • mâl ✧ Ety/SMAL
Noldorin [Ety/SMAL; EtyAC/SMAL] Group: Eldamo. Published by

mellon

noun. friend

Noldorin [Ety/372, LotR/II:IV, SD/129-31, Letters/424] Group: SINDICT. Published by

mellon

noun. friend

Cognates

  • ᴹQ. málo “friend” ✧ Ety/MEL
  • ᴹQ. meldo “(friend), lover” ✧ EtyAC/MEL

Derivations

  • ᴹ√MEL “love (as friend)” ✧ Ety/MEL; EtyAC/MEL

Element in

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ√MEL > meldon > mellon[meldondo] > [melðondo] > [melðond] > [mellond] > [mellonn] > [mellon]✧ EtyAC/MEL

Variations

  • Mellon ✧ TI/181
Noldorin [Ety/MEL; EtyAC/MEL; RS/452; RSI/Mellyn; TI/181; TI/182] Group: Eldamo. Published by

meldir

noun. friend

Noldorin [Ety/372] mell+dîr. Group: SINDICT. Published by

meldis

noun. friend

Noldorin [Ety/372] mell+dîs. Group: SINDICT. Published by

elf

noun. friend

Cognates

  • ᴹQ. helmo “friend” ✧ EtyAC/ÑEL

Derivations

  • ᴹ√ÑEL “friendship” ✧ EtyAC/ÑEL

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ√ÑEL > elf[ŋelmo] > [elmo] > [elm] > [elv]✧ EtyAC/ÑEL
Noldorin [EtyAC/ÑEL] Group: Eldamo. Published by

thond

noun. friend

Cognates

  • ᴹQ. sondo “friend” ✧ EtyAC/SON

Derivations

  • ᴹ√SON “love, befriend, cherish” ✧ EtyAC/SON

Element in

  • N. Elethon “Ælfwine” ✧ EtyAC/SON (Elethon)
  • N. Manathon “Bliss-friend” ✧ EtyAC/SON (Manathon*)

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ√SON > thond[tʰondo] > [θondo] > [θond]✧ EtyAC/SON
Noldorin [EtyAC/SON] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Beware, older languages below! The languages below were invented during Tolkien's earlier period and should be used with caution. Remember to never, ever mix words from different languages!

Qenya 

malo

noun. rust

Derivations

  • ᴹ√SMAL “yellow”

malo

noun. pollen, yellow powder

A noun in The Etymologies from around 1937, glossed “pollen, yellow powder” and derived from the root ᴹ√SMAL “yellow” (Ety/SMAL).

Conceptual Development: In Tolkien’s earlier writings, ᴱQ. malo was “rust”, first appearing in the Early Qenya Grammar and Early Qenya word-lists of the 1920s (PE14/42, 44, 71, 74; PE15/77; PE16/111) and later as ᴹQ. malo “rust” in the Declension of Nouns of the early 1930s where it had a stem form of malu- (PE21/12). Most likely these earlier forms were based on the early root ᴱ√MALA “yellow” from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s (QL/63), though in QL itself the word ᴱQ. malo was “moth” from the distinct root ᴱ√MALA “crush” (QL/63).

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I think the “pollen” and “rust” meanings for malo (malu-) can co-exist, with both originally considered a form of “yellow powder”.

Cognates

  • On. smalo “pollen, yellow powder” ✧ EtyAC/SMAL
  • N. hmâl “pollen, yellow powder” ✧ Ety/SMAL

Derivations

  • ᴹ✶smalu “pollen, yellow powder” ✧ Ety/SMAL
    • ᴹ√SMAL “yellow” ✧ Ety/SMAL

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ✶smalu > malo[smalu] > [smalo] > [m̥alo] > [malo]✧ Ety/SMAL

Variations

  • malo ✧ Ety/SMAL

málo

noun. friend

Cognates

  • N. mellon “friend” ✧ Ety/MEL

Derivations

  • ᴹ✶mālō “friend” ✧ Ety/MEL
    • ᴹ√MEL “love (as friend)” ✧ Ety/MEL
  • ᴹ√MEL “love (as friend)” ✧ PE18/046

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ✶mālō > málo[mālō] > [mālo]✧ Ety/MEL
ᴹ√MEL > málo[mę̄lō] > [mālō] > [mālo]✧ PE18/046
Qenya [Ety/MEL; PE18/046] Group: Eldamo. Published by

mál

noun. grit

A word in Declension of Nouns from the early 1930s glossed “grit” with various forms representing the inflections of nouns with lost ancient vowels: malǝ- (PE21/19, 24). It may be a later iteration of ᴱQ. mar (mard-) “grit, course grain or powder” from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, a derivative of the root ᴱ√MṚŘṚ [MṚÐṚ] “grind” (QL/63). Later still Tolkien gave the primitive form ✶smalŭ with the gloss “dust, grit” in Common Eldarin: Noun Structure (EVS2) from the early 1950s, though this primitive form had no derivatives.

