way

root. blow (of wind), be disturbed

len

root. *way, [ᴹ√] way, (?road)

A variant of √LED in notes from the late 1950s or early 1960s that Tolkien considered to explain the derivation of S. lembas “waybread” (PE17/60). The root ᴹ√LEN “(?road), way” also appeared earlier in The Etymologies of the 1930s as the basis for N. lembas (EtyAC/LEN). Tolkien may have settled on this root when he revised the earlier root ᴹ√LED (Ety/LED) “go, fare, travel” >> √DEL “walk, go, proceed, travel” in the 1959-60 Quendi and Eldar essay (WJ/360), deciding that its inversion √LED was used mainly in Quenya (WJ/363).

A possible precursor to this root is ᴹ√LĒ “go, fare” in the Declension of Nouns (DN) from the early 1930s with derivative ᴹQ. lesto “journey” (PE21/12). This is turn is probably a later iteration of ᴱ√LEHE “come, be sent, approach” from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, given as a variant of ᴱ√ELE (QL/52). It is probably the basis for contemporaneous G. len “come, arrived” and G. lentha- “come towards speaker, approach, draw near” (GL/53) and possibly ᴱQ. lehe- or ᴱQ. lehta- “ride” from the English-Qenya Dictionary of the 1920s (PE15/76).

For a discussion of other parallel roots, see √LED and √DEL.

(n)dan

root. back (again); retreat, go back, give way (as one advances), revert, back (again), [ᴹ√] backwards; [√] retreat, go back, give way (as one advances), revert, [ᴹ√] return

The most notable use of the root √(N)DAN “back(wards)” was in the name Q. Nandor for those Elves who joined in the march to Valinor but turned back during the journey (VT48/32); the same root was an element in the earlier name for the Nandor from the 1930s, the Danas (Ety/NDAN). The root first appeared as ᴹ√NDAN “back” in The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives like the aforementioned Danas as well as the prefix ᴹQ. nan- “backwards” and the Doriathrin noun dôn “back” (Ety/NDAN). The Etymologies also mentioned an unstrengthened form of the root ᴹ√DAN (Ety/DAN).

The root √(N)DAN appeared several times in Tolkien’s later writings. It appeared among a list of roots having to do with “back” probably composed around 1959 (PE17/166). In this list, Tolkien clarified that in Quenya, √NDAN specifically meant “back” as an action by the same agent revising a previous action, as opposed to an action by a different agent, for which Tolkien coined the root {√TŌ/OTO >>} √KHAN; the example Tolkien gave was Q. nanwen-/S. dadwen- “return, go back [by same agent]” < √NDAN vs. {{Q. tóquet- >>} Q. hanquenta “answer [by a different agent]”. This distinction was lost in Sindarin, however, and √NDAN came to be used for both same and differing agents. Tolkien also said that √NDAN could be used “of return (in same path), retracing, and so employable as un- as in undo”.

The root was mentioned again in the Quendi and Eldar essay from 1959-60, where Tolkien said:

> The name Nandor was a derivative of the element ✱dan, ✱ndan- indicating the reversal of an action, so as to undo or nullify its effect, as in “undo, go back (the same way), unsay, give back (the same gift: not another in return)”. The original word ✱ndandō, therefore, probably only implied “one who goes back on his word or decision”.

Finally, the root appeared in some notes from the late 1960s where √dan- was glossed “retreat, go back, give way (as one advances), revert” serving as the basis for {✶danmi >>} ✶ndanmē > Q. nanwë/S. dannen “ebb-tide”, apparently originally meaning “retreat” (VT48/26 author’s note #2, VT48/32 editor’s note #18). In the same document Tolkien again mentioned the connection of this root to the name of the Nandor.

leñ

root. *way, method, manner

A root appearing in notes from the late 1950s to early 1960s (PE17/74) where Tolkien was attempting to explain the origin of the adverbial suffix Q. -lë. He said:

> But adverbial forms were available especially for when far separated from verb or subject. The chief was -le. This is probably from √LEŊ, cf. fortified form in Q lenge, gesture, characteristic look, gesture or trait etc., weak verb lenga, behave.

lé as noun also is used in sense of “way”, sc. method, manner, as in “that is not A’s way”. Thus oia, everlasting, oiale, everlastingly. Cf. talle, like that, sille, like this, so, yalle, as (in the same way as).

