men-

verb. to go, proceed, move (generally); to come, arrive, to go, proceed, move (in some direction); to come [when moving to a destination], arrive [+ locative]

The basic Quenya word for “go”, appearing with this meaning in notes from the late 1950s where it was connected to omentië “meeting” (PE17/13). It appeared regularly in Tolkien’s writing thereafter. In Definitive Linguistic Notes (DLN) from 1959 Tolkien specified that its root √MEN meant “go, move, proceed in any direction (irrespective of speaker’s position, or assumed point of thought)” (PE17/165), and in notes associated with the Ósanwe-kenta essay from this same period Tolkien said the root meant “move, proceed (in a direction intended by a person)” (VT41/6). As such, a more accurate translation would be “move (in a direction)”, somewhat more general than English “go”, which often (but not always) has the implication “move (away)”.

Indeed, Tolkien sometimes translated this verb as “come” (PE22/162) or “arrive” (VT49/24). In Late Notes on Verb Structure (LVS) from 1969, when discussing the phrases vá ménanyë “I am not coming” and vá meninyë ó le “I won’t come with you”, Tolkien said:

> E[nglish] says “come” in such cases where there is a question of accompanying others. Q. uses “go” [men-] of movement to or towards any point other than the “here” of the speaker, actual or reported within a narrative (PE22/162).

In notes from around 1968 Tolkien had {√ten >>} √men in various expressions for “arrive”, saying “chiefly in past {tenne >>} menne ‘arrived, reached’, which is usually used with locative not allative: {tennen >>} mennen sís ‘I arrive[d] here’ (VT49/23-24)”. I would interpret this to mean men- + locative (“go at”) could have the sense “arrive”, but (a) this notion could be remnants of the rejected root √TEN and (b) the examples in this note used “arrive” regardless of whether or not the locative was present.

In any case, it seems Q. men- could be translated by a variety of English verbs (“move, go, come, arrive”) depending on the relative positions of the speaker, the mover, and the destination.

Conceptual Development: In The Etymologies of the 1930s the root ᴹ√MEN was unglossed but does not seem to be verbal in sense, since in that document there was no verb form and ᴹQ. men was translated “place, spot” (Ety/MEN). In Demonstrative, Relative, and Correlative Stems (DRC) from the late 1940s, Tolkien first glossed ᴹ√MEN as “place, spot”, but that instance of the root was revised to ᴹ√NOM (PE23/112 and note #12). In the Quenya Verbal System (QVS) from 1948, the root did have a verbal sense, and Tolkien originally used the verb ᴹQ. men- in the sense “mean, intend, wish”, but then transferred the senses “mean, intend” to ᴹQ. tel- and the sense “wish” to ᴹQ. mer- (PE22/99 note #1, 118 note #106 and #107). In QVS Tolkien first gave the root ᴹ√MEN the translation “aim at, intend, purpose”, indicating that with the allative it meant “make for, proceed towards”, but in red ink he revised the root’s gloss to “go, proceed” (PE22/103 and note #24).

Throughout the 1950s and 60s, Tolkien vacillated on the meaning of the root √MEN switching between “place”, “intend” and “go”, but starting in 1959 he mostly used the verb men- in the sense “go, move (in a direction)”, as described above.

In earlier writings, Tolkien used a variety of different Qenya words for “go”. In the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, he had ᴱQ. inta- as the cognate of G. intha “go (indefinite), fare, proceed” (GL/51). In Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s he had ᴱQ. ere “goes” and ᴱQ. tie- “go”, but both were rejected without replacement (PE16/133)

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would use men- only in the sense “move (in a direction)”, mostly translatable “go” or “come” depending on context. In combination with the locative I would translate men- as “arrive” as in mennen Tirionessë “I arrived at Tirion, (lit.) I went at Tirion”, but I would use anya- as the more usual verb for “reach, arrive at”. I have seen some Neo-Quenya writers use men- for the more general sense “move (not necessarily in some direction)”, as in ᴺQ. menemma “motion picture”. However, I think it is better to have a separate verb for this, so I use [ᴱQ.] lev- “move (intr.)” for this purposes: ᴺQ. levemma “motion picture”.

men-

verb. go

#men- (4) vb. "go" (VT47:11, cf. VT42:30, VT49:23), attested in the aorist (menë) in the sentence imbi Menel Cemenyë menë Ráno tië "between Heaven and Earth goes the path of the Moon". In the verb nanwen- "return" (or go/come back), -men- is changed to -wen- following nan- "back" (etymological form cited as nan-men-, PE17:166). In examples from VT49:23, 24, Tolkien used men- in the sense of "go as far as": 1st person sg. aorist menin (menin coaryanna "I arrive at [or come/get to] his house"), endingless aorist menë, present tense ména- "is on point of arrival, is just coming to an end", past tense mennë "arrived, reached", in this tense usually with locative rather than allative (mennen sís "I arrive[d] here"), perfect eménië "has just arrived", future menuva "will arrive". All of these examples were first written with the verb as ten- rather than men-, Tolkien then emending the initial consonant.

men-

verb. go; come [to any point other than the ’here’ of the speaker]

men

noun. way, way, *direction; [ᴹQ.] place, spot [only in compounds]

A noun or word element, most notably appearing in the four cardinal directions formen, hyarmen, númen, and rómen, which Christopher Tolkien translated as “way” in The Silmarillion appendix (SA/men). This is consistent with the later meaning of its root: √MEN “go, move, proceed”, and in Definitive Linguistic Notes (DLN) from 1959 Tolkien had a primitive form ✶mēn- “a way, a going, a mov[ement]” (PE17/165) which might be the source of Christopher Tolkien’s translation of Q. men.

Conceptual Development: The situation in Tolkien’s earlier writings was different. In The Etymologies of the 1930s ᴹQ. men was translated “place, spot” under the root ᴹ√MEN (Ety/MEN). In this document, it seems the literally meaning of direction words were “✱north-place”, “✱south-place”, etc., as opposed to later “✱north-direction, ✱south-direction”. This can be seen in other words Tolkien used in this period, such as ᴹQ. Ilmen “Place of Light” (SM/241).

This ambiguity continued into Tolkien’s later writings, as can be seen in a 1965 letter to Dick Plotz, where Tolkien translated númen “the direction or region of the sunset” (Let/361). Another example is menel “firmament, high heaven, the region of the stars”, which Tolkien said was “a Q. invention from men (direction, region) + el (the basis of many stars)” in The Road Goes Ever On as published in 1967 (RGEO/65). There are other Quenya words where men refers to a location rather than a direction: ruimen “fireplace, hearth” (PE17/183) and turmen “realm” = “✱mastered-region” (PE17/28), both from the mid-1960s.

However, some words are hard to explain as locations, such as alamen “a good omen on departure”, also from DLN of 1959 (PE17/162). Tolkien used men as an element in the terms coimen “life-year” and olmen “growth-year” in notes from around 1959, which are probably best explained as a “way” or “process” of life or growth (NM/84-85). However the stems of these words ended in mend-, so their element men may be different from what is seen in formen, etc. As another wrinkle, Tolkien regularly used nómë to mean “place” in his later writings, as in sinomë “in this place [= here]” (LotR/967) and tanomë “in that place [= there]” (VT49/11).

It is hard to determine how much of this variation is due to conceptual vacillation on Tolkien’s part. My best guess of the timelime is that:

• In the 1930s men meant “place, spot”, and the root ᴹ√MEN was not verbal (Ety/MEN).

• In the 1940s Tolkien decided that √MEN was verbal, meaning {“intend” >>} “go” (PE22/103).

