Parma Eldalamberon 14

pARCDA elOALAm5eRON 7\lV
eaR(y QeN(JA. & VALOJA.RlC

by J. R. R. coLkleN
PARMA ELDALAMBERON
The Book of Elven-tongues
Christopher Gilson, Editor
Number 14
J. R. R. roU�leN
edired by p<\rnicK Wynne a_ ChRisropheR c:;Kson
eaRly Qenyc\ c;Rc\mmc\R

edired by C<\R( �- hosrerreR a_ l)i(( We(den
Lhe Vc\[mc\Ric ScRipr

edired by ARden R. Smirh
Cupertino - 2003
Revised Second Printing: 2010
Early Qenya and Valmaric ]. R. R. Tolkien
Table of Contents
Early Qenya Fragments

B y J. R. R. Tolkien
Edited by Patrick Wynne and Christopher Gilson
The Creatures of the Earth 5.

The Names of the V alar 11.
Otsan and Kainendan 16.
Matar and Tulir 23.
The Qenya Verb Forms 25.
Early Qenya Grammar

By J. R. R. Tolkien
Edited by Carl F. Hostetter and Bill Welden
Introduction 37.
Qenya Grammar in Manuscript 41.
Qenya Phonology 60.
Qenya Grammar in Typescript 71.
The Valmaric Script

Documents by J. R. R. Tolkien
Edited by Arden R. Smith
Introduction 89.
Texts and Commentary 97.
Acknowledgements 135.
List of Abbreviations 136.
PARMA ELDALAMBERON No. 14 - Page 2

Early Qenya Fragments
by J. R. R. Tolkien
Edited by
Patrick Wynne and Christopher Gilson
Copyright © 2003 The Tolkien Trust

Early Qenya Fragments J. R. R. Tolkien
The Creatures of the Earth
Inside the front cover of the early notebook labeled "Notebook B , being Names to Book of Lost
Tales" 1. R . R. Tolkien placed several loose leaves , one of which contains a table of names
entitled "The Creatures of the Earth" .1 Notebook B contains "The Poetic and Mythologic Words
of Eldarissa" (PME) , the "Early Chart of Names", and "The Official Name List" ? The loose
leaves placed with it are similar in content, consisting primarily of charts and lists of linguistic
material , including the "Name-list to The Fall of Gondolin" .3
Tolkien originally composed the "Creatures of the Earth" table in pencil on the front and
back of a single sheet of paper, including only Qenya forms; but later he added Goldogrin
equivalents in blue crayon for most of the names in section A, which lists the divisions of the
Eldar 'Elves (or fairies) ' . In the edition of the table presented here , Qenya forms are given in
bold, Goldogrin forms in italics. Below the title are two words apparently meaning ' Creatures
of the Earth ' : Q Irmaldi and Gn . Isbaroth. The Gnomish form was written in pencil rather than
blue crayon, but it also appears to be a later addition . The Gnomish Lexicon (GL) has the entry
Idhru, Isbaroth, -on 'the world; all the regions inhabited by men , elves and gods' (PE 1 1 , p. 50) .
The Qenya equivalent Irmaldi is said in the table to derive from Irmardi, the latter appearing to
end in mardi, pl . of mardo 'dweller' (given in QL under the root MBARA) . The first element in
Irmardi must be connected ultimately with irmin 'the inhabited world; the whole of the created
world, not only earth ' found in QL under root IRI 'dwell ' and referred to in GL under the entry
Idhru.
"The Creatures of the Earth" is clearly a later elaboration and refinement of material
appearing on the "Early Chart of Names" . The early chart includes, along with various personal
and place names, a list of kinds of Eldar or 'elves' and types of Ovanimor (a generic term
glossed on the later table as ' monsters ' ) , each named in Qenya with English gloss and Goldogrin
equivalent. The association of the early chart with PME shows that it was written after QL had
been substantially completed (see PE 1 3 , p . 98) ; but the fact that the early chart glosses Qendi as
'fays or pyxies or brownies , leprawns , etc ." (this entry was later struck out) indicates that it
predates GL, in which Qendi is cited (in the entry Egla) as "the old name" of all Elves, the sense
this word would retain in all of Tolkien's later writings .4 The Gnomish forms on the early chart
(all of which differ from the corresponding names in the later table) also suggest that it predates
the composition of GL and the Gnomish Grammar. For example , the early chart gives the forms
1 Bodleian Library , Oxford, Tolkien Manuscript S I I XIV , folio 1 03 . For a description of Notebook B ( S I I XII) .
see Parma Eldalamberon (PE), no . I 2 , p. xviii . The loose leaves placed with Notebook B have since been removed
by the Bodleian and bound in a separate fascicule ( S I I XIV) , along with a number of loose leaves from other Lost
Tales notebooks.
2 The contents of PME were incorporated into the editorial annotations to the Qenya Lexicon (QL) , in PE 1 2. pp .
29- 1 06 . For a detailed description of the manuscript, see PE I 2 , pp. xvii-xxi . The "Early Chart of Names" and
"The Official Name List" were published in PE I 3 , pp. 98- 1 05 .
3 See The Book of Lost Tales, Part Two (henceforth cited as II) , pp. I 4 8 , 2I4- 1 7 .
4 See also The Book of Lost Tales, Part One (I), pp . 234-5 . The term Qendi does not appear i n QL, although the
lexicon does refer to Tinfang Warble as "a Qen," apparently meaning 'a fay ' ; see the annotation to entry Timpinen
in PE 1 2 , p. 92 .

The Creatures of the Earth J. R. R. Tolkien
gold, goldlin 'Gnomes' (GL has golda, goldothrim); ginwion ' descendants of Inwe in
Alalmin6re' (GL has imrin); and Rog(i) ' demons' (GL has graug, the plural seen in i 'Malraugin
'Balrogs' ) . The plural endings -lin, -ion, -i in these forms are especially indicative of the
chart's early date, since they were later supplanted in GL by -(th)lim and -in, with -ion
becoming a genitive plural ending .
"The Creatures of the Earth" , on the other hand, clearly dates to after the composition of GL,
the primary ink version of which was written in 1 9 1 7 . One indication of this is the list of "Fays"
given Qenya names in section D of the table; these are the same four types of "sprites ," Nermir,
Tavari, Nandini, and Orossi, listed in precisely the same order in The Coming of the Valar (166),
indicating that this table was probably written during or after the completion of that tale, c .
1 9 1 8-20 .5 Moreover, the majority of Gnomish names on the "Creatures" table can also b e found
in GL in identical form and with similar definitions, including Tilith, tilthin, tilithli, im, inweg,
Simfithrim, Flosibin,6 ilcorwaith, Cwennin, and Cweneglin.
Among the Gnomish forms on the table that do not appear in GL, imrin (the name of the
royal clan of the Teleri) is explicable as a variant of imrim 'a noble clan of the Tilthin ' in GL,
with dissimilation of the plural suffix -rim > -rin. Plural tilithlif ' young elves and fairies of all
clans' is formed from the singular found in GL, tilithli 'a little elf' ,7 with dissimilation of plural
-th > -f due to preceding -thin the noun stem, like other plurals attested in GL, e .g., gontha- 'a
pillar, stele, memorial ' , pl . gonthaf; and octha ' knee ' , pl. octhaf or octhin.8 The form goltha (=
Q noldo) in the table also appears in the name Golthadriel, Gnomish equivalent of Q Noldorin
given in The Cottage of Lost Play (122); goltha seems to be intermediate between golda ' gnome'
in GL and the form go loth 'gnome' in the "Early Noldorin Grammar" ,9 with pl . Golthaf also
exhibiting dissimilation of -th > -f. The form hangoltha (one of the Noldor "who remained in
Valinor") is a compound of goltha and a prefix probably derived from the GL verb hadha
'cling , cleave to' (with poetic pa.t. hanni), while the first element in gwadangoltha (one of the
Noldoli who "wandered into the world") derives from the verb gwada- ' wander, roam, travel
(far) ' in GL.
Most of the Qenya forms in "The Creatures of the Earth" can be found in QL, GL, or the
Lost Tales themselves , but several are unique to this table . The four compound terms for
subdivisions of the Noldor do not appear elsewhere, but can be explained from entries in QL: the
prefix in haranoldor (those who remained in Valinor) must be cognate with the verb harin
'remains ' , and that in palyanoldor (those who wandered into the world) seems related to palava
'to stray , wander' and Palurin 'the wide world' ; while virtinoldor 'thrall-noldoli ' contains a
form of virt(y-) ' servant, slave' and fairinoldor 'free-noldoli' a form offaire ' free' . The form
hongwir 'ogres of the north' is carried over from the "Early Chart of Names" (where it is
glossed 'ogres , ogresses ' ) but does not appear elsewhere; it might be associated with ongwe
5 Christopher Tolkien notes that The Coming of the Valar "is linked to The Music of the Ainur without narrative
break" (I 64) . The Music of the Ainur, according to Tolkien ' s later recollection , was written sometime during his
work on the staff of the Oxford Dictionary , a post he occupied from November 1 9 1 8 until the spring of 1 920 (I 45) .
6 This appears in GL as Flossibin (with double ss) in the earlier penciled version of the entry for i-Thlossibin or
Thlos(s)ibrim ' the Solosimpi'.
7 GL as published gives tilithli 'elfin' . This is in error, and should read tilithli 'a little elf' , tilithrin ' elfin' .
8 PI. octhaf, octhin are given erroneously as ochaf and ochin in GL as published.
9 Parma Eldalamberon, no . 1 3 , p. 1 20 .

The Creatures of the Earth f. R. R. Tolkien
'pain' in QL.10 Similarly , maulir 'trolls' might be related to maule 'crying, weeping' (in QL
under root MAWA 'cry , bleat'), the name perhaps referring to cries made by these monsters or to
the weeping of their victims . The name taulir 'mountainous-giants' also appears (without gloss)
on the early chart, and is perhaps related to taule 'great tree' (in QL under root TAV A); if so,
these 'mountainous-giants' could foreshadow the much later concept of Ents . One might expect
pilkir ' pygmies' to refer etymologically to small size, and it could in fact derive from the root
PIKI (given in QL with variants PINI, PI and derivatives that include pin, pink ' a little thing,
mite' and pi'nea ' small ' ) via l-infixion .1 1
The "Creatures" table concludes with a hierarchical reordering of the seven categories of
beings that evokes the medieval and Renaissance concept of the "Great Chain of Being" ,
according to which the universe was arranged in a divinely ordained hierarchy with God at the
top, descending down through angels , man, animals, and plants to inanimate matter. A being' s
place i n this vertical chain was determined by the proportion of spirit to matter; the more spirit
something contained, the higher in the chain it appeared . Man was believed to stand about
midway in this hierarchy , and so it is in Tolkien ' s version , which notes that the "Children of
Men", placed below the Valar, Fays, and Elves and above the Earthlings , Beasts , and Monsters ,
"thus occupy the middle place in the seven orders" .
On another sheet of paper, placed immediately after "The Creatures of the Earth" i n the sheaf
of loose leaves inserted into Notebook B , there is a short list labeled simply "Valar" that appears
to expand on sections D and E of the table, presenting various types of fays and folk of the V alar
arranged according to the elemental categories of Air, Earth , Water, and Fire.12 This list is given
below, appended to the "Creatures" table .
About half of the names o n the " Valar" list also appear o n the "Creatures of the Earth" o r in
the Lost Tales (or both), including manir, suruli (Air-fays); Tavari, nermir, nandini (Earth-fays);
and wingildi, oarni, oaritsi (Water-fays) . The remaining names are unique to this text. In the list
of Earth-fays, the pelloini are apparently fays of towns or hedged fields, the name probably
related to pelle 'town ' in QL (derived along with pelto 'hedge , hedged field' from the root
PELE<1 l ' fence in' , which suggests that pelle might mean 'town' in its obsolete sense of
'enclosed land surrounding a single dwelling' ) . The alandri must be fays of the woods , since
Tolkien wrote a/dare 'wood' against this name in the margin; aldare is not in QL but is clearly
derived from alda 'tree' (in QL under root ALA<2l ' spread?' ) . 1 3 Among the Water-fays , the
nenuvar are probably fays of lily-ponds (nenuvar 'pool of lilies ' ) , the ailior fays of lakes and
pools (ailin ' lake ' ; GL also gives Q ailo as the equivalent of Gn . ail 'a lake , pool ' ) , the ektelarni
fays of fountains (ektele 'fountain' ) , and the capalini fays of springs (kapalinda ' spring of
water' ) . The "V alar" list provides no names under the category of "Fire", although GL mentions
Sacha 'the fire-fay ' (Q Siiya) , a mysterious being about whom nothing else is ever said.
10
The phonetic relationship between hongwir and ongwe is perhaps analogous to that between the roots HOSO and
OS0(2) given in QL , the latter said to be "much confused with HOSO".
11
The Qenya Phonology mentions "nasal (and probably liquid) infixion as a morphological method" in Qenya (see
PE 1 2 , p. 25) , and it is proposed in QL that yalta 'yoke' might derive from Y ATA 'join' via an /-infix (see the
editorial annotation to root YL-TJ.-).
12 Bodleian Library , Oxford, Tolkien Manuscript SI I XIV , folio 1 04r. The top half of this sheet, written in ink ,
bears what appears to be the beginnings of a revised introduction to the "Name-list to The Fall of Gondolin" plus an
entry for the name Aule not included in that list. The "Valar" list was written in pencil on the bottom half of this
page and separated from the material in ink at the top by a bold horizontal stroke in pencil .
1 3 Tolkien also wrote nan ' woody region' , nanda in the margin against nandini, this last form identified on the
"Creatures" table as ' fays of the valleys' . QL gives nan (d-) ' woodland' under root NAR A .
PARMA ELDALAMBERON No. 1 4 - Page 7

The Creatures of the Earth f. R. R. Tolkien
Tolkien' s elemental fays may owe something to the four varieties of elemental "spirit-men"
described by Paracelsus: sylphs (air) , pygmies or gnomes (earth) , nymphs (water) , and
salamanders (fire) . The Mdnir and Suruli are in fact referred to as "sylphs" in The Coming of
the Valar (166), and QL glosses 'wingild- as ' nymph ' . The placement of the pilkir 'pygmies' in
section C "Earthlings" rather than section F "Children of Men" indicates that Tolkien' s
'pygmies' were probably intended as beings akin to the earth-elementals of Paracelsus rather
than to the modern Pygmies of Africa and Southeast Asia.
The Earthlings also include the nautar 'dwarves ' , a form that does not appear in QL,
although a rejected outline for the Tale of the Nauglajring states that the Necklace was made "by
certain Uvanimor (Nautar or Nauglath)" (II 136). GL has Q nauka = Gn . naug ' a dwarf' . The
Lost Tales have little to add on the origins of the Dwarves , only that they "are a strange race and
none know surely whence they be" (II 223). The designation of the Nautar as Uvanimor
'monsters ' can be compared to the notion of Paracelsus that dwarves are monstra born of the
pygmies or gnomes .14 He also classifies giants as monstra, though born of the sylphs (also called
sylvestres or 'forest people' ) rather than the pygmies. The latter idea seems to be echoed by the
ulbandi 'wood-giants' in the list of Earthlings , and the QL entries ulban (d-) ' monster, giant'
and ulbanima 'monstrous' .
14 In a letter to his publishers in 1962, Tolkien alluded to the popular associations arising from this equation by
Paracelsus of gnomus pygma:us as the reason for his later abandonment of "Gnomes" as a term for the High Elves
=
(The Letters of J.R .R . Tolkien , Letter #239) . Tolkien also wrote in a draft of Appendix F to The Lord of the Rings: "I
have sometimes (not in this book) used 'Gnomes' for Noldor and 'Gnomish' for Noldorin . This I did, for whatever
Paracelsus may have thought (if indeed he invented the name) to some 'Gnome' will still suggest knowledge" (1 43-
4) . Gnomus as used by Paracelsus is believed to have meant 'earth-dweller' , whereas Tolkien intended ' Gnome' ( =
one of the Noldor) to recall Greek gnome ' thought, intelligence' . This may not always have been the case, however;
the original root-sense of noldo 'gnome' in QL may have been ' earth-dweller' or 'delver ' ; see the annotation to the
root NOL ' to know' in PE 12, p. 67 .

The Creatures of the Earth ]. R. R. Tolkien
The Creatures of the Earth
Isbaroth, Q Irmaldi ( < Irmardi)
A . Eldar (Eglath), Elves (or fairies) .

( 1 ) Teleri (sing . teler), (tilthin, Tilith) , (Manwe ' s kindred) . Fairies , including royal clan ,
lnwir (imrin) , sing. Inwe (im, inweg, etc .): also including the young elves and fairies of
all clans that showed special aptitude for singing and poesies and dwelt in K6r to perfect
their arts , called the Telelli (sing . telelle) , (tilithlif, tilithli) .
(2) Solosimpi (solosimpe), (Simfithrim or Flosibin, etc .) Shoreland pipers (Ulmo's kindred) .
(3) Noldor or Noldoli (noldo), (Golthaf, goltha) , (Aule ' s kindred) , the name of Aule ' s
kindred being afterwards especially attributed to
the Noldor or haranoldor (hangoltha) who remained in Valinor; 15
the Noldoli or palyanoldor (gwadangoltha) wandered into the world,16
being divided into virtinoldor l thrall-noldoli
fairinoldor J free-noldoli.
(4) Those Elves who originally belonged to these tribes but who never reached Kor were
called Ilkorindi (ilkorin) , (ilcorwaith, etc .) by the Eldar but called themselves Qendi
(qende) , (Cwennin). This name was afterwards reapplied (it was their original name in
Palisor) for all the reunited elves living in Tol Eressea and speaking Qenyarin
(Cweneglin) .
B . Uvanimor or monsters .
Rauki demons * l Melko' s * These are probably
Orqi goblins I folk an evil form of D .
malkarauki balrogs * r
hongwir ogres of the north I l
sarqindi ogres of the south I J cannibal giants of lesser size
maulir trolls. J
C . Earthlings .
ulbandi wood-giants
taulir mountainous-giants
nautar dwarves
pilkir pygmies .
1 5 The sense of this first passage in entry (3) appears to be that after the flight of the Noldoli the name "Aule ' s
Kindred" was especially attributed to those Noldor who still remained i n Valinor. According to the Lost Tales
"those few of the Noldoli that remained behind were named the Aulenosse or kindred of Aule, or were taken into the
other kindreds , and the Gnome-folk has no place or name remaining now in all Valinor" (I 176) .
16 Note that Gn. hangoltha and gwadangoltha are singular, while Q haranoldor and palyanoldor are plural .

The Creatures of the Earth ]. R. R. Tolkien
D. Fays.
nermir fay of the meads
tavari of the woods
nandini of the valleys
orossi of the mountains
of the rivers.
E. Children of the Gods .

Manir, Suruli, etc . Very little distinction between these and D .
F. Children of Men .
G. Beasts and Creatures .
(1) E Valar and their folk

(2) D Fays
(3) A Elves or Fairies
(4) F Children of Men * who thus occupy the middle place in the seven orders
(5) c Earthlings
(6) G Beasts & Creatures
(7) Monsters
Valar :-
Air
manir, suruli.
Earth
Tavari, nermir, nandini,
pelloini, alandri. 17
Water
wingildi, oarni (oaritsi) ,
nenuvar, ailior,1 8 ektelarni,
capalini.
Fire
17 An unfinished form aid was changed to alandri .

18
The final consonant in this word might also be interpreted as an n , but ailior is more likely as a plural form .

The Names of the V alar
Among the loose leaves of linguistic material placed inside the front cover of Notebook B (see
the introduction to "The Creatures of the Earth" , above p. 5) is a sheet of lined notebook paper
bearing a parallel list of the names of the V alar in Qenya and Goldogrin (Bodleian Library ,
Oxford, Tolkien Manuscript S 1 I XIV , folio 99 recto) , the verso of which bears a chart of
primitive consonant groups and their later developments . The list of names originally consisted
only of Qenya forms , neatly written at the left of the page . The Gnomish forms were added later,
and somewhat chaotically , in a much hastier hand. Several of the Gnomish names on this list
also occur in the ink layer of the Gnomish Lexicon - Bandoth, Belca, Gwani, Telmaithron,
Timbrindi - where they were later changed in pencil to Bannoth, Belcha, Gwann , Telumaithor
and Tinthurwin, respectively (see PE 1 1 , pp . 2 1 , 22 , 24, 29, 44) .
The name-list from Notebook B i s not the same text as the "Valar name-list" referred to by
Christopher Tolkien (I 93 , 248). The latter list, which bears the title "Corrected Names of Chief
V alar" , only gives Qenya forms and was written on blank pages near the end of the text of The
Coming of the Valar and the Building of Valinor. The arrangement of names on the two lists is
entirely different, suggesting that neither was directly based on the other; the division by gender
in the list from Notebook B is absent in the "V alar name-list" , which instead arranges names
according to familial groupings . The list in Notebook B is perhaps the later of the two, since it
has Q 6nen (the name of Osse' s wife) as first written, whereas 6nen only occurs on the "Valar
name-list" as an emendation from 6wen (see also I 6 1 , 79) .
In the following transcript of the name-list from Notebook B , Qenya names appear in bold,
Goldogrin in italics. Forms unique to this list are analyzed in the notes following the list, and in
a few instances translations are also proposed for well-attested names not otherwise glossed in
the Lost Tales or the contemporary lexicons. It is also convenient to present here those names
from the "V alar name-list" not cited by Christopher Tolkien in his Appendix to The Book of Lost
Tales, Part One. These are discussed in bracketed paragraphs in the notes to the corresponding
entries in the present list.
PARMA ELDALAMBERON No. 14 - Page 1 1

The Names of the Valar f. R. R. Tolkien
Manwe Sulimo Manweg Sulios 1

(Melko) Utumnas Yelur Belea Gelodh2
Ulmo Vailimo Ulum Bairos3
Aule (Mar) Ola Mardh4
Mandos 2l <1 Vefantur Bandoth Gwefan5
Orome 2l 0 (Aldaron) Orm ' Alossim6
Lorien Olofantur Glurim Losfan7
Tulkas Poldorea Tulcus Pologros8
1 With Gn. Sulios compare Gn. Sulus 'one of Manwe 's two clans of air-spirits' (GL 68) and So/moth ' Lord of
Winds' (= Q Siilimo) , which had the "older form" Saulmoth < saul 'a great wind' (GL 67 , 68); Gn. saul is the
phonological equivalent of Q sui- (Q ii generally= Gn. au, e .g., Q pule= Gn . haul 'body , trunk' ; GL 22).
[The Valar name-list also calls Manwe Taimo and Valtur. Taimo is a masculine form of Taime 'the sky' (QL
88); compare Q Taimoinen, first day of the Otsan or Elvish week, associated with Manwe (below p. 2 1 ) . Valtur
means * ' King of the V alar' (QL has Tur (-ur) ' king ' ) ; compare Valaturu in the Tale of the Sun and Moon (I 1 80 ,
1 90).]
2 Q Utumnas appears in GL as Utumnar (p . l 8 ) . Gn. Gelodh is the phonological equivalent of Q Yelur (QL has
' Yelur (r or s) < DY ELE, pp . l 05-6).
[The Valar name-list notes that the son of Melko by Ulbandi was "Kosomot or Kalimbo," the latter glossed in
QL as 'a savage, uncivilized man, barbarian; giant, monster, troll ' .]
3 The form Ulma was written above Gn. Ulum, then struck out. Ulum also appears in the "Official Name List" as
Ulm, Ulum (« Gulum) = Q Ulmo (PE 1 3 , p. 1 0 1 ) .
4 With Gn. Ola Mardh (<< Ola Mara) , compare O la Mar in GL, equivalent to Q Aule (Mar) . Mardh is apparently
the Gnomish cognate of Q Marda in i·Talka Marda ' Smith of the World' (I 1 80); compare Gn. Mar ' Earth , ground,
soil' (GL 56), the genitive singular of which appears here in the earlier form Ola Mara.
5 The Gnomish surname of Mandos was first written as Wefantor, i .e . Gwefantor with grammatical mutation of
initial gw- > w- . Gwefantor appears in GL, emended there to Gwifanthor (GL 45) . The emended form Gwefan
(with -fantor shortened to -fan, as also in Losfan; see note 7) shows no mutation , in accord with the other Gnomish
surnames on this list. The superscript numerals beside Mandos2 l and 0Vefantur perhaps indicate that these are
primary and secondary names; but if so, Lorien and Olofantur should be similarly marked (see also notes 6 and 2 1 ) .
6 Gn. Orm ' = Orma (GL 63) with elision of final -a before the initial vowel of Alossim . The latter contains talos
(aloth) ' forest' (GL 1 9) + masc. -im, seen in Glurim (Lorien) and Thilim (Silmo) in this list. The ending -im also
appears in Gn. Geluim (Q Yeloimu) "name of Belcha when exercising his opposite functions of extreme cold" (GL
38). The superscript numerals beside Orome2l and 0(Aldaron) might be a slip . If they indicate primary and
secondary names , Tolkien may have intended to write them by Lorien and Olofantur in the subsequent entry ,
parallel to Mandos2l and 0 Vefantur in the previous entry .
7 The first element in Gn. Glurim is a variant of tar ' slumber' (GL 55); compare the variation l-!gl- seen in several
nouns in GL , e.g., lum or glum 'a cloud' . For masc. -im , see note 6. The Gnomish surname Losfan contains oloth
(or olor) ' a dream , apparition, vision' . (An unfinished preliminary form Olosf was struck out.) The ending -fan =
Fanthor 'the name of each of the two brothers , 1 . of sleep, 2. of death ' (GL 34) , with *(o)loth-fan > Losfan .
[For Lorien the Valar name-list gives the surname Fulmor, probably derived from the root FUMU ' sleep' via an
/-infix: *fu-1-m- . For liquid infixion as a "morphological method", see the section entitled "The transposition law"
in the Qenya Phonology (PE 1 2 , p. 25) .]
8 Gn. Pologros, like Tulkas ' s surnames Polodrin and Polodweg in GL (p. 1 8) , derives from Gn. polod 'power,
might, authority' (GL 64) .
[The Valar name-list gives Poldor as an alternative form of the surname Poldorea (QL has poldor 'physical
strength ' from the root POLO 'have strength' ) and another surname Saran (d-) , whose etymology is unclear.
Perhaps compare Gn . sarn 'a stone ' (GL 67) .]

The Names of the Valar J. R. R. Tolkien
Falman Osse
Makar (Kostorin) Makarn- = red hand Magron Gothonwi9
Salmar (Lirillo) Noldorin Salvor Glirlos Goldrie/10
Omar (Amillo) Omor Gamlos1 1
Nornoros Kapalimor Dornod Cablin Drondos12

Silmo Thilim 1 3
Fionwe Urion Fionweg Auras
Telimektar Telrfiaithron14
9 Q Kostorin is related to k6r (k6s-) ' war' and kosta- 'debate , dispute' < KOSO 'strive ' , which i s related to Gn . goth
(QL 48) . Its structure parallels that of Noldorin , probably a shortened form of adj . noldorinwa 'goblin' ( i .e . ,
' gnomish ' ) < Noldo ' gnome' (QL 67) . Gn . Gothonwi contains goth ' war, strife ' (GL 42) + the abstract noun suffix
-nwi seen also in Gn . naithonwi 'misery ' < naitha- ' lament' , and nathanwi ' fatherhood' < nathon ' father' (GL 59) .
10 Gn. Salvor is cognate with salum * ' harp' in thlim salum * ' folk of the harp' in the "Official Name List" (PE 1 3 , p.
1 04); compare Q Salmar, from salma ' lyre , small harp' (QL 8 1 ) . Gn . Glirlos = Q Lirillo ( ' Valu of Song' < liri- 'to
sing ' , QL 54) and contains glfr 'a song, poem' or a g/-variant of Gn . fir- ' sing ' (GL 39, 54) . The ending -Ios is a
masculine agentive = Q -illo, and is also seen in Gn. Gamlos = Q Amillo (cf. note 1 1 ) .
1 1 Gn . Omor contains urn ' voice' (GL 74) . Compare Q 6mar, "whose voice is the best of all voices" (I 75), from Q
oma ' voice' (QL 69) . Gn . Gamlos = Q Amillo ( ' one of the Happy Folk (the V alar); Hilary', QL 30) . The name
Hilary is derived from Latin hilaris 'cheerful ' . The meaning of the Qenya form suggests that Gn. Gamlos is an
agentive < gama- ' call , shout to' (GL 37), perhaps meaning * ' one who shouts with joy ' . Gn . gama- is also cognate
with Q yamin ' shout, call' . This varying correspondence of initial Gn . g- to initial y- or lack of initial consonant in
Qenya may also be seen in Gn . ger 'ore , metal ' (GL 38) and Q yere(n), ere(n) ' iron or steel ' (QL 36) .
1 2 Q Kapalimor is from kapalima 'bounding, leaping' < KAPA ' leap, spring ' , and the adjectival ending -Iima also
occurs in karpalima 'tricky , clever, wily' < KARPAR 'pluck' (QL 45) . Gn . Cab/in is from cab- 'jump , leap' (GL
24) , with -!in = Q -Iima . Cab/in replaces an earlier form Cabot, which ends in the adjectival/participial suffix -of
(seen, e .g . , in Gn. mugol 'taciturn ' < mug- 'keep silent, say nothing' , GL 5 8 ) . Gn . Drondos appears in GL as
Drondor (>> Dronurin) ' messenger of the Gods' (p. 3 1 ) , compared there to Q Nornore (< noronor-) . Gn . Dornod
must also derive from noronor- , a reduplicative form of root NORO 'run, go smoothl y , ride, spin , etc . ' (QL 67) .
[The V alar name-list calls Nornore Vastor ( < vastan 'rush , of both noise and speed' , Q L 1 00) and Endor ( struck
out, with -ndor perhaps derived from the same NORO 'run' that underlies Nornore) . Below Nornore , Vastor, and
Endor in the name-list are three words in parentheses: LUMIE, ENGETOR , AMBAR(T-) . QL gives engetor ' fate ,
hap, luck' and Ambar (rt) 'Fate' (p. 34-5 , 66) . Lumie does not appear there but does resemble lame 'time' and
lumia ' pertaining to time, temporal ' (p. 56) . It is said in The Coming of the Valar that after death most of the spirits
of Men came to dwell on the plains of Arvalin; and as they waited there for the "Great End", Nornore would at times
arrive to lead a lucky few to live in Valinor (I 77). Perhaps Lumie *'Timeliness ' , Engetor ' Luck' , and Ambar(t-)
' Fate' refer to Nornore in his function as the guide of Men from their purgatorial stay in Arvalin to the heavenly
bliss of Valinor.]
1 3 The stem thil- in Gn . Thilim also appears in a group of entries from the earlier pencil layer of GL: Thil 'the moon ' ,
Thilgrost 'Hall of the Moon King ' , etc . ( p . 72) . These forms i n thil- were all crossed out and replaced b y forms in
si!- (Si!, Silgrost, etc .) , including Silma = Q Silmo (p. 67) . For masculine -im , see note 6 .
1 4 The diacritical marks i n Telniaithron might indicate that the -m- also occured a s -urn- ( ? = syllabic nJ). G L has an
earlier pencil entry Telumaithron, later replaced by Telumaithor, and also Gn . telm, telum 'roof; sky ' (p. 70) .

