[yelca noun ?"sword" - Tolkien's gloss is not certainly legible, and the word was struck out anyway. (VT45:11)]
Quenya
macil
sword
yelca
sword
macar
swordsman
macar ("k") (1) noun "swordsman" (VT39:11). In Menelmacar (see menel). According to VT41:10, macar is literally "forger" (derived from maca-, q.v.), "often used in later use of a warrior".
mectar
swordsman
mectar _("k")_noun"Swordsman". In Telimectar ("k"). (LT1:268; in LotR-style Quenya mehtar, also macar)
mordo
warrior, hero
mordo (2) noun "warrior, hero" (LT1:268 - probably obsoleted by # 1 above)
mahtar
warrior
mahtar noun "warrior" (MAK; original gloss "swordsman", VT45:32)
mehtar
noun. warrior
Element in
- Q. Calimehtar “*Bright Warrior”
- Q. Telumehtar “Orion, (lit.) Warrior of the Sky” ✧ WJ/411
ohtacáro
warrior
[ohtacáro] ("k")noun "warrior" (KAR). In the Etymologies as printed in LR, the accent of the word ohtacáro was omitted (VT45:19).
ohtar
masculine name. Warrior
The squire of Isildur (LotR/243, UT/272). This name is simply the word ohtar “warrior” used as a name. Since it is a name out of legend, this name might have originally been the man’s title instead of his name, with his true name now lost (UT/282, note #17).
Elements
Word Gloss ohtar “warrior”
ohtar
noun. warrior
Element in
Elements
Word Gloss ohta “war” -r(o) “agental suffix” Variations
- Ohtar ✧ UT/282
necel
thorn
necel ("k") noun "thorn" (PE17:55)
necel
noun. thorn
A word for “thorn” in notes on the Words, Phrases and Passages from the Lord of the Rings from the late 1950s or early 1960s, derived from the root √NEK having to do with angles (PE17/55).
Derivations
- √NEK “narrow, narrow; *angular, sharp” ✧ PE17/055
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √NEK > nekel [nekel] ✧ PE17/055 Variations
- nekel ✧ PE17/055
ohtar
warrior, soldier
ohtar noun "warrior, soldier" (UT:282)
hyando
noun. cleaver, cleaver, [ᴹQ.] hewer (sword)
Element in
- Q. Sangahyando “Throng-cleaver” ✧ PE17/116
-rya
his, her
-rya 3rd person sg. pronominal ending "his, her" and probably "its" (VT49:16, 38, 48, Nam, RGEO:67), attested in coivierya *"his/her life", máryat "her hands", ómaryo "of her voice" (genitive of *ómarya "her voice"), súmaryassë "in her bosom" (locative of súmarya "her bosom"); for the meaning "his" cf. coarya "his house" (WJ:369). The ending is descended from primitive ¤-sjā via -zya (VT49:17) and therefore connects with the 3rd person ending -s "he, she, it". In colloquial Quenya the ending -rya could be used for "their" rather than "his/her", because it was felt to be related to the plural ending -r,e.g. símaryassen "in their [not his/her] imaginations" (VT49:16, 17). See -ya #4.
ehtar
spearman
[ehtar] noun "spearman" (EK/EKTE, VT45:12)]
ehtyar
spearman
ehtyar noun "spearman" (EK/EKTE). According to VT45:12, Tolkien at one point also meant ehtyar to be the name of Tengwa #15 with overposed dots to indicate a palatal sound; the letter would thus have the value hty. However, according to the classical Tengwar spelling of Quenya as outlined in LotR Appendix E, such a letter would rather have the value **ncy (since #15 is there assigned the value nc in Quenya), but since **ncy is not a possible Quenya combination, a palatal variant of #15 would not occur in the classical Quenya mode.