• By the 1950s Tolkien reformulated men to mean “way, a going” in keeping with the new meaning of the root (PE17/165). In this period Tolkien also introduced nómë “place”.

• By the 1960s Tolkien partially reversed himself, deciding men could mean either “way, direction” and “place, region”, but without abandoning nómë.

Neo-Quenya: The word men is somewhat contentious in Neo-Quenya. The word men is a very popular element for “place” in many neologisms (especially older ones), such as ᴺQ. natsemen “website = ✱web-spot”, ᴺQ. tirmen “theater = ✱watch-place” and ᴺQ. mótamen “office = ✱work-place”. However, others feel that this sense has been entirely replaced by nómë, so that men in such compounds should be replaced by a suffix ᴺQ. -non (-nom-).

Given this ambiguity, I would use men only for “way, ✱direction” as a standalone word, and would instead use nómë = “place”. However, given Tolkien’s vacillations as described above, I would allow the use of men as “place, spot, region” in compounds [perhaps originally conceived of as a destination], though I think ᴺQ. -non “-place” is also fine.

men

way

men (2) noun "way" (SA) or "place, spot" (MEN)

men

who

men (3) pron. "who", evidently a misreading or miswriting for man (MC:221, in Markirya)

men

(for) us

men (1) pron. "(for) us", dative form of me, q.v.

omen- Reconstructed

verb. to move to a common point, meet, to meet, move to a common point, *(lit.) move together

nanwen-

verb. return

nanwen- vb. "return" (go/come back) (PE17:166). The etymological form nan-men- indicates that the second element is #men- "go", changed to -wen- following nan- "back"; hence the perfect should perhaps be *naneménië.

Hróatani

eastern men

Hróatani noun *"Eastern Men" (PE17:18), as opposed to the Núnatani (Dúnedain, Westmen).

ména

region

ména noun "region" (MEN). Not to be confused with the present/continuative tense of #men- "go".

nómë

noun. place

A word for “place” appearing as an element in names like Ondonórë Nómesseron Minasurië “Enquiry into the Place-names of Gondor” (VT42/17) and Quentalë Ardanómion “✱History of the Places of Arda” (WJ/206). It is also an element in correlative combinations like sinomë “here, in this place” (LotR/967; PE17/67, 103), where it has a short o as the second element in a compound; compare lúmë “time” vs. silumë “now, at this time”.

Conceptual Development: ᴹQ. nome (or ✱nóme) first appeared in correlative combinations in Demonstrative, Relative, and Correlative Stems (DRC) from 1948 as a derivative of ᴹ√NOM “spot, place” (PE23/112), this root replacing ᴹ√MEN of the same meaning (PE23/112 note #141). The rejected root refers back to ᴹQ. men “place, spot” from The Etymologies of the 1930s (Ety/MEN), which in turn had replaced ᴹQ. esse “place” under the root ᴹ√ES when that root was revised to have derivatives like esse “name” instead (EtyAC/ES). The Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had ᴱQ. lar “region, place” under the early root ᴱ√LAŘA [LAÐA] (QL/51).

vanwa

gone, lost, no longer to be had, vanished, departed, dead, past, past and over, gone on the road, over

vanwa adj. "gone, lost, no longer to be had, vanished, departed, dead, past, past and over, gone on the road, over" (WJ:366, Nam, RGEO:67, WAN, LT1:264; older wanwa, PE17:143). The word was "not applied to _dead persons _except those who would not return, either because of a special doom (as [in the case of] Men) or because of a special will of their own (as Felagund or Míriel) or a special ban of Mandos (as Feanor)" (PE17:143). Also see avanwa.

omentië

noun. meeting (of pathways), (lit.) coming together of journey-path, meeting or junction of the directions of two people

-lma

our

-lma pronominal ending "our", 1st person pl. exclusive (VT49:16), also attested (with the genitive ending -o that displaces final -a) in the word omentielmo "of our meeting" (nominative omentielma, PE17:58). Tolkien emended omentielmo to omentielvo in the Second Edition of LotR, reflecting a revision of the Quenya pronominal system (cf. VT49:38, 49, Letters:447). The cluster -lm- in the endings for inclusive "we/our" was altered to -lv- (VT43:14). In the revised system, -lma should apparently signify exclusive "our".

-lmë

we

-lmë 1st person pl. pronominal ending: "we" (VT49:38; 51 carilmë *"we do", VT49:16). It was originally intended to be inclusive "we" (VT49:48), including the person(s) spoken to, but by 1965 Tolkien made this the ending for exclusive "we" instead (cf. the changed definition of the corresponding possessive ending -lma, see above). _(VT49:38) Exemplified in laituvalmet "we shall bless them" (lait-uva-lme-t "bless-shall-we-them") (the meaning apparently changed from inclusive to exclusive "we", VT49:55), see also nalmë under ná# 1. (LotR3:VI ch. 4, translated in Letters:308_)

-lwa

our

-lwa, possessive pronominal ending, 1st person pl. inclusive "our" (VT49:16), later (in exilic Quenya) used in the form #-lva, genitive -lvo in omentielvo (see -lv-).

-lwë

we

-lwë, later -lvë, pronominal ending "we" (VT49:51), 1st person pl. inclusive ending, occurring in the verbs carilwë "we do" (VT49:16) and navilwë (see #nav-). The ending became -lvë in later, Exilic Quenya (VT49:51). See -lv-.

-ma

suffix. instrumental

-men(d-)

suffix. a single action

-mma

our

-mma "our", 1st person dual exlusive possessive ending: *"my and one others" (VT49:16). At an earlier conceptual phase, Tolkien apparently intended the same ending to be plural inclusive "our" (VT49:55, RS:324), cf. Mélamarimma "Our Home" (q.v.) In the latter word, Tolkien slips in i as a connecting vowel before this ending; elsewhere he used e, as in Átaremma "our Father" (see atar).

-mmë

we

-mmë "we", 1st person dual exclusive pronominal ending: "I and one other" (compare the inclusive dual form -ngwë or -nquë). First written -immë in one source (VT49:57). Carimmë, "the two of us do" (VT49:16, cf. VT43:6). At an earlier conceptual stage, the ending was already exclusive, but plural rather than dual: vammë "we won't" (WJ:371), firuvammë "we will die" (VT43:34), etemmë ?"out of us" (VT43:36); see also VT49:48, 49, 55. Also compare the corresponding emphatic pronoun emmë (q.v.). The ending -lmë replaced -mmë in its former (plural exclusive) sense. In some early material, -mmë was apparently used as an ending for plural inclusive "we" (VT49:55).

-nen

suffix. instrumental

-ngwa

our

-ngwa "our", 1st person dual inclusive possessive pronominal ending: *"thy and my", corresponding to the ending -ngwë for dual inclusive "we" (VT49:16)

-ngwë

we

-ngwë "we", 1st person dual inclusive pronominal ending: "thou and I" (compare the exclusive dual form -mmë). Caringwë, "the two of us do" (VT49:16). One source lists the ending as "-inke > -inque" instead (VT49:51, 53, 57; "inke" was apparently Old Quenya). In an earlier pronoun table reproduced in VT49:48, the ending -ngwë is listed as an alternative to -lmë, which Tolkien at the time used as the plural inclusive ending (a later revision made it plural exclusive).

