The Book of Lost Tales, Part One

by J. R. R. Tolkien

  Nielíqui In QL this name (Nieliqi, also Nielikki, Nyelikki) is derived from the root NYEHE ‘weep’ (see Nienna). Where her tears fell snowdrops (nieninqë, literally ‘white tear’) sprang. See the poem Nieninqë in J. R. R. Tolkien, The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays, 1983, p. 215. For ninqë see Taniquetil.

  The second element of Nielíqui is presumably from the root LIQI, whence linqë ‘water’, liqin ‘wet,’ liqis ‘transparence’, etc. (see Ulmo).

  Nielluin This name of the star Sirius is translated in the text (p. 182) as ‘the Bee of Azure’ (see Ingil). The first element is from the root NEHE, whence nektë ‘honey’, nier (< neier < neier) ‘honey-bee’, nierwes ‘hive’. The name of Sirius is given in QL as Niellúnë or Nierninwa; both ninwa and lúnë are Qenya words meaning ‘blue’. In Gnomish the name of the star is Niothluimi, = Qenya Nielluin: nio, nios ‘bee’ and many related words, luim ‘blue’.

  Nienna In QL Nyenna the goddess is given under a root NYE(NE) ‘bleat’, whence nyéni ‘she-goat’, nyéna- ‘lament’, etc.; but there is a note ‘or all to root NYEHE’. This means ‘weep’: nië‘tear’ (cf.Nielíqui), nyenyë ‘weeping’. In GL the forms of the name are Nenni(r), Nenir, Nenir, without etymological connections given, but cf. nîn ‘tear’.

  Noldoli The root NOL ‘know’ in QL has derivatives Noldo ‘Gnome’ and Noldorinwa adjective, Noldomar ‘Gnomeland’, and Noldorin ‘who dwelt awhile in Noldomar and brought the Gnomes back to Inwenórë. It seems that Noldomar means the Great Lands. But it is very curious that in these entries, which are among the earliest, ‘Gnome’ is an emendation of ‘Goblin’ cf. the poem Goblin Feet (1915), and its Old English title Cumaþ Þá Nihtielfas (p. 32).

  In Gnomish ‘Gnome’ is Golda (‘i.e. wise one’); Goldothrim ‘the people of the Gnomes’, Goldogrin their tongue, Goldobar, Goldomar ‘Gnomeland’. The equivalent of Noldorin in GL is Goldriel, which was the form antecedent to Golthadriel in the text before both were struck out (p. 22). See Nólemë.

  Noldorin See Noldoli.

  Nólemë This is given in QL as a common noun, ‘deep lore, wisdom’ (See Noldoli). The Gnomish name of Finwë Nólemë, Golfinweg (p. 115), contains the same element, as must also the name Fingolma given to him in outlines for Gilfanon’s Tale (pp. 238–9).

  I Nori Landar (On the ‘World-Ship’ drawing, probably meaning ‘the Great Lands’, pp. 84–5.) For nori see Valinor. Nothing similar to landar appears in QL; GL gives a word land (lann) ‘broad’.

  Nornorë In QL this name has the form Nornoros ‘herald of the Gods’, and with the verb nornoro- ‘run on, run smoothly’ is derived from a root NORO ‘run, ride, spin, etc.’. GL has similar words, nor- run‘, roll’, norn ‘wheel’, nûr ‘smooth, rolling free’. The name corresponding to Qenya Nornorë is here Drondor ‘messenger of the Gods’ (drond ‘race, course, track’ and drô ‘wheel-track, rut’); Drondor was later changed to Dronúrin (
  Númë (On the ‘World-Ship’ drawing.) In QL númë ‘West’ is derived from root NUHU ‘bow, bend down, stoop, sink’ other words are núta- ‘stoop, sink’, númeta-, numenda- ‘get low (of the Sun)’, númëa ‘in the West’. Gnomish num- ‘sink, descend’, númin ‘in the West’, Auranúmin ‘sunset’, numbros ‘incline, slope’, nunthi ‘downward’. Cf. Falassë Númëa, Faskala-númen, Sirnúmen.