-ya
his
-ya (4) pronominal suffix "his" (and probably also "her, its"), said to be used in "colloquial Quenya" (which had redefined the "correct" ending for this meaning, -rya, to mean "their" because it was associated with the plural ending -r). Hence e.g. cambeya ("k") "his hand", yulmaya "his cup" (VT49:17) instead of formally "correct" forms in -rya. The ending -ya was actually ancient, primitive ¤-jā being used for "all numbers" in the 3rd person, predating elaborated forms like -rya. It is said that -ya "remained in Quenya" in the case of "old nouns with consonantal stems", Tolkien listing tál "foot", cas "head", nér "man", sír "river" and macil "sword" as examples. He refers to "the continued existence of such forms as talya his foot", that could apparently be used even in "correct" Quenya (VT49:17). In PE17:130, the forms talya "his foot" and macilya ("k") "his (or their) sword" are mentioned.
nassë
thorn, spike
nassë (2) noun "thorn, spike" (NAS). Not to be confused with nassë "(s)he is", VT49:30 or nassë # above. Note that in late material, the unambiguous word necel appears for "thorn" (PE17:55).
-zya
his, her, its
-zya, archaic form of the pronominal ending -rya "his, her, its", q.v. (VT49:17)
macil
noun. sword, forged sword blade, cutting sword, sword, forged sword blade, cutting sword, [ᴱQ.] broadsword
Cognates
- S. megil “sword, longsword”
Derivations
- √MAK “cut, hew with a sharp edge; kill, slay; forge metal, cut, hew with a sharp edge, [ᴹ√] cleave; sword, fight (with a sword); ️[√] forge metal; kill, slay” ✧ VT39/11; VT41/10
Element in
- Q. andamacil “long sword”
- Q. Calimmacil “*Bright Sword”
- Q. Calmacil “*Sword of Light, Shining Sword”
- Q. Elemmacil “*Star Sword”
- Eq. macilquilta “swordbelt”
- Q. Menelmacil “*Sword of the Sky”
- Q. Mormacil “Black Sword”
- Q. Narmacil “*Fire-sword”
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √MAK > makil [makil] ✧ VT39/11 √maka- > makil [makil] ✧ VT41/10 Variations
- makil ✧ VT39/11; VT41/10; VT49/17
maca-
to forge metal
maca- ("k")vb. "to forge metal" (which rang at the stokes of hammers). (VT41:10; in this source this is suggested as the origin of the word macil "sword", but mac- above would also seem to be relevant, so Tolkien may have changed his mind about the precise etymology of macil.)
rissë
cut
rissë noun? The word is not clearly glossed but apparently means "cut" or "cleft" (ravine), the cognate of the final element of Imladris, Sindarin name of Rivendell. (PE17:87)
rista
cut
rista (2) noun "cut" (RIS), cf. #1 above.
orvincë
noun. little apple, pommel
Alternative
Compound word reasoning
Orvincë was chosen instead of orvaincë for aesthetic beauty as well as simplicity of speech. To my knowledge, no Quenya word begins with orvi, thus generating no conflict with the compound word form.
Pommel origin
From Etymonline © 2022 (confirmed by Webster-Mirriam © 2022) mid-13c., pomel, "ornamental knob or ball, decorative boss;" c. 1300, "knob at the end of the handle of a sword hilt or the grip of a dagger," from Old French pomel (12c., Modern French pommeau), "rounded knob," diminutive of pom "hilt of a sword," and directly from Medieval Latin pomellum, diminutive of Latin pomum "apple" (see pomona), the connecting notion being "roundness." It serves to keep the hand from slipping and for striking a heavy blow at an adversary too close for the sweep of the weapon.
Though process
The word pommel is Franco-Latin in origin and refers to the knob at the end of a European style sword as a little apple. It seems appropriate that Quenya, which is flowing like French and is often referred to as "Elf Latin" should also refer to the balancing knob at the end of a sword as a "little apple." English also uses pommel as the primary word for a knob at the end of a sword handle.
ai reduction
From Member Gilruin: "Erkenbard [demonstrated] the reduction ai → i before clusters is supported by alda + inga → aldinga" (VT47:28)
macil ("k")noun "sword" (MAK, LT1:259, VT39:11, VT45:32, VT49:17); macilya "his (or their) sword" (PE17:130), see -ya #4.