The Names of the Valar J. R. R. Tolkien
(Kemi) Yavanna Palfirien /van Plauril 1 5

Varda Tinwetari (or Tinwevarni : Tinwevarda) Bridhil Timbrindi 1 6
Fui Nienna Qalmetari (Heskil Nii.ri) Fui Nennir1 7
Vana Koiretari Sari Gwani Ostril Cuilbrindi1 8
Nessa Tirunil Geneth Tessa 1 9
Onen Wingilla20
1 5 With Gn. Plauril compare Belaurin and B(a)laurin in GL, the latter described as "the more phonetically correct
form" (p. 22) .
[The V alar name-list calls Kemi (Heri) Yavanna (<< Tyavanna) . QL has heri 'Lady ' , "usually only in vocative,
especially addressed to the Valir" (p. 40) . The earlier form Tyavanna might contain TYAVA ' savour, taste' ,
whence tyava- ' it tastes of, reminds one of' and tyausta ' savour, flavour' (QL 49) , perhaps referring to Kemi as the
goddess providing the savory fruits of the earth.]
16
With Q Tinwevarni , Tinwevarda compare Q f livarni, llivarda (only given in GL) , in which Q !le = Gn. gail 'a
star' (GL 37). QL has varni 'queen ' , derived from the same root VE.DE. as Varda (p. 1 02 ) .
1 7 The Gn. equivalent o f Q Fui was first written here a s Fuil, the same form that appears i n GL (pp. 1 8 , 36) . Fuil on
this list was then changed to Fui, which only occurs in Gnomish as a common nounfui ' night' (p . 36) .
[The Valar name-list also calls Fui Tari-Qalme, which appears with the elements reversed as Qalme-Tari
' mistress of death ' in The Coming of the Valar (I 66) . Other examples of the former order of elements include Tari
Laisi ' mistress of life ' , a name of V ana (I 67) , who is also called Tiiri-Koire on the V alar name-list (see note 1 8).]
IX
Q Koiretari , like Vana' s other surname Tari-Laisi (I 67), means 'mistress of life' < koire ' life' (QL 48) . Gn.
Cuilbrindi contains cui! ' life' and brindi ' queen, princess ' , the latter word subsequently replaced by bridh(n)ir (GL
24 , 27) . Q Sari (a later addition to the Qenya names on this list) appears in the Lost Tales as a name of the Sun (I
1 86) , evidently a feminine form of siira 'fiery ' (QL 8 1 ) . Vana is associated with the Sun in the Lost Tales; thus
Urwendi , the mistress of the Sun, was in origin one of the maidens of Vana , and the Sun was called "the Lamp of
Vana" by the Gods (I 1 87 ) . Gn . Ostril or Ostaril (the reading is uncertain) probably means * ' summer maiden' <
asP (= aust) ' summer' + the fern . ending -ril seen also in tbedhril ' wife ' (GL 20 , 22 , 63) .
[The Valar name-list includes several rejected surnames for Vana: Koire (cf. koire ' life' i n QL) , Tari-Koire
(*'mistress of life ' ) , and Vanesse, apparently = the common noun vanesse 'beauty' (QL 99) .]
19
Q Nessa is not translated in the early lexicons, but the Lost Tales' mention of the "fair lawns" and "green swards"
on which she loved to dance (I 7 5 , 99) suggests that her name was originally cognate with nesse ' herb , grass , fodder'
and tnes0> (ness-) ' mead, valley , land' (QL 66) . Later, in the Etymologies, Nessa means 'young' < base NETH
'young ' , The Lost Road and Other Writings (henceforth V ) , pp. 376-77 . The element -neth in Gn . Geneth probably
= Q Nessa; compare Gn. nethli 'long lush grass , little meadow' (GL 60) . The first element in Geneth is obscure, but
the name' s structure seems to anticipate her later Noldorin name Dineth 'Bride' < df 'bride, lady' + neth 'young' (V
377-78 , s .vv. NETH , NI').
Nessa's Qenya surname as first written was Liltassi, evidently *'the Dancer' < lilt- 'to dance' + fern. ending -ssi,
perhaps comparable to -sse in heresse ' sister' vs. herendo 'brother' (QL 40 , 55). Liltassi was replaced by Tirunil,
which might contain a variant of PIRI, whence piri- ' spin, turn' and pirute 'a swirl, twisting, pirouetting' (QL 74),
analogous to the variation in initial P-, T- apparent in the roots PIWI * ' fat' (whence piu ' calf of leg ' ) and TI\YI
'thick' (whence tyil ' thigh ' ) .
Gn. Tessa ' Girl ' appears i n the G L entry for li ' with, and' (p . 53-4) , which originally ended with the example
gontha li dessa 'boy and girl' , where dessa = tessa with grammatical mutation . This phrase was later struck out, and
tessa does not appear in the T-entries at all, though the poetic meaning ' maiden' was added to the existing entry for
tess 'little flower' (p. 70) . In the final text of GL, 'boy' and ' girl' are expressed by nogin 'boy , lad, urchin' and
gwennin 'girl' . Tessa on this list replaces a rejected name (now difficult to read), possibly Tes Wendi, in which
Wendi = gwendi ' maiden, little girl' (later emended in GL to gwethli, p. 45) . The mutation gw- > w- also occurs in
other two-part names such as Man 'Wanweg < Gwanweg and Tinfang ' Warbilinc < Gwarbilin 'Birdward' (p . 43 , 70).
20
The name of Osse ' s wife first appears in the Lost Tales as 6wen , meaning ' mermaid' < t6 ' the sea' + 'wen
' maid, girl' , later replaced by 6nen , apparently * ' Seawater' < nen ' river, twater' (QL 65 , 70 , 1 03 ) . Q Wingilla
might be a variant of 'wingild- ' nymph' or a diminutive of 'winge ' foam, spindrift, froth , scud' - compare late/la 'a

The Names of the Valar ]. R. R. Tolkien
Measse 2) 0 Tarkil21
Nieliqi Wendine22
ERINTI LOTEL23
TINDARIEL24
URWEN
floret ' < late 'a flower, bloom' (QL 55, 1 04) . A form Uen was struck out after Wingilla; compare Uin 'the
Primeval Whale' and 6nen ' s name Vi ' Queen of Mermaids' (QL 97) .
21 Q Tarkil probably derives from TARA(2l 'to batter, thud, beat ' , since Measse fared among the vassals of her
brother Makar "and egged them to more blows" (I 78). This form later acquired a very different meaning and
application. The Etymologies derives Tarkil from *tiira-khil, comparing it to other Quenya derivatives of KHIL
' follow ' , such as hildi ' followers' = 'mortal men ' (V 364); the first element must be a form of *tiirii 'lofty' (p. 3 89) ,
so that Tarkil evidently means * ' noble (mortal) man ' . In the 2nd edition of The Lord of the Rings, Appendix F,
Ores and the Black Speech, Tolkien refers to tarkil as "a Quenya word used in Westron for one of Numenorean
descent" (p. 409) . The superscript numerals beside Measse2l and ( 1 Tarkil might indicate primary and secondary
names; see notes 5 and 6.
22 Nieliqi' s Qenya surname Wendine means * ' Little Maiden' < 'wendi ' maiden' + -!ne, an ending compared to inya
'tiny ' under root INI ' small' (QL 42, 1 03 ) . The Coming of the Valar notes that Amillo sang "in the gardens of
Orome when after a time Nielfqui , little maiden , danced about its woods" (I 75, emphasis added) .
23 ERINTI , not translated i n the Lost Tales or early lexicons, i s probably a phonological adaptation of Edith into
Qenya, referring to Edith Bratt , who married Tolkien on Wednesday , March 22, 1 9 1 6 . The name could be derived
from a primitive form *EdinjJ- (with infixed nasal) through the normal Qenya development of medial d > r and njJ >
nt, and the addition of the feminine suffix -i (as in tari ' queen ' , QL 87). The sound changes are described in the
Qenya Phonology - medial d > z > r implied by the charts of primitive Eldarin consonants and their later Cor
eldarin developments, and nasal + p > nt stated explicitly (PE 1 2 , pp. 1 5- 1 6 , 19) . Alternatively Erinti might be
derived from *EdijJ- and the feminine ending -ni (as in varni 'queen' QL 1 02), with *EdijJ-ni > *EdinjJi by
metathesis of jJn > njJ. However, the Qenya Phonology states that the "transposition law" whereby a voiceless stop
+nasal > nasal+ stop (e.g., tn > nt) "has no certain cases of occurrence with any spirants" (p. 25) .
Not much is said of Erinti in the Lost Tales, but according to QL she was "the Vali of love, music , beauty and
purity . . . She and Noldorin , and his brother Amillo, alone have left Valin6re to dwell among the Inweli , Noldor,
Eldar, and Teleri in (lnwen6re) To! Eressea" (p. 36) . Given the potential derivation of Erinti from Edith, it seems
likely that Noldorin , his brother Amillo ( 'Hilary ' , QL 30; "youngest of the great V alar" , I 67) , and Erinti ("also often
called Akairis, or bride" , QL 36) are to some extent mythological representations of Tolkien , his younger brother
Hilary , and his bride Edith . As noted before ( Vinyar Tengwar, no. 40 , p. 9) this is supported by three terms for
divisions of the year named for these Vali: Erintion "is the second half of Avestalis or January (as Lirillion is the
first)"; and Ami/lion is ' February ' (QL 30, 36) . Tolkien ' s birthday is on January 3, Edith ' s on January 2 1 and
Hilary 's on February 1 7 (see Humphrey Carpenter, J. R. R. Tolkien, A Biography, pp. 1 4 , 38). Also, Tolkien and
Edith chose a Wednesday to get married "because that was the day of the week on which they had been reunited in
1 9 1 3" (Carpenter, p. 79). and in the Otsan or "Elfin Week" Wednesday is associated with Erinti and Fionwe as well
as their parents Manwe and Varda (see "Otsan and Kainendan", below p. 2 1 ) .
Erinti ' s surname LOTEL might be a shortened form of Q lotella 'a floret ' , diminutive of late 'a flower, bloom
(usually of large single flowers)'; compare the discussion of Wingilla in note 20.
24 TINDARIEL must refer to Wendelin , wife of Tinwe Linto (later Melian , wife of Thingol), whose original name
in the Lost Tales was Tindriel (I 1 06-7 , 1 3 1 ) . The meaning of Tindariel is not clear, but it probably derives from
the root TINT 'twinkle' (QL 92), which is also the source of the name of Tindariel ' s husband Tinwe or Tinto (QL has
tinwe ' star' and tint ' (silver) spark ' ) and probably that of their daughter Tinuviel. The latter is not translated in the
Lost Tales or the lexicons, but is glossed as ' Starmantled' in the alliterative Lay of the Children of Hurin , written
during the period 1 9 1 8-25 (see The Lays of Beleriand, pp . 3-4, 1 24) .

Early Qenya Fragments f. R. R. Tolkien
Otsan and Kainendan
Among the loose leaves of linguistic material J . R . R . Tolkien placed inside the front cover of
Notebook B , "Names to Book of Lost Tales" , are two lists written in pencil , entitled "The Otsan
or Otsola of the Elves" and "The Kainendan, Kainella of the V alar" .1 In Notebook C , the little
pocket-book "which goes back to 1 9 1 6-17 but was used for notes and suggestions throughout
the period of the Lost Tales" (11 254) , there is a note referring to these two texts: 2
The Elfin Week
The Gods keep the "Kainendan, -ella" of the Gods (or fortnight) , (caineglad).
The Elves & Gnomes the Otsan or Otsola (oglad) of the Elves?
Here the Kainendan is referred to (or glossed) as a ' fortnight' . Also , while the title of the
Kainendan manuscript describes it as used by "the Valar, Eldar, etc ." , in this note Tolkien
revised his conception to suggest that only the Gods observed the Kainendan, while the Otsan
was exclusive to the Elves and Gnomes.
Otsola, the longer of the two Qenya names for the seven-day week, is found in the Gnomish
Lexicon , which gives ochlad 'week' , derived from ot·g 'liita and compared with Q otsola.4 The
first form in this entry was originally oglad, changed in ink to ochlad, so the two texts containing
the Gnomish form oglad must predate the ink layer of GL, composed in 1 9 1 7 . Both otsola and
oglad ' week' begin with a form of the word for ' 7 ' : the Qenya Lexicon has otso ' 7 ' under the
root OTO ' knock' , and GL has odin ' seven - (orig[inally] many)' .5
The etymological form ot·g 'liita shows that the ending -(g)lad in oglad is from earlier
*galiita or *kaliita, with syncope of the vowel in the first syllable (and assimilative voicing of
the initial consonant in the resulting cluster, if it was originally voiceless) . This is presumably
related to Gn. gla 'day , daytime (time Sun is above horizon) ' , said to be cognate with Q kala <
kalii (GL 39) . The literal sense of oglad is thus * ' (a period of) seven days' . The entry gla was
rejected and apparently replaced by Gn. gala ' light, daylight' , also equated with Q kala, and
explicitly derived from gal- ' shine (golden, as the Sun)' (GL 37) . This change seems to have
established the etymology of Q kala as deriving from earlier *gala, with devoicing of the initial
stop. (For a phonological parallel , cf. the Qenya root KOSO ' strive' cognate with Gn. goth ' war,
strife' , QL 48.)
In Q Otsola the element -la appears to derive directly from *g'lii, without the suffix -ta (>
-d) seen in the Gnomish forms . Since original kin Qenya did not become voiced through contact
with l (cf. alka 'ray' < ak 'lii, QL 30) , this *g 'lii must derive from an earlier Eldarin form *galii
1 Bodleian Library , Oxford, Tolkien Manuscript S 1 I XIV , folios I 00 and I 02. For the contents of Notebook B and
the current disposition of the loose leaves originally placed with it, see "The Creatures of the Earth" , above p. 5 .
2 Notebook C i s catalogued at the Bodleian as Tolkien Manuscript S I I XIII; the note on "The Elfin Week" appears
on folio 75 verso. For other references to this notebook, see I 23 , 1 71 .
3 In the first sentence the first occurrence of the word "Gods" is a revision of "Elves", and in the second sentence
the phrase "Elves & Gnomes" was originally just "Gnomes" .
4 The apostrophe in the etymological form ot·g 'lata was inadvertantly left out in the published version (GL 62) .
5 When published this hastily written entry was misinterpreted as odin ' severe - (aj . many)' (GL 62) .

Otsan and Kainendan J. R. R. Tolkien
rather than *kala. It may have been conceived of originally as cognate with the root ALA 'light'
in QL, equated there with KALA (perhaps as a dialectal variant) , but later rejected (p. 29) .
Kainendan and Kainella, the two Qenya names for 'fortnight' , begin with an element kainen
(with nl assimilated to ll in Kainella), which also occurs in Q leminkainen ' 23 ' , an entry grouped
in QL with lemin 'five' and lempe ' 1 0 ' under a root LEH . Since lemin 'five ' appears to be the
first element in leminkainen, kainen could here mean ' 1 8 ' : 5 + 1 8 = 23. Tolkien would later
write that the "Eldar preferred to reckon in sixes and twelves as far as possible" (The Lord of the
Rings, Appendix D , p. 385 ) , and duodecimal forms in QL such as olwen '36' (from ale 'three'
under root OLQ0l 'tip' ) , otwen '84' (from otso 'seven ' ) , and tuksa 'gross , 1 44' show that this
concept dates back to the Lost Tales . The form kainen ' 1 8 ' might derive from kaina 'done ,
actual , real' (in QL under root KAHA 'cause ' ) , perhaps because 1 8 was the point at which an
important sequence in counting by sixes (3 x 6) was 'done' or 'realized' .6 In Kainendan,
Kainella the element kainen cannot specifically refer to ' 1 8 ' , for the 'fortnight' of the V alar, like
its modem equivalent , consists of fourteen days (fortnight is from Old English feowertyne niht
'fourteen nights ' ) . These words for 'fortnight' might use kainen in its more general etymological
sense, to refer to a set number of days regarded collectively as 'done' , or perhaps 'completed,
complete' .7
If kainen refers to a 'completed' sequence in the duodecimal counting system , it might
alternatively apply to the number 1 2 , in which case leminkainen '23 ' could be analyzed as lemin
' 1 1 ' + kainen ' 1 2' = 23. QL gives minqe 'eleven ' , cognate with mir 'one' and thus probably a
decimal form, expressing this number implicitly as 'one more than the base (ten) ' or 'the first in
the next sequence (of ten) ' . In a duodecimal system the comparable implicit meaning for minqe
would be *'one more than twelve' ; so that lemin- may be an explicit decimal form for 'eleven'=
the root LEH ' 1 0' + *mi(n)- 'one' (for which also cf. Gn . min 'one single' , GL 57) .
Interpretation of kainen as ' 1 2 ' would make sense in the forms Kainendan, Kainella ' fortnight' ,
if the 'kainen of days' were considered to be a special kind of kainen, slightly larger to
accomodate its commemorative purpose , in similar fashion to our use of the phrase baker 's
dozen to mean ' 1 3 ' .
The names of the days of the Otsan refer to the domains of responsibility of the groups of
V alar in the accompanying table , which gives beside each group a list of the components of its
domain. Each name is clearly related to a term found in QL for the corresponding domain or its
6 In the late essay The Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor (c. 1 967-69), Tolkien states that "beside the decimal
numeration a complete duodecimal system was devised for calculations, some of which such as the special words
for 1 2 (dozen), 1 8 , and 1 44 (gross) , were in general use" ( Vinyar Tengwar, no. 42, p. 24) . An example of a "special
word" for 1 8 appears in a chart of numerical stems in the "Valian and Oromian languages" , probably contemporary
with the Lhammas texts of the late 1 930s (which also use the term "Oromian" "Quendian") . This chart gives the
=
duodecimal stem nakat ' 1 8 ' (Q nahta), the derivation of which is not clear, though its structure parallels that of the
stem rasat ' 1 2' on the same page (compare RA SAT 'twelve' in the Etymologies) . The chart gives ' 1 9' as " I +
nakat, etc.", the "etc." indicating that 20-23 are similarly formed by addition (so that '23' would be 5 + nakat) , with
'24' expressed by multiplicative yurasta (*'two twelves ' ) .
7 I n the account o f Qenya numerals i n the Early Qenya Grammar (in this issue), which represents the next stage in
the development of Qenya after the Lost Tales period, kai 'ten' is related to an adjective kaina and noun kaino, both
meaning ' whole' , with kai expressing 'ten' in the sense 'all fingers' (below pp . 49-5 1 ) . There kainen is said to be a
partitive form of kai used to express multiples of ten , such as leminkainen ' 50 ' , otsokainen ' 70' , etc . These
meanings of kaina and kai can be seen as a logical development (in an external sense) from the earlier meanings of
kaina, kainen in QL and the Otsan and Kainendan charts: ' done, realized' >> 'completed, complete' >> ' whole, all ' .
PARMA ELDALAMBERON No. 1 4 - Page 1 7

Otsan and Kainendan f. R. R. Tolkien
principal component. Thus Taimoinen is derived from Taime 'the sky ' ; 8 Falassien fromjalas(s)
' shore , beach ' ; Paliirien from Palurin 'the wide world' ;9 Sainen from Sii 'Fire, especially in
temples , etc . ' ; Poldorien from poldor 'physical strength ' ; Miirien from muru- 'to slumber' ; and
Fuinen fromjui, equated in QL with hui 'fog , dark , murk, night' .
The names are derived with the endings -ien (Falassien, Paliirien, Poldorien, Miirien) and
-inen (Taimoinen, Sainen, Fuinen). The former is used to derive nouns such as kasien ' helm(et) '
< kar (kas-) ' head' , or laukien 'vegetable or kitchen garden ' < lauke ' vegetable , plant species ' ,
and place-names such as Harwalien ' a region on borders of Valinor' < har ' near' and valar, or
' Walien 'land of the brown men , tropics' < 'walna , 'walin(a) 'brown ' . The latter ending is used
to derive adjectives such as kuluinen ' golden ' (in Parma Kuluinen 'the Golden Book ' ) < kulu
'gold' . Both endings are also used to derive personal names such as LOrien ' King of dreams ' <
olor, olore ' dream' or lor- ' slumber' , and Timpinen ' a fluter' , a name of Tinfang Warble < root
TIFI .
The names of the fourteen days of the Kainendan are all compounds derived from particular
names of the V alar together with the element -san or -ran. This element is a reduced form of Q
sana ' day ' , given in GL as equivalent to Gn . dana ' day (24 hours) ' , both attributable to an earlier
historical form *dana, which is attested in the etymologies of two words in GL: maidhon
'midday ' < *megdana and Saidhon ' noon ' < sek '·oana 'midday' .10 The historical development
of initial *d- > s- in Qenya is exemplified in QL by several roots in the S-entries beside which
Tolkien added parenthetical root-forms in D- to indicate that the initial S- was derived from
earlier D-. These include SAPA (DAPA) 'dig , excavate ' , SOTO (DOTO) ' drop, fall ' , and
SORO (DORO) ' sit' . This last root has derivatives sora ' seat' , sarin 'throne' , and sorto- ' set,
settle ' , all of which have Gnomish cognates in GL beginning with d- (darn ' seat' , doros 'throne' ,
dortha- 'to settle' ) , exhibiting the same phonological correspondence seen in Q sana, Gn . dana
' day' .
The concept that *d- > s- in initial position in Qenya must postdate the statement in the
Qenya Phonology that "d > z > r everywhere, except ( 1 ) initially > d ?" (Parma Eldalamberon,
no . 1 2 , p. 24) . But other exceptions to this rule given in the Phonology are consistent with the
forms taken by the same component *dan( a) in various compound words; for example , "(2) rd,
nd, ld, zd > rd, nd, ld, rd" accounts for Kainendan < *kainen-dan, and "stop + d > ts, ps, ks"
explains Otsan < *ot-dan. There is also a note on a dialectal development of "rd > rz > rr or 'r,
as marda, dialectal mdra". In other words, dialectally rd could result in r accompanied by
lengthening of the preceding vowel , a development seen in Fantoran < *jantor-dan, the name for
Wednesday in the 1 st week of the Kainendan. According to QL, Fantor is a name applied to
both L6rien and Mandos, also distinguished as Olofantor and Vefantor.
The change of intervocalic d > z > r is attested in QL, as in root Y ADA > yara 'a gloom,
blight, lowering darkness ' . This could explain Nessaran < *Nessa-dan, the name for Thursday
in the 2nd week of the Kainendan. Most of the day-names in the Kainendan, however, employ
the suffix -san following a vowel (Manwisan, Ulmosan , etc .) , probably due to analogical
leveling with independent sana ' day ' . This is also the case with Onensan, Friday in the 2nd
week, for which one might expect *Onendan if it were parallel to Kainendan < *kainen-dan. An
erased word Lomisanar visible above the title of the Kainendan shows this leveling process
8 The "Valar name-list" includes a form Taimo as a secondary name of Manwe (see above p. 1 2, note I ) .
9 QL also equates Paliirien with the name Yavanna, and GL compares it to Be/aurin, one of her Gnomish names.
10
The entry for maidhon ' midday ' was struck out, and Saidhon 'noon' was probably intended as its replacement .

extended beyond the day-names of the fortnight. 1 1 The etymologically regular form Nessaran
may have resisted this leveling to avoid the clash of ss and s that would occur in *Nessasan.
For the Saturday in the 2nd week Tolkien lists only Salmar and Omar, the names of the V alar
associated with the day , rather than the name of the day itself. Perhaps he was uncertain whether
a day-name based on one of these should be parallel to Makarnisan (derived from Makar) or to
Fantoran (derived from Fantor) , or he may have intended to devise a name referring to both
Salmar and Omar on which to base the name of the day .
Six of the days of the Kainendan have alternative names that refer, like the names of the
Otsan, to the characteristic responsibility of the Vala after which the day is primarily named.
Thus Siilisan (Manwe' s day) can be compared with the QL entry siilime ' wind ' ; Vaisan (Ulmo)
with Vai ' the outer ocean' ; Marasan (Aule) with mar 'dwelling of men , -land, the Earth ' ;
Poldosan (Tulkas) with poldor 'physical strength ' ; Tinwesan (Varda) with tinwe ' star' ; and
Koirisan (V ana) with koi, koire ' life ' . These alternative day-names are also reminiscent of
secondary epithets for these Valar, such as Manwe (Sulimo), Ulmo (Vailimo), Aule (Mar), Tulkas
(Poldorea), Varda (Tinwetari), and Vdna (Koiretiiri) .12
The origins of the modem seven-day week are uncertain . Carl Darling Buck , in his
Dictionary of Selected Synonyms in the Principal Indo-European Languages, summarizes its
known history as follows:
The seven-day week w a s unknown in Europe until i t s importation from the East.
Whatever its ultimate source and explanation , the seven-day week is definitely known as
an ancient Jewish institution . Hence first the Jewish week and , somewhat later, with an
admixture of oriental astrolog y , the planetary week became known to the Greeks and
Roman s . It spread to the rest of Europe, probably to some extent before but mostly with
the spread of Christianity . 13
Tolkien perhaps intended the Otsan and Kainendan to provide the "ultimate source and
explanation" of our own seven-day week. But since the Lost Tales depict the survival of Elvish
culture well into the Christian era, it is also possible that Tolkien intended the reverse to be true ,
that the Otsan and Kainendan were influenced by the week of Men , much as Tolkien envisioned
the European society of the early Middle Ages influencing the vocabulary of Qenya, adding to it
such concepts as aimaktu ' martyr' , aimo ' saint' , anusta 'monastery ' , anustar 'monk ' , evandl
'Christian missionary ' , evandilyon 'gospel' and tarwe 'a cross , Crucifix ' (all in QL) . In Judeo
Christian tradition, Sunday is regarded as the first day of the week (the Sabbath , Saturday , being
the last), and both weeks comprising the Kainendan begin on Sunday , the first dedicated to
Manwe and the second to Kemi (Yavanna) . The Otsan , however, is unusual in that it begins on
Wednesday , which it associates with Manwe and Varda and their children , Fionwe and Erinti .
This was perhaps meant to create an association between Manwe , Lord of the V alar, and Woden
(Odin) , chief of the Germanic gods after whom Wednesday is named (Old English Wodens da:g
'Woden ' s day ' ) , while still according Manwe the honor of having his day come first in the
week.14
11 Lomisanar i s clearly a variant of Lomendanar 'the days of Gloaming' i n The Coming of the Valar (1 69) .
1 2 Koiretiiri appears as a surname of V ana on a list of names of the V alar in both Qenya and Goldogrin , included
among the loose leaves placed with Notebook B (see "The Names of the Valar", above p . 1 2) .
1 3 University of Chicago Press , I 949, pp. 1 004-5 (quoted from the 1 988 facsimile paperback edition) .
14 The association of Erinti with the day Taimoinen may provide another explanation for equating it with
Wednesday . Tolkien apparently based the name Erinti on that of his wife Edith, and incorporated other connections
between Edith and himself into the early conception of the mythology in QL (see "The Names of the V alar" , above

There is nothing quite comparable to the Kainendan of the V alar in Tolkien' s later writings .
In the Etymologies, however, under the base LEP 'five' , "the Valian week" is described as
consisting of five days: (Ar)Manwen, (Ar)Ulmon, (Ar)Veruen, (Ar)Fanturion, and Nessaron or
Neldion. The 1 st , 2nd and 4th of these are synonymous with the corresponding day-names of the
Kainendan - Manwisan, Ulmosan and Fantoran. And indeed the Valar referred to in the 3rd
and 5th days of the earlier scheme Aulisan and Tulkassan
- are each included within the
-
reference of the two later names, (Ar) Veruen 'of the Spouses' being dedicated "to Aule and
Yavanna," and Nessaron I Neldion "to the three younger Gods , Osse, Orome , Tulkas ." 1 5
Tolkien' s later conception of the week of the Elves, presented i n Appendix D to The Lord of
the Rings, is only broadly comparable to the earlier Otsan . The enquie or six-day week has
names referring to the Stars , the Sun , the Moon , the Two Trees , the Heavens, and the Valar or
Powers . Of these only Quenya Menelya, Sindarin Ormenel 'Heavens'Day ' is synonymous with
a day-name of the Otsan - Taimoinen. Also Quenya Elenya, Sindarin Orgilion (' Star-day ' ) is
comparable to Tinwesan, the alternative name for Monday of the 2nd week of the Kainendan.
Somewhat more remarkable is the concept that the Numenoreans for the most part "retained
the dedications and order" of the week of the Elves, but "added a seventh day , the 'Sea-day '
Eiirenya (Oraearon) after the Heavens ' Day" . This seven-day week was adopted by other Men
and ultimately preserved by the Hobbits, although "the forms were much reduced," and by "the
time of the War of the Ring these had become Sterday, Sunday, Monday, Trewsday, Hevensday
(or Hensday) , Mersday, Highday" (Appendix D , pp . 388-9) . Thus Numenorean Menelya and
Eiirenya are in the same position relative to our own seven-day week as their synonyms
Taimoinen (= Wednesday) and Falassien (= Thursday) in the Otsan of the Elves.
p . 1 5 , note 23) . Tolkien and Edith chose a Wednesday to get married "because that was the day o f the week on
which they had been reunited in 1 9 1 3" (Carpenter, p. 79) , and Tolkien may have felt this day marked a new starting
point in his life .
1 5 The Lost Road, p . 368 . The form Nessaron, although different i n meaning (being the genitive p i . o f nessa
' young' , given in the Etymologies under root NETH) , is remarkably close in form to Nessaran, the name for
Thursday in the 2nd week of the Kainendan.

The OTSAN or OTSOLA (oglad)

of the Elves 1 6
1. Wednesday Taimoinen 17
2. Thursday Falassien
3. Friday Paliirien
4. Saturday Sainen1 8
5. Sunday Poldorien
6. Monday Miirien19
7. Tuesday Fuinen
(1) Manwe & Varda - The heavens , the winds and air,
(Fionwe, Erinti) and the Earthly bodies •!• Music of violins20
(2) Ulmo - Osse, Onen, Salmar The sea, waters and founts . Music of harps · of
wind
(3) Yavanna, V ana, Nessa Earth , womanhood, growth, sunshine ,
laughter, dance , etc ?1
(4) Aule (Melko) Fire , metals , crafts
(5) Tulkas, Orome,22 Makar Manhood, strength , games, wine
(6) Lorien, Salmar, Omar Sleep , dreams , fancy , poesy , imagination, musics
(7) Mando Vefantur, Fui Nienna23 death , darkness , sorrow .
16 An 0 was written above the S in OTSAN , perhaps indicating an alternative form *OTSON. Note that in the title
"The KAINENDAN of the V alar' , KAINENDAN is an emendation from KAINENDON . It is also possible that an
alternative form *OTOSAN was intended. The phrase "of the Gods" >> "of the Elves".
1 7 Taimonen >> Taimoinen .
1 8 Fuinen >> Olo (an unfinished form) >> Sainen .
1 9 Olorien >> Miirien .
20
"Music of wind" >> "Music of violins".
21
The word "womanhood" was written in above "Earth".
22
Orome was a later addition , marked for insertion with a caret .
23
Fuinen >> Mando Vefantur, Fui Nienna. The form Fuinen was probably a slip, with Tolkien writing the name
of the seventh day rather than the names of the V alar associated with that day.

The KAINENDAN , KAINELLA (caineglad)

of the V alar, Eldar, etc ."4
Sunday Manwisan - Sfilisan25

Monday Ulmosan - Vaisan
Tuesday Aulisan - Marasan
Wednesday Fantoran -
Thursday Tulkassan - Poldosan
Friday Falmasan
Saturday Makarnisan -
2 Sunday Kemisan
Monday Vardasan (Tinwesan)
Tuesday Qalmisan
Wednesday Vanasan Koirisan Orome & V ana
Thursday Nessaran Nessa
Friday Onensan
Saturday Salmar, Omar.
24 KAINENDON >> KAINENDAN. The alternative Qenya name KAINELLA and its parenthetical Gnomish
equivalent caineglad were apparently later additions . Above the title, the erased forms Tan and Lomisanar can be
made out.
2 5 Written above Siilisan , but separated from it by a space, is the form Taimosi, which was struck though . The final
letter looks like a short undotted i, but it might also be interpreted as the first stroke of an uncompleted a , with
Tolkien perhaps abandoning a form *Taimosan intended as an alternative to Siilisan. Compare Taimoinen as the
name of Manwe's day in the Otsan.

