Quenya 

nam-

judge

#nam- vb. "judge", attested in the 1st person aorist: namin "I judge" (VT41:13). Compare Námo.

nam-

verb. to judge

Derivations

  • NAM “judge”

Element in

ham-

judge

#ham- (2) vb. "judge", attested in the aorist form hamil "you judge". (VT42:33; notice the pronominal ending -l "you". See nemë. The verb #ham- with the meaning "judge" may seem to be an ephemeral form in Tolkien's conception.)

ham-

verb. to judge

Changes

  • hamenăvin “judge” ✧ PE22/154

Element in

Variations

  • hame ✧ PE22/154 (hame)
Quenya [PE22/154; VT42/33; VT42/34] Group: Eldamo. Published by

nav-

judge

#nav- vb. "judge" (cited in the form navë, apparently the 3rd person aorist). Also given with pronominal suffixes: navin *"I judge" (Tolkien's free translation: "I think"), navilwë "we judge" (VT42:33, 4, VT48:11)

nav-

verb. to judge

Derivations

  • NDAB “to judge” ✧ PE22/154; VT42/34

Element in

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
NDAB > năvin[ndabin] > [ndaβin] > [naβin] > [navin]✧ PE22/154
ndab > nave[ndabi] > [ndabe] > [ndaβe] > [naβe] > [nave]✧ VT42/34
Quenya [PE22/154; VT42/33; VT42/34] Group: Eldamo. Published by

nem-

judge

[#nem- vb. "judge", attested as endingless aorist nemë, changed by Tolkien to hamë and finally to navë "in all but one case" (Bill Welden). Forms like námo "judge" and namna "statute" point rather to #nam- (q.v.) as a verb "to judge" (VT42:34); the verb namin "I judge" is even listed in Etym.]

nem-

verb. to judge

Quenya [PE22/154; VT42/34] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Anamo

of doom

Anamo noun in genitive "of doom" in Rithil-Anamo "Ring of Doom" (q.v.) Since the reference is to a place (a circle) where judgement was passed, this seems to be "doom" in the sense of "juridical decision" or "(legal) justice". The nominative "doom" may be *anan, with stem anam- (since the root would be NAM as in nam- "to judge", námo* noun "judge"). Alternatively, but less probably, the nominative may be anama**.

Námo

judge

Námo (1) noun "Judge", name of a Vala, normally called Mandos, properly the place where he dwells (WJ:402)

námo

noun. judge

Derivations

  • NAM “judge”

Element in

  • Q. Námo “Judge, Ordainer”
  • ᴺQ. námondur “court-attendant, (lit.) judge-servants”

Variations

  • Námo ✧ WJ/402

Sindarin 

dav-

verb. to judge

Derivations

  • NDAB “to judge”
Sindarin Group: Eldamo - neologism/reconstructions. Published by

badhron

judge

badhron (i vadhron), pl. bedhryn (i medhryn); also badhor (i vadhor), analogical pl. bedhyr (i medhyr)

Sindarin [Parviphith] Published by

badhron

judge

(i vadhron), pl. bedhryn (i medhryn); also badhor (i vadhor), analogical pl. bedhyr (i medhyr)

Primitive elvish

ndab

root. to judge

Derivatives

  • ᴺQ. undav- “to condemn, damn, convict”
  • Q. Námo “Judge, Ordainer” ✧ PE22/154
  • Q. nav- “to judge” ✧ PE22/154; VT42/34
  • ᴺS. dav- “to judge”

Element in

Variations

  • NDAB ✧ PE22/154
  • ndab ✧ VT42/34
Primitive elvish [PE22/154; VT42/34] Group: Eldamo. Published by

nam Reconstructed

root. judge

A root implied by various Quenya words having to do with “judgement” from the 1950s and 60s, most notably Q. Námo “Ordainer, Judge” as the true name of Q. Mandos (S/28), a name that began to appear in documents starting in the early 1950s (PE21/85). The root is evident in other words from this period, such as Q. namna “statute” (MR/258), Q. námië “a single judgment or desire” (VT41/13) and the verb Q. nam- “judge” in the phrase: Q. ore nin karitas nō namin alasaila “I feel moved to do so but judge it unwise” (VT41/13). ✱√NAM might also be the basis for the second element of the name Q. Rithil-Anamo “Doom-ring”, the circle of thrones where the Valar sat in council (WJ/401).