-nna

to

-n (1) dative ending, originating as a reduced form of -nă "to", related to the allative ending -nna (VT49:14). Attested in nin, men, ten, enyalien, Erun, airefëan, tárin, yondon (q.v.) and also added to the English name Elaine (Elainen) in a book dedication to Elaine Griffiths (VT49:40). The longer dative ending -na is also attested in connection with some pronouns, such as sena, téna, véna (q.v.), also in the noun mariéna from márië "goodness" (PE17:59). Pl. -in (as in hínin, see hína), partitive pl. -lin, dual -nt (Plotz). The preposition ana (#1) is said to be used "when purely dative formula is required" (PE17:147), perhaps meaning that it can replace the dative ending, e.g. *ana Eru instead of Erun for "to God". In some of Tolkiens earlier material, the ending -n (or -en) expressed genitive rather than dative, but he later decided that the genitive ending was to be -o (cf. such a revision as Yénië Valinóren becoming Yénië Valinórëo, MR:200).

-nna

to, at, upon

-nna "to, at, upon", allative ending, originating from -na "to" with fortified n, VT49:14. Attested in cilyanna, coraryanna, Endorenna, Elendilenna, númenórenna, parma-restalyanna, rénna, senna, tielyanna, q.v. If a noun ends in -n already, the ending -nna merges with it, as in Amanna, formenna, Elenna, númenna, rómenna as the allative forms of Aman, formen, elen, númen, rómen (q.v.). Plural -nnar in mannar, valannar, q.v.

-ttë

suffix. themselves

-xë

oneself, myself, themselves

-xë ("ks") reflextive pronominal ending, presumably meaning *"oneself, myself, themselves" etc.; plural -xer, dual -xet (VT49:48). Presumably it can be used in constructions like *i nér tirnexë *"the man watched himself" (tirnesexë "he watched himself"), plural i neri tirnexer "the men watched themselves" (tirneltexer "they watched themselves"), dual e.g. i ontaru tirnexet "the parents watched themselves" (tirnettexet** "they [dual] watched themselves").

Atan

the second folk

Atan pl. Atani noun "the Second Folk", an Elvish name of Mortal Men, the Second-born of Ilúvatar. Cf. also Núnatani (WJ:386), Hróatani (PE17:18), q.v. Atanalcar masc. name, "Man-glory" (UT:210, cf. alcar). Atanamir masc.name, "Edain-jewel"? (Appendix A). Atanatar masc. name, "Father of Men" (Appendix A), also common noun atanatar, pl. Atanatári, "Fathers of Men", a title that "properly belonged only to the leaders and chieftains of the peoples at the time of their entry into Beleriand" (PM:324, SA:atar)

Fírimo

mortal

#Fírimo noun "mortal", see fírima

Malantur

lord, ruler

Malantur, masc. name. Apparently includes -(n)tur "lord, ruler". The initial element is unlikely to connect with the early "Qenya" element mala- "hurt, pain", and may rather reflect the root MALAT "gold" (PM:366): Malat-ntur > Malantur "Gold-ruler"? (UT:210)

Návatar

father

Návatar noun a title of Aulë referring to his position as the immediate author of the Dwarvish race, apparently including atar "father", but the first element cannot be related to any known term for "Dwarf" (PM:391 cf. 381)

Núnatani

western men

Núnatani noun "Western Men" = Sindarin Dúnedain (WJ:386). Sg. #Núnatan "Dúnadan".

Tarcil

high-man

Tarcil ("k") (#Tarcild-, as in pl. Tarcildi) masc. name, "high-Man", also used as a term for Númenórean (Appendix A, TUR, KHIL, VT46:17, PE17:101; the latter source provides the gloss "Great Man of Numenor"; tarcil(di) = "high-men = Elf-friends of Númenor"). Cf. the variant tarhildi, q.v.

Vala

power, god, angelic power

Vala (1) noun "Power, God, angelic power", pl. Valar or Vali (BAL, Appendix E, LT2:348), described as "angelic governors" or "angelic guardians" (Letters:354, 407). The Valar are a group of immensely powerful spirits guarding the world on behalf of its Creator; they are sometimes called Gods (as when Valacirca, q.v., is translated "Sickle of the Gods"), but this is strictly wrong according to Christian terminology: the Valar were created beings. The noun vala is also the name of tengwa #22 (Appendix E). Genitive plural Valion "of the Valar" (FS, MR:18); this form shows the pl. Vali, (irregular) alternative to Valar (the straightforward gen. pl. Valaron is also attested, PE17:175). Pl. allative valannar *"to/on the Valar" (LR:47, 56; SD:246). Feminine form Valië (Silm), in Tolkiens earlier material also Valdë; his early writings also list Valon or Valmo (q.v.) as specifically masc. forms. The gender-specific forms are not obligatory; thus in PE17:22 Varda is called a Vala (not a Valië), likewise Yavanna in PE17:93. Vala is properly or originally a verb "has power" (sc. over the matter of Eä, the universe), also used as a noun "a Power" _(WJ:403). The verb vala- "rule, order", exclusively used with reference to the Valar, is only attested in the sentences á vala Manwë! "may Manwë order it!" and Valar valuvar "the will of the Valar will be done" (WJ:404). However, Tolkien did not originally intend the word Valar to signify "powers"; in his early conception it apparently meant "the happy ones", cf. valto, vald- (LT2:348)_. For various compounds including the word Vala(r), see below.

Yón

region, any (fairly extensive) region between obstacles such as rivers or mountains

yón (2), variant of yondë, q.v. Defined as "a region, any (fairly extensive) region _between obstacles such as rivers or mountains" (PE17:43)_

aicalë

peak

aicalë ("k")noun "a peak" (AYAK)

aiya eldalië ar atanatári, utúlie’n aurë

Behold, people of the Eldar and Fathers of Men, the day has come!

ana

to

ana (1) prep. "to" (VT49:35), "as preposition _ana _is used when purely _dative formula is required" (PE17:147), perhaps meaning that the preposition ana can be used instead of the dative ending -n (#1, q.v.) Also as prefix: ana- "to, towards" (NĀ1); an (q.v.) is used with this meaning in one source (PE17:127)_

apsene-

verb. remit, release, forgive

apsene- vb. "remit, release, forgive" (VT43:18, 20; it is unclear whether the final -e is somehow part of the verbal stem or is just the final form of the ending -i associated with the aorist, so that "I forgive" would be *apsenin). Where Tolkien used apsene-, he cited the person(s) forgiven in the dative (ámen apsenë "forgive us", literally "for us"), whereas the matter that is forgiven appears as a direct object (VT43:12). Compare avatyar-.

ar mi cemen rainë i hínin

and on earth peace, good will toward men

The second line of Alcar mi Tarmenel na Erun, Tolkien’s translation of the Gloria in Excelsis Deo prayer. The first word is ar “and”, followed by mi cemen “on earth”, more literally “✱in earth”. The fourth word is rainë “peace, good will” followed by i hínin “toward men”, more literally “✱to the children”, with hínin being the dative plural of hína “child”.

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

> ar mi cemen rainë i hín(a)-i-n = “✱and in earth [be] peace the child-(plural)-to”

Conceptual Development: In version I, Tolkien used the assimilated locative of kemende “on earth” instead of mi cemen as in versions II-III. He also wrote an incomplete form r... for “peace” in version I before revising it to sívë. In version II, he first wrote sérë for “peace” before changing it to rainë, the form that was also used in version III.