Matar and Tulir
Another of the loose leaves of linguistic material J. R. R. Tolkien placed inside the front cover of
Notebook B ("Names to Book of Lost Tales") contains the following table of forms . 1 There are
no labels or glosses , but these appear to be inflected forms of the verbs mat- 'eat' and tu/- 'bring ,
come' .
matar tulir
matan tulin
matasse, -asti tulisse
matando tulindo
mata tulya
To understand what these forms may have meant in Tolkien ' s conception of the grammar, we
first examine the evidence for verb morphology at the earliest stages of the evolution of Qenya.
In the Lost Tales themselves there are three sentences in this language . One is spoken by
Orome as an announcement of his first encounter with the newly awakened Elves: Tulielto!
Tulielto! 'They have come - they have come ! ' This is answered, following his explanation , by
all of the people of the V alar: J.Eldar tulier 'the Eldar have come' (I 1 1 4) . Taken together these
show that final -r marks a plural verb in agreement with an explicit plural noun as subject, while
-lto is attached to an otherwise identical verb stem to indicate a plural subject 'they' whose
referent is implicit. The third sentence is spoken by Vana when she has induced Laurelin to bear
its last fruit: l·kal' antulien 'Light hath returned' (I 1 84). This shows that final -n marks a
singular verb in agreement with an explicit singular noun as subject.
The Qenya Lexicon can be divided chronologically into two parts by considering the way the
verbs are presented. In the original layer of composition of the sections A through K, if a verb
stem is identical in form with the root of the etymological group to which it belongs , then it is
cited in the first person singular present tense , ending with the suffix -in, which replaces the
second vowel or resonant of the root. But verbs whose stems contain a suffix added to the root
are always cited in their endingless form, frequently with a final hyphen to indicate that this is a
stem to which inflexions could be added . Thus the root verb aqin 'I seize in my hand' is from
AQA , hotin 'I sneeze' from HOTYO, kilkin 'I gather, reap' from K�K� , etc . But the suffixed
verb elta- (later altered to elte-) 'to thrust in' is from root ELE, itisya- 'to itch , irritate' from root
ITI , kamu- 'to lay down , bend down' from root KAMA, etc . For one verb three inflected forms
are given: enin, emil, emir ' I (etc .) am called' . The gloss suggests that the variation in ending
represents different subjects , perhaps emil = * ' you are called' and emir = * ' he or she is called' .
In later sections of the Lexicon both root verbs and suffixed verb stems are usually cited as
endingless forms with final hyphen . The former are sometimes cited with the second root vowel
included in the stem , e.g., lava- ' lick' (root LAVA) , and muru- 'to slumber' (MURU) . But they
are also frequently cited with only one vowel , e .g., lilt- 'to dance' from root L�T� , mel- 'to love '
from MELE, and pus- 'puff, snort' from PUSU. The grammatical significance of this distinction
is uncertain. We might suppose that inclusion or exclusion of the second vowel in the citation
form indicates whether this vowel is incorporated into the inflected form . That the second vowel
1 Bodleian Library , Oxford, Tolkien Manuscript S 1 I XIV, folio 1 05 verso. On Notebook B and the loose leaves
originally placed with it, see "The Creatures of the Earth" , above p. 5 .

Matar and Tulir ]. R. R. Tolkien
in the forms matar, matan, etc . , could be interpreted as a repetition of the root vowel, while the
forms tulir, tulin, etc . , have a distinct vowel in the second syllable , might support this theory .
But then it remains curious that in QL the former is cited as mat- ' eat' (from root MATA) while
the latter is cited as tulu- 'bring , come, etc .' (root TULU) , seemingly the reverse of what we
might expect.
Several of the root verbs in this later portion of QL are cited with an ending -in, but these are
glossed as present tense 3rd person singular, rather than 1 st person singular. Some are
masculine , e.g . , limin 'he binds ' , usin ' he escapes' , while others are neuter (or impersonal) , as
uqin ' it rains ' , vilkin ' it cuts ' , or cited without indication of gender, as yavin 'bears fruit' . A
handful of verbs are cited in the 1 st person with the ending -ir, such as mokir 'I hate' and tildir 'I
cover' . Two suffixed verbs are given with comparable inflexions , vastan 'rush ' and wastar 'I
dwell ' . In line with the later 1 st person forms Tolkien altered the verb anin 'I give' to anir, but
subsequently replaced this with a derivative stem anta-, and allowed all of the other 1 st person
singular forms in -in to stand unaltered.2
If correlated with any of these early examples, matar and tulir might be 1 st person singular,
3rd person singular, or 3rd person plural forms , while matan and tulin could be 1 st person
singular, or 3rd person singular masculine , neuter, or impersonal . Taken as a group, however,
the five forms tulir, tulin, tulisse, tulindo, and tulya most closely resemble the active present
singular forms given in the regular verb conjugation on the slips accompanying QL.3 There the
paradigm as originally written had masculine tulin, -indo, feminine tulir, -isse, and neuter tulya.
Subsequently this tulir was marked as a form used in "poetry" and tulya was replaced by tule,
-Ita. These changes were probably occasioned by the emergence in the paradigm of present
plural impersonal tulir and the revision of the aorist singular impersonal tulta to tulya. So if
there is a correlation then the matar and tulir forms from the loose leaf in Notebook B would
presumably predate the revisions to the tul- conjugation on the QL slips .
The inflexions of matar include one unique form [mat]asti, implied by the ending -asti listed
beside matasse.4 Perhaps matasti is the feminine plural form 'they (those females) eat' . In the
regular verb paradigm tulisse ' she brings' has a plural formation tulissir, but in the medial forms ,
tulikse ' she comes ' pl. tuliksi, the variation in final vowel i s the same as here .
In the subsequent grammar composed by Tolkien while at Leeds, verbs have prefixes rather
than suffixed inflexions to mark the subject. The 1 st person singular prefix is ni·, the 3rd person
singular prefixes are masculine (h)u·, feminine (h)i·, neuter (h)a·, and the corresponding 3rd
person plurals tu·, si·, and ta· . The suffix -r is used to mark the impersonal (tulir = 'one goes ,
somebody goes ' ) and -n is used for the active participle (tulin = 'coming ' ) .5 This further
conceptual change seems to confirm that the matar and tulir forms predate or are contemporary
with the regular verb conjugation accompanying the Qenya Lexicon .
2 If these variant 1 st person singular inflexions in QL were intended as part of the same conception , the smaller
group of verbs with ending -ir may exemplify an irregular class, similar to the deponents of Latin and Greek, with a
passive form but an active or reflexive meaning . Note that in the subsequent conception the impersonal inflexion in
-r "becomes a passive if pronominal elements are added," or in other words * tulir ni ' somebody brings me' ' I am
=
brought, I come ' . See the "Early Qenya Grammar" , below pp. 53, 56.
3 See "The Qenya Verb Forms", below p . 28 .
4 Another possible reading would be matasse, -aste with both endings being variants of the feminine singular.
5 See the "Early Qenya Grammar" , below pp . 5 2 , 56-7 .

Early Qenya Fragments f. R. R. Tolkien
The Qenya Verb Forms
Tucked into the front of the Qenya Lexicon notebook are four loose pages contammg a
description of the conjugation of the Qenya verb . The pages measure 5 5/8 by 8 112 inches, and
are ruled on both sides, with holes pre-punched for placement in a two-ring or two-post binder.
The first two pages , with sides numbered I to 4 by Tolkien , bear the subtitle "Endings" and
contain a paradigm of verbal inflexions , written entirely in pencil . The remaining two sheets ,
numbered 3 , l a, 1 and 2, contain the conjugation of an example verb tul- 'to bring , come' . Page
I is headed by the title , "The Qenya Verb forms" , with the subtitle "Regular verb". This
conjugation was begun in ink but completed in pencil , and clearly preceded the table of endings,
since the latter incorporates as written certain changes in the paradigm that appear only as
revisions to the conjugation of tul- . A few very late changes were made in ink to both texts ,
though not with complete consistency . The two paradigms are presented here in their order of
composition , in the final state in which Tolkien left the text, with revisions described in the
footnotes .
The verb conjugation in these paradigms makes distinctions in voice , tense , number, and
gender in the forms of the indicative, while distinguishing only tense for the infinitives , gerunds ,
and participles. The three voices (each presented on a separate page) are active, medial or
reflexive, and passive. These terms refer to a distinction that depends on the role that the subject
of the sentence plays in the action or process described by the verb . If the subject is the agent,
i .e. causes, initiates or undertakes the action or process, the voice is active . If the subject is the
patient, i .e. undergoes or experiences the effects of the verb , and the agent is someone else , the
voice is passive . If the subject is both agent and patient, i .e. does something to or for himself, the
voice is medial or reflexive . The contrasting translations of the verb tul- for each of these
illustrate the distinction in meaning: active 'bring' ; medial or reflexive 'bring oneself, come ,
arrive; come for a purpose' ; and passive 'be brought, come (indefinite) ' .
The four tenses are present, future, past, and aorist. The first three of these appear in separate
columns for each paradigm . The aorist (from the Greek a6pto'toc; ' indefinite' ) is the form used
when the action or process is unspecific as to time , when it is habitual , or when it is referred to
proverbially . The aorist tense is formally distinctive only in the active indicative paradigm,
otherwise being expressed by the present tense forms . In the conjugation of tu/-, there being
room for just three columns on the page , the twelve aorist forms were listed on three lines
following the other indicative forms. These and the infinitives, gerunds and participles below
them were extensively revised and subsequently recast on the page numbered I a, where the set
of aorist forms was left incomplete . The final forms of the aorist of tu!- appear as an example
following the discussion of the aorist endings , as part of the separate paradigm of endings. For
ease of comparison , we have restored the full set of forms to their logical place as a fourth
column in the active paradigm of tu!- .
The present, future , and past tenses are characterized by the suffixes -i-, -va-, and -ie-, which
come between the basic verb stem and the suffixes marking gender and number. According to

The Qenya Verb Forms ]. R. R. Tolkien
notes added to the paradigm of endings, the present tense is sometimes characterized by -a
instead of -i-, while the future suffix has an alternative form -uva- . The past tense, in addition to
its suffix -ie-, is characterized by various extensions or modifications of the basic verb stem: "( 1 )
-n- strengthening , or (2) vowel-length strengthening , or (3) 'apparent' ablaut, or (4) suffix
between stem and ending ." These types are all exemplified in QL: ( 1 ) with nasal-infix, hatin ' I
fling ' has past tense hante; hepin 'I bind' pa.t. hempe; and kalta ' set light to, kindle ' pa.t.
kalante; (2) with lengthened root-vowel, elin 'I drive' has pa.t. ele 'drove' ; kosta- 'debate ,
dispute' pa.t. ki5se; and piri- ' spin , turn' pa.t. p'lre; (3) with apparent root-vowel variation
(ablaut) , milk- 'have, keep, possess' has pa.t. malke; sulp- ' lick (up) , sup' pa.t. salpe; and tirty
'partition , divide , distribute' pa.t. tartye-; and (4) with various suffixes (-ne, -be, -se), kal(l)u- ' to
light up, illuminate' has pa.t. kallune-; lomir ' I hide, lurk' pa.t. lombe; minda- ' to diminish, fade ,
vanish' pa.t. mindane; naitya- ' damage , hurt, abuse' pa.t. naiksine; and qasa- ' shake , flap , nod,
rustle' pa.t. qasse. Sometimes the same verb may have more than one type of past tense
formation, as mak- ' slay' pa.t. make, manke, or pelekta- ' hew' pa.t. pelenke- or pelektane-.
The three numbers are singular, dual, and plural. Each of these is subdivided into four rows
marked impersonal ("Imp."), masculine ("M"),Jeminine ("F") , and neuter ("N"), with horizontal
lines separating the first of these from the three genders . Given the fact that the category of
voice is keyed to the role of the subject in relation to the verb, it seems very likely that the
categories of number and gender refer to the number and gender of the subject as well . This is
consistent with the structure evident in many of the forms of the paradigm. Taking for example
the feminine singular of the present tense, the active is tulir, -isse, the reflexive is tulikse, and the
passive is tulille (-ilse). We can see that the stem tuli- is shared by all of the present tense forms;
so we can suppose that the final -se occurring (at least as an alternative) in each voice is a mark
of feminine singular; and this also occurs in the corresponding future and past tense forms .
The components that remain to be accounted for are the -k- in the reflexive and the -l- in the
passive , both of which come between the tense stem and the gender suffix . And these two
markers occur in the corresponding position in the forms of all three genders throughout the
reflexive and passive paradigms of tul- . The -k- would correspond to the element '-self' in the
equivalent English reflexives , ' he brings himself' , ' she brings herself' , etc . 1 The -/- may be a
sort of indication of the person (not necessarily specified) who is the agent of the action or
process, since by nature in the passive voice the subject is the patient and not the agent.
In the Qenya Lexicon the term impersonal is used to describe certain verbs whose meanings
preclude the involvement of a personal agent, i .e . where a process is initiated or a state is caused
by some event or situation. Some examples are mart- ' it happens ' , naya- ' it grieves ' , itisya- ' to
itch , irritate' , loyo- 'be thirsty ' . In the subsequent grammar we see the term impersonal also
applied to a particular inflexion of the regular verb where the personal agent is unspecified, as in
tulir 'one goes, somebody goes ' ? As in that later conception the impersonal forms in this
paradigm contain no explicit subject marker, but there is a distinction in number. In the active
paradigm the singular impersonal forms consist of the bare stem of the verb , marked only for
1 Under the root KOHO ' undergo , endure' the Qenya Lexicon lists a reflexive suffix "? -ko (-to)", which is probably
connected with the element -k- (and the variant -t-) found in the masculine , feminine, and neuter endings of the
reflexive voice . The variant -t- occurs (due to dissimilation) when the final consonant of the verb stem is a velar.
The same elements -k (spelled -c) and -t appear as suffixes in the Goldogrin reflexive pronouns unc 'ourselves' ,
related to um 'we' , and ost 'yourselves ' , related to oth , os 'ye' (Gnomish Lexicon, pp. 63, 77).
2 See the "Early Qenya Grammar" , below p . 56.

The Qenya Verb Forms f. R. R. Tolkien
tense: tule, tulva, tiile; while the dual and plural combine this stem with a suffix for number (-t,
-r) . Note that the latter is also the form used in the Lost Tales when the subject is expressed by a
plural noun . Thus in the tale of "The Coming of the Elves" we have the sentence, 1- Eldar tulier
'the Eldar have come ' (I 1 1 4), with a form closely comparable to the impersonal plural past tense
tiilier.
The placement of the loose pages with the Qenya Lexicon suggests that they are roughly
contemporary with it. There is one clear indication of their relative dating in the form of the past
tense of the verb . In the paradigm this has final -e when there is no following suffix but
otherwise has -ie- followed by the suffix indicating voice, number, and gender. Thus we have
active singular past impersonal tiile beside masculine tiilien(do), feminine tiiliesse, etc . In QL
the vast majority of preterite forms are cited in a comparable endingless form, e.g . , iine,
apaiksine, fantane, hempe, malke, etc . Occasionally these are written with a final hyphen ,
suggesting that this is the stem form as well , as kallune-, tyustyiike-, etc .
Under the entry for the verb perpere-, described as an intensive of pere- ' endure ' , especially
with the meaning ' endure to end, suffer great anguish' , a sentence is cited. Originally written as
perilme metto aimaktur perperenta 'We indeed endure things but the martyrs endured and to the
end' , this sentence exemplified the earlier preterite stem form with -e- followed by the suffix -
nta. Tolkien subsequently changed perperenta to perperienta, which is the form that
corresponds most closely to the inflected forms of the past tense in the loose pages, such as the
active plural neuter tiilienta. This implies that the paradigms on the loose pages were begun
sometime after the original layer of composition of QL had reached as far as the P-section .
Another chronological indicator may be provided by a note in pencil at the top of the first
page of the conjugation of tul-:
Allow final -nt, -s, -t, ! -r, -n, -m, and in monosyllables -k, -nk, ( -st ?) , -lt.
- ,
The items -nt and -m were each underlined twice, and following -nt an item -r (perhaps a false
start on -rt) was deleted. The earliest version of the Qenya Phonology says the following about
consonants in word-final position : "Only l, r, s, n, k, t, nt, nk and , rarer and usually only in
monosyllables , lt, lk, rt, rk were possible.''3 This describes quite accurately the distribution of
word-final consonants found in the Qenya Lexicon, except that there are also very rare
occurrences of final st, as in est 'outwards ' or sist 'ulcer, sore ' .
The statement made here i n connection with the verb forms shows a reduction in the
assortment of allowable word-final consonant clusters (lk, rt and rk have been eliminated) ,
further restrictions on the sounds permitted outside of monosyllables , and one additional sound
allowed finally . The final cluster nt, though frequent in monosyllables , occurs in only one
polysyllabic entry in QL, ulun(t) 'a camel ' , and the sound m never occurs word-finally in QL.
The inclusion of these two possibilities here presumably reflects the fact that they do occur at the
end of certain verbal inflexions that emerged in the course of revisions to these paradigms , such
as the active infinitive forms tulint, tulvant, tulient, or the plural impersonal endings -im, -vam,
-iem; -istum, -iktum, etc . And this suggests that these verb paradigms were composed (or at
least revised) later than the original layer of the Qenya Phonology , and that the marginal note
cited here postdates the composition of QL itself.
3 Parma Eldalamberon , no. 1 2 , p. 26.

The Qenya Verb forms .

Regular verb .
Example tul- 'to bring, come' (with normal variants , as in tak- ' fix ' , soq- 'drink' , mat- 'eat' ,
qity- ' knit' , lep- ' take' , also say-, kav-, mas- , hum-, min-, ong-, ter-, tarq-, lant-) .4
Active. 'Bring ' . t = poetry .5
Present Future Past Aorist6
Sing. Imp. tule tulva tiile tulya7
M tulin, -indo tulvan(do) t tulien, -do tulmo
F tulir t , -isse tulvar t , -vasse tulier t , -esse tulse8
N tule * , -Ita tulva * tulie * , -ieta9 tulta
Dual Imp. tulit tulvat tuliet' 0 tulyat
M tulindon tulvandon tiiliendon tulmut
F tulisset tulvasset tuliesset tulsit, -n
N tulista tulvasta tuliesta1 1 tultan
Plural Imp. tulyu t , tulir tulvar, -vau t tulier, -ieu t 1 2 tulyar
M tulindoi tulvandoi tuliendoi tulmoi
F tulissir tulvassir tuliessir tullir
N tulyar, tulinta tulvanta tulienta tultai1 3
Infinitives tulint, -inqe tulvant tulient, -enqe tulinqe or tula1 4
Gerunds tulinto [tul]vanto tuliento15
Participles tulinwa tulvanwa tulienwa tulwa, tulya1 6
4 The gloss of the stem tul· was altered in pencil from ' to come ' . QL has verbs tulu- 'bear, carry , fetch; move,
come; produce, bear fruit' , taka- ' fix, fasten' , soko- ' drink ' , mat- ' eat' , qity- ' knit ' , kava- 'dig ' , mas- 'bake, cook ' ,
fum- ' sleep' , ongo- ' it pains me' , tarqa- 'dry , preserve; pickle' , and lant- 'drop, fall' . G L has leb- 'pick; pluck; take
or feel or touch with the fingers; cull' ; and PME has tefe- 'pierce ' .
5
The gloss 'Bring' , this note and the daggers in the chart were added i n pencil .
6
A pencil note was added to the earliest ink version of the aorist: "rare except for * forms"; and the three masculine
forms tulmo, tulmut and tulmoi and the neuter singular tulta were each marked by an asterisk.
7 The impersonal aorist forms were at first singular tulta , dual tultan , and plural tultu (later tentatively tulu) .
8 The feminine singular aorist was at first tulle , -se; and the dual was tullet (changed to tullin).
9 The neuter present tulya was changed to tule , alternative present and past endings -Ita and -ieta added, and the
asterisks referred to notes explaining that -e comes from j;J, -va "< va-;J" ; and -ie from "Je < Je-;J", all in pencil .
10
The dual impersonal was altered in ink from present "tulint or tulit" , future tulva(n)t, and past tiiliet, -nt.
11
Various earlier ink versions of the dual neuter include present tulyat >> "tulyat (tulinta)" >> tulint(a) >>
"(tulyat) tulint" >> tulyat; future tulvat >> tulvant(a) >> "tulvat (tulvanta t)" >> tulvat; past tiiliet >>
tiilient(a) >> "tuliet (tiilienta) >> tuliet. The changes to the final version were made in pencil .
12
The alternative plural impersonal future ending -vau and past ending -ieu were added in pencil.
1 3 In the plural neuter the alternative present form tulinta was added in pencil , and the future tulvanta and past
tulienta were altered from tulvar and tulier, also in pencil . The aorist was originally given as tultar .
14
The infinitives were originally tulista, tulvasta , tiiliesta, and "Aor. tula(i) or tultai," the last two forms rejected
and the endings -sta altered to -nt in ink. The revised forms were rewritten with a tentative note: "(rarest as an
inflexion but often various verbal nouns supply the place variously in each verb)" and variant gerunds, tulinqe,
tulvanqe , tulienqe, "also used t as infin[itives] ." Later tulinqe became the the aorist infinitive, with a note in
pencil: "i.e. = present, or tula." The alternative endings -inqe and -enqe were also added in pencil .
15
The gerunds were first given as tulinta , tulvanta , tulienta and tula, the last deleted in ink .
16
The active participles were originally present "tufilya or tulila," future "tulvala or -valya," past "tuliela or
tulielya," and "Aor. tulya." These were altered in pencil to tulinwa (-imba); tulvanwa; tulienwa , -mba; and

(Medial, or Reflexive.) 'Bring oneself, come , arrive; come for a purpose' .17
Present Future Past No Aorist Tense
Sing . Imp. tulista * tulvas(ta) tuliesta *
archaic t [tul]is [tul]vas t ltul]ies 18
M tulinko ** 1 9 tulvakso tuliekso
F tulikse ** tulvakse tuliekse
N tulikta ** tulvakta tuliekta
Dual Imp . tulistan * tulvastan tuliestan *20
M tulikson tulvakson tuliekson
F tuliksin tulvaksin tulieksin
N tuliktan tulvaktan tuliektan
Plural Imp. tulistu * ( -oi) tulvastu ( -oi) tuliestu * -oi21
,
M tuliksoi tulvaksoi tulieksoi

F tuliksi tulvaksi tulieksi
N tuliktai tulvaktai tuliektai
Gerunds tulitsa tulvatsa tulietsa
[tul]iksa(nt) [tulva]ksa(nt) (tulieksa(nt)) Aor. tulinqes(ta)22
Participles tulistima, -ksi- , etc .
archaic tuliska tulvaska tulieska23
Infinitives tulis(te) :j: tulvas(te) tulies(te?4
* also in present and past -kto except in qlk verbs . -ikto, -iksa is compulsory in -st verbs , as hosta-kto .25
* * with -g, -q, -k verbs usually -tso, -tse , -tta. [other archaic and poetic variants are , eg. -itto , -itte , -itsa ,
etc .f6
:j: usually tulista ger . , but future usually prefers the short forms , and the past particularly so .
tulwa, tulna. The forms in -nwa were rewritten in ink, with the following notes: "Variant common in present, rare
in past , and never in future , is -mba . As aorist cp. verbal adjectives with 'active' termin[ations] , as -wa, -ima, -ara,
etc . Cp . tulwa, tulya ." The last comparison is in pencil .
17 This gloss was added later in pencil .
18 The singular impersonal was at first present "tulikto **", future tulvak(to) . and past tuliekto . These were altered
in ink to "tulisto *", tulvas(to) . and "tuliesto *"; and later the alternative endings were added above in pencil , with
the label "arch." beside the present ending t -is . Last of all a faint pencil stroke was added to each final -o,
apparently making them -a' s , though this change was not carried through in the paradigm of endings.
19 The masculine tulinko is a late alteration in ink from tulikso .
0
2 The final -an in each of these dual impersonals was altered from -on by the addition of a faint pencil stroke.
21 The alternative ending -oi for each of the plural impersonals was a later pencil addition.
22
These forms were originally given as "Inf[initive ]s tulista , -iksa; tulvasta; tuliesta (tulieksa); A or. tulka" . The
label was changed in ink to "Gerunds and Infs ." and then to "Gerunds", before the alterations to the forms , all of
which were made in pencil, except for the heavy deletion of tulka in ink .
23 The participles were originally given as tulinqe, tulvanqe, tulienqe, and "Aor. tulme." The last form was deleted
in ink; but the other changes and additions are in pencil .

24 The forms of the infinitive and the accompanying footnote were written in pencil . There is also a note in the left
margin, "P . as Aor." This may mean that the present tense form tulis(te) is also used as an aorist infinitive .
25 This note was originally: "* also in present -ikta, -ikto except q/k verb ." The second sentence was added above ,
apparently before the first sentence was altered to include the past tense .
26 The brackets around the addition to this note are Tolkien' s . It originally began " [Many other. .. " and included the
additionnal variants -isso, -isse and -itsa . An earlier version of the note was written in the left margin , probably at
first as a shorter comment on the impersonal form onl y , later expanded and altered before being entirely replaced:
"** klq verbs have -isto {or} -itto{ . } -itso and {-itso} -isso and[?] -itse, -isse, { -iste} st[?] {-itsa} -ista."

The Qenya Verb Fo rms f. R. R. Tolkien
Passive. 'be brought; come (indefinite)' .27

Present Future Past
Sing . Imp . tulil [we, -qe] tulval[we] tuliel[ qe (-we) ]28
M tulilmo tulvalmo tulielmo
F tulille ( -ilse) tulvalle, etc . tulielle, etc .
N tulilta tulvalta tulielta
Dual Imp . tulilqet, -lwet tulvalwet tulielqet ( -wet)29
M tulilmut tulvalmut tulielmut
F tulillet (-ilset) tulvallet, etc . tuliellet, etc .
N tuliltan tulvaltan tulieltan30
Plural Imp. tulilwi ( -qi) , (r) tulvalwi(r) tulielqi(r) , -wi31
M tulilmur tulvalmur tulielmur
F tulillir (-ilsir) tulvaldir, etc . tulieldir, etc .
N tuliltai tulvaltai tulieltai32
Participles tulila or -ilya(nt) tulvalya(nt) tuliela or tulielya(nt)
Aor. tulna, or inserted -n- or -l- .
also t part. tulilma, etc.
Infinitives tulil(de) tulval(de) tuliel(de)33
Gerunds tulildo tulvaldo, -alma tulieldo
* for the -we, -qe above see -we suffix = 'a, an ' and pronominal stem -qe, qe- 'any' .
lThe following forms are written in pencil at the bottom of the page that
contains the reworkings of the active aorist, infinitives, and participles .
This is the back of the page containing the paradigm of the passive.]
add tfilima '(worth bringing) bringable , able to be brought'

tulinya ' (bringable) worth bringing '
tulalka 'able to bring '
tulbirie.
27 This gloss was added later.

28
The brackets in this line are Tolkien ' s . An alternative ending -do has been deleted above each of the three forms .
29 An alternative ending -don has been deleted above each of the forms tulilqet, tulvalwet and tulielqet.
30 The dual neuter future and past tense forms were altered from original tulvaltat and tulieltat.
3 1 The "(r)" following the plural impersonal present forms probably indicates variants for each alternative, i .e .
tulilwi(r) and tulilqi(r) . A n alternative ending, perhaps -du, has been erased and overwritten for each o f the three
tenses .
32 The plural neuter forms were originally tuliltar , tulvaltar, and tulieltar .
33 The present infinitive was originally given as "tufima or -ilma." An aorist form tulinqel(do) was partially erased.
There is a note "Pres . as Aor." , perhaps meaning that the form tulil(de) is also used as an aorist infinitive .

Endings.
Active.
Present Future Past � For the Aorist Active
Sing. Imp. -e * ( 1 ) -e * ( 2 )
-va see end .
M -in, -indo t -van, -vando t -ien(do t)
F -ir, -isse t -var, -vasse t -ier, -iesse t
N -e * ( 3), -Ita t -va -ie * (4)
Dual Imp. -it -vat -iet
M -indon -vandon -iendon
F -isset -vasset -iesset
N -ista -vasta -iesta
Plural Imp. -im, -ir t -vam, -var t -iem , -ier t34
M -indoi -vandoi -iendoi
F -issir -vassir -iessir
N -inta35 -vanta -ienta
Present Future Pase6
*
Infinitives -e -va -e
(-int) -inqe -vant -ient (-ienqe)
Gerunds -into -vanto -iento
Participles -inwa -vanwa -ienwa
(-imba)
t = archaic or poet[ic] .3 7
* ( 1 ) > 1. (2) < ;e. (3) ;a. (4) ;e-;} > ;e.
* Note the Short infinitive = S ingular Impersonal in all moods .3R
� I n addition to the endings this tense is distinguished by ( 1 ) - n - strengthening, or (2) vowel-length

strengthenin g , or (3) "apparent" ablaut, or (4) suffix between stem and endi n g .
34 The plural impersonal endings as first written were: "-yu , -ir t ; -var , -vau; -ier , -ieu."
35 An alternative ending (probably -yar or -iar) was written above this form , and subsequently erased .
36 The headings given here were originally for four columns: "Pres.; Aor.; Fut.; Past"; but the aorist heading was
deleted before any forms were written below it.
37 Note that in most cases where one of two alternative endings is marked as archaic or poetic in this chart, it was the
other alternative that was marked as poetic in the conjugation of tu!- . It is clear that Tolkien changed his conception
of which forms were poetic in the course of composing the chart of endings, since the feminine singular endings as
first written here were: "t -ir, -isse; -vasse , -var t; -iesse, -ier t ."
38 The term mood is usually applied to the distinction between the indicative, subjunctive, optative and imperative
forms of the verb , a distinction which is not represented here . (The infinitive is also sometimes termed a mood,
though when grouped with the gerund and participle, as categories of verbal nouns and adjectives , the distinction is
really of a different sort .) Tolkien 's use of mood here may be a slip for voice; but since the shortest forms of the
infinitive endings are the same as the shortest forms of the singular impersonal endings not only in each of the
active, reflexive and passive voices, but also in each of the present, future, and past tenses, Tolkien may have meant
something more general like mode . (Note that mood, in the grammatical sense, and mode are etymologically
identical terms, both coming from the Latin modus .)

