top

root. cover, roof, roof, cover

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “cover, roof” with derivatives like ᴹQ. tópa-/N. toba- “to roof”, ᴹQ. tópa “roof”, and N. tobas “roofing” (Ety/TOP). It was grouped together with and was apparently a variant of ᴹ√TUP (EtyAC/TOP), a root with a much lengthier history; see that entry for details. For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I think this root could mean “roof” as opposed to √TUP = “cover”.

tōp-

verb. to roof

keper

root. ridge; knob, head, top

A rejected (Noldorin-only?) root in The Etymologies of the 1930s initially glossed “knob, head, top”, perhaps replacing the also rejected root ᴹ√KOPAR of the same meaning (Ety/KEPER; EtyAC/KEPER, KOPAR). Tolkien changed the gloss of ᴹ√KEPER to “ridge” before he rejected the entry. The most notable derivative of this root was N. ceber in N. Sarn Gebir, whose gloss is unclear but might be “?limestone, -rock”. Despite his rejection of this root, S. Sarn Gebir did appear in The Lord of the Rings (LotR/391) and was in one place translated as “Stone-spikes” (RC/327), so perhaps Tolkien restored the root, though what it might mean is unclear.

kast

adverb. towards the top

galad

root. tree

The basis for Elvish “tree” words, this root first appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s as an extension of ᴹ√GALA “thrive” (Ety/GALAD). This replaced the earliest derivation of “tree” from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, where the Qenya word for “tree” ᴱQ. alda was derived from ᴱ√ALA “spread” (QL/29). In The Etymologies, the Quenya form of this word remained the same, but the 1910s Gnomish words G. âl “wood” and †alwen “tree” (GL/19) became the 1930s Noldorin word N. galadh “tree” (Ety/GALA). Quenya and Sindarin retained these words for “tree” thereafter, and while Tolkien did not mention the root √GALAD again, his continued use of primitive ✶galadā “tree” (Let/426; PE17/153; PE21/74; UT/266) made it clear this root remained valid.

galadā

noun. tree

kas

root. head

kas

noun. head

khar

root. helmet

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “helmet” with extended forms √KHÁRAP and √KHÁRAN (EtyAC/KHAR); one of its derivatives ᴹQ. Eldahar seems to be a precursor to Q. Eldacar “Elfhelm”. There are many other words for “helmet” in Tolkien’s later writing, and this root was probably abandoned.

kharan

root. helmet

kharap

root. helmet