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I prefer to use ᴹ✶smalu with its 1930s sense “pollen, yellow powder”, as this form has derivatives in The Etymologies (Ety/SMAL), and its root meaning ᴹ√SMAL “yellow” is a better match to the later root √MAL “yellow, gold”. I think it is possible to retain ᴹQ. mál “grit”, however, by assuming that it is a derivative of ᴹ√MBAL “✱pound”, which is a better match with 1910s ᴱQ. mar < ᴱ√MṚÐṚ “grind”.

Variations

  • māl ✧ PE21/24
Qenya [PE21/19; PE21/24] Group: Eldamo. Published by

heldo

noun. friend

Derivations

  • ᴹ√ÑEL “friendship” ✧ EtyAC/ÑEL

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ√ÑEL > heldo[ŋeldo] > [ɣeldo] > [heldo]✧ EtyAC/ÑEL

helmo

noun. friend

Cognates

  • N. elf “friend” ✧ EtyAC/ÑEL

Derivations

  • ᴹ√ÑEL “friendship” ✧ EtyAC/ÑEL

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ√ÑEL > helmo[ŋelmo] > [ɣelmo] > [helmo]✧ EtyAC/ÑEL

nilmo

noun. friend

Derivations

  • ᴹ√N(D)IL “friend; love, devotion” ✧ Ety/NIL

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ√NIL/NDIL > nilmo[ndilmo] > [nilmo]✧ Ety/NIL

sermo

noun. friend

Derivations

  • ᴹ√SER “love, be fond of (of liking, friendship)” ✧ Ety/SER

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ√SER > sermo[sermo]✧ Ety/SER

-el

suffix. friend

Derivations

  • ᴹ√ÑEL “friendship” ✧ EtyAC/ÑEL

Element in

  • ᴹQ. Aláriel “Eadwine” ✧ EtyAC/ÑEL (Aláriel)
  • ᴹQ. Elériel “Ælfwine” ✧ EtyAC/ÑEL (Elériel)

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ√ÑEL > -el[-ŋel] > [-ɣel] > [-el]✧ EtyAC/ÑEL

helde

noun. friend

Derivations

  • ᴹ√ÑEL “friendship” ✧ EtyAC/ÑEL

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ√ÑEL > helde[ŋelde] > [ɣelde] > [helde]✧ EtyAC/ÑEL

seron

noun. friend

Derivations

  • ᴹ√SER “love, be fond of (of liking, friendship)” ✧ Ety/SER

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ√SER > seron[seron]✧ Ety/SER

sondo

noun. friend

Cognates

  • N. thond “friend” ✧ EtyAC/SON

Derivations

  • ᴹ√SON “love, befriend, cherish” ✧ EtyAC/SON

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ√SON > sondo[sondo]✧ EtyAC/SON

-ser

suffix. friend

Derivations

  • ᴹ√SER “love, be fond of (of liking, friendship)” ✧ Ety/SER

Element in

  • ᴹQ. Elesser “Elf-friend” ✧ Ety/SER

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ√SER > -ser[-ser]✧ Ety/SER

Old Noldorin 

smalo

noun. pollen, yellow powder

Changes

  • malo → smalo “pollen, yellow powder” ✧ EtyAC/SMAL

Cognates

  • ᴹQ. malo “pollen, yellow powder” ✧ EtyAC/SMAL

Derivations

  • ᴹ✶smalu “pollen, yellow powder” ✧ Ety/SMAL
    • ᴹ√SMAL “yellow” ✧ Ety/SMAL

Derivatives

  • N. hmâl “pollen, yellow powder” ✧ Ety/SMAL; Ety/SMAL; EtyAC/SMAL

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ✶smalu > malo[malu] > [malo]✧ Ety/SMAL
ᴹ✶smalu > malui[malui] > [malui]✧ Ety/SMAL
ᴹ✶smalu > smalo[smalu] > [smalo] > [m̥alo]✧ Ety/SMAL