For “towards men”, Tolkien wrote fírimonnar in version I, the allative plural of Fírimo “mortals”, literally “✱towards mortals”. This form also appeared in version II, but it was rejected, replaced first by híniryannar, the 3rd-sg-possessive (-rya “his”) allative (-nna “towards”) plural of hína = “✱towards his children”. This in turn was replaced by i hinin with a short i (probably a slip) in version II, which was corrected to the form i hínin in version III.

|  I  |II|III| |ar| |kemende|mi kemen|mi cemen| |{r... >>} síve|{sére >>} raine|raine| |fírimonnar|{fírimonnar >> híniryannar >>} i hinin|i hínin|

The development for the word for “peace” was the basis for Arden Smith’s suggestion that version I might follow version II-III (VT44/33). The form sérë was the earliest of these words for “peace”, appearing in The Etymologies from the 1930s as ᴹQ. sére “peace”. Taken together with the incomplete form r... in version I, a plausible development would be:

> {sére >>} raine (II-III) >> {r... >>} síve (I)

However, the development of the phrase “towards men” makes more sense if the order of development were the same as the order in the page:

> fírimonnar (I) >> {fírimonnar >> híniryannar >>} i hinin (II) >> i hínin (III)

For this reason, I assume (as did Arden Smith) that the order in the page matches the order of development.

atanatar

proper name. Father of Men

A title given to the three houses of the Elf-friends in Beleriand: the Beorians, Hadorians and Halethians, usually appearing in the plural form Atanatári “Fathers of Men” (S/103). More properly, it was used to describe the original leaders of those houses (PM/324). The title is compound of Atan “Man” and atar “father”. It was also the name of the 10th and 16th kings of Gondor (LotR/1038).

atanatárion

proper name. (legendarium) of the Fathers of Men

A Númenórean story cycle containing the three great tales: Beren and Lúthien, the Children of Húrin and the Fall of Gondolin (MR/373). The title is the genitive plural of Atanatar “Father of Men”, so “of the Fathers of Men”. The “legendarium” portion of the English gloss is implied, though it is explicit in the Sindarin equivalent: Nern in Edenedair.

atandil

masculine name. Friend of Men

A name given to Finrod for his friendship with the Edain (MR/306). It is a compound of Atan “Man” and the suffix -(n)dil “friend”.

atar

father

atar noun "father" (SA; WJ:402, UT:193, LT1:255, VT43:37, VT44:12). According to the Etymologies (ATA) the pl. is atari, but contrast #atári in Atanatári "Fathers of Men" (q.v.); possibly the word behaves differently when compounded. Atarinya "my father" (LR:70), atar(inya) the form a child would use addressing his or her father, also reduced to atya (VT47:26). Diminutive masc. name Atarincë ("k") "Little father", amilessë (never used in narrative) of Curufinwë = Curufin (PM:353). Átaremma, Ataremma "our Father" as the first word of the Quenya translation of the Lord's Prayer, written before Tolkien changed -mm- as the marker of 1st person pl. exclusive to -lm-; notice -e- as a connecting vowel before the ending -mma "our". In some versions of the Lord's Prayer, including the final version, the initial a of atar "father" is lengthened, producing #átar. This may be a contraction of *a atar "o Father", or the vowel may be lengthened to give special emphasis to #Átar "Father" as a religious title (VT43:13). However, in VT44:12 Atar is also a vocative form referring to God, and yet the initial vowel remains short.

atar

noun. father

atar

noun. father

The Quenya word for “father”, derived from the root √AT(AR) (PM/324; WJ/402; VT48/19).

Conceptual Development: ᴱQ. atar “father” dates all the way back to the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, though in that document it was “a more solemn word ... usually to 1st Person of the Blessed Trinity”, as opposed to more ordinary ᴱQ. attu “father” (QL/33). In the English-Qenya Dictionary of the 1920s, ᴱQ. atar was the ordinary word for “father”, but with variant archaic form †attar (PE15/72). ᴹQ. atar “father” reappeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s as a derivative of the root ᴹ√ATA of the same meaning (Ety/ATA). It appeared again in the Quenya Verbal System (QVS) from 1948 in various inflected forms (PE22/118-119). It continued to appear regularly in Tolkien’s later writings. Thus this word was established early and retained its form throughout Tolkien’s life with only minor variations.

atarmë

for us

atarmë dative (?) pron. "for us" (VT44:18; Tolkien apparently considered dropping this curious form, which in another text was replaced by rá men, rámen; see rá #1)

atto

father, daddy

atto noun "father, daddy" (hypocoristic)(ATA, LR:49), supposedly a word in "actual 'family' use" (VT47:26), also used in children's play for "thumb" and "big toe" (VT47:10, 26, VT48:4, 6). The dual form attat listed in VT48:19 seems to be formed from the alternative form atta, though attat was changed by Tolkien from attot. - Compare atya.

calwa

beautiful

calwa ("k") adj. "beautiful" (LT1:254)

cemi

earth, soil, land

cemi noun "earth, soil, land"; Cémi ("k")"Mother Earth" (LT1:257; the "Qenya" word cemi would correspond to cemen in LotR-style Quenya)

condo

noun. lord

emmë

we

emmë (2) pron. "we", emphatic pronoun; dative emmen (VT43:12, 20). In the source this pronoun is intended as the 1st person plural exclusive; later Tolkien changed the corresponding pronominal ending from -mmë to -lmë, and the plural emphatic pronoun would likewise change from emmë to *elmë. Since the ending -mmë was redefined as a dualexclusive pronoun, the form emmë may still be valid as such, as a dual emphatic pronoun "we" = "(s)he and I".

engwar

collective name. Men, (lit.) The Sickly

A somewhat insulting Elvish term for Men (S/103), the plural of the adjective engwa “sickly”.

Conceptual Development: The name ᴹQ. Engwar first appeared in Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s (LR/245). It also appeared in The Etymologies (Ety/GENG-WĀ).

entulessë

return

entulessë noun "return" (UT:171)

entulessë

proper name. Return

The name of the Númerórean ship that was the first to return to Middle-earth, six centuries after Númenor was settled (UT/171). It is the noun entulessë “return” used as a name.

entulessë

noun. return

A noun for “return” attested as the name of a ship: Entulessë (UT/171). It seems to be an abstract noun based on the verb entul- “return, come again”.

farnë

dwelling

#farnë (2) noun "dwelling", in orofarnë (as translated in Letters:224, but in other notes of Tolkiens the word was interpreted "any growing thing or plant", PE17:83)

fauta-

verb. to snow

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

firindil

masculine name. Friend of Men

A variant form of Atandil (VT41/14). It is probably a compound of Fírima “Mortal Man” and the suffix -(n)dil “friend”.

firya

proper name. Mortal

A shorter variant of Fírima (WJ/219, 387). It is the adjectival form of the root √PHIR produced by the suffix -ya.

Conceptual Development: In The Etymologies, the word ᴹQ. firya is glossed “human” and is derived from the same root ᴹ√PHIR (Ety/PHIR).

firë

mortal man

firë noun "mortal man" (PHIR), pl. firi given (the latter is not clearly glossed and may also be the archaic form from which firë is derived, since word-final short i became e in Quenya but since we would rather expect the spelling phiri if it were an archaic form, it is best taken as the pl. of firë.)

fírima

mortal

fírima adj. "mortal" (PHIR; firima with a short i in VT46:4); also used as noun: Fírima pl. Fírimar "those apt to die", "mortals", an Elvish name of Mortal Men (WJ:387). This adj. is also the source of an explicit noun, personalized #Fírimo = mortal, mortal man. Pl. Fírimor (VT49:10-11), dative pl. fírimoin "for men" in Fíriel's Song; cf. also the pl. allative fírimonnar in VT44:35.