Tolkien then crossed through the first of these paragraphs, saying: “This won’t do, since le is a pronominal element. It should be ve, oiave”. However, he eventually let the word Q. oialë “forever” stand in the Namarië poem, so perhaps he changed his mind again. Despite their rejection, √LEÑ and its derivatives are extremely useful, and I would treat them as valid for purposes of Neo-Eldarin.

nay

root. have opportunity, chance or permission; be allowed by circumstance [or] way of the world

A root appearing in Late Notes on Verb Structure (LVS) from 1969 as √NAYA “have opportunity, chance or permission; be allowed by circumstance [or] way of the world” giving a new etymology for Q. nai “it may be”.

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I would ignore this root since it conflicts with the much better established √NAY “grief, pain”, and would stick with the well established etymology of Q. nai “maybe, be it that” = Q. ná- + Q. i.

rat

root. to find a way

This root first appeared as ᴹ√RAT “walk” in The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives like N. râd “path, track”, N. ostrad “street”, N. rath “course, river-bed”, and N. rant “lode, vein”, the last with the meaning Ilk. rant “flow, course of river” in Ilkorin (Ety/RAT). Hints of this root can be seen as early as the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s in words like G. rada “track, path, way” with primitive form rad·, probably actually ✱ᴱ√RATA (GL/64).

ᴹ√RATA reappeared on a rejected page of roots in the Quenya Verbal System from the 1940s with the gloss “go in a line (as a road)” (PE22/127). Above it Tolkien wrote “usually of animals/or two feet is {SRATA}”, perhaps indicating Tolkien was divorcing this root from the sense “walk”, which in later writings seems to be attributed to the root ✱√PAT (PE17/34).

In notes from the late 1960s Tolkien glossed √RAT as “find a way”, saying it “applied to persons journeying in the wild; to travel in roadless land; and also to streams and rivers and their courses” (NM/363). In this document it was the basis for S. rant “course” in S. Celebrant “Silverlode”, as well as Q. ratta “track” and S. rath “(climbing) street”, the latter also influenced by √RATH “climb” that was itself a more emphatic variant of √RAT (NM/354).

pat(a)

noun. track, road, way; ford

mēn-

noun. a way, a going, a mov[ement]

wir

root. weave, twine, weaving with cross-threads or withes

Tolkien used a variety of similar roots for Elvish words having to do with “weaving”, many of them tied to the name of Q. Vairë. The earliest of these was a pair of roots ᴱ√GWERE “whirl, twirl, twist” and unglossed {ᴱ√WIÐI >>} ᴱ√GWIÐI in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, the latter with derivatives like ᴱQ. ’winda “woof” and ᴱQ. ’windele “loom” (QL/103-104). The connection between ᴱ√GWERE and weaving is more obvious in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon where Tolkien said that ✶gwer- “wind, turn, bend” was often used as “plait or weave”, much like ✶gwidh- (GL/46). The most notable weaving word derived from 1910s ✶gwer- was G. Gwerlum “Gloomweaver” (GL/46).

Nothing of this blended paradigm remained in The Etymologies of the 1930s, where Tolkien instead had ᴹ√WEY “wind, weave” as the basis for ᴹQ. Vaire/N. Gwîr “Weaver”, and in this document the root was blended with ᴹ√WAY “enfold” in Quenya because *wei* > *wai* (Ety/WEY). Tolkien seems to have abandoned this phonetic rule by the time he wrote his Quenya Notes (QN) from 1957, where he instead said:

> Owing to the use of gwae / gwaew “wind” as in Gwaehir, we must have √WAYA = blow, or be disturbed. √WAYA cannot therefore be used = “weave”, and Vairë has no connexion with winds or stories. EITHER Vairë must become name of Osse’s wife: Q váya is used of sea (as waters, motion). OR Vairë’s name be changed: sc. to Vérë, √WER- “twine, weave”, were-, weave (PE17/33).

Ultimately Tolkien made neither of these changes to Vairë, and this section was rejected. In a set of roots from December 1959 (D59) Tolkien said “√WIRI, weave; hence Vaire (literally ‘weaving’), not from WAY” (PE17/191). The name Q. Vairë “Ever-weaving” was also derived from √WIR in notes associated with the Quendi and Eldar essay from 1959-60 (VT39/10). However, in notes from the late 1960s Tolkien said “weaving with cross-threads or withes was represented by the distinct base {WAY >>} WIG, often in strengthened form waig-” (VT42/10 and VT42/29 note #27). So it seems Tolkien continued to vacillate on the weaving roots.

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I think the 1959-60 root form √WIR lets us salvage the largest number of words.

ranthlā

noun. ladder

waw

root. blow (of wind), be disturbed