Variations

  • malo ✧ Ety/SMAL
Old Noldorin [Ety/SMAL; EtyAC/SMAL] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Middle Primitive Elvish

mālō

noun. friend

Derivations

  • ᴹ√MEL “love (as friend)” ✧ Ety/MEL

Derivatives

  • ᴹQ. málo “friend” ✧ Ety/MEL
Middle Primitive Elvish [Ety/MEL] Group: Eldamo. Published by

smalu

noun. pollen, yellow powder

Changes

  • smalŭ → smalu “flour, meal” ✧ Ety/SMAL

Derivations

  • ᴹ√SMAL “yellow” ✧ Ety/SMAL

Derivatives

  • ᴹQ. malo “pollen, yellow powder” ✧ Ety/SMAL
  • On. smalo “pollen, yellow powder” ✧ Ety/SMAL
    • N. hmâl “pollen, yellow powder” ✧ Ety/SMAL; Ety/SMAL; EtyAC/SMAL

Variations

  • smalŭ ✧ EtyAC/SMAL (smalŭ)
Middle Primitive Elvish [Ety/SMAL; EtyAC/PAL; EtyAC/SMAL; PE21/58] Group: Eldamo. Published by

yel

root. friend

A new gloss for the root ᴹ√YEL “daughter”, with a new set of derivatives like ᴹQ. -iel “-friend” and ᴹQ. yelda “friendly” (Ety/YEL), but it was rejected in turn and probably replaced by ᴹ√MEL.

Derivatives

  • ᴹQ. -iel “-friend” ✧ Ety/YEL
  • ᴹQ. yelda “friendly, dear as friend” ✧ Ety/YEL
  • ᴹQ. yelme “[unglossed]” ✧ Ety/YEL

Variations

  • YEL ✧ Ety/YEL (YEL)
Middle Primitive Elvish [Ety/YEL] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Gnomish

fufril

noun. moth

A noun appearing as G. fufril “moth” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/36).

Neo-Sindarin: The etymology of G. fufril isn’t clear, but could be derived from an early root ✱ᴱ√FUVU. I prefer to adapt this as a Neo-Root ᴺ√PHUM rather than ᴺ√PHUV/PHUB, since derivatives of ᴺ√PHUM would preserve the base vowel u. Thus I would adapt this word as ᴺS. fyvril “moth” < ✱phumril with i-affection; perhaps the final element is a feminine suffix as seen in N. thlingril “spider”. Admittedly this is all a very loose adaptation.

Derivations

  • ᴱ√FUVU “moth”

Early Primitive Elvish

fuvu Speculative

root. moth

✱ᴱ√FUVU is a hypothetical root serving as the basis for the word G. fufril “moth” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/36). I think it is worth retaining as a Neo-Eldarin root ᴺ√PHUM “moth”, with M instead of V/B to preserve the vowel u in the Neo-Sindarin form.

Derivatives

Early Primitive Elvish Group: Eldamo. Published by

Early Quenya

malo

noun. moth

A noun appearing as ᴱQ. malo “moth” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s derived from primitive ᴱ✶[mal]wǝ under the early root ᴱ√MALA “crush, squeeze, pulp” (QL/58). It had a plural malwi, and in the Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa it was given the stem form of malu-.

Neo-Quenya: This word conflicts with later words like ᴹQ. malo (malu-) “pollen, yellow powder” (Ety/SMAL) or “rust” (PE21/12; PE15/77), making its continued validity as “moth” rather questionable. However, the only other attested Elvish “moth” word is G. fufril of unclear etymology (GL/36), making it very challenging to adapt to Neo-Quenya. Thus I currently recommend retaining ᴺQ. malo for “moth”, as a derivative of the later root ᴹ√MBAL, but altering its stem form to malo- (< ✱mbalō) to make it more distinct from the “pollen, rust” words.

Derivations

  • ᴱ√MALA “crush, squeeze, pulp” ✧ QL/058

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴱ√MALA¹ > [mal]wǝ > malo[malwǝ] > [malw] > [malu] > [malo]✧ QL/058

Variations

  • malo ✧ PME/058; QL/058
Early Quenya [PME/058; QL/058] Group: Eldamo. Published by

malo

noun. rust

Derivations

  • ᴱ√MALA “yellow”

Variations

  • malo ✧ PE14/042; PE14/044; PE14/071; PE14/074; PE14/074; PE15/77
Early Quenya [PE14/042; PE14/044; PE14/071; PE14/074; PE15/77; PE16/111] Group: Eldamo. Published by