  Núri Name of Fui Nienna: ‘Núri who sighs’, p. 66. This is given without translation in QL under root NURU, with núru- ‘growl (of dogs), grumble’, nur ‘growl, complaint’. In Gnomish she is Nurnil, with associated words nur- ‘growl, grumble’, nurn ‘lament’, nurna- ‘bewail, lament’.

  Ô (On the ‘World-Ship’ drawing: ‘the Sea’, pp. 84–5.) See Ónen.

  Oarni See Ónen.

  Olofantur See Lórien, Fanturi.

  Olórë Mallë For Olórë see Lórien. mallë ‘street’ appears in QL under root MALA ‘crush’ (see Balrog); the Gnomish form is mal ‘paved way, road’, and the equivalent of Olórë Mallë is Malmaurien (see Murmuran).

  Ónen The root ’o’o in QL has derivatives Ô, a poetic word, ‘the sea’, oar ‘child of the sea, merchild’, oaris (-ts), oarwen ‘mermaid’, and Ossë the name ówen (antecedent of Ónen in the text, pp. 61, 79) also appears, and evidently means the same as oarwen (for -wen see Urwen). The later form Uinen in the Tales is apparently Gnomish; GL U´nen ‘Lady of the Sea’. changed late to Uinen. A form Oinen also occurs (p. 211).

  In the Valar name-list Ónen is called also Solórë (see Solosimpi) and Ui Oarista. This latter appears in QL, with the definition ‘Queen of the Mermaids’, together with Uin ‘the primeval whale’ but how these relate to the other names is obscure.

  Orc QL ork (orq-) ‘monster, demon’. GL orc ‘goblin’, plural orcin, orchoth (hoth ‘folk, people’, hothri ‘army’, hothron ‘captain’).

  Oromë In QL Oromë ‘son of Aulë’ is placed under a root ORO that is distinct (apparently because of the nature of the consonant) from ORO (with meaning of ‘steepness, rising’) given under Kalormë; but these roots are said to be ‘much confused’. This second root yields órë ‘the dawn, Sunrise, East’, órëa ‘of the dawn, Eastern’, orontë, oronto ‘Sunrise’, osto ‘the gates of the Sun’, and Ostor ‘the East, the Sun when she issues from her white gates’. It is noted that Oromë should perhaps be placed under the other root, but there is no indication of the connections of the name. In The Hiding of Valinor (p. 214) Oromë has a particular knowledge of the East of the world. His name in Gnomish is Orma; and in the Valar name-list he is also called Raustar, for which see Meássë.

  Oronto (On the ‘World-Ship’ drawing, ‘East’.) See Oromë.

  Orossi In the list of fays referred to under Nandini the Orossi are ‘fays of the mountains’, and this name is thus a derivative from the root ORO seen in Kalormë.

  Ossë See Ónen. His Gnomish name is Otha or Oth.

  Palisor See Palúrien.

  Palúrien An early entry in QL gives Palurin ‘the wide world’ under a root PALA, whose derivatives have a common general sense of ‘flatness’, among them palis ‘sward, lawn’, whence no doubt Palisor. In GL the corresponding name is Belaurin, B(a)laurin; but she is also called Bladorwen ‘the wide earth, the world and its plants and fruits, Mother Earth’ (related words are blant ‘flat, open, expansive, candid’, blath ‘floor’, bladwen ‘a plain’). See Yavanna.

  Poldórëa Not in QL, but GL gives serval corresponding forms: Polodweg="Tulcus" (polod ‘power, might, authority’); polodrin ‘mighty, also in poetic form Poldurin or Poldorin which is especially used as epithet of Tulcus; Q. Poldórëa.

  Qalmë-Tári The root is QALA ‘die’, whence qalmë ‘death’, qalin ‘dead’, and other words of the same meaning. Tári is from TAHA: tâ ‘high’, tára ‘lofty’, tári ‘queen’, etc.; Gnomish dâ ‘high’, dara ‘lofty’, daroth ‘summit, peak’. Cf. Taniquetil.

  Qalvanda ‘The Road of Death’ (p. 213). See Qalmë-Tári. The second element is from root VAHA: whence vâ past tense ‘went’, vand- ‘way, path’, vandl ‘staff’, vanwa ‘gone on the road, past, over, lost’ (as in Mar Vanwa Tyaliéva). Cf. Vansamírin.

