nor-

verb. to run (or leap, of animals or men), to run (of animals or men); to leap

A verb translated “run (or leap: of animals, men etc.)” in notes from around 1965, derived from the root √NOR (PE17/94, 168). It also appeared in its past form norne “ran” in Words, Phrases and Passages from the Lord of the Rings (WPP) from the late 1950s or early 1960s (PE17/58).

Conceptual Development: A similar verb ᴱQ. nyor(o)- “run” appeared in Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s (PE16/132, 134). In earlier writings the root had a slightly different meaning: ᴱ√NORO “run, go smoothly, ride, spin” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s (QL/67), and ᴹ√NOR “run as of wheels, roll along” in a rejected page of verbal roots in the Quenya Verbal System (QVS) of 1948 (PE22/127). The latter document had a distinct verb ᴹQ. rohta- based on the root ᴹ√ROK “run on foot”; in later writings from the 1950s and 60s this root was only used for “horse” words.

Earlier still, the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had several unrelated verbs for “run”: ᴱQ. loqo- “run (of human beings)” under the early root ᴱ√LOQO (QL/56), ᴱQ. pelte- “run” under the early root ᴱ√PELE having to do with revolving things (QL/73), and ᴱQ. yurin [yuru-] “runs” under the early root ᴱ√ẎURU “run” (QL/106). The last of these reappeared as a (Noldorin-only?) root ᴹ√YUR “run” in The Etymologies of the 1930s.

By the 1950s and 60s, the only surviving root for running on legs seems to be √NOR, as described above.

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I’d use Q. nor- only to mean “run (of animals and men)”. For “leap” I would use [ᴹQ.] cap-.

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-

nor-

verb. run

nor-

prefix. fear

nór

noun. land

A term for “land” as in “(dry) land as opposed to the sea”, mentioned in the Quendi and Eldar essay of 1959-60 (WJ/413) and again in notes from around 1968 (PE17/106-107).

Possible Etymology: In the Quendi and Eldar essay this term was derived from primitive ✶ndōro, but in the aforementioned 1968 notes Tolkien clarified that its stem form was nŏr-. This means it was probably derived from ancient ✱ndŏr-, where the long vowel in the uninflected form was inherited from the Common Eldarin subjective form ✱ndōr, a phenomenon also seen in words like nér (ner-) “man”. I prefer this second derivation, as it makes the independent word more distinct from the suffixal form -ndor or -nóre used in the names of countries.

-nor

suffix. land, country

nór

land

nór noun "land" (stem nor-, PE17:106) this is land as opposed to water and sea (nor in Letters:308). Cf. nórë.

ñor

fear

[ñor noun? prefix? "fear" (PE17:172)]

-ndor

land

-ndor, final element in compounds: "land" (Letters:308, UT:253)

-ndor

suffix. land, country

caurë

fear

caurë _("k")_noun "fear" (LT1:257)

lómëanor

place name. Gloomyland

A descriptive name of Fangorn appearing in the even longer Entish description of that land: Taurelilómëa-tumbalemorna Tumbaletaurëa Lómëanor (LotR/467). The name is a combination of the elements lómëa “gloomy” and -ndor “land” (LotR/1131, Let/308).

nordo

oak

nordo noun "oak" (PE17:25), possibly replacing norno (q.v.) in a pre-LotR source.

nordo

noun. oak

A word for “oak” in notes from the late 1950s or early 1960s (PE17/25), possibly introduced to avoid conflict with Norno “Dwarf” (WJ/388). Its Sindarin cognate was S. norð, indicating derivation from primitive ✱nordō. See the entry Q. norno for earlier forms of the word.

norno

oak

norno (1) noun "oak" (DÓRON); a later source has nordo (PE17:25)

norno

noun. oak

A word appearing as norno “oak” in both The Etymologies of the 1930s and the Outline of Phonology (OP2) from the early 1950s derived from primitive ✶[[p|dor[o]no]] and the root ᴹ√DORON (PE19/80; Ety/DÓRON). The appearance of an initial n- is unusual, since generally [[aq|initial [d] became [l]]] in Ancient Quenya. But sometimes ancient [[aq|initial [d] assimilated to following nasal]] instead, as was the case with this word.

Conceptual Development: Variants of this word date all the way back to the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, which had ᴱQ. nor (norn-) “oak” and ᴱQ. norne “oak-tree” under the early root ᴱ√NOŘO [NDOÐO?] (QL/67). The form ᴱQ. norne “oak” was mentioned in Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s (PE16/140), but it became ᴹQ. norno in The Etymologies of the 1930s, as noted above.

Neo-Quenya: Tolkien introduced words Q. nordo and S. norð “oak” in notes from the late 1950s or early 1960s (PE17/25), possibly to avoid conflict with Norno “Dwarf” (WJ/388). I prefer the form norno “oak” as better-established and more etymologically interesting.

nóre

noun. land

nórë

land

nórë noun "land" (associated with a particular people) (WJ:413), "country, land, dwelling-place, region where certain people live, race, clan" (NŌ, NDOR, BAL), also used = "race, tribe, people" (SA:dôr, PE17:169; however, the normal word for "people" is lië). Early "Qenya" hasnórë "native land, nation, family, country" (in compounds -nor) (LT1:272)

nórë

noun. land, country; †people, race, tribe, land, country, [ᴹQ.] region where certain people live, [ᴱQ.] nation; [Q.] †people, race, tribe, [ᴹQ.] folk, [ᴱQ.] family

thosso

fear

†thosso (þossë) noun "fear" in Old Quenya (PE17:87, there spelt with the letter þ, not the digraph th)

yur-

verb. run

yur- vb. "run" (quoted in form yurin, translated "runs", but within Tolkien's later framework it looks like a 1st person aorist "I run")-QL:106 (cf. entry YUR in Etym)

þossë Archaic

noun. fear

latwa

adjective. neither/nor

A neologism for “neither/nor” coined by Luinyelle posted on 2025-08-11 in the Vinyë Lambengolmor Discord Server (VLDS), a negation of [ᴹQ.] atwa. See also the pronoun [ᴹQ.] alatwe “neither”.

sossë

noun. fear

yúla

adverb. neither, nor