thār

masculine name. Thār

An “older and simpler name” of the Vala Oromë in some linguistic notes for the early 1950s (PE21/82). Its meaning is unclear.

thar

root. *across, beyond, [ᴹ√] across, beyond

Tolkien used a similar set of forms for “(a)cross” for Elvish throughout his life. The earliest of these was the unglossed root ᴱ√TARA⁽⁾ in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. tara- “cross, go athwart, cross rivers” and ᴱQ. tarwe “cross, crucifix” (QL/89). In QL Tolkien gave a Gnomish form tor, but the Gnomish Lexicon itself had derived forms like G. taru “cross; crossing”, G. trantha- “to cross” and G. trath “passage, ford” (GL69, 71). The forms G. adr(a)/ᴱQ. arta “lying athwart; situated on far side” are clearly related (GL/17).

There was another unglossed root in the Qenya Lexicon: {ᴱ√SAŘA >>} ᴱ√SARA with derivatives like ᴱQ. sara- “saw”, ᴱQ. sarat “plank”, and ᴱQ. sarno “table” (QL/82). Gnomish forms G. sard “table” vs. G. thar- “saw (up)” may represent a blending with another root ✱ᴱ√ÞARA (GL/67, 71). However, Tolkien compared G. sard to G. thrad [< ✱s(a)rat-?] (GL/67), whereas G. thrad “a board, shelf” was deleted from underneath G. thar- (GL/71). Perhaps this means there was a conceptual shift of {ᴱ√SARA >>} ✱ᴱ√ÞARA, though G. thrad “plank, board, shelf” was retained undeleted elsewhere in the document (GL/73).

As a later entry to The Etymologies of the 1930s, Tolkien gave the root ᴹ√THAR “across, beyond” serving as the basis for the names N. Thar-gelion (“Land beyond Gelion”) and N. Thar-bad with an unclear gloss, probably “Crossway” (Ety/THAR). The root √ÞAR appeared in a list of Sindarin words associated with Definitive Linguistic Notes (DLN) from 1959, where it served as the basis for words like S. athrad “crossing” and prefix S. athra- in words like S. athrabeth “conversation (interchange of words)” (PE17/14); in this note Tolkien specified that the root √ÞAR was not found in Quenya, but the root does appear to be an element in later Quenya words like the 1968 word Q. Mondósar “Oxford” (DTS/70).

Note that the root √THAR appeared a few times in Tolkien’s later writings with a different meaning: ᴹ√THAR “stand” in the Quenya Verbal System of the 1940s (PE22/126) and √THAR “vigour” (another Sindarin-only root) in an explanation of the name S. Thranduil in a list of roots from 1959 (D59: PE17/187).

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I would assume “across” is the main meaning of this root. However, I would ignore Tolkien’s 1959 statement that the root was not found in Quenya in order to salvage early words from ✱ᴱ√ÞARA, with the verbal sense “saw” = “(cut) across” and from this sense deriving words like “plank” and “table”.

thar

root. vigour

tar

root. stand

The root √TAR appeared unglossed in the Quendi and Eldar essay of 1959-60 as the basis for Q. tára “tall, high” (WJ/417), a word that elsewhere was derived from √TĀ/TAƷ “high” (Ety/TĀ; PE17/186). The root √TAR was glossed “stand” along with derivative tāra “tall” in rough notes on the back of a discussion of the comparitive from around 1967 (PE17/186). The past tense for Q. tarne “stood” appears in other notes from this period, along with Q. astarindo, artarindo or astarmo “bystander” (PE17/70-71). √TAR “stand” seems to be a later iteration of ᴹ√THAR “stand” from the Quenya Verbal System of the 1940s; of this earlier root Tolkien said it “is only used [in describing the location of things] — except, of course, with reference to persons or animals when they are noted especially as ‘standing’ (not sitting or lying) — of mountains, high hills, towers, pillars” (PE22/126).

thara

preposition. across, over, (properly) athwart

thara-pata

noun. crossway

thara

adjective. tall (or long) and slender

lañna

adverb. athwart

kanat

root. four

This root was established as the basis for “four” very early, though the earliest known Elvish word for “four” was actually ᴱQ. nelde from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s (QL/65), which became “three” later on (PE14/49). In the Gnomish Lexicon written soon after, the Gnomish word for “four” was G. cant (GL/25), and by the Early Qenya Grammar of the 1920s, the Qenya word likewise became ᴱQ. kanta “four” (PE14/49, 82). The Quenya word kept this form thereafter, and the Noldorin form became N. canad in The Etymologies of the 1930s, where the root ᴹ√KANAT “four” explicitly appeared for the first time (Ety/KÁNAT). The words and root for “four” remained the same thereafter (VT42/24-26; VT47/15-16; VT48/10), with occasional minor (and transient) variations such as √KENET (VT47/41).

kanatā

cardinal. four

lemek

root. [unglossed]

An unglossed root in the Outline of Phonology from the early 1950s illustrating certain phonetic combinations (PE19/98), and therefore possibly not a “real” root.

lā̆

preposition/adverb. beyond

orlā

preposition. over

phut

root. [unglossed]

An unglossed root appearing in the second version of Tengwesta Qenderinwa (TQ2) as an etymological variation of √PUT (PE18/90).

sal

root. [unglossed], *harp(ing), lyre

The unglossed root ᴱ√SALA appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. salma “lyre, small harp” and ᴱQ. salumbe “harping, music” (QL/81). The root √SAL appeared again Common Eldarin: Verb Structure from the early 1950s to illustrate the reformed perfect form of its verb Q. asálie (PE22/132), but since these later forms are unglossed it is unclear whether they have the same meaning (“✱harp(ing)”) as the earlier version of the root.

stuk

root. [unglossed]

An unglossed root in a rejected section of the Outline of Phonology (OP2) from the early 1950s, serving to illustration certain phonetic developments: ✶stuknā > Q. thúna (PE19/86).

tig

root. [unglossed]

A root appearing in Late Notes on Verb Structure (LVS) from 1969 as the basis for the verb Q. tinga- “go (for a long while)” (PE22/157). The etymology was marked with an “X” and so was probably a transient idea (PE22/157 note #70).

graw Reconstructed

root. [unglossed], [ᴹ√] dark, swart

This root appeared as a primitive form grawa serving as the basis of the word Q. roa “bear” >> “dog” in notes on monosyllabic roots from 1968 (VT47/35); a Sindarin derivative S. graw “bear” appeared in other notes written around the same time (VT47/12). Patrick Wynne suggested that in the sense “bear” grawa might be connected to the root ᴹ√GRAWA “dark, swart” from The Etymologies of the 1930s (EtyAC/GRAWA).