  Qerkaringa The first element is obscure; for -ringa see Ringil.

  Qorinómi See p. 227. The root is QORO/QOSO, whence qoro- ‘choke, suffocate’, qorin ‘drowned, choked’, etc.

  Rána Not in QL, but GL has Rân ‘the Moon (Q. Rána)’ and ranoth ‘month’ (Ranoth was a rejected name preceding Ranuin, p. 222). In the text (p. 192) it is said that the Gods named the Moon Rána.

  Ranuin See Rána

  Ringil QL gives ringa ‘damp, cold, chilly’, ringwë ‘rime, frost’, rin ‘dew’; GL rî ‘coolness’, ring ‘cool, cold, a sudden breeze or cold breath’, and (a later addition) Ringli ‘the arctic colds, the North Pole (see the tale of the Coming of the Ainur)’. Cf. Qerkaringa.

  Rúmil This name is not found in either dictionary, but seems likely to be connected with words given in GL: rû and ruˆ ‘secret, mystery ruim ‘secret, mysterious’,
rui ‘whisper’, rûm ‘secret, mystery ruim ‘secret, mysterious’, rui ‘whisper’, ruitha ‘to whisper’.

  Salmar This name must belong with derivatives of the root SALA salma ‘lyre’, salmë ‘harp-playing’, etc.

  Samírien (‘The Feast of Double Mirth’, p. 143.) Presumably derive from the root MIRI ‘smile’ sa- is referred to in QL as an ‘intensive prefix’. Cf. Vansamírin.

  Sári Not in either dictionary, but in QL the root SAHA/SAHYA yields sâ ‘fire’, saiwa ‘hot’, Sahóra ‘the South’ GL has sâ ‘fire’ (poetic form sai), sairin ‘fiery’, saiwen ‘summer’, and other words.

  Sil Under the root SILI QL gives a long list of words beginning with Sil ‘Moon’ and all with meanings of whiteness or white light, but neither Silpion nor Silmaril occurs in it. In GL Sil ‘properly="Rose" of Silpion”, see Tale of the Making of the Sun and Moon, but often used poetically = Whole Moon or Rân’. In this tale (p. 215) it is said that the fairies named the Moon ‘Sil, the Rose’ (earlier reading ‘the silver rose’).

  Silindrin The ‘Moon-cauldron’ does not appear in either dictionary; the nearest form is Silindo in QL, which is a name of Jupiter. See Sil.

  Silmarilli See Sil. In GL the equivalent of ‘Q. Silmaril’ is silubrill- (silum(b)aril-), plural silubrilthin (which occurs in the text, p. 138); a later addition compares brithla ‘pearl’, Qenya marilla (not in QL). The Tower of Pearl was named in Gnomish Tirimbrithla.

  Silmo See Sil. In QL Silmo is translated ‘the Moon’, and in GL Silmo is given as the Gnomish equivalent of Qenya Silmo.

  Silpion See Sil. The Gnomish names are Silpios or Piosil, but no meaning is given.

  Silubrilthin See Silmarilli.

  Sirion QL root SIRI ‘flow’, with derivatives sindi ‘river’ (cf. Kelusindi) sirë ‘stream’, sírima ‘liquid, flowing’. In GL are given sîr ‘river siriol ‘flowing’, and Sirion (poetic word) ‘river, properly name of the famous magic river that flowed through Garlisgion and Nantathrir’ (Garlisgion ‘the Place of Reeds’ survived in Lisgardh ‘the land of reeds at the Months of Sirion’, Unfinished Tales p. 34. Cf. Sirnúmen, and the name it replaced, Numessir.

  Sirnúmen See Sirion, Númë.

  Solosimpi QL gives Solosimpë ‘the Shoreland Pipers’, of which the first element is from root SOLO: solmë ‘wave’, solor, solossë ‘surf, surge’ (cf. Solórë name of Ónen), and the second from SIPI ‘whistle, pipe’: simpa, simpina ‘pipe, flute’, simpisë ‘piping’, simpetar ‘piper’. In GL the Gnomish name of the Solosimpi is Thlossibin or Thlossibrim, from thloss ‘breaker’, with a variant Flossibrim. The word floss is said to have been formed from thloss by influence of flass ‘seamarge, surf; margin, fringe’.