Reflexive .
Present Future Past
Sing . Imp .0-is, -isto, -ikto * -vas (-vasto) -ies(to) , -iekto *
M -inko -into **39 ' -vakso, -tso -iekso, etc .
F -ikse, -itse -vakse, -tse -iekse, etc .
N -ikta, -itta -vakta, -tta -iekta, etc .
Dual Imp. -iston, -ikton * -vaston -ieston, -iekton *
M -ikson, -itson -vakson, etc . -iekson, etc .
F -iksin, -itsin -vaksin, etc . -ieksin, etc .
N -iktan, -ittan -vaktan, etc . -iektan, etc .
Plural Imp . -istum, -iktum -vastum -iestum, etc .40
M -iksoi, -itsoi -vaksoi, etc . -ieksoi, etc .
F -iksi, -itsi -vaksi, etc . -ieksi, etc .
N -iktai, -ittai -vaktai, etc . -iektai, etc .
-[ikt]am, -ittam -[vakta]m -[iekta]m41
*
Infinitives t -is t -vas -ies t
-iksant, etc . -vaksant, etc . -ieksant
Gerunds -iste -vaste -ieste
Participles -iksa, -itsa -vaksa, etc . -ieksa, etc .
-istima, -iksima -vastima -iestima
* See note * page 1 .42
0 It is to be noted that -is , vas ,

ies forms may be , and usually are , used as Gerund Singular, Dual ,
- -
Plural forms in immediate conj unction with plural nouns or pronouns, as tulies i neri, the men
arrived.
3 9 The singular masculine present endings were originally -ikso , -itso . The change to -inko, -into was made in ink;
and similar alternative dual and plural endings -nkon and -nkoi were added in ink, above -ikson and -iksoi,
although the original forms were not deleted .
40 As first written the plural impersonal forms were -istu (-oi) , -iktu (-oi); -vasto (-oi); -iestu (-oi), etc.
4 1 These alternative forms of the plural neuter endings with final -m were all added later in pencil .
*
4 2 This refers to the note marked with the same symbol following the table of active endings.

Passive.
Present Future Past
Sing . Imp . -ill we] , -ilqe * -val[we] -iel[we] , -ielqe43
M -ilmo -valmo -ielmo
F -ille (-ilse) -valle (etc .) -ielle (etc .)
N -ilta -valta -ielta
Dual Imp . -ilwet, -ilqet * -valwet -ielwet ( -qet)
M -ilmut -valmut -ielmut
F -illet (-ilset) -vallet (etc.) -iellet, etc .
N -iltan -valtan -ieltan
Plural Imp .0 -ilwir ( -qir * ) -valwir -ielwir (etc .)
M -ilmur -valmur -ielmur
F -illir (-ilsir) -vallir, etc . -iellir, etc .
N -iltai -valtai -ieltai
-[ilt]am -[valt]am -[ielt]am44
*
Infinitives -il t *
-val t -iel t
-ilde -valde -ielde
-ilyant -valyant -ielyant
Gerunds -ilde, -ildo -valde, etc . -ielde, etc .
Participles -ila, -ilya -valya -iela, -ielya, etc .
t -ilma -valma -ielma
-ima (as tiilima) = '-able, possible'
-inya, as tulinya = 'worthy to be - '
-alka, --elka, -olka = 'able to'
(according to stem vowel) as hostalka = 'able to gather' .
* See * page 1 .
0 See 0 page 2 .45

* for this we - , - qe see pronoun qe- and -we, enclitic = ' a , an ' .
43 The brackets in the first line of this chart are Tolkien ' s .
44 These alternative forms of the plural neuter endings with final -am were all added later i n pencil .
45 These two notes refer to the notes marked with the same symbols * and 0 following the tables of active and
reflexive endings respectively.

Aorist. Indefinite or Habitual or Gnomic.

Infinitives , gerunds , participles , etc . , as present.
Sing . Imp . -ya * , -a
M -mo * , -so, -do -to, -o
,
F -le, -se * , -de, -e

N -ta * , -a
Dual Imp . -yat
M -mut, -don, etc .
F -let, etc .
N -tan
Plural Imp . -yar
M -moi, etc .
F -lir, etc .
N -tai, etc .
The endings are selected with regard to euphony and the smallest stem change - there is
no connecting vowel. (Those marked * wherever possible.)
As tulya tulmo tulse tulta
tulyat tulmut tu/sit, -n46 tu/tan
tulyar tulmoi tullir tultai
but karpa karpo karpe karpa
karpat karput47 karpit karpan
karpar karpoi karpir karpai
saqa sakso sakse (saqe) saqa, sakta
etc .
matya matso matse matta
etc .
* Aorist [?endings]48 -tam, -am -istim -iltum

tuftam tulistim tuliltum
karpam karpistim karpiltum.
Ending of future is -uva- in many verbs, -ta derivatives and long stem cons [ onant] verbs.
As hosta- hostuva-
karpi- karpuva .
Many verbs have an -a- tense vowel in present, such as -ta [?] and -na[?] derivative [?stems] .49
46 The feminine singular and dual forms of tul- were altered from tulle and tullit, -n to tulse and tulsit, -n.
4 7 The masculine dual form of karpi- was altered from karpon to karput.
48 This note and the accompanying examples were added later in the left margin, without indication of the categories
of the forms other than that they are aorists. The final -m in each of the endings is reminiscent of the alternative
plural impersonal and neuter endings added later to the reflexive and passive paradigms.
49 This note is at the very bottom of the page, and parts of it are heavily worn .

Early Qenya Grammar
by J. R. R. Tolkien
Edited by
Carl F . Hostetter and Bill Welden

Early Qenya Grammar f. R. R. Tolkien

Early Qenya Grammar ]. R. R. Tolkien
Introduction
Tolkien at Leeds.
From the late fall of I 9 I 8 to the spring of I 920 J . R. R. Tolkien was living in Oxford and
employed on the Oxford English Dictionary. In the summer of 1 920 he was offered the post of
Reader in English Language at the University of Leeds, which he accepted . The Tolkiens were
expecting their second child, and Michael was born after the Leeds term began in October; but it
was not until the beginning of 1 92 1 that Tolkien and his family were situated together again in
temporary accommodations in Leeds. Before this time, Tolkien had been commuting between
Oxford and Leeds , living in Leeds during the week and rejoining Edith and their two sons in
Oxford on the weekends.
Over the course of the next five years at Leeds , Tolkien ' s personal and professional life were
very active . His Middle English Vocabulary was completed and published in I 922, and during
that year he began his collaboration with E. V . Gordon on their edition of the Middle English
poem, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, which was published in I 925 . A flurry of poems,
essays, and scholarly reviews were produced and published in these years . Underlying this,
Tolkien bore the responsibility for nearly all of the linguistic teaching in his department, and was
transforming the syllabus. Concomitantly he enjoyed great success in attracting more and more
students , in part through the establishment and shepherding of a Viking Club . In 1 924 , when
Tolkien was appointed Professor of the English Language , Edith and he bought and occupied
their first house . Late in that year their third son , Christopher, was born.
As Humphrey Carpenter notes, during this time "money was not plentiful and Tolkien was
saving to buy a house , so family holidays were few".1 The Tolkien family was , however, able to
spend some weeks on vacation in Filey , on the Yorkshire coast, in the summer of 1 922; but
Tolkien had at this time begun an annual side-occupation of marking examination papers in order
to earn extra money, so he had to spend considerable time engaged in this during that vacation .
Later, in May I 923 , Tolkien contracted pneumonia, and after he recovered the family went to
stay for a time with Tolkien' s brother Hilary . It was during this visit that Tolkien , after a break
of some years , began to work again on his mythology , revising his earlier work and eventually
turning the stories of Turin and of Beren and Luthien into verse lays ?
The Documents.
It was certainly during Tolkien ' s time at Leeds, between I 920 and 1 925 (and perhaps more
precisely during this I 923 interlude at Hilary's), that Tolkien made the first complete grammar
of the Qenya language . The grammar is part of a collection of two bundles of papers , which
Tolkien placed together in an envelope on which he wrote: "Early form of Qenya (done in
Leeds)" . All of the paper in both bundles is characteristic of Tolkien' s time at Leeds. The first
bundle, comprising eleven sheets of unlined paper measuring 7 x 9 1 /2 inches , is a typescript text
titled "QENY A PHONOLOGY", which Tolkien placed inside a folded paper on which he wrote :
"This early sketch is preserved for historic interest" . The second bundle consists of 40 sheets of
ruled Leeds University examination paper measuring 8 x I 0 I /4 inches and one 8 x 1 1 12 inch
slip torn from the top of a sheet of the same type of paper. These comprise a manuscript version
of a complete Qenya grammar, on sheets 1 6 through 4I of the bundle , together with a later,
1 J. R. R. Tolkien, A Biography, London , 1 977, p. 1 0 5 .

2 See Carpenter's Biography, pp . 1 06-7 , and cf. The Lays of Beleriand, e d . Christopher To1kien , pp. 3-4, 1 50 .
PARMA ELDALAMBERON N o . 14 - Page 3 7

Early Qenya Grammar J. R. R. Tolkien
expanded but incomplete version of the same grammar in typescript (though containing one
inserted sheet in ink manuscript, and ending with approximately 3/4 of a page of ink manuscript
composition) , on sheets 1 through 1 5 . Tolkien formed the second bundle by pinning the
typescript and manuscript versions of the Grammar together in the upper left-hand corner.
The Qenya Phonology.
The typescript Phonology of the first bundle was made with a dull purple ribbon (also
characteristic of Tolkien ' s work at Leeds) , and comprises 1 2 sides of 1 1 sheets numbered 1
through 1 1 by Tolkien . Tolkien confined his typing to one side of each sheet, though a brief
manuscript footnote in ink , begun at the very bottom of page 2 continues on the back. The
Phonology itself is divided into two parts . The first part (pages 1 to 7) briefly tabulates the
"QENYA consonant system" and begins to explain its derivation from Primitive Eldarin by
outlining the relationships among the various languages of the Three Kindreds and their
distribution . It describes the original consonant system that "comparison of such of the oldest
periods of these Eldarin languages as is still extant allows us to assume," and ends with a
description of the Eldarin root and its modifications . The second part (pages 8 to 1 1 ) has the title
"Qenya development of the *Eldarin consonants" , but is concerned mostly with the development
of the accentual system from the earliest period, and the reduction of final syllables , with the
effects these had on the consonant system. The first part of the typescript Phonology was
emended in places in both ink and pencil , the second part in a very few places in the same ink
and pencil, but mostly in red ink.
The Qenya Grammar in Typescript.
The incomplete typescript Grammar, which precedes the complete manuscript Grammar in
the second bundle , comprises 16 sides of 15 sheets of the same ruled examination paper as the
manuscript version . Again typing was confined to the rectos of the sheets, which were numbered
1 through 14 by Tolkien , though a single, unnumbered manuscript page was inserted between the
typescript pages 6 and 7; and manuscript additions in ink made at the bottom of page 14 continue
through about two thirds of the unnumbered verso . The typescript Grammar was emended most
ly in ink and occasionally pencil . The inserted page is titled "Duals" and bears the note "Add. to
page" and the number 6, apparently written at separate times . The precise point at which this
addition is to be inserted was not indicated. But since the manuscript page concerns the dual of
the noun, and the section of the grammar dealing with the "ADJECTIVE" begins in the middle
of typescript page 6, it is presumably just before this point that the additional material belongs .
The typescript Grammar includes sections on the following topics: DEFINITE ARTICLE;
INDEFINITE ARTICLE; NOUNS ; DECLENSION; COMPOSITION; LOOSE COMPOUNDS ;
Duals; ADJECTIVES ; ADVERBIAL SUFFIXES or CASES ; COMPARISON & FORMATION
OF ADVERBS FROM ADJECTIVES ; NUMERALS ; and PRONOUNS . This version of the
Grammar ends with the last of these sections uncompleted, having described only the preverbal
forms of the subject personal pronouns .
The Qenya Grammar in Manuscript.
The manuscript Grammar, the first page of which is titled: "Qenya: Descriptive grammar of
the Qenya Language" , comprises 30 sides of 26 sheets, of which the third is the tom slip
mentioned above . Tolkien numbered the front of each sheet (other than the slip) consecutively in
pencil from 1 to 25 . The sheets were pinned into the bundle out of their original order, starting
with pages 1 7 through 25 and ending with pages 1 through 1 6 . The main composition on these

sheets was carried out in ink, except for page 3 , a briefer version of the beginning of the
grammar on the preceding sides, which is in typescript; and the unnumbered verso of page 1 4,
concerning the Qenya names of fractional values, which is mostly in pencil.
Pages I and 2 of the manuscript Grammar (together with the unnumbered slip) contain the
beginning of the grammar, opening with a description of the Rumilian letters used for written
Qenya and notes on the sounds . These sheets were presented as part of "The Alphabet of
Rumil" , an edition of various documents containing specimens of Rumilian script,3 and the
sheets are not reproduced here . The recto of page 3 is in typescript with ink emendations , and
bears the same title and treats the same topics as the first three manuscript sheets in more concise
form, and without the Rumilian letters . The presentation of the consonants of Qenya on the
typescript page is less systematic phonetically (it transposes the palatal , velar, and labiovelar
series between the first row and the four subsequent rows) , while its notes on the sounds cover
different items (e.g., lacking t, n, and p, but including b, d, g, s, w, etc .) and are comparatively
clipped in style. This may suggest that in the manuscript version Tolkien began a recapitulation
and expansion of the typescript sheet , and so possibly postdates it; but the pagination (taking in
both versions as pages 1 to 3) seems to show he intended the material to stand together, perhaps
remaining uncertain whether or not to include the Rumilian as part of the presentation .
There follows the bulk of the manuscript Grammar, titled "Grammar" at the top of page 4 . On
page 6, which begins the description of Qenya noun declension, the page number appears to be
written over another number, perhaps also a "6" that was smeared. Page 14 begins a discussion
titled "Numerals" with a list of the cardinal number-names of Qenya. The unnumbered verso
consists for the most part of a list in pencil, titled "parts" , giving the words for fractional values,
followed by a list in ink of various natural pairs in English with Qenya equivalents . Page 1 5
contains a discussion of the construction of the Qenya number-names , the last two lines of which
were written on the unnumbered verso . Page 1 6 begins a description of the ordinal number
names in Qenya, titled "The ordinals" , and was originally numbered " 1 5" before this was struck
out and replaced with " 1 6" . This renumbering of pages continues on pages 1 7 through 1 9
(originally " 1 6" through " 1 8") , which contain a discussion of Qenya pronouns with various
deictics; while pages 20 through 25 , comprising a discussion of the Qenya verb , are numbered as
such ab initio. It seems clear that, sometime before numbering page 20 , Tolkien inserted the
discussion of the construction of the Qenya number names following page 14, and then
renumbered the subsequent pages . The pencil list on the unnumbered verso of page 1 4 was
perhaps written after this insertion and renumbering.
The table of consonants on page 1 of the manuscript version of the Grammar is emended with
a marginal note in pencil . The typed page 3 is emended and highlighted at several points in ink.
The remainder of the manuscript grammar is emended in both ink and pencil.
Comparison of the two Grammars.
The manuscript Grammar includes sections on each of the topics found in the typescript; but
the section on pronouns covers all of the cases of the personal pronouns , the possessive suffixes ,
and demonstrative pronouns . And there is a section on "Verbs" , discussing inflectional endings ,
the verb 'to be' , compound tenses , past tense stem-formation , and the particles used to express
the 'conditional ' or subjunctive . Although the manuscript version covers more topics , the
3 Edited by Arden R . Smith, Parma Eldalamberon , no. 1 3 , pp . 62-63 . Note that the paper dimensions given there
are incorrect.

Early Qenya Grammar ]. R. R. Tolkien
typescript is proportionately greater in length for the sections it includes. Apparently Tolkien
made the latter as a fair copy of the former, which he expanded in the process.
As an illustration of this process, note that the wording of the sections on the "Definite
Article" is identical in both versions , which differ only in punctuation and the use of all-capitals
for emphasis in the typescript. On the other hand the section on the "Indefinite Article" has been
expanded and rearranged slightly . The sentence in the earlier version , '"a' , in pl . ' some , certain ' ,
is suffixed -ma," has been revised to: "This takes the form of a suffixed declinable adj . -ma ('a,
some , certain '); pl . -me, &c ." And the description of the variant form -uma used in certain nouns
has been moved into the first paragraph of the section, and (perhaps inadvertently) altered so as
to refer to "Trissyllabic nouns" instead of "Consonantal nouns" .
Two facts confirm that Tolkien had the manuscript Grammar before him while he composed
the typescript version. First is the displacement of the original ordering of the manuscript pages
in the bundle; the sections placed at the back of the bundle are precisely those sections which
were completed in the typescript Grammar. A second indication is four sets of numerical
annotations on these manuscript pages; e.g . , at the bottom of the page with the declensions of the
nouns kalma, tantare, ondo and peltas (see below pp . 43-4) is a note, " 1 1 , 23, 39, 63 ." These
numbers are the typewriter tabulation positions for the columns of the corresponding table in the
typescript version of the Grammar (see below p. 73), which Tolkien presumably noted in case he
should need to retype it. A similar correlation applies between notes to two other declensions
and the table of numerical fractions in the manuscript and the corresponding tables in the
typescript, so clearly the earlier version was close at hand while Tolkien typed the later one .
Comparison with the Qenyaqetsa.
Tolkien ' s own description of the Qenya Phonology and Grammar as "done in Leeds" shows
that they postdate the Qenyaqetsa, i .e . "The Sounds of Qenya" and the "Qenya Dictionary" on
which he worked from about 1 9 1 5 to 1 920 .4 But the materials are closely related and largely
complementary .5 There is little duplication aside from a reworking of the introductory Historical
Sketch of the Eldar and their languages , incorporating such changes as the new application of the
term Teleri to the third kindred, previously termed Solosimpi (see below p. 6 1 , note 5).
Tolkien also extracted from "The Sounds of Qenya" a very brief descriptive phonology of
Qenya itself, tabulating its repertoire of sounds in a section titled the Alphabet of Transcription,
with notes on their distribution and pronunciation (below p. 4 1 -2) . But the earlier work was
largely intended to give for these sounds "some account of their growth into the present stage
from what may be held to be their original form and shape" (PE 1 2 , p . 3) , i .e . an historical
phonology of Qenya. And so in the typescript "Qenya Phonology" , after the rewritten history ,
Tolkien takes up the topic of the "Eldarin 'root' ," perhaps largely because it was not covered
already in the Qenyaqetsa, although a section on "Root forms" had been planned (PE 1 2 , p. v) .
In the next phase of writing on Qenya Grammar (from the 1 930s) the discussion of historical
phonology incorporates material from both "The Sounds of Qenya" and the typescript "Qenya
Phonology" , with sections on the "Descent of Tongues"; an "Account of Sounds"; "Base
structure"; the "Combination of Sounds"; and "Suffixion" . Tolkien would eventually organize
this into a comprehensive grammar of "Quendian".
4 Also referred to a s the ' Qenya Phonology' and the ' Qenya Lexicon' , published i n Parma Eldalamberon , no . 1 2 .
5 Shared vocabulary and grammatical features , and changes in conception, are discussed below in the footnotes .

• QENYA •
Descriptive Grammar of the Qenya tongue: -
Alphabet of transcription .
Consonants: -
Stops (voiceless) : p. t. ty . k. q.
(voiced) : b. d. g. gw . dy .
Spirants (voiceless): f. s. h. hw . hy .
(voiced): V. w. y.
Nasals: m. n. ng . ngw. ny .
Liquids: 1, r.
Vowels: -
Short: 1. e. a. 0. u.
Long: f. e. a. 6. u.
Diphthongs: al . 01 . m ; au . eu . IU .
Notes: -
(i) ty: is a very fronted 'k' or palatalised 't' followed by a fairly distinct 'y' -glide; before I it
has become t. 1
(ii) q: originally a simple consonant it is now a slightly rounded 'k' followed by a distinct
'w'.
(iii) b: only occurs i n mb (form older mb and freq [uently] mm) .
(iv) d: only occurs in (a) nd (from older nd; rarely nn, nz) , (b) ld, (c) rd: see also dy .
(v) g: only occurs in ng (from older n and ng) .
(vi) similarly gw: only occurs in ngw (older ngw)?
(vii) dy: only in ndy (from older ii3); before 'l it has given d, so that ndi may also relate to
ndy; similarly , where analogy has not destroyed the relationship, ldi, rd't to ly, ry (archaically
and dialectally only is ldy, rdy retained - in some dialects even lb, lg; rb, rg are found where
the standard dialect has lw, ll; rw, rr).3
(viii) j, h, hw, hy: these are usually only found initially, and there hw becomes h before u; hy
> h before 't.
(ix) s: is an extremely common sound but is not so common medially single between vowels
(there it has usually passed through z to r, as always single finally , where existing s is reduction
of ts, ps, ks, ss, &c .).
(x) w: occurs in all positions; initially it is a derivative of older w only and vanishes before
u:4 medially between vowels it also often disappears especially after, or before , 0, u; but before
consonants it combines with the preceding vowels to form diphthongs - here and also after
1 The lower part of l is blotted out, probably by accident. Note that the bold letters in this list represent letters that
were circled on the original typescript page.
2 The parenthetical was originally "(older ngw and nw) . "
3 Tolkien typed "where the standard dialect has lw, ll; rw, r" at the end of this parenthetical , but later changed r to
rr by hand. He also struck through the closing parenthesis though leaving the opening parenthesis to stand.
4 Tolkien typed "a derivative of older w, gw only" and then heavily deleted the gw by hand.

Early Qenya Grammar in Manuscript ]. R. R. Tolkien
consonants , where it survives in a number of combinations , it is frequently a derivative of older

b (= v).
(xi) ng: whatever its origin is now ng; similarly ngw.
Note hw, hy are voiceless w and y respectively.5
Grammar.
Definite article. i-; before vowels n-; older and in poetry in- . The n form is also frequently
used after a preceding vowel , as: i·lambe ' the tongue' ; i·noldoli ' the gnomes ' ;
i·lambe 'n·noldolion 'the tongue of the gnomes' .6 The definite article i s indeclinable .
Indefinite article. ' a' , in pl . ' some, certain' , is suffixed ma Trissyllabic nouns of which the
- .
penultimate syllable is short, lengthen the final vowel , as:

tantare ' dance ' ; tantare·ma 'a dance' ?
Consonantal nouns usually allow the full stem, as in declension, to reappear. The form of
the article is then uma as:
- ,
peltas (pl . peltaksi) ' pivot' : peltaks·uma.

Occasionally after l, r, n a shorter form is used,8 as:
kaimasan 'bed-chamber' : kaimasam·ma, or kaimasamb·uma9
wingil ' sea-nymph' : wingil(d·u)ma.
This -ma is declined like ordinary adjectives, q .v.
Nouns. Are divided into two classes: (A) vocalic; (B) consonantal . The majority (except for a
few old monosyllables , as kar (kas-) ' head' ; ner 'man ' , etc .) are originally ' short vocalic'
nouns with -a, -6, -e that has vanished. Nouns do not appear to have been formed with stems in
-1 -u and the same is true of adjectives .
,
Nouns ending
in -a all belong to vocalic class A, except for a few words in -tJ. < n;J that now appears as
-a: as lama ' animal ' , pl . lamni;
in -e are usually vocalic but may also represent stems in -J- : as sinqe 'jewel' ; sinqi;
in -o are usually all vocalic but a few represent old stems in y as malo ' rust' : malwi. 1 0
- -
Otherwise nouns end in

-1, -r , -s, -t, -n, which are uniformly consonantal (except where -il, -ar represent old -J ,
-r nouns) . 1 1
5 This sentence , added at the bottom of the page, and the rest of this version of the Grammar are all handwritten .
6 Tolkien originally began this sentence, "The n form is also frequently used for. . . "; but he immediately deleted
the word "for" and continued as given above. What evidence there is for the article in the Qenya Lexicon shows i·
used before both vowels and consonants, e.g., i·air ' aniire ' monks' [literally * ' the holy men' ] , i·Ponorir 'the
Northlands' (Parma Eldalamberon, no . 1 2 , pp , 3 1 , 74) . The poem Narqelion has ter i·aldar * 'through the trees' ,
but also has n· in Nalalmino, which probably means ' from the elm-tree' (see Vinyar Tengwar, no . 40 , pp . 9-1 1 ) .
7 Cf. QL tanta- ' dance , dandle , wave' (PE 1 2, p. 94). Note that Tolkien uses the idiosyncratic spelling
"trissyllabic" consistently in both the manuscript and typescript Grammar, but "trisyllabic" in the Phonology .
8 Tolkien originally wrote , "Occasionally especially after l, r, n a shorter form is used."
9 The form kaimasan was originally started as kaimsa, but changed in the act of writing. The alternate form
kaimasamb·uma was written smaller and may have been added later. Cf. QL kaimasambe 'bed-room' (p. 46) .
10
Cf. QL lama 'an animal, beast' , derived from lamv; sink (q-) ' mineral , metal, gem ' , sinqina ' metallic' ,
sinqevoite ' gemmed' ; and either malo ' moth'or malwa 'pale, yellowish' (pp. 50, 5 8 , 8 3 ) .

Early Qenya Grammar in Manuscript f. R . R. Tolkien
These consonants may represent:

( 1 ) simple -l; -r (for s see below) ; -t; -n (and -m) but this is rare except in monosyllables ,
as: ner 'man' pl . neri; tal 'foot' , pl . tiili; nat 'thing ' , stem nat- or natt-, pi . natsi; nen
'water' , pi . neni. -s has uniformly become -r, as kar ' head' , pl . kasi. 1 2 Where the
simple forms occur in long words the preceding vowel is usually long in inflected
forms: asjalmarin ' sea-fay' (masc.) , pl.jalmarfni. 1 3
(2) groups: this commonest even in monosyllables , as hen 'eye ' , pi. hendi. The actual stem
is given in dictionary; but the commonest are:
-l: -ld, very common and tends to absorb stems of different origin , e .g . wingil (< -J), pl .
wingilli or wingildi; -lt (rarer) , -lk (rare) , -ll (rare), -lp (very rare) .14
-r: -r · -r (> ar) · -s · -rd · -rt · -rk · -rr -rp (very rare)
' 0 ' ' ' ' ' '
•
-n: -nd, -ng, -mb (common); -nt, -nk (rare) , -mp (very rare) ; and occasionally -nn, -mm . 1 5
-t: -kt, -pt, -tt, of which -pt is less common .
-s: -ss, -ts, -ps, -ks, of which -ps is less common . Stems in -ht show both -s and -t (by
analogy usually -s of persons , -t of things) but it is difficult to say which is
phonologically the historical form; for -ht would give in pi . -ksi, while -ksi can relate
normally to either -kt or -ks with normal nom. sg. in -t, -s respectively , so that either -t
or -s may be analogical .
Declension. Nouns have four cases , singular and plural .
Examples :
-a, -e, -o (vocalic): kalma ' light ' ; tantare 'dance' ;16 ondo ' stone ' .
(consonantal) : peltas 'pivot' ; kar 'head ' ; pilin 'arrow ' .17
The cases are purely logical and have no physical sense;1 8 prepositions are used with the
nominative form or are supplemented by the adverbial suffixes (below). The accusative is the
direct object of the action; the dative the remoter object; the genitive is not ablatival or partitive
but purely possessive or adjectival.19
Vocalic .20
Sg. N. kalma, A. kalmat, G. kalman, D . kalmar
pl . kalmali, kalmalin, kalmqlion, kalmalir.
In a word of this type there is no shift of accent or quantity except in the G. pl . where
according to uniform trissyllabic law of Qenya the accentuation is kalmiilion .
* Poetically , accusative p l . also -lint? 1
1 1 Tolkien originally wrote , "and are uniformly vocalic where -il, -ar represent old -J , -r nouns." He began a
qualifying sentence with "Except" but deleted it before continuing, probably changing this sentence at that time.
1 2 Cf. QL kar (stem kas-) 'head' (under root KASA, p. 45) ; and also in the Gnomish Lexicon cas 'head, skul l ' ,
"used only of physical head o f bodies", and i n the Early Noldorin Word-lists cas ' skull' (PE 1 1 , p . 25 ; 1 3 , p . 1 40).
1 3 The Falmarini are described in the Lost Tales (I 66) , and QL hasfalmar ' wave as it breaks' (PE 1 2 , p . 37) .
1 4 For the Wingildi, cf. I 66 , and QL 'wingild- 'nymph' (PE 1 2 , p. 1 04) .
1 5 Following -nt, Tolkien originally wrote a cluster beginning with - m but never completed the second letter. He
then overwrote the final stroke of the m with a k, yielding a rather ill-formed -nk.
1 6 The example tantare ' dance' replaced kale 'day' .
1 7 Cf. QL pilin (n-) ' feather' , pilna ' arrow ' (p . 74) .
1 8 This paragraph originally began, "Sg. Nom. The cases are nominative, also used as inessive and with . . . " The
sentence was deleted before being completed.

1 9 The "Gnomish Grammar" of c. 1 9 1 7 states that "Nouns have three cases . . . properly in Goldogrin as in Qenya",
and lists them as ( 1 ) innessive or nominative, (2) genitive, and (3) allative or dative (PE 1 1 , p. 9- 1 0) .
20
The subheadings "Vocalic" and "Cons[onantal]" were added in the margin .
-
PARMA ELDALAMBERON No. 14 Page 43
* A final -t changes to -s when the syllable begins with -t, -d; a final -r > -l when the syllable
begins with -r. The vowel is lengthened (or rather the historic length reappears) in trissyllabic
words, or words accented on the ante-penult, whose penult is short, before -li (cf. -ma above);
hence:
Sg. tantare, tantaret, tantaren, tantarel
ondo, ondos, ondon, ondor
pi. tantareli, etc .; ondoli, etc .
Consonantal .
Sg. peltas peltaksa peltakso peltakse
pi. peltaksi peltaksin peltaksion peltaksir.
Similarly , pilin from stempilind-; kar from stem kas- .
Nouns of uncertain declension.
These are: -a < IJ,
-e <)-,
-o < lJ-,
-il < / ,
-ar < r.
They are usually entirely absorbed analogically into the vocalic declension in the singular:22
this applies to -e, -a, -o; but in the plural are consonantal . The reverse is case with -if, -ar,
which are always consonantal in singular, but unless assimilated to nouns in -ld, -rd, etc ., in
plural add -li as to vocalic words?3 t = poetic form.
Sg . lama lamaf4 ( t lamna) laman ( t lamno) lamar (t lamne)
pi. lamni lamnin !amnion lamnir.
smqe sinqet sinqen sinqer
sinqi sinqin sinqion sinqir.
malo malot malon malor
malwi malwin malwion malwir.
Nouns in which a long syllable (other than -ng, -nk) precedes -o all have gone over to the -o
declension , with pi . in -oli. The historic -ui, -uin, -uion , -uir are occas[ionally] arch[aic] in t .25
Wingil wingila, etc . (wingilla, wingilda) pi. wingilli etc .
ehtar ' sword ' t ehtalli, and ehtari
* Note . These declensions have been given thus for completeness but the accusative form is
rarely used (except in the -a form in poetry for metrical needs) of inanimate objects at all . As
all objects , even swords, may however be personified [and in Qenya living things as trees etc .
are never regarded as neuter] the accusative forms may be used of all nouns.26
21
This note was added later in the margin.
22 At the end of this clause Tolkien originally wrote "but :" and on the next line began, " -e usually then . . . "
intending to list exeptions . He deleted these words without completing the thought.
2 3 In the course of writing this sentence Tolkien changed "unless" to "are" , probably yielding an interim reading ,
"but are assimilated to nouns in Id rd etc . , in plural ." Afterwards , "are" was struck through , a dotted line was
- , - ,
written underneath "unless" to indicate its reinstatement, and the sentence was completed as given above.
24 The form lamat was changed from laman . Note that QL lama 'animal' has accusative lamna or laman (p . 50).
25 This sentence was probably added later. The abbreviations might be interpreted as "occas [ional] arch[aicisms] " .
26
The brackets in this sentence are Tolkien' s , apparently added in the course of composition, and not afterwards.