hanu

male (of men or elves), male animal, man

hanu noun "a male (of Men or Elves), male animal, man" (3AN, VT45:16)

hanuvoitë

male

hanuvoitë adj.? "male" (prob. adj. rather than noun; the word as such is not clearly glossed, but connects with hanu "a male") (INI)

hanwa

male

hanwa noun "male" (INI)

harma

wolf

[harma (2) noun "wolf" (3ARAM). The gloss "hound" was inserted, but then deleted (VT45:17)]

heru

lord, master

heru (also hér) noun "lord, master" (PM:210, KHER, LT1:272, VT44:12); Letters:283 gives hér (heru); the form Héru with a long vowel refers to God in the source where it appears (i Héru "the Lord", VT43:29). In names like Herumor "Black Lord" and Herunúmen "Lord of the West" (SA:heru). The form heruion is evidently a gen.pl. of heru "lord": "of the lords" (SD:290); herunúmen "Lord-of-West" (LR:47), title of Manwë. Pl. númeheruvi "Lords-of-West" (*"West-lords") in SD:246, a title of the Valar; does this form suggest that #heruvi is the regular plural of heru?

heru órava omessë

Lord, have mercy on us

The first line of Tolkien’s Quenya translation of the Litany of Loreto prayer (VT44/12). The first word is the noun heru “lord” followed by the aorist form of the verb órava- “to have mercy”. The last word omessë “on us” is the locative form (-ssë “on”) of the pronoun me “us”. The significance of the prefix o- is unclear, but Wynne, Smith and Hostetter suggested that it might be the preposition ó (VT44/15), though its translation elsewhere as “with” (VT43/29) does not seem appropriate. It could instead be the prefix o- “together”, though this does not fit well either. In later lines, Tolkien wrote (o)messë indicating the prefix was optional.

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

> Heru órava (o)me-ssë = “✱Lord have-mercy us-on”

Conceptual Development: Tolkien explored several ways of expressing “have mercy”. He first wrote a le·ana ocama, apparently meaning “(imperative) you give mercy”, with ocama a noun meaning “mercy” (VT44/12-13). He revised this to simply ocama >> ócama, apparently changing ocama to a verb meaning “to have mercy” (VT44/13). He then changed this verb to órava (VT44/14).

Tolkien also used several forms to express “on us”: dative men >> ómen >> (locative) ómesse.

hildi

followers

hildi, -hildi noun "followers" (used = mortal men, the Second-born of Ilúvatar) (KHIL) (also Hildor, q.v.). Dat. pl. hildin "for men", a dative pl. occurring in Fíriel's Song. Cf. hildinyar "my heirs", evidently *hildë, hildo "follower, heir" + -inya "my" + -r plural ending (EO)

hildor

collective name. Men, Aftercomers, (lit.) Followers

A name for Men as the second-born children of Ilúvatar, following the elves (S/99). This name is a derivative of the root √KHIL (WJ/386-7) and is related to the word hildë “heir, follower”. This term is only attested in the plural, and it isn’t clear whether the singular term ✱Hildo can be used for a single Man (normally Atan). This name was sometimes glossed “Aftercomers” (S/99), but its other gloss “Followers” (S/103) is a better translation. The gloss “Aftercomers” probably alludes to Apanónar “After-born”, another name for Men.

Conceptual Development: In Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s, this term appeared as ᴹQ. Hildi (LR/245). In The Etymologies, the word hildi “followers, mortal men” appeared as a derivative of ᴹ√KHIL (Ety/KHIL), implying a singular form of ✱hilde.

In The Lord of the Rings, the plural term Q. Hildinyar was translated as “my heirs” (LotR/967). When it was written, Tolkien probably intended it to be the same word as Hildi “Men, Followers” (PE17/101, 103). In Silmarillion revisions from the 1950s-60s, this term was first written Hildi (MR/130) but in the late-50s was changed to Hildor (WJ/219). Perhaps Tolkien split these terms, so that Hildor (singular ✱Hildo) was the proper name for Men, while hildi (singular ✱hildë) was the ordinary word for “follower” or “heir”.

hravan

wild beast

hravan noun "wild beast"; pl.Hravani "the Wild", used as a name of non-Edain Men (PE17:78, WJ:219). PE17:18 has Hrávani with a long á, glossed "Wild-men, Savages".

hravan

noun. wild beast

A word for a “wild beast” in notes from the mid-1960s, derived from the root √S-RAB “wild, in senses not tamed, domesticated” (PE17/78), hence meaning “wild animal” vs. a “tamed animal”, which would probably be Q. laman.

hravani

collective name. Wild-men, Savages

A term for savage humans, appearing both as Hravani (WJ/219) and Hrávani (PE17/18). The term is the plural of the noun hravan “wild beast”.

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)

hér

lord

hér noun "lord" (VT41:9), also heru, q.v.

hér

noun. lord

indo

house

indo (2) noun "house" (LT2:343), probably obsoleted by #1 above (in Tolkiens later Quenya, the word for "house" appears as coa).

intë

themselves

intë *"themselves", 3rd person pl. reflexive pronoun, e.g. *i neri tirir intë, "the men watch themselves". Intë is derived from earlier imte(VT47:37). Conceivably intë* is only used for "themselves" with reference to persons; impersonal "themselves" ought to be inta or intai, compare ta #3, tai #2. A form intai might however have evolved into intë by the Third Age (like pl. adjectives in -ai later came to end in -ë), thus converging with the "personal" form.% In an earlier source, Tolkien listed intë as an emphatic pronoun "they", 3rd person plural (VT49:48, 49); compare the pronominal ending -ntë. The word intë** (derived from inde via inze, an unusual development in Quenya) also appears as a candidate 2nd person singular polite form (VT49:49).

intë

pronoun. themselves

irmin

the world, all the regions inhabited by men

irmin noun "the world, all the regions inhabited by Men" (LT2:343; hardly a valid word in Tolkien's later Quenya)

kemen

earth

kemen noun "earth"; see cemen.

lango

passage

lango (2) noun "passage", especially across or over an obstacle, also "neck" (PE17:92)

lelya-

verb. go, proceed (in any direction), travel

lelya- (1) vb. "go, proceed (in any direction), travel", pa.t. lendë / elendë (WJ:363, VT14:5, PE17:139) At one point Tolkien assigned a more specific meaning to the underlying root LED: "go away from the speaker or the point in mind, depart" (PE17:52), which would make lelya- a near synonym of auta-. The same source denies that the derivatives of _LED _were used simply for "go, move, travel", but elsewhere Tolkien assigns precisely that meaning to lelya-.

lenna-

verb. go

lenna- vb. "go", pa.t. lendë "went" (LED; cf. lelya-). In the Etymologies as printed in LR, the word lenna- wrongly appears as **linna-; see VT45:27.

lie

noun. people

lië

people

lië noun "people" (LI, Narqelion, VT39:6), in Eldalië, losselië, Ornelië (q.v.); possessive #liéva in Mindon Eldaliéva (q.v.); maybe also compounded in #rohtalië, #ruhtalië (q.v.)

lé

way

lé (1) noun "way" = "method, manner" ("as in that is not As way"). Not to be confused with lé as a stressed form of le = plural "you"; Tolkien was himself dissatisfied with this clash (PE17:74).

lér

man

**lér noun "man" (NI1; hypothetical Q form of PQ dēr; the form actually used in Quenya was nér)

lórë

noun. dream, [ᴹQ.] slumber, *sleep; [Q.] dream

A word for “dream” in Tolkien’s later writings, most notably as an element in Lórien “✱Dream Lands” (Let/308; PE17/80). In The Etymologies of the 1930s, however, ᴹQ. lóre was glossed “slumber” under the root {ᴹ√LOR >>} ᴹ√LOS “sleep” (Ety/LOS).