In notes from 1969 Tolkien seems to have changed his mind of the root for “judge”, writing Q. nemin >> Q. hamin >> Q. navin for “I judge”, and giving a new root √NDAB “to judge” in a marginal note along with a revised name Návo to replace Námo (PE22/154, notes #53 and #55). This new root conflicts with √NDAB “endeavor, try” from earlier in the same bundle of documents (PE22/151).

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I would ignore the late change of ✱√NAM >> √NDAB “judge”, since ✱√NAM has more attested derivatives and Námo appears in the published Silmarillion. Also, all of the derivatives of this root are Quenya, and its possible use in the name Rithil-Anamo (coined in Valinor) imply that it might be a root invented after the Elves arrived in Aman. Thus I think it is best to treat it as Quenya-only root, and used ᴹ√BAD “judge” as the basis for (Neo) Sindarin words for judgement by retaining Noldorin words with these meanings from the 1930s (Ety/BAD).

Derivatives

  • Q. nam- “to judge”
  • Q. náma “judgment or desire”
  • Q. namna “statute, statute, *law”
  • Q. námo “judge”

Noldorin 

badh-

verb. to judge

Derivations

  • ᴹ✶bad- “to judge” ✧ Ety/BAD
    • ᴹ√(M)BAD “duress, prison, doom, hell; *judge” ✧ Ety/BAD

Element in

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ✶bad- > bað-[bad-] > [bað-]✧ Ety/BAD

Variations

  • bað- ✧ Ety/BAD (bað-)

badhor

noun. judge

Noldorin [Ety/350] Group: SINDICT. Published by

badhor

noun. judge

Derivations

  • ᴹ✶bad- “to judge” ✧ Ety/BAD
    • ᴹ√(M)BAD “duress, prison, doom, hell; *judge” ✧ Ety/BAD
  • ᴹ✶mbād- “judgement, sentence” ✧ EtyAC/MBAD
    • ᴹ√(M)BAD “duress, prison, doom, hell; *judge” ✧ EtyAC/MBAD

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ✶bad- > badhor[badro] > [baðro] > [baðr] > [baðor]✧ Ety/BAD

Variations

  • Badhor ✧ EtyAC/MBAD (Badhor)
Noldorin [Ety/BAD; EtyAC/MBAD] Group: Eldamo. Published by

badhron

noun. judge

Noldorin [Ety/350] Group: SINDICT. Published by

badhron

noun. judge

Elements

WordGloss
badh-“to judge”
-(r)on“agental suffix”

Variations

  • baðron ✧ Ety/BAD; EtyAC/MBAD (baðron)
Noldorin [Ety/BAD; EtyAC/MBAD] 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!

Middle Primitive Elvish

bad-

verb. to judge

Derivations

  • ᴹ√(M)BAD “duress, prison, doom, hell; *judge” ✧ Ety/BAD

Derivatives

  • N. badh- “to judge” ✧ Ety/BAD
  • N. badhor “judge” ✧ Ety/BAD
Middle Primitive Elvish [Ety/BAD] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Gnomish

nam-

verb. withdraw, draw out, draw back, take back; (intr.) withdraw, retire

pridwir

noun. judge

Derivations

Early Primitive Elvish

pṛtṛ Reconstructed

root. judge

A hypothetical root explaining words in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s such G. pridu- “decide” and G. pridwir “judge” (GL/64). There are no signs of this root in Tolkien’s later writing.

Derivatives

Early Primitive Elvish Group: Eldamo. Published by