Early Qenya Grammar in Manuscript f. R. R. Tolkien
Composition and loose composition: -

These are very frequent in Qenya and are largely alnd] freely used in place of vague case
relationships.
Compounds are written as one word, and are fixed expressions and obey the normal trissyllabic
law . In such compositions there is a frequent, almost usual , transition of the last element
(especially if its last consonant group is -nd, -rd, -ld, -kt, -tt, -pt) from vocalic to consonantal
declension.27
Thus n6re ' land' , Valinor ' land of the Gods ' ; yondo ' son ' , -ion, old patronymic ending ,
which has appearance of being a genitive plural and hence is often formed from -li form of
vocalic nouns, as Noldqlion (pl . noldoliondi) 'descendant of the Gnomes ' .
In t full forms may be used, as Noldoliondo, Valin6re.
Loose compounds are a free and living function and are written with the 'raised stop' : the
individual words usually retain their own accentuation , except where proparoxyton precedes a
word with two or more initial unaccented syllables (a composition often avoided) ?8
Thus ohta 'war' , karo 'deed ' : karo ohtan (gen.) = 'a deed done in (some actual) war' :
6hta·k2iro = ' warlike deed, hostile unfriendly act' . maptale ' seizure' , lehesta 'riding , raid' :
mdptale·lehesta ' a raid ' , often with a tendency to accentuate: milptali·lehesta, and compounds
of this sort may be so scanned in poetry , but are then usually written as true compounds ?9
Adjectives usually precede nouns , but may also uninflected precede in similar way ,
especially in the formation of new adjective , as anda·rdma 'long arm(ed) ' .30
Adjectives (except as above) agree in number and case with their nouns . They appear only
in the forms -a (vocalic); -e, -o (rare), semivocalic; and consonantal (usually -n < nd). The
latter are not as common as -a, -e, which form the bulk of adjectives .
Vocalic. anda 'long ' .
Sg. anda anda(s) andan andar (as nouns)
pl . ande* ande(n) anden ander.
* (< ai)
Semivocalic. ninqe ' white' ? 1
Sg. ninqe ninqe(t) ninqen ninqer (as nouns)
pl . ninqi ninqi(n) ninqin nmqzr.
Consonantal. melin 'dear' .
Sg. melin melin(da) melindo melinde (as nouns)
pl . melindi melindi(n) melindin melindir.
The longer form of the genitive , andeon, ninqion, melindion, is poetical and confined to
agreement with ' personal ' words where the accusative form is used (and has in plural same
form as short genitive) .32
27 Tolkien changed "transition of words" to "transition of the last element" in the course of composition .
2 8 A proparoxyton is a word with the chief accent on the antepenult or third syllable from the end.
29 Cf. QL maptale 'robbery by violence' (p. 59) .
30 Tolkien originally wrote , "Adjectives usually follow nouns, but may uninflected precede in similar way ." Cf.
QL ande (I, ·y�). andea 'long ' ; rii 'arm ' , riima 'wing' (pp. 3 1 , 7 8 ) .
3 1 Cf. Q L ninqe (i) 'white' (under root NIQI); and for the next item melina 'dear' (pp. 60 , 66) .
3 2 For the phrase "the accusative form" Tolkien originally wrote "the short accusative form" . An arrow, pointing
to the left across most of the page follows this paragraph , and indicates a point in the manuscript corresponding to
where an additional handwritten page on duals was inserted into the typescript. (See the "Introduction" above .)

Adjectives may be freely used as nouns and then decline in all respects the same as nouns .
The differentiation of the endings has come about through tending to avoid the longer
endings and their jingling repetition - but the -li of vocalic plurals is originally secondary (a
plural suffix = 'many') and such plurals as -e (< a) in adjectives show selection for adjectives
of the original plural type (with same endings as in consonantal declension) for all vocalic
words .33
The adverbial suffixes.
-sse tneSSIVe ' at, in , by'
-llo ablative ' from, out of'
-nta, tta
- allative ' to, at, towards'
-inen partitive 'of, out of'
-ndon manner ' -ly ' , etc .; ' -ily ' .
These are not included i n ordinary declension, for though freely employed: ( 1 ) they naturally
cannot all be formed from every noun and adjective; (2) they are never added except in verse
to an adjective in agreement with its noun: where a qualified noun receives one of these
endings the adjective usually precedes uninflected (unless for plural) and may be written as
loose compound, as tdra·kasse 'on the high head' , cf. the frequent tag:34
tdrakasse Taniqetildo 'on the high top of Taniquetil'
with measure
v - 11 :-- 1 1 -1- � I
v (- v v )
1- I
V V
tiirakl asse Tan l zqetl ildo 1 1 tiirak l iisse tu l ·sorie

'on the high top of Taniqetil , on the high top he sat' (of Manwe) ?5
Thus kirya ' ship' , kiryasse 'on board (place) ' , kiryatta (motion) , kiryallo ' from on board ' ;
kulu 'gold' , kuluinen 'of gold' . This form i s often used i n place of an adjective, as i·kuluina
parma ' the golden book' , not necessarily all gold but gilt or bound in gold or even merely
'precious , wondrous' ; i tolma kuluinen ' the helm of gold' ; or kulu(i)ndon ' like gold' : a kdlie
kulundon ' it shone like gold' ?6 kiryandon ' like a ship' . This form is also but not so often used
predicatively or adjectivally .
33 For the plural suffix -li, cf. QL -li, multiplicative suffix (p. 53).
34 Tolkien originally wrote, "cf. the frequent tag at end of Q . poem." He then altered the second phrase to "at end
of Q . line" before deleting it, presumably when he decided to give an actual example.
35 In the Qenya line sorie was changed from sore . This in turn replaced a form which is obscured by the strike-out,
but might have been tu-hiine. The measure given here is a variant of trochaic septenarius, consisting of seven and
a half trochaic feet, which in early Latin verse permitted the occasional substitution of a spondee, tribrach, or
dactyl for any of the trochees . Tolkien' s notation suggests that in the Qenya version there were exactly seven feet,
the first, third, fourth , and fifth feet always trochees, the second foot always a dactyl, the sixth trochee optionally
replaced by a spondee or dactyl, and the final trochee only by a dactyl. The doubled vertical lines probably
indicate that a caesura could come in the middle of the fourth foot or between the fourth and fifth feet. In the
example Tolkien has delimited the metric feet with vertical lines, and in all but the second foot he has marked the
vowel in the stressed (or metrically long) syllable with a macron . At the beginning of the line he may simply have
been using the macron to represent a long vowel, as in earlier examples.
3 6 The optional i in kulu(i)ndon was added later; and a kalie kulundon ' it shone like gold' was altered from what
may have been a kale kulundon ' it shines like gold' . Cf. Parma Kuluinen 'the Golden Book' (QL 72, II 3 1 0).

Early Qenya Grammar in Manuscript J. R. R. Tolkien
The consonant declensions add -isse, -illo, -inen, -inta, -itta, -indon (with i from pl .), but a
few old words keep old ending -se, -lo, -ta, -don . Or -isse, -ullo, -anta, -indon .37
As kasse 'on the head' ('on top of' , followed by genitive)
kallo 'from the top (of)'
kasta 'to the top (of) '
talde ' at foot (of) '
tallo, talta.
But these are now usually treated as separate words, e .g. nerdon 'bravely , manfully ' ? 8
These forms may less freely be added to the plural and are then usually (especially with
consonant stems) seen in form -ssen, -llor (or -lion), -intar (-inen is of itself plural or
collective, -ndon is a pure adverb); as pilindissen 'on the arrows ' , eldallor or eldalillo(r) 'from
the elves ' , noldontar, noldolinta(r) 'to the gnomes ' ; but such forms are now chiefly poetical .
There [is] also a general adjectival suffix -va (consonantal -uva), which is freely employed,
often practically equivalent to genitive; thus tyalie 'play ' , tyalieva 'in play , playful , etc . ' Note
Mar vanwa·tyalieva used (? for rhythmic reasons) usually in preference to mar vanwa·tyalien.
Adjectives are frequently formed from -sse, -llo: -ssea, -lluva; as kiryassea ' what is on
board ship ' ; er 'one' , eresse adv . ' alone, by oneself' , eressea 'lonely' ; i·ner·eldalluva ' the man
from the Elves ' ; kaimassea ' a-bed' , etc .
Adjectives: Comparison and formation of adverbs .

Adverbs may be formed with the terminations mentioned above: -sse, -llo, -nta, -ndon; but
the uninflected adjective (especially in case of -e adjectives) may also be used . The ordinary
adjectival ending is -u giving:39
cons [onantal] : -u
-a -o
-1 (e) -io
-lj (o) -u.
Some end in the accusative ending -t, -s .40
Adjectives have two comparatives, (a) augmentative, (b) diminutive:
(a) -lda, consonantal and -e adjectives add -ilda.
(b) -tsa, [consonantal and -e adjectives add] -itsa.
The corresponding adverbs are:
a) -ldo or -ldos, beside rarer -l
b) -sten, beside rare -s.41
37 The i in both -illo and -itta , and the second sentence in this paragraph, were all added later.
38 This paragraph and the following about adverbials , and the third following paragraph about the related
adjectives , were struck out with two vertical lines, and the intervening paragraph about adjectival -va was marked
off with a horizontal line above and below it. The subsequent typescript version of the grammar shows that these
paragraphs were not rejected; but the discussion of adjectival suffixes was merged with the earlier description of
the related adverbials, and the discussion of -va begins a new typscript page. This suggests that the marks on this
manuscript page were made for tracking the material as it was re-ordered and transferred to the typescript version .
39 The word "adjectival" must be elliptical for 'adjectival adverb' , meaning the ending -u is used to derive adverbs
from adjectives; or else it is a slip . The typecript has "general adverbial suffix -D" (p . 80 , below ) .
40 This note , added to the right o f the list o f endings, originally said: "Some end i n the neut[ er] accus. ending -t, s . "
4 1 The endings "-ldo or -ldos" replaced "-ldu or -ldon"; and the phrases "beside rarer -/" and "besides rare -s "
were added later.

Thus: ninqe ' white' , ninqilda ' whiter' , ninqitsa ' less white ' ; ninqio ' whitely ' , ninqildo(s)
'more whitely ' , ninqisten ' less whitely ' .
An old comparative ending (evidenced in the pronouns) and purely comparative i s -tya;
where this is used than is expressed by ... ta 'by ' . Cf. etya 'other' .42
Note that much, more (most); little , less (least) are incapable of the diminutive form: the
diminutive form is also very infrequently used with many common adjectives with well-defined
opposites , as good, bad; high, low, etc .43
� Note that with little, etc . , it is the diminutive form only that is used, but it here (owing to
special significance of the stem) has an augmentative force .

olya ' much ' , adj . olda ' more'
ale 'much ' , adv . oldo, oldos 'more' , ol
mitya ' little' , adj . mitsa ' less ' 44
mit, mike, adv . misten ' less' , mis.
The same peculiarity is sometimes extended to all words expressing great, small.
These endings are also sometimes applied to ' nouns ' , as nerilda 'more of a man ' , nerildos
' in more manly wise' . In other words the endings -lda, -tsa are adjectival endings of
augmentative or diminutive force and not necessarily associated with other adjectives . This is
shown by the choice of words for 'than' : after -lda it is la 'before' ; after -tsa it is no ' after' .
[Occasionally , especially in a few phrases , and in archaic language , the dative may be
employed instead with either - the dative of regard or respect - as malda muntar 'better than
nothing' or malda la munta .]
Hence it frequently happens with common adjectives and especially secondary derivatives
that the comparatives are formed from the stem without the derivative suffix . Thus:
manya ' good (not evil) ' manilda or manyalda
miira ' good (not bad) ' malda
faika 'bad' felda (< *failda) 'worse '
ulqa 'evil ' ulqalda .45
The superlative of comparison is expressed by the comparative with prefixed article (the
article being again prefixed even if already prefixed to the noun) followed by the genitive
plural adjectival or partitive in -lnen - the latter especially of collectives ,46 as:
i mitta 'njelda aksfnen 'the worst piece of steel '
i·ner i·taralda 'n·Noldolion 'the tallest man of the Gnomes ' .
As a mere intensive it is expressed by intensive prefixes or particles such as ol(e), oli-, ari-;47
olijaika 'very bad indeed' ; or occasionally by adjectival forms of the augmentative (or
diminutive) suffixes for nouns:
aug[mentative] :
as -lime (augmentative) adj . -umea.
-(y)ando, -(v)ando -(y)anda, etc .
42 This sentence was added in the left margin. The ending -tya replaced -nqa at the time the note was written .
43 Tolkien originally wrote many following more, but later deleted it; and that "the diminutive form is also rare ."
44 A form "[minqa]" written to the right, and later struck through , probably indicated an etymological connection.
45 Cf. QL mane (i) 'good (moral)' , under root MANA; miira ' (of things) good, useful' , under root MAHA 'grasp ' ;
and ulca 'bad, wicked, wrong' , "used either o f moral things or of perversions" (pp. 5 7 , 5 8 , 97) . In the Gnomish
Lexicon Q jaika is given as cognate with Gnomish jeg, jeg 'bad, poor; wretched' (PE 1 1 , p. 34) .
46 The original phrase "genitive adjectival or partitive" was altered later to "genitive pi. adjectival or partitive".
47 The form ari- was added below oli-, possibly at a later time.

dim[ inutive] :
-{ne [adj .] -fnea
-(w)inte, -linte -(w)intya, -lintya.48
Particles as prefixes: augmentative oli- (ale) , ari-, ol6le, aiya, aka-; diminutive mie, mikea,
miki-, mimfke, etc .49
Numerals.
1. (a) ' a single ' , er (b) 'one' (and 'the first') , min :
2. satta 'both ' ; yuyo ' two' :
3. nelde :
4. kanta :
5. lemin50 :
6. enqe or enekse :
7. otso :
8. tolto5 1 :
9. hue :
10.52 kea (adj .) , kainen partitive after other numerals :
11. minqe :
12. yunqe
13 . nelkea
14. kankea
15. lenkea or leminkea
16. en(ek)kea
17. okkea
18. (tolkea or) hualqe
19. hukea53
20. yukainen
21 . min yukainen
22 . yuyo yukainen
30. nel(de)kainen
40. kan(ta)kainen
50. leminkainen
(60) enekkainen
(70) otsokainen
80. tol(to)kainen
90. huekainen54
1 00. tuksa, or when not multiplied keakai(li)55
48 The headings "aug." and "dim." were added at the left, with braces grouping the endings to which they apply.
49 The forms mikea , miki- could possibly be read "mike or miki-".
50 The form lemin was changed from lempe; and probably at the same time the alternative leminkea was added
under 1 5 ' , and original lempekainen for '50' was changed to leminkainen.
'
5 1 The form tolto was changed , possibly from telte; and hue was changed from huo, here and in note (5) below .
52 Some numbers are circled on the document, and these have been shown in italic face in this list.
53 This item was originally given with an alternative: "huokea or hukea" .
54 The form huekainen was changed, possibly from huokainen .

1 1 0. kea tuksa or minqekainen

120. yukainen tuksa or yunqekainen
1 000 . tuksakainen or tuksainen (< tuksk-) or hume,56 originally 'great
number'
2000 . yuyo humi
' million' mind6ra57
' 2 million' yund6ra
'3 million' neld6ra and kant6ra, lemind6ra, enqend6ra, otsond6ra, etc .5 8
Note connection of lemin with lempe (n. and adv .) ' half' , lempea ' half' adj . , lenya adj . ' half' .
Of these numbers. The construction is as follows:
( 1 ) all numerals precede the qualified noun .
(2) all may be employed alone as nouns or pronouns (representing their abstract numerical
notion, or so many of some noun understood) except kea and those ending in -kea, -kainen .
Kea may be used as a pronoun but the abstract used (e .g . in counting in a series) is kai.
(3) er, min are indeclinable adjectives; satta is a declined adjective preceded by the article
and joined with plural: i·satta neri 'both the men ' . The ' singular' form of satta [instead of satte
which is often now used as a neologism] is a relic of the dual .
(4) yuyo is indeclinable and is joined with singular.5 9
�& but all numerals even er, except kea, -kea, can be used with partitive of collective in
sense of one (two, three , etc .) pieces of, as yuyo kuluinen 'two pieces of gold' ; or with
adjective genitive as yuyo nEldalion 'two of the elves' .60 The difference between
(i')yuyo elda and yuyo n·eldalion is precisely as in English , but in Quenya one can also
employ a form i·yuyo n·eldalion with practically same sense as i·yuyo elda.6 1
(5) ne/de 'three ' hue 'nine' , and minqe, yunqe, hualqe are indeclinable adjectives ,
-
employable with singular usually but also the plural , especially if the noun is further qualified,
as minqe elda(li) 'eleven elves ' but usually minqe laiqe eldali 'eleven green elves' .
(6) kea is a declinable adjective < kai, n . (partitive kainen) and always employed with plural ,
thus kee neri.62 kai ner now archaic , and poetic .
Kai and kainen were freely employed as nouns with partitive .63
55 The form keakai(li) replaced a form difficult to read (due to the strikethrough), but possibly (kai)kainen or
(ke)kainen .
5 6 Three tentative forms were written and struck through before this word: some >> home >> ellume; Tolkien
settling again on home . At the same time original yoyo some ' 2000' was changed to yoyo homi.
57 The words for ' million' and its multiples were originally "mindellume, 2 m . yundellume, 3 m. neldellume, &
kantallume, lemillume, enqellume, &c ." The final word may have been altered from enqillume .
58 Cf. the following number words in the Qenya Lexicon: eresse ' singly , only, alone' ; mir 'one ' ; ale ' three ' ; nelde
' four' ; lemin ' five ' ; ende ' six ' ; otso ' 7 ' ; olme, olmet ' nine ' ; lempe 'ten ' ; minqe 'eleven' ; atwen = uiven '20';
leminkainen ' 23 ' ; tuksa 'gross, 1 44' , tuksa penea (or lempea) ' 1 00' (PE 1 2 , pp . 3 3 , 35 , 36, 52, 6 1 , 65 , 69, 7 1 , 95) .
59 The phrase "with singular" was underlined twice in the manuscript.
60 The qualification "except kea, -kea" was added later. In this phrase the form -kea was altered, possibly from
kai, and the hyphen may have been intended as a dash between the two forms .
6 1 At its first occurrence the phrase (i)yuyo elda was changed from yuyo eldali. The second half of the sentence
was changed from "but in the second case Quenya usually also prefixes article to yuyo &c., as i·yuyo ."
62
The phrase "or dual" was written below "always employed with plural " , but was later struck through.
63 This hastily written sentence appears by itself on the verso of the page with the preceding notes . The word
"freely" is uncertain . A word deleted just before "partitive" is difficult to read, but may have been "genitive" .

The Ordinals .
' 1 st' minya; '2nd' potsina (= 'next, following ' ) , or etya 'other' (inqa = ' same'); ' 3rd'
nelya; '4th ' kanya; and leminya '5th ' (lenya = 'half') ; enetya, otya, tolya, huya, kaiya, keatya,
minqetya, yunqetya, nelkeatya, etc . , beside nelkaiya, etc .; hualtya or hualqetya.64
The remainder are new formations for which the older language employed cardinals:
yukainenya; min-yukainenya, or minya yukainen(ya), etc .; tuksanya, tuksainenya (or humetya);
mind6ratya or -anya, etc.65
There are no specially distributive forms: these are expressed by adding (naturally usually in
dative) 'each' or 'each the same ' .
The Quotientials.
'once ' eru or occasionally eresse, hence frequently eru- as prefix: erumaili 'one handed' ;
'twice' yu, frequently as prefix yu-; 'thrice ' nel; 'four times ' kan; but all can be formed with
-Home, cf. lume 'time , occasion ' , as ellume; yullume; nellume and neldellume; kantallume;
lemillume; enqellume; otsollume; etc .; keallume; yukainellume; tuksallume.
These are usually placed after numerals; only -llume forms are used in multiplication , as hue
yullume i hualqe = 'twice nine is eighteen ' .66
Parts .67
'whole' kaina, and kaino, noun (cf. kai = ' all fingers ' )
' half' lempe adj . lenya, lempea
' 3rd' neldesto neldest(y)a68
' quarter, fourth' kantasto kantast(y)a
'fifth ' leminto lemintya
' 6th ' enekto, enquetto69 enektya, enquetya
'7th ' otsotto otsotya
' 8th' toltosto toltost(y)a
'9th ' huetto huetya
' l Oth ' keatto keatya
' 1 1 th ' minqetto minqetya
' 1 2th ' yunqetto yunqetya
' 1 3th ' nelkeatto etc .
' 20th' yukainento yukainentya
' l OOth' tuksatto tuksatya
' l OOOth' maisitto maisitya
' 1 ,000 ,OOOth ' mindoritto
64 The form etya replaced inqa , and the note "inqa = same" was added in the top margin . The form keatya appears
below kaiya, both grouped with a bracket at the left.

65
The forms "mind6ratya or -anya, &c ." replaced "mindellumetya, &c."
66
The example hue yullume i hualqe was changed from huo yullume e hualqe. For the change of e to i see the
discussion of the verb 'to be ' below , where the endingless present tense form is "e (or i before e or after e)". Cf.
QL -lukse (containing an "old adverbial inessive -kse") meaning '-times' , with the example attalukse ['twice , two
times ' ] ; and also the noun liime (i) 'time' (PE 1 2 , p. 56) .
67 The following notes appear on the unnumbered verso of the page containing the basic list of "Numerals" given
above.
68
The adjectival forms neldest(y)a, kantast(y)a, lemintya, enektya, enquetya, and otsotya were changed from
neldesta, kantasta, leminta, enesta, enquesta, and "[osta] , otsotta" . The subsequent forms have original final -ya .
69 The forms enekto , enquetto and otsotto replaced original enesto , enquesto and osto, otsotto .

[Duals .f0
hand, arm , leg , foot, eye , nostril, ear
parent
sun & moon
heaven & hell
husband & wife.71
maqi, maqit ['hands ' ]
raqi [ ' arms ' ]
pelqi ['legs ' ]
talqi [ ' feet']
henqi ['eyes']
nenqz [ ' nostrils ' ]
unqi [ 'ears ' ] .
Pronouns. Personal .
Stems:
Sg . 1 ni- 2 ke-72 3 m. hu-* f. hi- n . ha-
* h- frequently dropped in unemphatic and pre-verbal forms: u-, i- , a-, &c .
Pl . l (a) me- (b) qe- 2 le- 3m. tu- f. si-* n. ta-
(a) excludes person(s) addressed, (b) includes them .
* si < *ti.
Preverbal forms are simply the stems as above .73
(h)a- is only employed with definite reference: impersonal ' it' is rendered by verb without
pre-verbal prefix, as:
(h)a·tule ' it comes ' (some definite thing)
tule ne -' it so happens that, it comes about that' .74
Nominative. This is the preverbal form. But there exists also an emphatic form that is usually
added after the verb (in addition to pre-verbal prefix) but may also stand in place of the
70 The following rough notes given below the list of numerical parts are not explained by Tolkien, but clearly
constitute his preliminary workings on the discussion of the "Duals" inserted in the subsequent typscript version of
the grammar (see below) . There is a list of English words for things that naturally occur in pairs , and to the right
of this an assortment of unglossed Qenya forms that represent the duals of some of these nouns.
71 At the bottom of the page the following two words (or parts of words) are struck through: kalunqi, man . The
former might be a preliminary form for ' sun & moon ' (i .e . literally 'pair of lights ' ) .
7 2 S g . 2 ke- was altered from te- .
73 There is no suggestion of the concept of preverbal forms of the pronouns in the materials concerning Qenya
written before this Grammar, but prefixed pronouns did occur in Goldogrin (see PE 1 3 , p. 97) . Prefixed pronouns
are attested for Quenya in the thirties, in the "Koivieneni Manuscript" which has , e .g . , sen·ekkoita * ' awake them'
and sealalan * ' they grew' ( Vinyar Tengwar, no . 27 , pp . 1 0-1 7 , 25-26) ; and in late (c. 1 948) drafting of The Lord
of the Rings, in such forms as nilendie 'have I come' , nimaruva ' will I abide' (Sauron Defeated, p. 56) ; and even
as late as the 1 950s , in the drafting of the Quenya translation of the Litany of Loreto, which has le·ana * ' give
thou' (VT 44 , p. 1 2- 1 3) . Cf. Adunaic , which also has preverbal pronouns , e.g., 3rd sg . m. u-, hu-; f. hi- ; n. a- (see
VT 24, p . 1 8) .
74 The first occurrence of tu le was altered from tule .

preverbal . The latter form is usually used in ironic answers to a question regarded as absurd:
thus:
ni·tule 'I come' : ni·tule n(mo ' it is I that come' :
mai ke·tule 'do you come?'75 : n(mo tule! 'I come (of course I don 't) ' .
Forms .
Sg. 1 . nlmo 2 . keto or teko 3 m . huyo f. hie [n .] hea
pl. I a. melmo b . qelmo 2 . lelko 3 m. tfito f. slse, site n . atta.76
Declined forms .
Accusative unemphatic: following immediately on verb .
ni ke ho, hu he, hi ha
me qe le tu si ta
Emphatic.
nit ket77 hut hit (h)at
also nitto, ketto, hutto, hitto, hatto, &c .
ment(o) qent(o) lint(o) tunt(o) sint(o) tant(o)
Genitive emphatic is derived from the emphatic nominatives , as if they were nouns, singular
even in case of me, qe, le: nimon, &c.; melmon, lelkon, &c .; but huyon, hien, tuton, &c . 7 8
Unemphatic.
nin, ken,79 bun (hon, on), bin (in) , (h)an
men, qen, len, ton (tun), sin, tan.
Dative [emphatic] as with genitive: nimur, melmur, &c .80
Unemphatic often, especially when there is no direct object expressed , the ' accusative'
forms are employed as an ni for an nir = 'give (it) me ' .8 1
nir, ker,82 bur (or), hir (er), bar (ar)
mer, qer, ler, tor, sir, tar.
The emphatic dative and genitive are not very frequent. In the 3rd person pl . forms [such] as
tutolion are even used .83
75 For this phrase Tolkien originally wrote mai tu (perhaps a false start on mai tule), altered this to mai u-tule (or
possibly mai a·tule), and finally to mai ke·tule, presumably all done before he wrote the gloss.
76 Sg. 2 keto appears to have been altered from teto, and the pi . 2 lelko from lelto . As originally written , the chart
contained the following forms: sg. 2 tl�ko, pi . 2 lelmo, lelko; pi . 3 m . toto , f. sise , n . atta . At the same time that
these forms were altered, Tolkien began to change the sg. 3 forms to hfito, hlse , h . . . but deleted these before
completion .
77 Sg. 2 ket was altered from tet, and a following alternative form "or tes" was deleted. The additional form ketto
was also altered from tetto .

78 As originally written , this paragraph read: "Genitive emphatic is { adv . } in form an adverbial form of the
emphatic possessive: ninya - ninyu &c.: ninyu, tetyu , h . . . ; menyu, qenyu , lelyu ." The newer conception that
the genitive emphatics are derived from the nominatives originally included a qualification , "but the 3rd pers[on]
forms are treated as pl[ural]s." This in turn was deleted .
7 9 Sg. 2 ken was altered from ten .
80
A form n{mor was deleted before nimur .
8 1 Cf. QL root ANA 'give, send towards ' : anta- 'gives' , and irreg . imperative anno ' give (me) ! ' (PE 1 2 , p. 3 1 ) .
82
Sg. 2 ker was altered from ter.
83
This paragraph is written in the left margin .

The possessives .
Unemphatic: prefixed to nouns, and only declined for plural . Changes a > e .84
nya· tya· hwa· (fa·) hya·
plurals nye· , tye· , &c .
mea· qea· lea· tua· (dialectal pa·) sia· (hya·) ta· (tea·)
plurals me· (mee·) , qe· (qee·), le· (lee·) , tue·, sie·, te· (tee·).86
Emphatic: fully declined adjectives following noun (which may also have the unemphatic
prefix) .
ninya ketya (h)uva - iva - ava8 7
menya qenya lelya tuva, tuiva siva tava, taiva
The pronouns may also add the adverbial case endings: in this case all are treated as
singulars except the 3 person pls . as: nisse, mello, &c .; but (h)ullo, illo, tullon, illon, tussen.
The allative is -Ita, but -nta for 3 person .
Reflexive of third person is ikto or ikso, declined as sg . noun, adj . iksa, pl. ilko, ilka. See
verb 'to be ' .88
Other pronouns.
The indeclinable relative pronoun is ya, which is either to be understood in any relation , or,
very frequently , is defined by demonstrative or pronominal or adverbial words inside the
relative clause.
The conjunction 'that' is ne and must not be confused .
'Thereupon in came the man by whom we were told that his money had all been stolen
from him ' : en ilta tulie n·ner ya me·qetsime ka huyo ne hwa·telpe ie-rautanema ompa
va huyo; or more Qenyatic : ya qensie melmur ne iksa telpe rautanema. 8 9
The demonstratives are three , corresponding to the three persons: ( 1 ) 'this' , (2) 'that by you' ,
(3) 'that (there) ' .
Stems:
qi (si- , ni-); tye- (ke); sa (ta).90
84 Note that "declined for plural" refers to grammatical agreement with the number of the thing(s) possessed .
Plurality of the possessor is indicated by the choice of pronominal root, as in the other personal pronouns.
8 5 Sg. 3 m. "hwa (fa)" was a replacement for va· . (The raised dots have been added editorially .)
8 6 The alternative forms tea·, mee·, qee· (which actually reads qe· in the manuscript, though qee· must be intended),
lee· , and tee· were all added in pencil .
8 7 As originally written the sg . forms were: "ninya, tetya, huva, hiya, atta, (h) - unya - inya - anya", the latter
three presumably variant forms of the three 3rd-person forms , and themselves existing in variant forms with or
without initial h . The same variation, i.e. (h)iva and (h)ava, is probabl y also indicated by the dashes in the final
version .
88 As originally written , the reflexives read: "ukto , ikto, akso declined as noun; pl. ukt . . " This was then deleted,
.
and replaced with: "ukto , ikto, akso declined as singular noun." For the verb 'to be' , see the discussion of the
compound tenses below .
89 In the English sentence "the man from whom we heard" was changed to "the man by whom we were told" . In
the Qenya sentences nyeliel >> qense >> qensiema >> qetsime; nye-rautanema > > ie-rautanema; and hwa >>
iksa . Cf. QL ner ' man , husband' , qet- (qente) ' speak, talk ' , qetsa, qetsima 'having speech, able to talk' , telpe
'silver' , rauta- 'chase, hunt, pursue' , ompi 'all , every' , and ompa ' each' (PE 1 2 , pp . 65, 70, 7 7 , 79 , 9 1 ) .
90 The ' 3rd-person' demonstrative stems "sa (ta)" replaced original "ta- (sa-)'' , so that the primary and alternative
forms were switched.

