The root ᴹ√WATH “shade” first appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives like N. gwath of the same meaning (Ety/WATH). Primitive ✶wath “shadow” was mentioned in notes on Words, Phrases and Passages from the Lord of the Rings from the late 1950s as the basis for S. gwath (PE17/41), and primitive root √WATH appeared in notes on The Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor from 1967-69, again as the basis for S. gwath and similar words like S. gwathren “shadowy, dim” and Q. vasar “veil”, the latter from extended form waþar [√WATHAR] which was apparently the only survival of the shorter root in Quenya (VT42/9-10). This extended root might also be the basis for the (archaic?) region name Q. Avathar “Shadows” from The Silmarillion (S/73-4; MR/284).
The root ᴹ√WATH “shade” first appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives like N. gwath of the same meaning (Ety/WATH). Primitive ✶wath “shadow” was mentioned in notes on Words, Phrases and Passages from the Lord of the Rings from the late 1950s as the basis for S. gwath (PE17/41), and primitive root √WATH appeared in notes on The Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor from 1967-69, again as the basis for S. gwath and similar words like S. gwathren “shadowy, dim” and Q. vasar “veil”, the latter from extended form waþar [√WATHAR] which was apparently the only survival of the shorter root in Quenya (VT42/9-10). This extended root might also be the basis for the (archaic?) region name Q. Avathar “Shadows” from The Silmarillion (S/73-4; MR/284).