  Sorontur Derived from a root SORO ‘eagle’: sor, sornë ‘eagle’, sornion ‘eyrie’, Sorontur ‘King of Eagles’. For -tur see Meril-i-Turinqi. The Gnomish forms are thorn ‘eagle’, thrond ‘(eyrie), pinnacle’, Thorndor and Throndor ‘King of Eagles’.

  Súlimo In QL under the three root-forms SUHYU, SUHU, SUFU ‘air, breathe, exhale, puff’ are given sû ‘noise of wind’, súlimë ‘wind’, and Súlimi, -o ‘Vali of Wind="Manwë" and Varda’. This probably means that Manwë was Súlimo and Varda Súlimi, since Varda is called Súltha ‘blow (of wind)’, but Manwë’s wind-name is Saulmoth (saul ‘a great wind’), which is said to be an older form of later Solmoth; and this‘="Q." Súlimi. GL has sû ‘noise of wind’, súltha ‘blow (of wind’, but Manwë’s wind-name is Saulmoth (saul ‘a great wind’), which is said to be an older form of later Solmoth; and this ‘="Q." Súlimo’.

  In Gnomish he is also called Gwanweg (gwá ‘wind’, gwam ‘gust of wind’), often combined with Man (See Manwë) as Man ’Wanweg="Q." Manwë Súlimo. The root GW appears in QL: wâ ‘wind’, wanwa ‘great gale’, wanwavoitë ‘windy’ and in the Valar name-list Manwë and Varda are together called Wanwavoisi.

  Súruli See Súlimo. Súruli is not in QL, but GL has Sulus (plurals Sulussin and Suluthrim) ‘one of Manwë’s two clans of air-spirits, Q. Súru plural Súruli’.

  Talka Marda This title of Aulë, translated in the text (p. 180) as ‘Smith of the World’, is not found in QL, but GL gives ‘Martaglos, correctly Maltagros, title of óla, Smith of the World’ as the equivalent of Qenya Talka Marwa; also tagros, taglos ‘smith’. He is also called óla Mar; and in the Valar name-list Aulë Mar. (Long afterwards this title of Aulë reappeared. In a very late note he is given the name mbartan ‘world-artificer’ > Quenya Martamo, Sindarin Barthan.)

  Taniquetil Under the root TAHA (see Qalmë-Tári) Taniqetil is given in QL with the meaning ‘lofty snowcap’. The second element is from root NIQI (ninqë ‘white’, niqis ‘snow’, niqetil ‘snowcap’ cf. nieninqë ‘white tear’ (snowdrop) in entry Níeliqui).

  The Gnomish form is Danigwethil (dâ ‘high’), but the second element seems to be different, since GL gives a word nigweth ‘storm (properly of snow, but that sense has evaporated)’.

  Tanyasalpë Translated in the text ‘the bowl of fire’ (p. 187). salpa ‘bowl’ is given in QL under a root SLPL, with sulp- ‘lick’, salpa ‘take a sup of’, sulpa ‘soup’. Tanya is not in QL; GL has tan ‘firewood’, tantha- ‘kindle’, tang ‘flame, flash’, and Tanfa ‘the lowest of all airs, the hot air of the deep places’.

  Tári-Laisi For Tári see Qalmë-Tá. In QL the root LAYA ‘be alive, flourish’ has derivatives lairë ‘meadow’, laiqa ‘green’, laito and laisi both meaning ‘youth, vigour, new life’. The Gnomish words are laib (also glaib) ‘green’, laigos ‘greenness, ="Q." laiqassë‘, lair (also glair) ‘meadow’. The following note is of great interest: ‘Note Laigolas="green-leaf" [see Gar Lossion], becoming archaic because of final form becoming laib, gave Legolast i.e. keen-sight [last ‘look, glance’, leg, lêg ‘keep, piercing’]. But perhaps both were his names, as the Gnomes delighted to give two similar-sounding names of dissimilar meaning, as Laigolas Legolast, Túrin Turambar, etc. Legolas the ordinary form is a confusion of the two.’ (Legolas Greenleaf appears in the tale of The Fall of Gondolin; he was an Elf of Gondolin, and being night, sighted he led the fugitives from the city over the plain in the dark. A note associated with the tale says that ‘he liveth still in Tol Eressëa named by the Eldar there Laiqalassë’.)