There is also a general demonstrative deictic particle or stem en- frequently used to
emphasize the above stems , as:
enqi-; enke; enta.9 1
(en)qi; tye, enke; or sa, enta serve as deictic particles of time or place , in sense vaguely 'now
or here ' ; ' at that time ' (you spoke of, or think of, or remember, &c .) , 'there by you ' ; 'then ,
there' .92 As such they may follow a noun preceded by the article , as :
i·ner qi i·mar tye, i·liante sa
'this man ' 'that house (of yours)' 'that vine' .
'this man (we have at present); &c .
There are also adjectives dealing purely with place:
qinda tyenda sanda.93
These precede the noun and require no article:
qinda ner, tyenda mar, sanda liante.
Deictic nouns or pronouns are
qinqe, tyent(y)e, santo.94
'Thither' , &c .
(en)qinta tyenta santa or general
qint enkinta (enkent) entanta (entant) engs
'There' &c .
qisse tyesse sasse
enqisse enkesse entasse en
'Thence' &c .
qillo tyello sallo
enqillo (enqil) enkello (enkel) entallo (ental) en
'Then ' &c .
qi, qin tyen san
enqin enken entan en
'Other' comparative (alter): etya, noun etyo, -e, etc.96
general (alius): nyanya, nyando, -e, nyan.97
91 A form , probably ensi or enni, was deleted beneath enqi-; enke was written beneath deleted entye; and an
alternative form "(enna)" was deleted following enta .
92 An alternative form , probably enni, was deleted above ( en)qi; enke was a later addition above tye; and original
"ta or sa" was altered to "or sa, enta", the last form also added above .
93 As first written , the deictic adjectives were qinta, tyenta and sanda, both here and in the examples given below.
What looks very like the letter "e" precedes tyenda , but if a revision of the form to etyenda was intended, it was
not carried forward into the example, tyenda mar.
94 The words "or pronouns are" were added later; and tyent(y)e was altered from tyente.
95 As originally written, this chart read: "qista, tyesta , sasta ; qint, gen . qit, enkesta (enket) , entasta (entast) ."
With enta, entanta, en , etc ., cf. "The Entu, Ensi, Enta Declension" of ea. 1 930 , especially the third and fourth
columns of the first half of the chart, Vinyar Tengwar, no. 36, pp. 7-29.
96 The first letter of etya is unclear, possibly altered from s in the act of writing (sty- is not a permissible initial
cluster); but the form etyo that follows seems to corroborate the reading of etya.

Verbs.
Person is expressed by the pre-verbal pronominal forms (see pronouns) .
Sg. 1 ni· 2 ke· 3 m. (h)u· f. (h)i· n . (h)a·
PI . la. me· lb. qe· 2 le· 3 m. tu· f. si· n . ta·
�& Note the neuter is never used as an impersonal subject: there is no prefix used at all in
that case, as: uqe 'it rains' ; tiqe ' it thaws' .98
The prefix may also be omitted when the subject is (a) a noun or equivalent, (b) an emphatic
pronoun . In the latter case the pronoun must immediately precede the verb (as a prefix) or else
the prefix must also be employed , as: ni·tule; nfmo tule or ni·tule nfmo. In the case of a noun
the prefix may also often be employed as well (for clearness, and hence naturally rarely when
the subject noun precedes the verb immediately) .
The natural order in Qenya i s ( 1 ) subject, (2) verb , (3) object of verb . Nothing usually
separates (3) from (2) except something qualifying either (2) or (3), or occasionally some
postponed element belonging to ( 1 ) , as:
ni·hepsine nfmo tanko i-mailinen losselin99
' (it was) I myself (that) bound firmly the beautiful flowers ' .
The inflections of verbs are always pretty regular and consist of (a) no ending for singular.
(b) -r for the impersonal (distinct from the endingless form, e .g . uqe ' it rains ' , but tulir 'one
goes, somebody goes ' ) : this becomes a passive if pronominal elements are added, for these are
in the accusative (rarely dative) .100 In the first case (accusative) these still may retain (and
always do so in archaic language) their accusative-position after the verb , but as the passive
feeling has increased such expressions as ha·matsir 'it is eaten' are not unusual . (c) -1 for
plural , as: me·tulil 'we come ' . (d) -n (stem -nd-) for active participle . (e) -ma for passive
participle . (f) ending -kto (sg .) , -lko (plural) for reflexive accusative , -ktor, -lkor dative . (g)
-sta for verbal noun or infinitive or gerund. There is no passive infinitive.
The future stem is obtained by the suffix -(u)va. The past stem is obtained by the suffix -ye,
(j ie >) -ie, or -ne; but -ie (the commonest) is normally accompanied by stem strengthening
consisting of ( 1 ) a-infixion , (2) n-infixion , (3) vowel lengthening (this last perhaps largely an
analogical extension from the ii resulting in many stems) . The stems that apparently have an
original stem vowel ./, r, IJ , (�) thus often show a kind of vowel gradation between il, ul &c . , the
product in the normal stems, and al &c . , the product (either by nasal infixion or a ?) in the past.
' Stem' or 'root' verbs usually show the vowel -i- (e) in the present ending; a few show -u
(o) . Denominative and de-verbative derivatives usually show -a. The commonest derivative
suffixes are -(n)ta, ya tya 1 0 1 -ya and -tya are causative .
- , - .
* -(n)ta has no definite significance though it is sometimes inceptive and is very frequently
(especially where medial root consonant is j , l;l , s) found as a mere present-formative , as kapta
' leap ' , pret. kampie . In this case it always is found in future as well: kaptuva with short ii .
97 Latin alter ' the other (of two)' ; a/ius 'another, other (of many)' .
98 Cf. QL uqin ' it rains ' ; and intransitive tiqi- ' melt' (PE 1 2 , p. 98).
99 A false start, ni·tule nfmo, was deleted. The word tanko ( ' firmly ' ) is an insertion; and mailinen was altered from
mailina. Cf. QL hepin ' I bind' , tanka ' firm , fixed , fast, steady' , and losse, losille ' rose' (pp. 40 , 56, 88) .
10
° Following tulir 'one goes , somebody goes ' , a second example, matar, was deleted immediately after it was
written. The word "pronominal" replaced "verbal" in the act of writing.

10 1
Original -ta >> -(n)ta here; and -ta >> -(n)ta, and "causative" >> "inceptive" in the following note .

Early Qenya Grammar in Manuscript J. R. R. Tolkien
Example[s] of regular verbs are tul- ' come ' , mat- 'eat' .
Pres. sg. tule mate Pa. tulie mansie1 02 Put. tuluva

pl. tulil matsil tuliel mansiel tuluval
Imp. tulir matsir tu.lier mansier tuluvar
ref. tulikto(r) , matsikto, tuliekto tuluvakto
tulilko(r) matsilko &c . &c.
noun tulista matsista tuliesta &c . tuluvasta
part. tulin ( -nd-) matsin tulien(d-) tuluvan(d-)
Similarly matuva.
Compound tenses are made with 'participle' and verb 'to be' , which is as follows:
Pres. e (or i before e or after e) Past ie or ye, hye1 0 3 Put. va
il w �
ir ier var
ikto (rare except actually * iekto, ielko [?&c.] * vakto &c .
as the 3rd pers . refl .) , ilko
ista iesta, yesta vasta
in(d-) or inda ien, yen, yenda van(da)
[*] Often employed as the 3rd person reflexive in a past ([or] future) tense , as:
(tu·)meliel ielko instead of tu·melielko 'they loved themselves' .1 04
The compound tenses may be made thus:
e tulien (= 'is having come' ) 'has come ' (perfect)
va tulien (= 'will be having come ' ) ' will have come ' (fut. perf.)
but more often they are actually compounded thus:
tulinde (tulindel, &c. &c.) 'is coming' : pres. imperf.
tulindie, &c . ' was coming' : past imperf.
tulinwa ' will be coming' : fut. imperf.
tuliende 'has come' : perf.
tuliendie ' had come' : past perf. (pluperfect)
tulienwa 'will have come' : fut. perf.
tuluvande 'is going to come' : fut. imperf.
tuluvandie 'was going to come ' : past fut.
tuluvanwa 'will be going to come' : fut. fut.
Occasionally such forms are even made for the verb 'to be' as yendie 'had been ' , or yendie
tulin (not *tulindiandie) 'had been come ' , yende tulin ' has been coming' . 1 05
102
A form mante was written above mansie in pencil , presumably representing an alternative sg. past-tense form ,
where -ie has been reduced to -e in final position, and as a result the -nt- did not change to -ns - . Compare the
present-tense forms of mat- where intervocalic -ti- changes to -tsi-, but -te remains unchanged.
103
The alternate past tense form hye was added in faint pencil .
104
The parenthetical "(fut.)" was an insertion; and (tu-)me!iel ielko replaced tu·melil ielko .
105
As originally written , this paragraph began: "Occasionally such forms as tuliendien(da) are even made"; and
the form tulien was replaced by "tu!in" in the act of writing . The hypothetical form *tulindiandie was altered from
*tulindiendie.

Past tense.
"Stem-verbs"
krp- 'pluck' karpie 1 06 (pres . karpe
s!t- ' sift' salsie (pres . silte
tl;t- 'bounce' tansie, tantye 1 07 (pres. tante
lit ' dance' lalsie, laltye (pres . lilte
tl;q ' hear' tanqie (pres . tunqe
s!p ' drink' salpie (pres . sulpe
p:jt ' spit' pastie, pastye (pres . piste
tmp 'beat' tampie (pres . tumpe
mat- 'eat' mansie, mantye (pres . mate1 08
mapa- ' seize' * nampie (pres. mape
(irreg . dissimililation for mampie)
tiq 'melt' tinqie or tfqie (pres . tiqe
tuv 'receive, take' tuvie (pres. tuve or tue, imp[ersonal] tu 1 09
ka1 ' lie down ' kaine (pres . kaita
kapa ' leap ' kampie (pres. kapta
kar 'make ' karne (pres. kare
Non-stem.
tanga 'beat' tangane ( [pres .] tanga- , [fut.] tangauva
tantila I 'hop ' tantilane ([pres .] tantila, [fut.] -auva
or tantille > -ilne
tantilta tantilante ([pres.] tantilta, [fut.] -tuva
tulya ' send, bring' tutine 1 1 0 ( [pres.] tulya fut. tulyuva
This is the regular causative ' carrying' .
tantya ' set bouncing' tans'ine ([pres .] tantya, rarely -1ne
Many words in -ta 'make ' :
lapta laptane ([fut.] laptuva
same:
lokta lokante ([fut.) lokatwa 1 1 1
kelu ' flow ' keliine, kelwie [fut.] keliiva1 1 2
hari 'to hate' hari (not hare), har'lne (harie) [fut.] haryuva
Causative is also -tya, thus maka ' die' (miina 'dead'): maktya ' kill ' , maksine . 1 1 3
1 06 The stem krp- was altered from karp - . The description of the past tense was actually begun on the verso of the
page containing this chart, with the words: "Past tense: a. karp 'pluck' : ni·karpe 'I pluck' , ni·karpie 'l plucked' ."
107
The translation of the stem tl}t- was originally "dance" . The alternate past-tense form tantye was added in faint
pencil; as were the forms laltye and pastye .
1 08 The alternative past-tense form mantye was written in pen to the right of the present form mate, and has been
moved editorially.
1 09 The words "imprs. tu" were added later.
1 10
The past-tense form tuline was altered from tulfne; and similarly tanslne << tansfne, and laptiine << lapsine .
1 1 1 The future form lokatwa replaced loktauva.
1 12
The entries for kelu and hari were added in the top-right margin.

The 'conditional' or subjunctive.

This is not expressed inflectionally but by particles , nai and ki, of which nai represents
remoter possibility (' might'), ki (nearer) 'may ' . 1 1 4
The pure optative is also often expressed by nai, or naike combined, at head of wish.1 15
The imperative is the uninflected form, often especially in common verbs in -l, -n, -r, -s, -t
without -e, as tul, mat, &c ., or it may be expressed by the inflected forms and imperative voiced
tone (indicated by !) often with en (2nd) or (en)no ( I st) , (es)sa (3rd) added. Thus:
naike hi·tule 'would she might come ' (of something remotely possible, or impossible)
hi-tule nai ' she might (possibly) come ' or 'be coming'
hi-tulie nai ' she might have come'
hi-tuluva nai ' she might (conceivably) come , at some future time ' . 1 1 6
The future and present run naturally here very close , hence the future i s seldom used with
nai and to express (where required) ' she might be coming (at this moment) ' we have hi·tulinde
nai = ' she might be coming ' (supposing else also to be the case , which we know is not so) . 1 1 7
tu! ' come ! '
le-tulil! le·tulil en
me-tulil enno 'let us come ' , occasionally le·tul, me·tul, tu·tul.
hi·tule ki ' she may be coming, may come' .
'If' is expressed by mai; nai or ki are usually in apodosis, as: 1 1 8
mai ni·tule tu·tulit 1 9
' i f I come' (generic) 'they come' (generic)
Similarly
mai ni·tulie tu-tuliel
but naturally rarer because only possible in a definitely prophetic utterance:
mai ni·tuluva tu·tuluval
'whenever I come ' 'they will come ' .
Here yan 'when' is more usual .
mai ni·tuluva tu·tuluval ki
'If I come' (fut.) 'they will come' . 1 20
xJ
1 13
This sentence was added in the left margin .
1 1 4 The particles were originally written as nai , ke.
1 15 The optative naike was altered from naiki.
1 16 In this last gloss the word "might" replaced "will".
1 1 7 Tolkien is saying here that, where present tule nai and future tuluva nai merely express uncertainty whether
something has occurred, there is little difference in meaning between them, and so the latter is seldom used; and
therefore to express uncertainty about an occurrence "at this moment" the present imperfect tulinde nai is used, a
circumstance requiring this usage being where we know something could occur now were it not for some other
condition preventing it .
1 1 8 Apodosis is the main or independent clause of a conditional sentence ( ' they will come' ) , as opposed to the
dependent clause or condition , the protasis ( ' if I come ' ) . The words "no usu[ally]" were written and then deleted
before nai.
1 19
The verb tulil was altered from tulel.
120
After this line, the following was written and then deleted: "mai ni·tule na tu·tulil nai."

Early Qenya Phono logy J. R. R. Tolkien
QENYA PHONOLOGY
The QENYA consonant system was as follows.1
Voiceless stops q k ty t p
Voiced stops in the combinations ngw ng * ndy nd, rd, Id mb
Voiceless spirants * hw h hy s f
Voiced spirants or continuatives *w y r, l V
Nasals n(g), n(k) ny n m
* The sounds *dy (in ndy) , *hw, *w are only old Qenya; they have now in the standard Inwe
dialect given ny, f, v. The velar nasal only occurs before the stops g and k.
This system is derived and related to the Primitive Eldarin (*E) in the following manner.
The Primitive Eldarin was divided at first by the migration of the Three Kindreds to Valinor
into A. Kor-Eldarin; B . Ilkorin? From A. are descended:
I . Old Qenya with its slightly divergent modem descendants (a) Qenya; (b) Inwian, chiefly
used as a written and elevated language, but actually locali[zed] in New Kor, or Kortirion; (c)
Tol-Eressean, which has been much influenced by Telerin;3
11. Telerin, now confined (a) to the dialects of the sea-coast of Valinor (the most archaic form ,
since many of the original Teleri lingered on here without migrating with either first the Noldoli
1
"The Sounds of Qenya", the phonological portion of the Qenyaqetsa, includes two consonant charts , one for
primitive Eldarin and one for a later system that developed from it, "a distinctive Cor-eldarin form after the
departure of the Noldoli" (Parma Eldalamberon, no. l 2 , pp. 1 5- 1 6 ) . Like both of these earlier charts the present
chart is arranged in five columns representing five articulation positions, and in the same order: labiovelar; velar;
palatal or palatalized alveolar; alveolar or dental; and labial or labiodental . The Eldarin chart has six rows
corresponding to six classes of sounds: ( 1 ) voiceless explosive; (2) voiced explosive; (3) voiceless spirant; ( 4)
voiced spirant; (5) nasal; and (6) nasalised explosive. The Cor-eldarin (CE) chart has separate rows for initial and
medial developments for each of these classes, representing the sounds phonetically "but not in the forms of present
orthography" . The five rows of the present chart correspond to the CE chart in this manner: row 1 (voiceless stops)
= CE class 1 (with the orthographic q and ty for CE phonetic spellings ky and tj ); row 2 (voiced stops in
combinations) comparable to CE class 6 medial (with ngw and ndy for ngy and ndj ) ; row 3 (voiceless spirants) =
CE class 3 initial (with hw and hy for hy and hj , the latter emended to sj ) ; row 4 (voiced spirants or continuatives) =
CE classes 3 and 4 medial (with w and y for w and y); and row 5 (nasals) comparable to CE class 5 (though lacking
labia-velar ny, and with n(g), n(k) indicating the velar n, i .e . [1]] , surviving only in the combinations ng and nk, and
ny for nj ) . The differences between the charts are mostly due to the different context rather than changes in
conception , the present chart giving the sounds according to their relationships within Qenya, while the CE chart
gave the sounds according their phonetic development from the earlier Eldarin system. Thus row 2 includes the
voiced stop combinations rd, Id not present in CE class 6, which represents only those combinations descended
directly from the primitive Eldarin nasalized explosives.
2 In the Historical Sketch (HS) that begins the Qenyaqetsa , the first and deepest division of the Eldarin languages is
said to have been the result of the dwelling of the Solosimpi for a "long time upon the island [of Tol Eressea]
divided from the others by the malice of Osse" (PE 1 2 , p. 1 ) . Cf. The Book of Lost Tales, Part One (henceforth I)
pp . 1 20-2 1 . The name Ilkorin does not occur in H S , though there is an allusion to "scattered bands of the Eldalie,
some maybe who straying on the march from Palisor have never seen Valinor" (PE 1 2 , p. 2).
3 The words "or Kortirion" were added in the margin in ink . HS describes Inwelin , the dialect of the Inwir, the
"royal clan" ( i .e . , corresponding to the later Vanyar and Vanyarin their speech) , as "older and more archaic" than the
later, closely related dialect, Qenya , the "freer common tongue" of the Qendi, that was spoken in Tol Eressea and
(by implication) influenced by the speech of the Solosimpi that came to dwell there after the March from Kor and
the subsequent retreat from the Great Lands (Europe) .
PARMA ELDALAMBERON N o . 1 4 - Page 60

or later the main mass of the Kor-Eldar)4 - the best preserved form of this language is spoken
still at Swan Haven; (b) to the Telerin of Western Tol-Eressea, a form that has exerted influence
on the Qenya of that island and has been much influenced by it in return; (c) to the fading Telerin
of the Southern and Western shores of England and Wales .5
Ill . Noldorin. This apparently began in some points (e .g . treatment of p , u) to be
differentiated from Common Kor-Eldarin before the Gnomish migration and the Flight.6 Those
of the Noldoli however that remained behind in Valinor seem to have been entirely absorbed into
either the Teleri or the Qendi among whom they dwelt. Few if any traces of their influence upon
the ' Valinorian '7 languages can be pointed to. Owing to the early separation of Noldorin it
followed a very individual development, but while in appearance it looks more like Ilkorin than
V alinorian it has not been much influenced by Ilkorin except in this point of general similarity of
development. In Vocabulary there are of course many traces of not only Ilkorin but also the
influence of the language of the Ores and of the Men upon early Common Noldorin . After the
Nirnaith Unoth began the process of division between the dialect of Mithrim and of Gondolin; 8
other types of Noldorin speech were also once used in Doriath and in the countries to the south
and west of Doriath by bands or groups of wandering Gnomes . These last were nearer related to
the dialect of Mithrim than of Gondolin; they were particularly liable to influence from Ilkorin,
and, through the fugitives from Angband, from Ore-speech . Old Noldorin is practically
Gondolic, depending as it does mainly on the traditions of the survivors of Gondolin , such
records as they brought away with them (many of which are to this day preserved in the archives
of TOL ERESSEA) , or have since been recovered from the now lost site of Gondolin by the
4 That is, the Flight of the Noldoli into exile and the subsequent March of the Elves of Kor back into the Great
Lands, respectively. Cf. II 253 , 257 , 280, 303, and especially The Shaping of Middle-earth (IV) , pp. 37 , 68 .
5 In the HS , Teleri refers to the "clans of Qendi and of Inwir"; and Telellin refers to "both Qenyarin and Inwelin of
Alalmin6re and Cortirion" and excludes both Solosimpilin and Noldorin . In the present text, Teleri refers (as in all
subsequent texts) to the shoreland Elves of both the Great Lands and of Valinor. It can be seen , therefore, that the
change whereby the name Teleri was transferred from the Qendi and lnwir (the later Vanyar) and applied instead to
the former Solosimpi had been made by the time the present account was written , but not when the HS was written .
This further supports the dating of the HS to c . 1 920 or earlier (PE 1 2 , p. x vii), and shows that the conception of the
division of tongues described in the c . 1 926 "Sketch of the Mythology" (IV 1 3 , 44) had likely been devised while
Tolkien was at Leeds. The HS thus represents a transitional scheme between that of the Lost Tales and that of the
present text and the earliest "Silmarillion". For the continued association of the Elves with England in the later
"Sketch" , see IV 72.
6 The use of the name Noldorin to refer to the language of the Noldoli appears to have first arisen in the HS . For an
example of the divergent treatments of p and u, compare the cognates Qenya Palurien , Gnomish (Noldorin)
Belaurien, in The Lays of Beleriand (Ill) , p. 1 60 . The "Gnomish migration" here refers to the removal of the
Gnomes from Kor to new dwellings, following their first discontent, brought about by the lies of Melko (cf. I 1 42 ,
IV 1 6) , and preceding the theft o f the Silmarils and the Flight of the Noldoli .
7 There i s a footnote to the term "Valinorian", written i n ink at the bottom o f the page and continued on the
otherwise blank verso: "A term often used for the common speech of Teleri & Qendi, as against Noldorin . But
Telerin & Qenya must have much diverged (more than Qenya & Noldorin) before the flight - their subsequent
development was more similar than that of Noldorin owing to their later closer association ." In the HS the term
Cor-eldarin similarly includes "all dialects save Noldorin" (PE 1 2 , p. 2).
8 Nirnaith Unoth ' Unnumbered Tears ' appears as typed late in the c . 1 9 1 8-25 "Lay of the Children of Hurin", while
earlier in the poem the name has the form Nfnin Udathriol, the form it had in The Lost Tales and the Gnomish
Lexicon (cf. II 84, Ill 3, 79, GL 74) . This further suggests that the present text was composed relatively late in the
Leeds period . The entry unoth ' without number, countless' arose as a late addition to the "Noldorin Word-lists"
(NW) contemporary with the "Lay" (PE 1 3 , p. 1 33 , 1 55 ) . The name Mithrim arose as a replacement for earlier
Asgon in late (c . 1 920) emendations to the text labeled "Tuor B" (cf. 11 1 47 , 202).

Elves of later days. Gondolic, though still written, is only spoken actually in and near the town
of Tavrobel in the west of the Gnome-area in Tol Eressea. Noldorin is still spoken widely as a
kind of lingua franca by all the Elfin peoples in the lands of men , and in many cases of tribes of
original Ilkorin extraction is tending to oust their Ilkorin language . Noldorin of this type is
descended in the main from the dialect of Mithrim with some influence of the dialects of the
lesser 'fugitive' groups of which the most important was Doriathrin. The ancient language of
Nargothrond, Feanorian, has not survived except in scanty fragments and in several poems that
were early translated into other dialects , but not without retaining many traces of their original
dialect.9
B . From Ilkorin were developed, already before the flight of the Gnomes and the meeting
again of Kor-Eldar and Ilkorindi , several distinct and practically entirely mutually unintelligible
languages. These were all however distinguished in contrast with the Valinorian by the more
archaic and rougher type of their consonant systems , and their generally more consonantal
character. Their history is obscure since there are hardly any records of the ancient periods , and
at no time have they produced any literature or writings comparable to those of the Kor-Eldarin
languages , save in the case of Doriath under Thingol . The Ilkorindi , too, usually were and
usually remain still nomadic , so that the tendency of the languages was to split up into minor
dialects of small extent that were constantly shifting their mutual relationships. Old Ilkorin is
mainly the language of Doriath under Thingol preserved in records brought to Tol Eressea by
Elwing and fugitives from Sirion , and in later days also recovered from the Thousand Caves .10 It
was to some slight degree influenced by Noldorin. It was a representative of Western Ilkorin of
the same branch as that which produced the present Ilkorin of Ireland, England, Wales and
Scotland.1 1 Related Ilkorin was probably once spoken in Scandinavia and the lands bordering on
the North Sea and English Channel. Over the whole of Europe now, including however only the
westerly parts of Russia, the lingering Ilkorindi speak dialects descended from a distinct, but
originally closely related, branch of the Western group. 1 2 The rest of the Ilkorin languages
descend from the old Southern and Eastern branches, of which earlier knowledge is scanty , and
the present descendants scattered and fading .
For Noldorin, Gnomic or Deep-Elfin are sometimes used; for Telerin, Sea-Elfin; for Qenya,
Elvish or Light-Elfin; for Ilkorin, Dark-Elfin. 1 3 Utterly distinct from the languages of this family
were in origin those of the Ores and the Balrogs - the Melkian. From some Eastern type of
Ilkorin much of human language is in origin derived.14
9 I n the c . 1 9 1 8-25 "Lay o f the Children o f Hurin" , N argothrond was founded b y Celegorm and Curufin, two o f the
sons of Feanor (III 65). Note the occurrence of narog as an addition to the contemporary NW (PE 1 3 , p. 1 50). In
the Lost Tales neither the river nor the realm is named (cf. II 82) .
10
The word "mainly" in this sentence was inserted later in ink .
11
Tolkien changed "the llkorin of Ireland" to "the present Ilkorin of Ireland" .
1 2 The word "however" in this sentence was inserted in ink.
1 3 Cf. IV 1 3 , 44.
1 4 Cf. the earlier "Tree of Tongues", The Lhammas § 1 0 , and the Lammasethen , in The Lost Road and Other Writings
(V) , pp . 1 69 , 1 79 , 1 9 1 , 1 94 .

Early Qenya Phonology ]. R. R. Tolkien
A comparison of such of the oldest periods of these Eldarin languages as is still extant allows
us to assume the following original consonant system . 15
voiced stops g. d. b.
voiceless stops k. t. p.
voiced spirants 3 , j. z. b. usually written w (in Q. phonology)
liquids r, I .
nasals IJ . n. m.
voiceless spirant s.
also j and I} less spirantal in nature than j, w and closely related in origin to the vowels i, u. The
evidence of Ilkorin points to there having been originally two voiced and voiceless spirants z and
f (or a) , and s and p . But this distinction has no importance for Eldarin of Kor.16
The Eldarin 'root' was

(a) rarely monosyllabic of the form KAA, or AA
(b) usually disyllabic of the forms KAKA, AKA, KATA
(c) it was also probably from very early times trisyllabic of the forms KAKAMA, AKAMA,
KATAMA .
The trisyllabic forms are probably the result of very early extension (suffixion, composition ,
partial reduplication , &c .).
In the ultimate analysis the consonants of these forms were always single , but might be any
one of the single consonants shown in the preceding table (evidence for an initial z alone is
dubious). Consonant-groups are , however, divided into Ultimate and Derivative . ULTIMATE
groups are those which occurred in E* not as the result of the addition of originally separate
formative elements , whether prefixed or suffixed , but by the processes of strengthening ,
enriching , or modification of the consonantal elements of the root (probably originally always
with modification or specialisation of the meaning) . For similar developments in the case of the
vowels of the root (which in its simplest form had one vowel throughout) see the Vowels.17
These modifications took place most freely in the case of the first consonant of the forms
KAKA , KATA , KAKAMA, KATAMA . [Certain combinations , though old enough to be
considered here , are perhaps due to early loss of the first vowel of the form KATAMA ,
especially in the cases where the consonant in the place of K was S , or in the place of T was R ,
L.] These ultimate groups are all formed with s,j, lJ , n (n, m ) ; [ r , l , though considered here , are
more probably due to reduction of the first syllable of trisyllabic roots .] 1 8
15
Compare this chart of the Eldarin consonant system with that in "The Sounds of Qenya" (PE 1 2 , p . l 5) . The five
articulation positions of the earlier system have been reduced here to three: palatal or velar; dental or alveolar; and
labial (see footnote 1 above) . The difference is accounted for in the following sections, where the labiovelar and
palatal series (among others) are treated as modifications of the three cardinal positions . Indeed, it is in this present
document that Tolkien seems to have first made an account of systematic modifications of root elements and
structures as derivational and generative techniques; though such a system is discernible through comparison of the
roots in the Qenya Lexicon, and "root variants" are mentioned in connection with the earlier chart (pp. 1 5 , 1 6) .
Tolkien would develop and elaborate this system in great detail in the years to follow .
16
In "The Sounds of Qenya" (henceforth SQ) the conception is only slightly different: "S, Z appear to have been
variants similarly of I> , D, but separated early, and to be treated separately as certain cases in Qenya show but the
development of Noldorin certainly proves" (PE 1 2, p. 1 5) .
1 7 I n the event Tolkien set aside this version of the "Qenya Phonology" before composing the section o n Vowels .
18
The square brackets in this paragraph are Tolkien ' s , added in ink . The final clause originally began "those with r,
I, though considered here," and the alteration was made after the clause was bracketed.

Early Qenya Pho no logy J. R. R. Tolkien
(a) groups found as modification of both initial and medial consonants of the root are: 1 9
k > kj . k�j . I]k.
g > gJ . gl}. l)g. k
t. > tj . tlj. nt. IJ
also probably strengthened l)g
d. > dj . d�j nd. t m also probably strengthened mb
p. > mp.
b. > mb. p
n. > nj . nl}. nd.
also 3 > g, l)
z > d, n
0 > b, m
(b) initial only
k . . . [kr . . . kl] . . . sk g . . . [gr . . . gl] . . . sk t . . . [tr . . . tl] . . . st
d . . . [dr . . . dl] . . . st p . . . [pr . . . pl] . . . sp b . . . [br . . . bl] . . . sp
s . . . sj . . . SI} . . . st r . . . sr l . . . sl m . . . sm n . . . sn
(c) medial only were the geminations of the consonants .
Originally probably only the voiceless stops were geminated (or lengthened) kk, tt, pp?0 The
equivalent modification in the case (i) of spirants, was to stop them or nasalise them, giving an
alternation between 3, j, z, w and IJ, nj , n, m and g, d, b; (ii) of voiced stops, to unvoice them,
producing a variation between k, t, p and g, d, b. The nasals were probably strengthened by
addition of the homorganic voiced stop l)g, nd, mb? 1 Modification of l, r, s is doubtful , except in
the initial case of sl, sr and the probable cases of initial gl, gr, dr, and of initial s-st.22 This
strengthening of spirant to voiced stop , and voiced stop to voiceless stop , also clearly took place
initially .
Ultimately , therefore , for reasons not always now clearly to be seen , there existed the
following modifications or variations of root consonants:23
Where the most ultimate form was -
k. kj . k�j. I]k. sk0 kk*
t. tj . tlj. nt. St0 tt*
p. mp. spo pp*
g. gj . glj. l)g. sk0 k (?gg*)
d. dj . d�j. nd. St0 t (?dd*)
b. mb. spo p (?bb*)
3 j. w. 1). g
j. ?nj sr ?dj , gj
w. m Sljo b (?g�j, dy) .
19 The column containing k ; t; p was added i n ink, as was the small table of spirant developments at the end, which
was written to the right of p .
20 S Q states: "Geminates remain but qq, pp, ty ty give q , p, ty. Also all spirants geminated became early simplified
and followed development of simple spirants" (PE 1 2 , p . 26) .

21 A note written in pencil below this sentence , at the bottom of the page, reads: "This confuses {root var.} base
variants for different but related bases . Base alteration or [?derivation] " .
22
In the sequence l, r, s the l was changed in ink from n .
2 3 The words "or variations" were inserted i n ink .