Neo-Quenya: I generally use √LOR for “sleep” and √OLOS for “dream” for purposes of Neo-Eldarin. As such, I would use lóre for both “slumber, ✱sleep” and “dream” for purposes of Neo-Quenya, likely a blending of primitive ✱lōre and ✱lōse. But I would use it more for a “(dreamful) sleep”, with olor as the proper word for “dream” or “vision”.

mairëa

beautiful

mairëa adj. "beautiful" (of things made by art) (PE17:163). An alternative (and peculiar) form "mairia" is also implied in the source.

man

who

man pron. "who" (Nam, RGEO:67, FS, LR:59, Markirya, MC:213, 214); cf. PM:357 note 18, where a reference is made to the Eldarin interrogative element ma, man). However, man is translated "what" in LR:59: man-ië? "what is it?" (LR:59; the stative-verb suffix -ië_ is hardly valid in LotR-style Quenya) _Either Tolkien later adjusted the meaning of the word, or man covers both "who" and "what". Cf. also mana, manen.

man

pronoun. who, who; [ᴹQ.] what

The most common Quenya word for “who”, most notably appearing in the Namárië poem in the phrase sí man i yulma nin enquantuva? “who now shall refill the cup for me?” (LotR/377). It is based on the interrogative element ma (PE17/68). Man might be a general interrogative element “who, what, which”; at one point Tolkien said man was a reduction of mana before vowels (PE23/135). However, in the Markirya, man was used for “who” before consonants, such as man tiruva fána cirya “Who shall heed a white ship?” (MC/222).

In writings from the 1930s and 40s, man was used for “what” (LR/59, 72) or as a general interrogative marker (PE23/99). However, it was used for “who” in the versions of the Oilima Markirya from around 1930 (MC/213-214).

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would mostly use man in the sense “who”, before both consonants and vowels. For “what” I would use mana, and as a general interrogative marker I’d use ma. In cases where you want an unambiguous word for “who = what person”, I would use mamo.

mar

earth

mar (1) noun "earth" (world), also "home, dwelling, mansion". Stem mard- (VT46:13, PE17:64), also seen in the ablative Mardello "from earth" (FS); the word is used with a more limited sense in oromardi "high halls" (sg. oromar, PM17:64), referring to the dwellings of Manwë and Varda on Mt. Taniquetil (Nam, RGEO:66). The initial element of Mardorunando (q.v.) may be the genitive mardo (distinguish mardo "dweller"). May be more or less identical to már "home, house, dwelling" (of persons or peoples; in names like Val(i)mar, Vinyamar, Mar-nu-Falmar, Mardil) (SA:bar, VT45:33, VT47:6). Már is however unlikely to have the stem-form mard-; a "Qenya" genitive maren appears in the phrase hon-maren, q.v., suggesting that its stem is mar-. A possible convention could therefore be to use már (mar-) for "home, house" (also when = household, family as in Mardil, q.v.), whereas mar (mard-) is used for for "earth, world". Early "Qenya" has mar (mas-) "dwelling of men, the Earth, -land" (LT1:251); notice that in LotR-style Quenya, a word in -r cannot have a stem-form in -s-.

marda

dwelling

marda noun "dwelling" (PE17:107)

maur

dream, vision

maur noun "dream, vision" (LT1:261)

me

we, us

me (1) 1st person pl. exclusive pronoun "we, us" (VT49:51; VT43:23, VT44:9). This pronoun preserves the original stem-form (VT49:50). Stressed mé (VT49:51). Cf. also mel-lumna "us-is-heavy", sc. *"is heavy for us" (LR:47, mel- is evidently an assimilated form of men "for us", dative of me; the form men is attested by itself, VT43:21). For me as object, cf. álamë** "do not [do something to] us", negative imperative particle with object pronoun suffixed (VT43:19: álamë tulya, "do not lead us"), ámen** "do [something for] us", imperative particle with dative pronoun suffixed (ámen apsenë "forgive us", VT43:12, 18). Dual exclusive met "we/us (two)" (Nam, VT49:51), "you and me" (VT47:11; the latter translation would make met an inclusive pronoun, though it is elsewhere suggested that it is rather exclusive: "him/her and me", corresponding to wet [q.v.] as the true inclusive dual form). Rá men or rámen "for us/on our behalf", see rá. Locative messë "on us", VT44:12 (also with prefix o, ó- ?"with" in the same source). See also ménë, ómë.

me

pronoun. us, we (exclusive)

mentië

passage, journey, direction of travel

mentië noun "passage, journey, direction of travel" (PE17:13); the elements are men- "go, proceed" + tië "path, road". Not to be confused with the gerund of menta- #1.

menya

our

menya (pl. menyë is attested) possessive pron. "our", 1st person pl. exclusive independent possessive pronoun (VT43:19, 35). Evidently derived from the dative form men "for us" by adding the adjectival ending -ya. Compare ninya, q.v.

mírya

beautiful

mírya adj. "beautiful" (of work of art only) (PE17:165)

na

to, towards

na (2) prep. "to, towards", possibly obsoleted by #1 above; for clarity writers may use the synonym ana instead (NĀ1). Originally, Tolkien glossed na as "at, by, near"; the new meaning entered together with the synonyms an, ana (VT45:36).

narmo

wolf

narmo ("ñ")noun "wolf" (ÑGAR(A)M; both the old form ñarmo = *ngarmo and the Third Age form narmo are given). Another word for "wolf" is ráca.

nauro

noun. wolf

wolf, werewolf of Morgoth

neuro

follower, successor

neuro noun "follower, successor" (NDEW)

ngwin

for us

ngwin dative pronoun ?"for us" _(VT21:6-7, 10, VT44:36). _Apparently belonging to the 1st person pl. It would be pronounced *nwin* at the end of the Third Age, but since Tolkien in another source implies that the 1st pl. exclusive base ñwe had the "independent" stem we- in Quenya (VT48:10), we must assume that the dative pronoun should rather be wen**, or in Exilic Quenya *ven. The form ngwin may reflect another conceptual phase when Tolkien meant the nasal element of ñwe to be preserved in Quenya as well. The vowel i rather than e is difficult to account for if the base is to be (ñ)we. In VT49:55, Carl F. Hosttetter suggests that ngwen rather than ngwin may actually be the correct reading of Tolkiens manuscript.

nor-

verb. run (or leap: of animals, men etc.)

nor- vb. "run (or leap: of animals, men etc.)", pa.t. nornë (PE17:58, 168); cf. nórima, nornoro-

nér

man

nér (1) (ner-, as in pl. neri) noun "man" (adult male elf, mortal, or of other speaking race) (MR:213, VT49:17, DER, NDER, NI1, VT45:9; see also WJ:393)

nér

noun. man

nómë

place

#nómë noun "place", isolated from Nómesseron, q.v. Cf. also sinomë.

númen

west, the way of the sunset

númen noun "west, the way of the sunset" (SA:andúnë, cf. NDŪ, MEN; capitalized Númen under SA:men and in CO), "going down, occudent" (Letters:361), also name of tengwa #17 _(Appendix E). _According to VT45:38, the word is actually cited as "nú-men" in Tolkien's Etymologies manuscript. Allative númenna "Westward" (LR:47, SD:310, VT49:20, capitalized Númenna, VT49:22; numenna with a short u, VT49:23); adj. númenquerna "turned westward" (VT49:18, 20). See also númenyaron, númessier. - In the pre-classical Tengwar system presupposed in the Etymologies, "nú-men" was intended as the name of tengwa #21, to which letter Tolkien at this stage assigned the value n (VT45:38). However, this tengwa was later given the Quenya value r instead and was renamed órë.

númë

noun. west

núnatani

collective name. Western Men

The Quenya equivalent of Dúnedain, a compound of núna “western” and the plural of Atan “men” (WJ/386, PE17/18).

olor

dream

olor noun "dream" (LOS, ÓLOS, LT1:259 [the latter source also gives olórë]); perhaps changed by Tolkien to olos, q.v.

olos

dream, vision

olos (1) noun "dream, vision" (olor-, as in pl. olori from earlier olozi) _(UT:396). _Cf. olor and see lár #2.

ono alyë eterúna me illumë ilya raxellor

but deliver us always from all dangers

The third line of Ortírielyanna, Tolkien’s translation of the Sub Tuum Praesidium prayer. The first word is the conjunction ono “but”. The second word alyë is 2nd-person-polite form of the imperative particle á. The third word eterúna is the aorist/infinitive form of the verb eterúna- “to deliver”. The fourth word is the pronoun me “us”.