  Tarn Fui See Moritarnon, Fui.

  Tavari In the list of fays referred to under Nandini the Tavari are ‘fays of the woods’. In QL tavar (tavarni) ‘dale-sprites’ is derived from a root TAVA, whence also tauno ‘forest’, taulë ‘great tree.’, tavas ‘woodland’. GL has tavor ‘a wood-fay’, taur, tavros ‘forest’ (Tavros also a proper name, ‘chief wood-fay, the Blue Spirit of the Woods’. Later, Tavros became a name of Oromë, leading through Tauros to the form Tauron in The Silmarillion).

  Tavrobel This is given in GL with the translation ‘wood-home’ (see Tavari). The element pel is said to be ‘usual only in such place-names as Tavrobel, and means ‘village, hamlet, -ham’. In a separate note elsewhere an additional Gnomish name Tavrost is given, and Qenya names Tavaros(së), Taurossë. Tavrost evidently contains rost ‘slope, hillside, ascent’, with associated words rosta ‘ascent’ (Rost’ aura ‘Sunrise’), ront ‘high, steep’, ascribed to a stem r, oro-. These are etymological variants of words given under Kalormë.

  Telelli This term, which occurs once only in the Tales (p. 19), is obscure. In QL, in early entries, a complex of words is given all of which mean ‘little elf’: these include Teler and Telellë, and the adjectives telerëa and telella. There is no suggestion of any distinction between them. An isolated note states that young Elves of all clans who dwelt in Kôr to perfect their arts of singing and poetry were called Telelli; but in another place Telellin, a dialect, appears to be used instead of Telerin. See Teleri.

  Teleri See Telelli. In GL appears Tilith ‘an elf, a member of the first of the three tribes of the fairies or Eldar; plural Tilthin’. The later meaning of Teleri, when it became the name of the Third Tribe, was already potentially present: QL gives a root TEL + U with derivatives telu
- ‘to finish, end’, telu (noun), telwa ‘last, late’, with the suggestion that this was perhaps an extension of root TELE ‘cover in’ (see Telimektar). In GL these meanings ‘cover-in—close—finish’ are expressly assigned to the root TEL-: telm ‘roof, sky’, teloth ‘roofing, canopy, shelter’, telu- ‘to close, end, finish’, telu ‘end’.

  Telimektar In QL Telimektar, Telimbektar is glossed ‘Orion, literally Swordsman of Heaven’, and is given under the root TELE ‘cover in’, together with tel ‘roof’, telda ‘having a roof’, telimbo ‘canopy; sky’, etc. -mektar probably derives from the root MAKA, see Makar. The Gnomish form is Telumaithar.

  In the Valar name-list he is called also Taimondo. There are substantial notes on this name in both dictionaries, which appear to have been entered at the same time. In QL Taimondo and Taimordo, names of Telimektar, together with Taimë, Taimië ‘the sky’, were entered under the root TAHA (see Qalmë-Tári). The Gnomish equivalent is Daimord (dai, daimoth ‘sky, heaven’), who appears also in the GL entry concerning Inwë’s son Ingil (Gil, Sirius): he rose into the heavens in the likeness of a great bee and ‘followed Daimord’ (see Ingil). But the word mordo ‘warrior, hero’ in Qenya was actually a borrowing from Gnomish mord, and the true Quenya equivalent of mord was mavar ‘shepherd’—this being the original meaning of the Gnomish word also, which developed that of ‘man, warrior’ through its use in poetry after it had become obsolete in prose and speech. Thus Daimord originally meant ‘Shepherd of the Sky’, as did the original Qenya name Taimavar, altered under the influence of the Gnomish name to Taimondo, Taimordo.