Early Qenya Pho no logy ]. R. R. Tolkien
r. ?rd* ST0 ?dr, gr0

I. ?ld* sl0 ?glo
n. sn° nd
IJ . l)g
m. Sm0 mb
s. Sl · sy. St0
z. n. d.
omarks those forms for which there is no evidence except at the beginning;
* marks those which are only evidenced medially .
Rare and fortuitous variations such as between r - l - n - d are not included above. It can not
be shown that kr, tr, tl, kl, dl (of which tl, dl are rare and dubious) vary with either k, t or r, l.
Their chief source , other than in originally non-Eldarin word material , is in reductions of type
TALAKA to TLAKA: as for instance in -J kere (kyere, kjere) ' turn' , -J+ kereke (broken re
duplication) 'turn round and round , send to and fro' ; whence probably V 2 kreke ' weave' ?4
To these 'radical ' modifications of the root consonants may be added reduplication - the
most common source of the trisyllabic bases . Its most primitive form was doubtless complete
repetition as -J tara, 2V tara-tara: modifications of this fullest form were tar-tara, ta-tara; also a
reduced form a-tara or first vowel prefixion . More elaborate types are kele- > kektele, ektele,
and the so-called broken reduplication: tara-ta or tarta?5 It is no doubt from such forms as the
last - used say as the stem of a verb of originally durative or frequentative sense - that by
extraction and extension the formative element -ta was produced: this at any rate must be taken
into account in treating of the origin of the formative elements , for most of which no origin in
separate elements (i .e . originally independent words) can be found . In Eldarin at any rate the
existence primitively of original independent words of only one syllable is very doubtful?6
Examples .
-J dag- modified dak-, tag-, djag-, dyag-, ndag-, stag-, reduplicated dagda- .
(*Note that two modifications are seldom combined:* the form *stak- ' split' is to be
assigned to an ultimately distinct, though parallel and onomatopoeically related, root -J
tak ' stick' .)
*Except in the case of n-infixion: stal)g- would be a possible modification of dag, or tag.
Reduplication , especially of the form that remained most living and productive , prefixion
of the first vowel , or of the first consonant + first vowel , is found with a root however
modified . s-prefixion also possibly .27
24 The symbol "V" in this sentence and below represents an "R" in the typescript , "V+ " "R+" , etc . (That Tolkien
=
intended "R" to be more than a mere abbreviation for the word "root" is suggested by the fact that he typed "root R
tak" in a subsequent note .) QL lists the root KERE with nominal derivations concerning earthenware and pottery .
GL gives a root Vkerek, kerex (s.v . crectha- 'to spit'). NW lists crech ' spittle' < *k�rekka, with cognate Q rekka
(PE 1 3 , p . 1 40) .
25 The previous sentence originally ended: "modifications of this fullest form were tar-tara, ta-tara, and the so
called broken reduplication tara-ta or tarta ." The additional text was written in ink in the bottom margin of the page
(the next page starting at the word "reduplication"), without a clear indication where to insert it. QL lists kektele
' fountain' under the root KELE, KELU 'flow , run, ooze, trickle ' , and also ektele ' fountain ' , which it compares to
kektele. PME lists both words together as variants (cf. PE 1 2 , p. 46) .
26 This last sentence was bracketed and marked for deletion in pencil, but not actually struck through.
2 7 This note was added in ink at the bottom of the page .

Early Qenya Phono logy f. R. R. Tolkien
Hence *dagla, N i·dael ' the axe' ; Q taila 'blade ' ; T tagula 'heavy woodman' s axe ' ; Old
l [lkorin] *jJakl, Dor. jJacol ' axe' .28
N dag- ' to slay ' (*dak-) ; dagros ' slaughter' ; danc 'killed in battle ' , Old N deinc ' he slew' ,
later degaint. 29
T jagula ' sacrifice' (*dj ag-) .
T baga- 'to beat' (*dl}ag-) .
Q nahta- ' slay cruelly ' (*ndag- + ta) .
Q tanga- ' to beat' (*tang-) ; T danga- (*dang- ) .30
T daida- ' to weary ' ; Q laira- 'to wear out, break up' (*dagd-) .
-J tak- ' stick, [stick] in , fix , firm, &c . ' ; modified tjak- , liJak- , ntak- , stak-, takj- , takiJ- , tank- ,
takk-: reduplicated takta- , atakiJ- .3 1
Q tak- ' to fasten' ; tanka (T tanca) 'firm' ; tyak- 'to stick' ; pak- ' to apply , attach' (*tl}ak-);
sahta 'to split' (*stak- + ta); taqa 'to build, fashion ' .
N thanc 'forked, split, bifurcated' (*stanka-) ; adab- 'build, establish' (*atakl}-) .
-J kapa- ' leap' , of which varieties k!Jap- , kiJamp- , and skap-, skamp-, and nkap- are
evidenced.32
Q kapta- ' leap ' , pa.t . stem kampie-; kampo 'flea' (*kampu-; cf. N caifr < *kamp'rfi = T
camparon) .
Q qap- 'throb , flutter' ; qapta- ' to flap' (trans . from kl}apja-) .
N hab- ' to jump ' (*skap-) ; Q hapta- 'eject, ejaculate' , originally ' to cause liquids to spirt
out' (*skapja- ) ; hampa- ' hop' .
These relationships are equally important in the formative elements: for example
the noun-formative -me appears also as -mbe, -we, -sme, -swe.
adjective-formative -da, as -za, -nda, and probably -ra, -la .
adverbial ending -ta, as -tta, -nta, and probably -sta, -tja.33
pronominal element ke, as kje, kiJe, nk!Je, kke?4
28
The following alterations in this group of forms were made in ink: i·dhail >> i·dael; dagula >> tagula; takl >>
pakl; and tacol >> pacol. NW has N dail 'axe-blade' < dagle, with cognate Q tdle .
29 Original dainc was changed in ink to deinc . NW lists (n)dag- ' to slay ' , with derivatives dagros ' slaughter' and
pa.t. dainc ' slew ' (PE 1 3 , p. 1 4 1 ) .

30 The following alterations in this group of forms were made i n ink: sanga >> tanga-; *dang- > *tang-; and the
addition of the Telerin form and its source.
31 QL lists TAKA ' fix, fasten' with derivatives including tanka (aj .) ' firm, fixed , fast, steady ' ; also TAQA ' fashion'
(PE 1 2 , pp. 88-9) . GL lists tab- 'cut to shape , fashion ' , tag- ' fix, make firm , construct' , tanc ' firm, steady , settled' ;
and tab 'shape , cut, fashion' (PE 1 1 , pp . 68 , 7 1 ) . NW lists adag- 'to build ' , adob ' a building' ( < *a-tdkwa) , tanc
' firm ' , tangod ' to fix , fixing' (<< ' fix up , making firm ' ) , tangos 'firmness, steadiness ' , and thanc ' split, cloven ,
forked' < *stankd T stanca (PE 1 3 , pp . 1 36, 1 53-4) .
=
32 QL lists KAPA ' leap, spring ' , Kampo 'the leaper' (PE 1 2 , p. 45) . GL lists cab- 'jump, leap' , camp 'a leap' ,
captha- ' startle' (PE 1 1 , p.24) . NW lists caifr ' flea' (< *kampru:), and cais ' leap' < *kapse (PE 1 3 , p. 1 40).
33 The last ending -tja is an addition in ink. In the associated "Descriptive grammar of the Qenya Language" or
Early Qenya Grammar, -nta, -tta are listed as allative adverbial suffixes meaning ' to, at, towards' (see above, p . 46,
below, p . 78).
34 In the Early Qenya Grammar (EQG) the 2nd person singular pronominal stem is ke- (as in mai ke·tule 'do you
come?') with prevocalic form ty- (as in ty 'anta ' thou givest' or the possessive tya·), presumably derived from *kj - .
The 1 st person plural inclusive stem i s qe-, apparently from *kye. (See above , pp . 52-5 3 , below, p. 85-86.)

Qenya development of the *Eldarin consonants
I. General tendencies, and changes.

The earliest and in many ways the most important of the Valinorian and Qenya consonant
changes were at the end , in the treatment of the final unaccented syllables . The consideration of
this requires a knowledge of the original Eldarin accentual system and the subsequent changes in
it.35 The following is sufficient for the present purpose (for details see the Vowels).3 6
A . Common Eldarin: accentuation 'free ' : the accent was not bound to fall on any definite
syllable of the word, nor was its incidence dictated by the form or rhythm of the word - certain
definite grammatical types (e .g. past tenses) were however accented in a similar fashion , and
certain definite formative elements always either did, or did not, take the accent. In this stage the
accent was probably partly , but not very strongly , stress accompanied by a very marked raising
of the voice-pitch . This describes final state; for description of A( l ) , A(2) see Noldorin?7
B . Qenya and Telerin (Valinorian) , probably after the Flight, developed a system of initial
accentuation marked by predominating and strong stress. The main accent was now placed on
the radical syllable , or such syllable as was naturally felt to be radical . Traces of older
accentuation appear to have been retained at first (in a raised pitch sometimes accompanied by a
slight secondary stress) unless the old accent fell on a syllable immediately following the new -
in this case there is no trace . The new accent, since the *Eldarin formatives were nearly all
suffixes, almost invariably fell on the initial syllable , the chief exceptions being the pronominal
prefixes, and the A- , and KA- forms of formative reduplication (as a regular element in verbal
conjugation) .
C . Qenya afterwards modified this system to a trisyllabic law for the details of which see the
Vowels - its effect on the consonant system was nil .3 8
In period A . no changes took place that affect Qenya (not, that is, changes of consonant in
which the accentuation has to be considered) .
Finally *E probably allowed (after loss of -d) any single original consonant to stand, and in
addition probably tolerated the groups -nt, -ns, -nk, -st, -sk, -lt, -lk, -rt, -rk?9 Of these however
the existence of -p and -b is doubtful, while the groups were rare , except in the case of -nt, -st,
-ns: most of them only occurred in accented monosyllables. Final -j and -w are not
distinguishable from -j , -y, that is the final elements of diphthongs.
35 Compare this account of the Eldarin accentual system, and its effect on the phonological development of the
descendent languages , with the sections on accent in SQ (pp . 4-7 , 26-27). In both accounts , the Common or
Primitive Eldarin accent was free ; the Valinorian or Cor-eldarin accent became fixed, almost always on the root
syllable; and the "modern" Qenya system is trisyllabic, falling on the penult if that syllable was long, or on the
antepenult if the penult was short.
36 In SQ the section on the "Accent system and its bearing on Quantity" (pp. 4-7) is incorporated into Part I , on
"The Vowels" (pp. 3- 14).

37 The final sentence of this paragraph was added in red ink . The subsequent historical phonology of Noldorin (from
the 1 930s) has a section on "Changes in Accent" which begins with certain very early changes due to the Primitive
Quendian free accent.
38 The "uniform trisyllabic law of Qenya" accent is also mentioned in the EQG (pp. 43 , 7 3 ) .
3 9 The parenthetical statement "(after loss of -;:))'' was inserted i n red ink. Cf. the list o f possible final consonants and
groups in SQ (pp. 26, 28).

Early Qenya Phonology f. R. R. Tolkien
STAGE I . The final consonants of accented monosyllables did not at this stage undergo any
change. The accentuation to be considered is the Valinorian (B) .
(a) Final -z and -3 1 vanished at the end of unaccented syllables without trace in Qenya.40 As
did in Kor Eldarin *E -;}; all subsequent consonant changes assume ;} vanishes .41
(b) probably somewhat later all the other consonants began to be weakened : - the stops to be
opened to spirants and then voiced; s in s and ns to be voiced to z ; the nasals to fall together in n.
(i) r, l, n, j, y, , and the final groups nt, st (except ns) may for this purpose b e regarded as
having remained.42
(ii) ns > nz > nn > n43
(iii) I), m > n44
(iv) s > z and later but early \
t > jJ > a > z . . . . . . . . � > r45
d> o>z .. . . . . .. )
2
(v) k > X > 3 which after lengthening the preceding vowel disappeared or became j after e ,
y, after o .46
g > 32 .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Also b , p , o , w , y, > y, .47
STAGE 11. The vowels , e, a, o, vanished in final syllables even when followed by a consonant
- but not when followed by a group or long consonant (i.e. when long by position) . At the
same period these vowels also tended to disappear medially in favourable circumstances , e .g .
2
40 These notes distinguish 3 1 , the primary consonant in the Eldarin tongue , and 3 , a secondary development o f the
consonant from the weakening of Eldarin final -k or -g > -x > -3. Original final -z is not treated in SQ (which lacks
detailed sections on l, r, z , and all of the nasals and voiced stops); but in notes on the other voiced spirants it is said
that 3 (represented there as y) vanished, except in certain consonant clusters (PE 1 2 , p. 24) , implying that final -3
would have vanished.
4 1 The final sentence of this paragraph was added in red ink. SQ states that "6, a, e, under certain circumstances
unclear because they belong to the earliest stage of the language, but connected with stress , gave ;/'; that the "origin
of -;l' belongs to the Primitive Eldarin period; and lists numerous consonant clusters following which " 8 vanished"
or "perhaps vanished" in the Cor-eldarin period (cf. PE 1 2 , pp. 3-5 , 1 1 ) .
4 2 The groups nt, st were inserted i n pencil . I n S Q original final -r, I - n , and -nt likwewise remained, but -st
- ,
ultimately yielded -s (pp. 26, 28) . There is no specific treatment in SQ of the semivowels in final position .
43 The penultimate ">" and the final development "> n" were added in red ink . In SQ, ns is said to have remained in
general, but since it is not listed among the possible final groups , it must in fact have simplified (if it ever occurred)
in final position, n or -s being the only plausible outcomes (cf. PE 1 2 , pp. 1 9 , 26, 28).
-
44 A further development of this derived n , "> van[ishes]", was added and then struck through in pencil. In SQ
original final - 1) (there spelt n) and -m, and the final nasal groups -nd, -mb, and -ng, all yielded -n (pp. 26, 28).
4 5 SQ also has final - s > - z > -r (p. 20); and although that text was set aside before Tolkien reached a discussion of
the voiced stops , perhaps compare final -d > -/5 > -z > -r here with d > z > r (SQ 24) . The opening of final -t to a
spirant -jJ is a new conception (in SQ final t is preserved), but for the further development of this -jJ > -/5 > -z > -r,
compare SQ -jJ > -d > -z > -r (see pp. 20, 22) .
46 The phrase "or became j after e, y after o" was added in pencil . As with t, the opening of final voiceless stop k to
a spirant X is new (SQ has -k > -t) ; but note that in SQ original spirant x gave h initially, and finally "h > 3 > - ,
with compensatory lengthening" (pp. 1 8 , 20, 22) .
47 This entry was added in red ink, overwriting a similar, faintly pencilled list of consonants in which only b and p
can still be made out. In SQ original final -p > -t, -b > - u , and -w apparently remained or in certain environments
yielded -a or - v (pp. 23-4, 28) .

Early Qenya Phono logy f. R. R. Tolkien
immediately after the chief stress especially if followed by j , y , l, r, &c .48 In final syllables and
syllables immediately following the chief stress (or a strong secondary stress on a long syllable)
the diphthongs aj , ej , oj , and ay, ey, oy became , by the obscuration of the first element, either 1
or u (see the Vowels) .49 Short 'i and u remained; so also did the long vowels , whether original , or
lengthened after the loss of 3 (from older k, g) . Note that diphthongs + k gave first 1k, uk > 1, u.50
Thus resulted
r < e, ii, 6 + s, r, t, d
t < e, a, 6 + 1
f) < e, ii, 6 + n, 1) , m
1 < e, ii, 6 + j or ek, eg5 1
U < C, a, 6 + 1j (b, p) or ok, og > Olj
also r < r + e , ii, 6 if a consonant preceded
! < l + e, ii, 6 if a consonant preceded but not in ll, rl > ll52
1J < nasal + e, ii, 6 if a consonant preceded but not in nn, rn
but 'i < j + e, ii , 6
u < y + e, a , 6.
A large number of new consonants originally medial now came to stand at the end of words.
These, together with the old original groups , were drastically reduced. The result, already in Old
Qenya, was that only the simple dentals l, r, s, n, t and the dental group nt could stand finally .53
This state was apparently reached thus:
(a) all consonants were dentalised .
k, p > t; g, b > d; m, n > n; whether alone or in groups; the groups were then all reduced
to their most sonorous element, except nt which remained .
(b) s then derives from s in accented monosyllables only (as kas ' head' , pi. kari);54 otherwise
in accented monosyllables it may (usually does) and in unaccented syllables must be a
reduction of ss-, st (st- & st) , ts, ps, ks; it is doubtful whether ht (kt, ht) gave s or t both -
occur, but one form is probably the result of analogy (see grammar on noun-stems) .55
48 A marginal note in pencil against this sentence gives an example: "mailiko > mailko > melko" . QL lists this name
as MELKO ' God of Evil ' without derivation . With the reduction and loss of original short e, a, o finally and in
"favourable circumstances", as well as the development of sonants and semivowels in connection with this , as
detrailed in the following paragraph , cf. SQ 3-5 , 1 1 .
49 With this simplification of the diphthongs, compare the development of these diphthongs in hiatus in S Q , and
contrast the survival of final -ai in the SQ form umpai (pp. 1 1 - 1 3 , 27) .
50 This final sentence was written in ink i n the top margin .
5 1 The words "or ek, eg" and, in the next line , "(b, p) or ok, og > oy" were added in faint pencil .
5 2 The words "but not in ll, rl > ll " were added in faint pencil, and in the next line "but not in nn , rn" in ink.
53 The group "nt" was inserted in ink . The earlier pencil layer of SQ admits of a larger set of final consonants and
groups, "Only l, r, s, n , k, t, nt, nk and, rarer and usually only in monosyllables , lt, lk, rt, rk were possible"; but in the
later ink layer, "k final > t" (pp. 22 , 26).
54 In contrast with this , QL and PME give kar (stem kas-) ' head' (under root KASA), and in SQ original s yields r
finally , apparently irrespective of the number of syllables (PE 1 2 , p. 20) . EQG as originally written has kar, stem
kas-, and pi . kasi, but this was altered to kas, stem kas- , pi . kasti, in the course of composing the typescript version
(see above, pp . 42-3 , below, pp . 7 1 -2 , 79).
55 The hyphen following ss and the figure "st- & st" were inserted in pencil. The meaning may be that among the
sounds that reduced to final s in Qenya, ss that was always originally followed by a vowel , but st could have been
followed by a vowel or occur finally in primitive Eldarin . See the similar annotation against nt in item (g) below ,
and note the statement above (p . 67) that earlier final consonant clusters were rare "except in the case of -nt, -st, -n."
For the section of the EQG referred to, see pp. 43 , 72.

Early Qenya Phono logy ]. R. R. Tolkien
(c) t derives from t (in accented monosyllables only) , or from ?ht (ht, kt), kk, tt, pt.
(d) n is derived from n, m, IJ, nd, ng, mb, nn, nz, &c .56
(e) r is derived from s, t (these in unaccented syllables only) , also d, r, rr, rd, rm, rn , rt, rk,
rp; but rg and rb had probably become rj and rlJ respectively anterior to this
development, and so yielded r'{ and ru, later re and ro.
(f) I is derived from l, ll, ld, lt, lk, lp, rl and possibly lm; but ln appears to have given [1J
whence later la.57
(g) nt probably relates to nt (nt- & nt) , nk and mp.5 8
It is to be noticed that medial s had at this period already produced r (from z), so that medial s
by this change yields also r: as *tesare 'tile' , *terar > telar; *karase ' lettuce' > *karar > kalar.59
No important changes have affected final consonants since the time of these drastic changes.
In Old Qenya began a tendency to spirantalise the one remaining final stop (t, nt) . This , being
favoured by dissimilation, established itself after vowels immediately preceded by t, nd (so that
already in Old Qenya we get ondos for *ondot) .60 In modem Qenya final t is everywhere
pronounced -s, except in Inwian; and nt > n (from ns > nz > nn) . In Inwian final nt is
pronounced in significant inflectional elements .61
Somewhat later than these changes (a) final long vowels were shortened but f, ii (whether
original or derived from aj &c . as above) retained their quality as f, u.62 Final f, u however and z,
u from consonant + ja, lJa, &c . , though not lost, became e, o.63 This change of f , u to e, 6 and of
j , lJ + vanishing vowel to e, o was earlier than the changes (i) of tl > tsi; (ii) of pj > pt.64
Thus
*mati gave mate, but *mat"i gave matsl-65
*tapjii gave tapta, but tapja gave tape (not > *tapta > *tapt > *tat) .
The new tz, [, J developed finally became, similarly to the treatment of original tz, r, J , and so
perhaps at the same time , -a, -ar, -i/.66 Thus *labna (N lajn) > *lamna > *lamn > lama, but pl.
*labnai (N leijn) > *lamn"i > lamni.67
The actual declensions show blending in form between this type of noun and the old original
consonant-nouns .
56 The group "nz"was inserted in faint pencil .

57 The group "rl" was inserted in pencil. Contrast SQ where sonant lJ resolves to -an , regardless of the preceding
consonant (p. I I ) .
58 The note "nt- & nt" was inserted in pencil. See note 5 5 above .
59
The change of medial -r- > -1- in these forms is probably due to dissimilation with the final -r; cf. the EQG where
dissimilation of the dative ending -r > -l occurs when the syllable begins with r, as in tantarel for *tantare-r (pp. 44,
73). With *tesare 'tile' cf. Latin tessera 'a square piece, a die; mosaic tile ' .
60
EQG has ondo ' stone' , accusative ondos, in contrast with kalma ' light ' , ace . kalmat (pp. 44, 73).
6 1 Cf. the note on dialectal variation in the SQ entry for t (PE 1 2 , p. 23) .
62
The words "as !, ii." were inserted in ink.
63 Cf. the development of short final -{ > -e and -ii > -o in SQ (pp. 8 -9) .
64
Cf. ti > tsi i n S Q (p. 23).
65
Cf. mat- 'eat' , pres . sg . mate, pi . matsil, in the EQG ( above , p. 57).
66
Contrast SQ where final sonant -I resolves to either -il or -ul depending on the quality of the preceding consonant;
and final sonants -lJ and -r resolve to -an and -ar, respectively, regardless of the preceding consonant.
67
EQG lists lama ' animal ' , pi . lamni, as a noun with -a from -v (pp. 44, 74).

Early Qenya Grammar in Typescript f. R. R. Tolkien
GRAMMAR
DEFINITE ARTICLE. i·, before vowels n· (older and in poetry in·).

The n form is also frequently used after a preceding vowel , as: - i·lambe 'the tongue ' ;
i·noldoli 'the gnomes ' ; i·lambe n·noldolion 'the tongue of the gnomes' .1 THE DEFINITE
ARTICLE IS INDECLINABLE.
INDEFINITE ARTICLE. This takes the form of a suffixed declinable adj . -ma ('a, some ,
certain ' ) ; pl. -me, &c . Trissyllabic nouns usually allow the full stem, as in declension , to appear:
the form of the article is then -uma. Trissyllabic nouns ending in a vowel , and having the
penultimate syllable short, lengthen the final syllable (or, historically , the original length
reappears) .
Thus: -
TANTARE 'dance' - TANTARE · MA 'a dance ' .
PELTAS 'pivot' - PELTAKS·UMA ' a pivot' .
Occasionally , esp . after r, I, n, a shorter form is used , as: -
KAIMASAN 'bed-chamber' - KAIMASAM(B·U)MA ' a bed-chamber' .
WINGIL ' sea-nymph ' - WINGIL(D · U)MA 'a sea-nymph ' .
NOUNS . Nouns are divided into 2 main classes, (A) Vocalic , (B) Consonantal . The majority of
the latter class are originally ' short vocalic ' nouns ending in an a, e, or 6 that has vanished. A
few old monosyllabic nouns (such as KAS 'head' , NER 'man ' ) appear to have been originally
consonantal ? Nouns do not appear to have ever been formed with stems ending in -1 or -u: the
same is true of adjectives .
Those ending in -i, -u now (rare: esp. l) are vocal [isms] of iy, uv, uw regularly and invariably
consonantal ; thus HARI 'blood' , haria, -io, -ie, pl . hari, &c .; kulu ' gold ' , kulu(v)a, kulu(v)e, &c .,
adj . kuliiva > kuluijva _3
NOUNS endings in -A: these all belong to class (A) Vocalic , except for a few words where -a
is from -tJ (from -tJ or -n;J) , as: - LAMA ' animal ' , pi . LAMNI .
NOUNS ending in -E: these are usually vocalic, but may also have stems in -f (from original
-t;J) , as: - SINQE, pl . SINQI 'jewel' , though this cannot be originally a ja noun since after long
syllables ij- was used.4
NOUNS ending in -0: these are nearly all vocalic , but (cf. preceding) a few have stems in -u
(from original -ij;J) , as: - MALO 'rust' , pl . MALWI.
1 The raised stop in each of these examples , and others throughout the text, was actually typed as an apostrophe ( ) .'
That Tolkien intended these to represent raised stops rather than apostrophes (or raised commas) is implied by those
few cases where both symbols occur in the same example . Thus Tolkien typed i·ner i·taralda 'n·Noldolion as
"I:NER I :TARALDA 'N:NOLDOLION", differentiating the two symbols he otherwise typed as apostrophes, by
typing the raised dots as colons in this particular case. (See below , p. 80 , and above , p. 48 .) Tolkien also discusses
the use of the raised stop in the section on "LOOSE COMPOUNDS" (p. 75) .
2 "KAS" was altered from "KAR" i n ink .
3 This paragraph is a marginal addition in ink . With "HARI" perhaps cf. QL hara ' flesh-meat' (p . 39) .
4 The words "though this cannot be originally a ja noun since after long syllables ij - was used" were added in ink .

Early Qenya Grammar in Typescript ]. R. R. Tolkien
NOUNS ending in L, -R, -S, -T, -N: these are uniformly consonantal except in the small and
-
obsolescent class where final -il, -ar represent original -! , -r. The stems of these nouns may
(except in the case of S) be that of the nominative , i .e. simple -/, -r (-s) , -n (-m) , -t. This is not
however common except in some frequent monosyllabic nouns (which represent real original
consonantal nouns) , as: - NER 'man ' , pl . NERI; TAL ' foot' , pl. TALl; NAT ' thing' , stem NAT
or NATT- , pl . NATSI ; NEN 'water' , pl . NENI ; NEN ' nostril' , pl. nengi. Final M and S l < st-,
s-, see phonology] have become N and R respectively , except in KAS ' head' , pl . KASTI; as QIN
' woman' , pl . QIMI . Where the simple consonants do occur in longer words the preceding vowel
is usually long in the inflected forms , as: - FALMARIN ' sea-fay (male) ' , pl. FALMARINI.5
IN THE MAJORITY OF CONSONANTAL NOUNS THE STEM ENDS IN A GROUP and
practically all represent original words in -e, -a, -6.6 The actual group is given in the dictionary ,7
but the commonest are as follows:
-L: -ld (very common, and tending to absorb stems of different origin , as WINGIL, pl .
WINGILLI, or later WINGILDI); and in order of frequency , -lt, -lk, -ll, -lp (rare). 8 On -il
from original -! , see below.
-R: -rd (very common and tending to absorb stems of different origin , as EHTAR
' swordsman ' , pl. EHTALLI , or later EHTARDI) ; -rt, -rk, -rr, -rp (rare) .9 On -r from -s
see above; on -r from -r, see below.
-N: -nd (far the commonest) , -mb, -ng; rarer -nt, -nk, -nn; very rare -mp . 1 0
-T: -tt, -kt, -pt. Of these -pt is less common . On -t with stern -ht see below . 1 1
-S : -ss, -ts, -ks, ps Of these -ps is less common . On -s with stem -ht see below.
-
.
Stems in -ht show norninatives in both -s and -t (the latter by analogy usually restricted to
inanimate things). It is difficult to say which is phonologically the historical form, for -ht gives
regularly in the plural -ksi, while -ksi can also relate normally to -kt- or -ks-, with regular
norninatives in -t and -s respectively . Either -t or -s therefore may be analogical . Again , -t
finally gives -s in Inwian after a dental preceding the vowel: ondot > ondos. 1 2
5This paragraph was modified in several places in ink: The words "which represent real original consonant nouns"
were written in the top margin, above the words "frequent monsosyllabic nouns" ; the annotation "[< st- , s-, see
phonol.]" and example "NEN ' nostril ' , pi. nengi" are interlinear insertions; and "KAS" and "KASTI" were altered
from "KAR" and "KASI" and made exceptions to rather than examples of the rule of final S > R . Apparently at the
same time as these modifications, an addition was made in ink, beginning above the word "respectively," and
reading: "except in accented monosyllables of which kas {is only example ?in ?nouns} is an example" . This note
was then marked with an "X" above it, probably indicating that it was not to be adopted .
6 The words "and practically all represent original words in -e, -d, -6" were added in ink.
7 The Qenya Lexicon, or lexical portion of the Qenyaqetsa, has the title "Qenya Dictionary" in the original notebook
(Parma Eldalamberon, no 1 2 p. 29) . In QL the consonant group of the stem of consonantal nouns is generally
,
given in parenthesis following the endingless form of the word or else the stem itself is given , e .g . ektar (rd)
'swordsman' , 'wingild- ' nymph ' , an (and-) ' gift' , nat (-tt) ' thing ' ; and similarly for consonants that vary in the stem
from that in the endingless form , eg. qin (qim-) ' woman , female' (pp. 3 1 , 3 5 , 64 , 7 7 , 1 04).
8 Note from the Phonology that both original -ll and original -ld yield final -l (above, p . 70).
9 Tolkien typed "EHTAR, sword", then added the extension "-sman" above in very faint pencil . Note from the
Phonology that original -rd yields final -r (p. 70).
10
The typed phrase "very rare -mm, m" was altered to "very rare -mp". Corresponding to the last four items here the
manuscript version has "-nt, -nk (rare) , -mp (very rare) ; and occasionally -nn, -mm ."
11
I n this and the following entry the cross-references about -t and - s are ink additions.
12
This sentence about Inwian ondot > ondos is a marginal note in ink .

DECLENSION: Nouns have a singular and plural and four cases in each: the nominative , the
accusative , the genitive , the dative . These cases are purely LOGICAL and have no physical
significance. Prepositions are employed with the 'nominative' form, or else replaced or
supplemented by the ' adverbial ' suffixes (see below) . 1 3 The nominative is the bare stem in the
singular, and the stem with addition of the bare plural suffix in the plural .
In consequence of normal phonological development this simple nominative stem is often
somewhat altered finally . The nominative is employed (except as above) only for the subject of
the sentence . The accusative is used for the direct object of the action (far more verbs are
regarded in Qenya as immediately transitive than in English); the dative for the remoter object
either in thought or consequence (as this is a much vaguer relation the dative permits of rather
wider extension than the accusative) ; the genitive is not ablative nor partitive , but purely
possessive or adjectival . The endings of classes (A) and (B) are rather different in the singular.
SING. (A) : nom. - , ace . -t, gen . -n, dat. -r.
PLURAL: -li, -lin, -lion, -fir.
SING. (B): -a, -0 , -e.
PLURAL: -l' -zn, -wn, -ir.

