saura

foul, evil-smelling, putrid

saura (þ) adj. "foul, evil-smelling, putrid" (THUS), "foul, vile" (PE17:183). This adjective underlies the name Sauro, Sauron (q.v.) Alternatively explained to mean "cruel" (PE17:184); a deleted gloss defined the word as "bad, unhealthy, ill, wretched" (PE17:172). Tolkien did not consistently hold that the initial s represents older þ; sometimes he derived saura (and so implicitly Sauron) from stems with original s-.

saura

adjective. cruel, evil, vile; stinking, foul; bad, unhealthy, ill, wretched, stinking, foul, [ᴹQ.] evil-smelling, putrid; [Q.] cruel, evil, vile; [Q.] bad, unhealthy, ill, wretched

Changes

• saura → Saura “foul, vile” ✧ PE17/184

Cognates

• S. thaur “abominable, horrible” ✧ PE17/172
• S. saur “bad (of food), putrid” ✧ PE17/183

Derivations

• √THAW “cruel; stink” ✧ PE17/068; PE17/184
  • √THOW “stink” ✧ PE17/068
• √SAW “disgusting, foul, vile; bad, unhealthy, ill, wretched” ✧ PE17/172; PE17/183

Element in

• Q. saucarya “evil-doing” ✧ PE17/068
• Q. Sauron “Abhorred” ✧ PE17/068; PE17/183
• ᴺQ. sauroryat “skunk, (lit.) stink-badger”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√ÞAW > saura	[tʰaura] > [θaura] > [saura]	✧ PE17/068
√SAWA > saura	[saura]	✧ PE17/172
√SAWA > saura	[saura]	✧ PE17/183
√THAW > Saura	[tʰaura] > [θaura] > [saura]	✧ PE17/184

Variations

• Saura ✧ PE17/184

naicea

adjective. cruel

nwalca

cruel

nwalca ("k")adj. "cruel" (ÑGWAL; this must represent earlier *ñwalca = *ngwalca; these forms are not given in Etym, but compare nwalmë_ below. In Tengwar writing, the initial NW would be represented by the letter nwalmë.)_