The fourth word is the adverb illumë “always”, while the fifth word is the adjective ilya “all”. The last word raxellor “from dangers” is the ablative (-llo “from”) plural form of raxë “danger”. The final -r marks it as plural (“dangers”), so it is odd that the preceding adjective is not also plural, but it seems to be the rule that adjectives are not declined into the plural when they modify a noun that is itself in a noun case; see the discussion on Quenya adjectives.

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

> ono a-lye eterúna me illume ilya raxe-llo-r = “✱but do-thou deliver us always all danger-from-(plural)”

Conceptual Development: The verb was first written eterunna >> eteruńna, which Wynne, Smith and Hostetter concluded was a slip for eterúna, the form of the verb as it appeared in the Átaremma prayer (VT44/9). The pronoun “us” changed from dative men >> uninflected me (VT44/5). Tolkien consider two other forms for “always”: vora >> vore before settling on illumë. The word for “from dangers” was first written raxalellor >> raxellor, apparently changing the underlying noun raxalë >> raxë (VT44/9).

os

house, cottage

os (ost-) noun "house, cottage" (LT2:336; hardly valid in LotR-style Quenya writers may use coa or már)

rá

on behalf of

rá (1) [changed by Tolkien from hrá], prep. "on behalf of", followed by dative: rá men or contracted rámen "for us, on our behalf" (VT43:27, 28, 33). As these examples indicate, independent dative pronouns may be (but do not have to be) directly suffixed to rá. Nouns would presumably not be suffixed like this, e.g. *rá Eldan "for an Elf, on behalf of an Elf".

ráca

wolf

ráca ("k") noun "wolf" (DARÁK). Another word for "wolf" is narmo.

rú

proper name. Wose

Given as the Quenya word for “Wose” (UT/385), most likely an adaptation of its Sindarin cognate S. Drû.

sív’ emmë apsenet tien i úcarir emmen

as we forgive those who trespass against us

The eighth line of Átaremma, Tolkien’s Quenya translation of the Lord’s Prayer. The first word sív’ is an elided form of sívë “as”. It is followed by the emphatic second person plural subject pronoun emmë “us” and apsenet “forgive [them]”, the aorist form of the verb apsen- “forgive” with a plural direct object suffix -t. The fourth word tien “those” is a dative (indirect object) form of tie, apparently a variant of the third person plural pronoun te.

The second half of this phrase is the subordinate clause i úcarir emmen “who trespass against us”, composed of i “who”, úcarir “trespass” (aorist plural of úcar- “to do wrong, to sin”) and emmen “against us” (dative of emmë). The last of these is unusual in that it has an emphatic pronoun used as an object rather than the subject.

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

> sív(e) emmë apsene-t tie-n i úcari-r emme-n = “✱as we forgive-them those-for who trespass-(plural) us-against”

Taken together, the first half of the phrase has a subject (emmë), verb (apsene), a direct object suffix (-t) and an indirect object (tien). The sense of the phrase is probably something like “✱as we forgive them [the trespasses] for those [the trespassers] who trespass against us”.

Conceptual Development: Earlier versions of the prayer (I-IV) used a different verb avatyar- for “forgive”, as well as different prepositions for “so”: ier (I-IIa) and yan (III-IV). They also lacked any Quenya equivalent of “those who” (tien i in versions V-VI). The literal meaning of this phrase in versions I-IV of the prayer seems to be “✱as we forgive our trespassers”.

Tolkien considered a variety of ways to express “trespassers”. In version I-III, he used a (?verbal) element meaning “trespass” with the agental suffix -ndo: lucando (I), lucindo (IIa-IIb) and rocindë (III), all meaning “trespasser” and all in the plural. In version IV, he used rohtalië “trespass-people”, a compound of the noun rohta “trespass” and lië “people”.

These he combined with either the independent pronoun menya “our” (I-IIb, IV) or the possessive suffix -mma “our” (I deletion, III). Finally, he used an ablative element meaning “from”, either the preposition va (I-IIb) or the ablative suffix -llo (I deletion, III-IV). There was a similar construction for the verb avatyar- in line 6.

In version V of the prayer, Tolkien corrected úcarer to úcarir. This second form is more consistent with the rules Tolkien followed elsewhere in forming the aorist tense of a (basic) verb: it ends in an -e if unsuffixed but has an -i- between it and any suffix (-r in this case). However, Tolkien still used the form úcarer in version IV of the prayer, for reasons unknown.

| |  I  |IIa|IIb|III|IV|V|VI| |ier|yan|sív’| |emme| |{avatyarirat >>}|avatyarir ta|avatyarilta|apsenet| | |tien i| |{lucandollommar >>}|va menya lucandor|va menya lucindor|rocindillomman|menya rohtaliello|úcarer emmen|

For better consistency with Tolkien’s other writings, I have used the more typical aorist form úcarir for the entry of this phrase. As Helge Fauskanger points out (LP-AM), there is a similar issue with apsenet, which might be expected to be ✱✱apsenit, though in this case the variation may be due to the fact that object suffixes are appended directly to the verb instead of to a subject suffix.

tarhildi

high-men, the noble followers

tarhildi, pl. noun "High-men, the Noble followers" (PE17:18), referring to the Dúnedain. Sg. perhaps #tarhil (with stem #tarhild-), cf. tarcil.

túrin

noun. lord

vand-

way, path

vand- noun "way, path" (LT1:264; a final vowel would seem to be required, but in Tolkien's later Quenya, the words tië or mallë are to be preferred)

vanima

beautiful, fair

vanima adj. "beautiful, fair" (BAN, VT39:14) (glossed "proper, right, fair" in early "Qenya", LT1:272, though a later source says the word is used "only of living things, especially Elves and Men", PE17:150); nominal pl. vanimar "beautiful ones", partitive pl. genitive vanimálion, translated "of beautiful children", but literally meaning *"of [some] beautiful ones") (LotR3:VI ch. 6, translated in Letters:308). Arwen vanimalda "Beautiful Arwen", literally "Arwen your beauty" (see -lda for reference; changed to Arwen vanimelda in the second edition of LotR; see vanimelda).

vanima

adjective. beautiful

vanya-

verb. go, depart, disappear

vanya- (2) vb. "go, depart, disappear", pa.t. vannë (WAN). The verb auta- may have replaced this word in Tolkien's later conception.

ve

we

ve (2) pron. "we", 1st person pl. inclusive (corresponding to exclusive me), derived from an original stem-form we (VT49:50, PE17:130). Variant vi, q.v. Stressed wé, later vé (VT49:51). Dative (*wéna >) véna, VT49:14. Dual wet*, later vet "the two of us" (inclusive; cf. exclusive met) (VT49:51). Also compare the dative form ngwin or ngwen (q.v.), but this would apparently be wen > ven** according to Tolkiens later ideas.

vi

we

vi pron. "we", 1st person inclusive (PE17:130), variant of ve #2.

vië

manhood, vigour

vië noun "manhood, vigour" (WEG)

véna

for us

véna pron. "for us", (long) dative form of ve # 2, q.v.

vëo

man

†vëo noun "man" (WEG; etymologically connected to vëa "manly, vigorous"; the more neutral word for "man" is nér. According to VT46:21, Tolkien indicated that vëo is an archaic or poetic word.) Tolkien at a later point defined the word as "living creature" (PE17:189). Cf. variant wëo, q.v.

we

we

we, wé, see ve #2

ye

who

ye (1) singular personal relative pronoun "who", maybe also object "whom" (plural form i). Compare the impersonal form ya. Also attested in the genitive and the ablative cases: yëo and yello, both translated "from whom" (though the former would also mean *"whose, of whom"). (VT47:21)

ye

pronoun. who

yón

noun. region

á hyamë rámen úcarindor

pray for us sinners

The sixth line of Aia María, Tolkien’s translation of the Ave Maria prayer. The first word á is the imperative particle, indicating that the verb form hyamë “pray” is an imperative. The third word rámen “for us” is combination of the preposition rá “for” (lit. “✱on behalf of”) and the dative men of the pronoun me “us”. The last word úcarindor “sinners” is the plural of úcarindo “sinner”.

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

> á hyamë rá-me-n úcarindo-r = “✱do pray for-us-(dative) sinner-(plural)”

Conceptual Development: In the first two versions of the prayer Tolkien suffixed the pronoun lye “you (polite)” to the imperative particle a: alye (I-II). He also used the verb arca (I-II) instead of hyamë (III-IV) for “pray”. He used several different words for the preposition “for”: atar (I), meter (II), hrá (III deleted) and rá, always followed by the pronoun me “us”, sometimes dative (men) and sometimes not (me).

Tolkien considered several words for “sinners”: ulcarindor (I deleted), naicandor (I), naicor (I replacement), naici (II deleted) and úcarindor (IV). In version II of the prayer, Tolkien replaced “sinners” with a subordinate clause: i naici nar “✱[those] who are sinners” (II deleted) >> i naiquear “✱[those] who sin” (II).

Wynne, Smith and Hostetter analyzed the word naiquear as an adjective used as a plural noun: “sinners” (VT43/34). However, since it replaced a verbal phrase, I think it is likelier to be the present tense of an otherwise unattested verb naiqua- “✱to sin”.

| |  I  | II |III|IV| |{arca >>}|alye|á| |{alye >>}|arca|hyamë| |{atarmen >>}|atarme|meterme|{hrá >>} rá men|rámen| |{ulcarindor >>}| naicandor [>> naicor]|i {naici nar >>} naiquear|úcarindor|

álamë tulya úsahtienna

[and] lead us not into temptation

The ninth line of Átaremma, Tolkien’s Quenya translation of the Lord’s Prayer. The first word Álamë is a combination of the negative imperative particle ála “not” and the pronoun me “us”. It is followed by the aorist form of the verb tulya “lead” and the allative form úsahtienna “into temptation” of the noun úsahtië “temptation”. Thus, Álamë tulya úsahtienna is more literally “✱imperative-not-us lead temptation-into”. In the final version of the phrase, there is no Quenya element representing the English word “and”.

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

> á-la-më tulya úsahtie-nna = “✱do-not-us lead temptation-into”

Conceptual Development: The word ar “and” appears only in version I of the prayer. It was omitted from all later versions for unknown reasons.

The earliest version used a different negative imperative particle úa (I-IIa). Versions IIa-IV also suffixed the pronominal element lye “you (polite)” to the imperative element, as was also the case in line 6 of the prayer. In all early versions of the prayer (I-IV), the object pronoun me appeared after the verb.

The early versions (I-IV) used a different verb mittanya- for “lead”. Tolkien considered several words for “temptation”: terfantië (I deleted) and terpellië (I-IIa), insangarë and sahtië (V deleted), before settling on úsahtië (V-VI). All appear with the allative suffix -nna: “(in)to temptation”.

| |  I  |IIa|IIb|III|IV|V|VI| |ar| | |{úna >>}|úa|úalye|alalye|Álalye|Álame| |mittanya|tulya| |{men >>}|me| | |{terfantie >>}|terpellienna|insangarenna|{sahtienna >>} úsahtienna|

ámen anta síra ilaurëa massamma

give us this day our daily bread

The sixth line of Átaremma, Tolkien’s Quenya translation of the Lord’s Prayer. The first word Ámen is a combination of the imperative particle á and the (dative) second person plural pronoun men “[to] us”, followed by the aorist verb form anta “give”. This is followed by síra “this day”, ilaurëa “daily” and massamma “our bread”, the last one being the first person plural exclusive possessive form of massa “bread”.

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

> Á-me-n anta síra ilaurëa massa-mma = “✱(imperative)-us-to give this-day daily bread-our”

Conceptual Development: The imperative element á, the verb anta “give” and the dative pronoun men “us” appear in all versions of the prayer, but are arranged differently. In versions I-IV of the prayer, there is an additional subject pronoun l(y)e “you (polite)” [God], either as a suffix -le of the verb anta (I) or the suffix -lye of the imperative element á (IIa-IV). In versions I-IV, the indirect object men “us” appears after the verb.

In earlier versions of the prayer, the Quenya word for “this day” varied from siarë >> hyárë >> hyázë (I-IIa), and then back hyázë >> hyárë >> siar(ë) (IIb-III). Another form siar appears in version IV, but this may be a slip for siare. The form of the adjective “daily” was ilyarëa (I, IIb-IV) or ilyázëa (II), while the word for “bread” was masta (I-IV). These earlier forms probably reflect Tolkien’s previous words for “day” and “bread”: ᴹQ. are and ᴹQ. masta (Ety/AR¹, MBAS), which later become Q. aurë and Q. massa.

| |  I  |IIa|IIb|III|IV|V|VI| |A|Alye|Ámen| |{anta >>}|antale|anta|anta| |{amen >>}|men| | |{siare >> hyáre >>}|hyáze|{hyáre >>} siare|siar|síra| |ilyarea|ilyázea|ilyarea|ilaurea| |mastamma|massamma|

Versions I-IIa of this line include the phoneme [z] (hyáze, ilyázea), which was not seen in Classical Quenya. It was, however, present in Ancient Quenya (LotR/1123) and Vanyarin (PE19/73). It is possible that Tolkien was attempting (at least initially) to write the prayer in a particularly archaic or “high” form of Quenya.

ómen

on/for us

ómen prep. + pron. ?"on/for us" (órava ómen "have mercy on us", VT44:12, changed by Tolkien from the simple dative form men "for us", then replaced by (o)messë)

herunauco

9V7J5.DaH noun. dwarf-lord, dwarven lord

man cenuva fána cirya?

Who shall see a white ship?

The first line of the Markirya poem (MC/221). The first word is man “who” (men [sic] in the published version, likely a mistake) followed by the future tense of the verb cen- “to see”. The object of the phrase is the noun cirya “ship”, preceded by the adjective fána “white”. In the published version, the adjective is given in the plural form fáne, but this may be a mistake, as suggested by Helge Fauskanger (AL/Markirya).

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

> man cen-uva fána cirya = “✱who see-(future) white ship”

valatëa

adjective. proud

ñúr

noun. wolf

A neologism for “wolf” coined by Elaran posted on 2025-03-07 in the Vinyë Lambengolmor Discord Server (VLDS), derived from primitive ✶ñgūr in notes from the early 1950s (PE21/82). This derivation is perfectly viable, but I personally think we already have enough “wolf” words from Tolkien, and would stick with existing words like [ᴹQ.] nauro.