Archaically and poetically there is an extended form of the accusative pi . in -lint (less
frequently in declension B , -int) . Both are confined to ' animate' nouns . A final -t changes to -s
when the syllable begins with d or t; a final -r is changed to -l when the syllable begins with r .
In the vocalic declension the final vowel appears lengthened (see note on the indefinite article ,
above) before the inflexions in -li, where the preceding syllable is short and unaccented . The
distinction of accusative from nominative is in ordinary non-poetical usage practically confined
to ' animate' nouns . Even in poetry the chief exception, for metrical reasons , is the use of
inanimate things of the accusative ending -a in the consonant-declension . Note that most
vegetable objects (esp. trees) are rarely classed as neuter or 'inanimate' in Qenya - while all
things may in nonce-use be personified, so that the accusative forms may be formed from any
noun , and will always be here given . Thus: -
KALMA ' light ' ; TANTARE 'dance ' ; ONDO ' stone ' ; PILIN ' arrow ' 14•
SG. N . KALMA A. KALMAT G. KALMAN D. KALMAR .
TANTARE TANTARET TANTAREN TANTAREL.
ONDO ONDOS ONDON ONDOR.
PILIN PILINDA PILINDO PILINDE.
PL. N. KALMALI A. KALMALIN(T) G. KALM�LION D. KALMALIR.
TANTARELI TANTARELIN(T) TANTARELION TANTARELIR.
ONDOLI ONDOLIN(T) ONDQLION ONDOLIR.
PILINDI PILINDIN(T) PILJNDION PILINDIR .
The accent (in accordance with the invariable trissyllabic law of Qenya) is only shifted in
declension in the genitive plural of all classes , in the plural of nouns of the TANTARE class , and
1:1 The typescript reads "see below 7" , where "7" is an ink addition. The reference is to the section titled "THE
ADVERBIAL SUFFIXES or CASES" , which begins on a page with typescript numeral "7" at the top.
1 4 The manuscript version gives the declension of peltas (stem peltaks-) and adds, "Similarly, pilin from stem
pilind- ; kar from stem kas- ."

in the inflected forms of dissyllabic and polysyllabic consonant-nouns whose stem ends in a
consonant group. No quantitative changes take place except in the TANTARE class .15
NOUNS OF DOUBTFUL DECLENSION: -
These end in -a which is occasionally from -�, -n�
-e [which is occasionally from] -j-
-o [which is occasionally from] - y -
-il [which is occasionally from] -!

-ar [which is occasionally from] -[ .1 6
Those ending in -e, -o, -a are all absorbed analogically into the vocalic declension in the
singular (except in archaic and poetic language) , but in the plural , even in ordinary language ,
sometimes preserve consonantal forms (those in -e almost invariably do so) . Those ending in -il,
-ar, on the contrary , are always consonantal in the singular, but unless assimilated to nouns in
-ld-, -rd-, &c . , in the plural add -li as vocalic stems . Since this produces the appearance of nouns
with -ll- stems, this -ll- is sometimes introduced into the singular as well: the majority of nouns
with -ll stems are probably of this origin. Thus (the forms in brackets are archaic or poetical): -
LAMA ' animal' ; SINQE 'jewel ' ; MALO ' rust' ; WINGIL ' sea-nymph' ; EHTAR ' swordsman ,
warrior' .17
SG. N . LAMA A. LAMAT (LAMNA) G. LAMAN (LAMNO) D . LAMAR (LAMNE) .
SINQE SINQET (SINQIA) SINQEN (SINQIO) SINQER (SINQIE) .
MALO MALOT (MALWA) MALON (MALWO) MALOR (MALWE) .
WINGIL WINGIL(L)A, -ILDA, &c .
EHTAR EHTARA, -ARDA, &c .
PL. LAMNI LAMNIN LAMNION LAMNIR.
unless the noun has gone over without trace into the vocalic class forms in -AR, &c . , do
not appear.
SINQI SINQIN SINQION SINQIR .
forms in -eli, &c ., are rare & poetical (metri gratia) . 1 8
MALWI MALWIN MALWION MALWIR.
See note below.
WINGILLI , -ILDI , &c .
EHTALLI , -ARDI , &c . 1 9
Note: - Nouns in which a long syllable or a consonant-group (other than NG, NK) precedes
-0 have all gone over without trace into the vocalic class . The historic endings -UI , &c . , are
very rare even in the most archaic texts . Nouns of this type, in which -E is preceded by a short
syllable and a single consonant, make , in the archaic forms of the singular, -YA, -YO , -YE, as:
1 5 This is explained more fully in the manuscript: 'The vowel is lengthened (or rather the historic length reappears)
in trissyllabic words, or words accented on the ante-penult, whose penult is short, before -li (cf. -ma above) ." The
same phenomenon results with addition of the suffix -ma, as explained above in the section on the "INDEFINITE
ARTICLE" . Note that in the declension chart an acute marks a vowel that is long and stressed, as in
"TANTARELI", while an underposed comma marks a stressed short vowel , as in "KARMf\LION".
16
For the developments from final sonants and semivowels, see the Phonology (above, p . 70) .
1 7 Tolkien typed "EHT AR, sword", then altered the gloss to ' swordsman , warrior' in very faint pencil .
18
Latin metri gratia ' for the sake of the metre' .
1 9 The manuscript gives ehtar ' sword' with plurals tehtalli, and ehtari .

POLE ' grain ' : POLET (POLY A) , POLEN (POLYO) , POLER (POLYE).20 In this class alone
(which is not large) the consonantal forms are still common even in ordinary language. In
POLE, the ' consonantal ' forms (POLY A, &c .) are the normal .21
COMPOSITION & LOOSE COMPOSITION . These are widely and freely used in Qenya, and
are largely employed in place of vague case-relationships .
COMPOSITION . True compounds are written as one word and are fixed and lexicographical
expressions. They obey the ordinary trissyllabic law for the accentuation of single words. In
such compounds there is a frequent, almost regular, transition of the last element (if it is a
vocalic form, and especially if its last consonant-group is ND , RD , LD , KT, TT, PT, ST) in the
shortened consonantal form .22 Thus: NORE 'land ' : VALINOR 'land of the Gods ' . YONDO
' son ' : -YON, -ION, the ordinary patronymic ending (stem -YOND-, -IOND-) . This latter in the
form -ION has the same form as the genitive plural , and hence is sometimes formed from the -LI
plurals of vocalic nouns, as: KALMALIONDI ' sons of light' . The full forms are always
possible , and even where the shortened ones are fixed in the ordinary language the long ones are
freely used in verse , as: KALMALIONDO, V ALINORE.
LOOSE COMPOUNDS . These are a free and living function of ordinary speech . Archaically
they were written without connection; now they are usually written with the raised stop . The
individual words usually retain their own uncompounded stress , though that of the first element
is the stronger. In proparoxyton words , however, that are placed before a word with 2 initial
unaccented syllables , there is a natural tendency for the secondary accent on the last syllable of
the preceding word to become greater than the original chief accent, and to become the chief
accent of the group.23 Where this tendency has become fully carried out the group has of course
become practically a true compound and is often (esp . in verse) so written .Z4 Thus OHTA ' war' ;
KARO 'deed ' : KARO OHTAN (gen.) ' a deed of war' (literal) ; but OHTA KARO ' warlike deed;
hostile , unfriendly action ' ?5 MAPTALE ' seizure ' ; LEHESTA 'riding, raid' : MAPTALE·
LEHESTA ' (robbing) raid' ; often written and accented MAPTALELEHESTA.Z6 The chief
difference between this last type and the true compounds is that only in the fixed expressions
does the accent on the last element become stronger, so that the whole is accented exactly as if it
were a simple word.
Many adjectives are made by composition without the addition of adjectival suffixes, by the
simple juxtaposition of two nouns or adjective and noun . Thus: ANDARAMA 'long-wing' ;
EHTARAMA ' having a wing like a sword' ?7 The accent here i s on the last element, and so
2° Cf. QL pole (i) 'oats' (PE 1 2 , p. 75 ) .

21
The final sentence of this paragraph was added in ink.
22 The manuscript version lists only six consonant groups here, nd, rd, ld, kt, tt, and pt.
23 That is, in words with the chief accent on the antepenult (proparoxyton) the following syllable is always short and
unaccented, so there is a secondary accent on the final syllable, and this becomes the chief accent of the group.
24 Tolkien typed "the group has of course become in reality a true compound" and later altered this in ink .
2 5 The manusript gives the compound as 6hta·kdro, with primary accent on the first syllable, and a secondary accent
on the short penult.
26 The manuscript gives the compound as maptali-lehesta , and further notes that "compounds of this sort may be so
scanned in poetry , but are usually written as true compounds."
2 7 As originally typed, this sentence read: "Thus: ANDARA MA ' long-armed' ; EHTARR A MA 'having a (mighty)
sword-arm ' ." The modifications were made in ink . The manuscript version has anda·rama ' long arm(ed) ' .

Early Qenya Grammar in Typescript J. R. R. Tolkien
distinguishes it from the ordinary collocations of adjective and noun (the Qenya adj . may either
precede or follow the qualified noun; in the former case it forms virtually a loose compound with
the noun, but is written separate) , as: ANDA RAMA ' (a) long wing' ?8 In compounds where the
noun precedes there must be an additional adj . suffix [which is often found even in the preceding
case] as rdmandea?9
Duals?0
In addition to the construction of satto 'both ' , yuyo 'two' (see numerals) , the following
remains of the dual are still used: -
The words for eye, ear, nostril, foot, leg, hand, arm when used in the plural referring to the
members of one person only are construed with a singular adj. and verb, and with the following
special forms . Poetically the verb may be in dual .
eye hen pl. hendi du. henqP 1
ear unko pl. (unqi) unkoli32
du. unqi
nostril nen pl. nengi du . nenqi*
foot tal pl. tali du. talqi
leg pelko pl. (pelqi) pelkoli
du. pelqi
hand md pl. mdli du . maqi
arm ranko33 pl . rankoli du . ranqi
* The usual term for the ' nose' of one person: - noses of several is expressed by suni, pl. of
sune 'nose ' .
These are also declined differently to plurals.
N . A . -qi G. -qint D . -qit.
Cf. -t, -s ending of dual verbs .
Note also the (poeticalt) combination groups (dvandva compounds) with this ending, also
construed as singular ordinae4
Like: ' sun & moon' rdnuringwi, tahurasilqi.
28 The translation was originally "(a) long arm," altered in ink .

29 This sentence was added in ink. The brackets are Tolkien' s .
30 The entire section o n Duals was handwritten i n ink o n a separate page bearing the note "Add[itions] to page."
The number "6" was added later next to this note , and the typescript page 6 contains the end of the section on
"NOUNS" and the beginning of "ADJECTIVES ," between which this discussion of Duals presumably belongs.
The manuscript has no mention of dual nouns or pronouns, except in a list of nouns appended to the list of numerical
"Parts"; and nearly all discussion of duals in the typescript grammar arose as ink additions .
31 QL gives hen (hend-) 'eye' , pl . hendi, du. henwi, and the same dual form henwi occurs in "The Sounds of Qenya"
(PE 1 2 , pp . 2 1 , 40 , 82). For other items in the list and following note , cf. QL unk (unq-) 'ear of animals' , du. unqi;
tala (ii) ' foot' , du. talwi 'the feet' ; mii (< maha) ' hand' , du. maqi (< mahtWi) ' pair of hands' ; rii (also rakta) 'arm ' ,
du. raqi; and siine (e) ' the nose (human) ' , du. sunwi ' nostrils = nose' (pp. 57 , 78 , 86, 8 8 , 98) .
32 The plural forms unkoli and pelkoli and the parentheses around unqi and pelqi were added in pencil .
3 3 The word ranko replaced ram , probably a false start on rama . (See footnote 27 .)
3 4 The term dvandva, from a Sanskrit word meaning 'pair, couple' (< dva 'two ' ) , refers to a compound where the two
elements are in a coordinate or copulative relationship. Examples in English are fighter-bomber = a plane that is
both a fighter and a bomber, and bittersweet, being both bitter and sweet.

Also ** 'twins' yungwi

'heaven & hell ' tvalmandui, -manqP5
** 'husband & wife' veringwi
** 'parents' atarqi, older tattahwi, puyandui (puita- 'beget' )36
(trousers , socks, boots , gloves; see dictionary) .
** These are in common use .
ADJECTIVES . These agree normally in number and case with their nouns . They appear only in
-a (vocalic , invariably) ; -e, -o (the latter more rare) , of originally consonantal origin (cf. nouns);
-N (stem nearly always -ND) , consonantal . The consonantal class is much smaller than the
others; the bulk of adjectives end in -A.
VOCALIC . ANDA ' long ' .
SG. N. ANDA A. ANDA(S) G. ANDAN D. ANDAR (as nouns)
PL . ANDE ANDE(N) ANDEN ANDER
-E is from -AI . See note below .
DOUBTFUL . NINQE 'white' .
SG. NINQE NINQE(T) NINQEN NINQER (as vocalic nouns)
PL . NINQI NINQI(N) NINQIN NINQIR
CONSONANTAL. MELIN 'dear' .
SG. MELIN MELIN(DA) MELINDO MELINDE (as nouns)
PL. MELINDI MELINDI(N) MELINDIN MELINDIR
S [G] . (orig[inally] dual)
satto 'both ' satto(s) satton sattor [archaic -ur] .
sattos only used when 'both' is a pronoun .37
The longer ' substantival ' form of the gen . pl . (as ANDEON , NINQION , MELINDION) is
chiefly poetical , and there confined to agreement with ' animate' nouns that use the accusative
forms which fall together with the short genitive in the plural .
Adjectives may be freely used as nouns; their declension then is, of course , identical with that
of ordinary nouns, according to the KALMA, SINQE, PILIN classes . The differentiation
between the endings of adjectives and nouns has come about through the tendency to avoid the
jingling repetition of the longer plural endings. The -LI of the vocalic plurals in nouns is a
secondary (and special Qenya) formation with a suffix -LI meaning 'many ' , and such plurals as
-E (from -AI) in adjectival declension were once the plural of adjectives and nouns alike: a few
traces of similar plurals for nouns occur in the oldest texts .
35 The alternate ending "-manqi" was added in faint pencil.

3 6 With puita- 'beget' cf. QL root PU(HU) ' generate ' , with a derived verb pukta- whose gloss was erased, but may
well have been 'coire ' . There is also a derived noun punt! whose erased gloss was interpreted as "man, vir" but is in
fact "mem . vir." = ' membrum virile' (PE 1 2 , p. 7 5 ) . The Noldorin Dictionary gives Q puhta- as cognate with N
hoith 'coitus (one act) ' , which has a related verb huis 'coire (trans.), futuere' < *pukse (PE 1 3 , p. 1 63 ) .
3 7 This example satto 'both' was added as a marginal note i n ink. The brackets around " [arch . -ur]" are Tolkien ' s .

THE ADVERBIAL SUFFIXES or CASES .

These are: -
-SSE (inessive) with associated adj . -SSEA.3 8
-LLO (ablative) [with associated adj .] -LLUVA, -LOA39
-NTA , -TTA (allative)
-INEN (partitive) [with associated adj .] -INA
-NDON (manner) [with associated adj .] -NWA .40
These are added to vocalic stems without change, except the normal one of -El- , in other than
stem-syllables , to -1- (as SINQINEN 'of jewels ' ) . In the 'consonant' declension the old lost �
(from -e, -ii, -6) should reappear with varying quality . This normally produces -ISSE, -ULLO ,
-ANTA (or -ATTA), -NDON, -INEN; but the -1- is often extended (aided by the -1- that appears
where these forms are added to the plural stems) , especially to -INDON .41 The true consonantal
words employed shortened forms: -
-SE, -DE with associated adj . -SEA, -DEA42
-LO [with associated adj .] -LUVA, or -LOA43
-TA
-SON , -DON [with associated adj .] -TA, -VA .
But this class was never common and was practically confined to monosyllables (see above) .44
Such forms are now confined to a few adverbial forms separated from their nouns and usually
regarded as distinct words. Examples are given below .45
These endings are not included in the ordinary declensional system; for, although they are
freely employed (i) they naturally cannot be all formed from every noun and adjective; (ii) they
are never added, except in verse , to an adjective in agreement with an expressed noun: where a
qualified noun receives one of these endings (a somewhat archaic mode) the adjective usually
precedes UNINFLECTED (except rarely for plural) , and is virtually a loose compound, being
often so written , as: - TARA·KASSE 'on the high head (or top) ' ; pi . TARA-KASISSE(N) , or
rarely TARE KASISSEN (cf. the frequent 'tag ' in the measure -
- � I - � � 1 - 1 - 11 -
� � � � I - � � 1- � ( )
�
tara·kasse Taniqetildo, tara·kasisse hu·s6rie,

'on the high top of Taniquetil , on the high peaks he sat' (of Manwe)).46
38 The two inessive endings were altered in ink from -ISSE and -ISSEA, respectively.
39 The alternative ablative ending "LOA" was added in very faint pencil . (The hyphen was added editorially .)
40 The manuscript version includes glosses for each of the adverbial cases: inessive ' at, in, by ' ; ablative ' from , out
of' ; allative 'to, at, towards ' ; partitive 'of, out of' ; and manner '-ly, &c . , -ily ' .
4 1 The manuscript has: "The consonant declensions add -isse, -illo, -znen, -inta, -itta, -indon (with i from pl .). But a
few old words keep old ending -se, -lo, -ta, -don ." Later, following this, Tolkien added -isse, -ullo, -anta, and
-indon, endings that match the typescript version .
42 With the post-consonantal inessive variants -DE, adj . -DEA, cf. cemende 'on earth' , menelde ' in heaven' ,
meneldea ' (being) in heaven' , in the 1 950s Quenya Lord ' s Prayer ( Vinyar Tengwar, no . 43 , pp . 1 3 , 1 6 , 1 7) .
4 3 The words "or -LOA" were added i n ink.
44 The typescript reads "see above I " , where the number was added in ink . The reference is to the discussion of the
consonantal noun class ("B") under the section titled "NOUNS" on page 1 of the typescript (above p . 7 1 ) .
45 The typescript reads "given below (8)", where the number was added in ink . The reference is to the list of forms
KASSE, TALDE, etc . , given on page 8 of the typescript (see below) .

Thus: - KIRYA ' ship ' ; KIRYASSE 'on board' (place); KIRYANTA 'on board' (motion);
KIRYALLO ' from on board ' ; (SALLE) KIRYANDON ' (sailed) like a ship' .47 KULU ' gold ' ;
KULUINEN 'of gold' . The last form i s often used, uninflected, like an adjective (esp.
predicative). It is then more definite and literal than the corresponding adjective in -INA , as:
I·KULUINA PARMA 'the golden book' ( = gilded, adorned with gold, or even merely
'precious ' , 'wondrous'); I·TOLMA KULUINEN 'the helm (made) of gold' . This use is also
occasional with the -NDON adverb, as: I·KIRYA KULUNDON 'the ship (shining) like gold' .48
Examples of the consonantal forms:
KAS- ' head, top' ; TAL- ' foot, bottom' .
KASSE 'on (one ' s) head, on top of' (followed by genitive) .
TALDE ' at (one's) foot , at the bottom of' (followed by genitive) .
KASTA 'onto (one' s) head, to the top of' .
TALTA 'to (one ' s) feet, to the bottom of' .
KALLO ' from off (one' s) head, from the top of' .
TALLO ' from (one' s) feet, from the bottom of' .
NER 'man ' ; NERDON ' like a man , manfully' .
These forms being adverbial are not normally susceptible of a plural form [as] the stem has a
general significance; so that, for instance , KIRY ANTA can be used of many people embarking
in different ships. But (esp. in poetic language) plural forms are sometimes made . The endings
may then take the form -SSEN , -LLOR, -NTAR (-TTAR), and these are usually added to the
plural stem of the consonant-declension, and to the singular stem (rarely to the -LI plural stem)
of the vocalic declension .49 -NDON has no plural form,50 and -INEN is naturally plural or
collective . Thus: -
PILINDISSEN 'on the arrows ' ; ELDALLOR (rare , and poetic , ELDALILLO(R)) ' from the
elves' ; NOLDONTAR (rare and poetic NOLDOLINTA(R)) 'to the gnomes ' . Examples of the
adjectival forms: KIRYASSEA 'that is on board ship ' ; ER 'one ' , ERESSE ' alone , by oneself' ,
ERESSEA ' lonely ' ; I·NER ELDALLUVA 'the man from the elves' . KAIMASSE ' a-bed' ;
KAIMASSEA 'confined to bed' _5I
There is also a general adjectival suffix of vague signification: -V A, (consontantal) -UV A.
This is freely employed and is often practically equivalent to the genitive : thus TYALIE ' play ' ;
T YALIEVA 'to do with play , playful, i n play ' , &c . (note: MAR V ANWA TYALlEY A, which is
usually preferred to the corresponding expression in the genitive) .
46 In the Qenya sentence original tu·s6rie was altered to hu·s6rie in ink . The manuscript has tarak l asse Tan l iqet l fldo
11 taraklasse tu l ·sorie, with the bars
marking out the feet in the text rather than in the metrical scheme. The trochee in
the fifth foot of the earlier scheme is here replaced by a dactyl, corresponding to the change of the second
occurrence of singular tara·kasse to plural uira·kasisse .
47 For the typescript "KIRY ANT A, on board (motion)" the manuscript has kiryatta, and regarding kiryandon 'like a
ship' adds: "This form is also but not so often used predicatively or adjectivally."
48 In the manuscript kulundon was modified to kulu(i)ndon, and the example a kalie kulundon 'it shone like gold' is
also given .
49 The word "may" in this sentence is an insertion in ink . The manuscript says only that "These forms may less
frequently be added to the plural" , and lists the forms "-ssen, -!!or (or -lion) . -intar."
50 The manuscript has: "-ndon is a pure adverb".
5 1 The "KAIMASSE" examples were added in the bottom margin in ink .

COMPARISON & FORMATION OF ADVERBS FROM ADJECTIVES .

ADVERBS : These may be formed with the terminations detailed above , especially with
-NDON.52 In addition , where the notions contained in those suffixes are not concerned ( 1 ) the
uninflected adjective (esp. in the case of -E adjs.) is often used; (2) a general adverbial suffix -0
is used giving
with consonantal adjs. -U
with -A adjs. -0
with -I (E) adjs. -IO , -YO , -YU53
with -U (0) adjs. -U.
As adverbs are also occasionally used forms with the accusative -T, -S.
ADJECTIVES have two comparative forms (a) AUGMENTATIVE (b) DIMINUTIVE

(a) -LDA, having with consonant and -E stems form -ILDA
(b) -TSA , having with consonant and -E stems form -ITSA.
The corresponding adverbs are:
(a) -LDO or -LOOS ; rarely -L.
(b) -STEN , or -STE; rarely -S .54
Thus:
NINQE ' white' NINQILDA ' whiter' NINQITSA ' less white'
NINQIO ' whitely' NINQILDO(S) ' more whitely' NINQISTE(N) ' less whitely ' .
For NINQIO the uninflected (originally predicative?) NINQE is often used.
An old comparative ending is evidenced (chiefly in the pronouns). It is purely comparative.
-TYA, as in ETYA ' other' . The 'preposition of comparison' (see below) is different after this
suffix .
NOTE:
OLYA 'much' (adj .) OLDA, or LILDA 'more'
OLE 'much' (adv.) OLDO(S) , or LILDO(S) & frequently LIL 'more' .55
MITYA ' little' (in quantity) MITSA, or MIKITSA ' less' (adj .)
MIKE ' little' (adv .) MISTE(N) , MIKISTE(N) , occasionally MIS .56
' Much' , 'Little ' &c . have no diminutive forms. Owing to the special significance of the stem
with 'Little' only the formally diminutive suffixes are used though logically with augmentative
sense . The diminutive form is also little used with many common adjectives that have a well
defined opposite as 'Good' - 'Bad' , &c .
5 2 The typescript reads "detailed on page" , with no page number provided. The reference is to the list of endings
given at the start of the section titled "THE ADVERBIAL SUFFIXES or CASES" .
53 The alternative adverbial endings "YO , YU" were added in faint pencil . (The hyphens are editorial .) For the
adjective types "-I (E)" and U (0)" the manuscript version has " -1 (e)" and !:1 (a) " respectively .
"- "-
54 The alternative form -STE is not given in the manuscript, and thus the final n is not marked as optional there in
the corresponding example ninqisten 'less whitely' .
55 Neither the adjectival nor adverbial forms in l- appear in the manuscript. For the comparative adverb the earlier
version has an additional unglossed form ol, perhaps a conceptual precursor of "LIL" as a frequent shortened form
of "LILDO(S)".
56 In the manuscript the forms "MIKITSA" and "MIKISTE(N)" do not appear, the adverb ' l ittle' has alternative
forms mit, mike, and the final n in misten 'less' is not optional.

These suffixes are also sometimes applied to nouns, as: NERILDA 'more of a man , more (or,
surpassingly) manly' ; NERILDOS ' in more (or, surpassingly) manly wise' . In other words the
endings -LDA , -TSA are purely adjectival suffixes associated with a vague or augmentative or
diminutive force, and not necessarily or originally confined to forming 'comparatives' from
other adjectives.
This is also shown: (i) by the 'preposition of comparison' - used where in English 'than ' is
employed. After -LDA it is LA (' - before ' ) ; after -TSA it is NO (' - after' ) ; after the rarer
(and usually pronominal) -TYA, either TA (' - by , beside ' ) or the dative case may be employed .
In a few fixed phrases , and rather more often in archaic language , the dative may also be
employed after all (probably in imitation of the older true comparative): as MALDA MUNTAR
(or, less frequently , MALDA LA MUNTA) ' better than nothing' .
Hence in several cases , with common adjectives and especially secondary derivatives , the so
called 'comparatives ' are formed naturally from the stem without the adjectival derivative
suffixes of the positive . Thus:
VANYA' good (not evil)' VALDA , or V ANY ALLA .57
MARA ' good (not bad) ' MALDA 'better' , adv . ma/.5 8
ULQA 'evil ' ULQALDA , or ULDA
FAIKA 'bad' FELDA (fromfailda) ' worse' .59
The SUPERLATIVE of comparison is expressed by the comparative with prefixed article; the
article is again prefixed even if already prefixed to the noun . This is followed by either the
genitive60 or the partitive ' adverbial ' form, and the distinction of meaning is very slight. The
partitive is preferred with collective nouns or names of substances , and the genitive generally
when any particular smaller group is thought of.61
I· MITTA 'N·FELDA AKSINEN 'the worst piece of steel '
I·NER I·TARALDA ' N · NOLDOLION (or NOLDOINEN , without article) 'the tallest
man of (or, among) the Gnomes' .62
As a mere intensive the superlative is expressed by intensive prefixes and particles:
augmentative: OL(E) , OLOLE; ARE; AKA , &c .
OLI- (OLE-) ; ARI- (ARE-); AKA-
diminutive: MIE; MIKE; MIMIKE.
Ml(E)-; MIKI- (MIKE-); ITSI- (ITSE-) .
Adjectival forms of the nominal augmentative suffixes are also sometimes used:
Aug . -UME derived adjective -UMEA, -UMYA .
-(Y)ANDO , -(V)ANDO -(Y)ANDA , &c .
Dim . -INE -INEA, -INY A.
-(W)INTE, -LINTE -(W)INTYA, -LINTYA .6 3
57 For ' good (not evil)' the manuscript has adjective manya and adverb "manilda or manyalda".
58 The words "adv . mal" were added in ink.
59 The wordfailda was altered in ink fromfeilda .
6°
For "genitive" the manuscript has more explicitly "genitive pi . adjectival" , which the second example below
suggests is still the conception here .
61
The words "the genitive" were inserted in pencil .
62
In these examples the manuscript has aks{nen. with long {, and taralda, with long a.

NUMERALS .
1. 'one (in a series) ' MIN . MINYA ' first'
'one (only , alone)' ER . ERYA' only , single'
2. ' two' YUYO . POTSINA ' second' (lit. ' following' )
' the two, both' SATT064 . ETYA 'other'
3. 'three ' NELDE . NELYA 'third'
4. ' four' KANTA . KANYA 'fourth '
5. 'five' LEMIN . LEMINYA ' fifth'
.
6. ' SIX ' ENQE, or ENEKSE . ENETYA ' sixth'

7. ' seven' OTSO . OTYA ' seventh'
8. 'eight' TOLTO . TOLYA 'eighth'
9. ' nine' HUE . HUYA 'ninth' 6 5
10. ' ten' KAI , usually in the . KAIY A, more recently KEANY A, ' tenth ' 66
partitive KAINEN after other
numerals: KEA, adjectival .
11. 'eleven' MINQE . MINQENYA 'eleventh '
12. ' twelve' YUNQE . YUNQENYA 'twelfth'
13. ' thirteen' NELKEA . NELKAIY A, more rec . NELKEANYA67
14. 'fourteen' KANKEA . KANKAIY A, more rec. KANKEANY A
15. ' fifteen' LENKEA , or LEMINKEA . LEMINKAIYA, &c .
1 6. ' sixteen' EN(EK)KEA . ENEKKAIYA , &c .68
17. ' seventeen ' OKKEA . OKKAIYA , &c .
18. 'eighteen' HUALQE . HUALTY A, or HUALQENYA
(rarely TOLKEA) (rare TOLKAIYA, &c.)
19. ' nineteen' HUKEA . HUKAIY A, &c .
20 . ' twenty ' YUKAINEN The remainder are new formations for
which the older language used cardinals ,
as: YUKAINENYA 'twentieth ' &
similarly the other decades.
2 1 . ' twenty one' MINYA YUKAINEN MIN-YUKAINEN(YA) , or MINYA
YUKAINEN(Y A) ' twenty-first' .69
30. ' thirty ' NEL(DE)KAINEN
40 . ' fourty ' lsic] KAN(TA)KAINEN
50. 'fifty' LEMINKAINEN
60 . ' sixty' ENEKKAINEN
63 In these examples the manuscript has -ume and -umea, with long u, and -fne and -inea, with long i.
64 "SATTO"was altered in ink from "SATTA" .
65 An "x" is written in ink against this entry in the left margin; and also against the entries for 1 8 and 1 9 .
66 "KEANY A" is altered in ink from "KEATYA" . The manuscript does not describe either kaiya or keatya as "more
recent" . There was a similar alteration of "MINQETYA" >> "MINQENY A"; "YUNQETY A" >> "YUNQENYA";
"NELKEATYA" » "NELKEANYA"; "KANKEATYA" >> "KANKEANYA"; and "HUALQETYA" >>
"HUALQENY A".
67 The manuscript does not describe either nelkatya or nelkaiya as "more recent" .
6x "EN(EK)KEA"was altered in ink from "EN(EK)EA".
69 "MINY A YUKAINEN" was altered in ink from "MIN YUKAINEN", the form in the manuscript. A note in the
left margin reads "or YUKAINEN MIN".

70 . ' seventy' OTSOKAINEN ,

or occasionally OKKAINEN
80 . 'eighty' TOL(TO)KAINEN
90 . ' ninety ' HUEKAINEN
1 00 . ' a hundred ' TUKSA (pl . TUKSE) , TUKSANY A ' 1 001h' .
or when not multiplied KEKAINEN70
1 1 0. KEA TUKSA,
or MINQEKAINEN
1 20 . YUKAINEN TUKSA,
or YUNQEKAINEN
200 . YUYO TUKSA, or YUTUKSA71
300 NELDE TUKSE
1000 . TUKSA KAINEN ,
or TUKSAINEN (< *tuksk-) , TUKSAINENYA,
or MAITE (MAISI-) or MAISINYA ' 10001h ' .72
1 ,000 ,000 vaguely 'a very great number' SORA;
as numeral MINDORE; MINDORINYA 'millionth' , &c .73
similarly yund6re, neld6re, kant6re, lemind6re, enqend6re, otsond6re &c .
for 'billion' , 'trillion ' , 'quadrillion ' , &c .74
Of these numerals the construction is as follows:
(i) all numerals precede the qualified noun .
(ii) all may be employed alone as nouns or pronouns (i.e. representing their abstract numerical
notion , or so many of some noun understood) - except KEA , and those ending in -KAINEN;
they may in such cases be declined as ordinary nouns. Kainen and the -Kainen numerals are
indeclinable; KEA is an adjective for which the corresponding noun is KAI .
(iii) ER and MIN are indeclinable as adjectives . SATTO is a declined adjective preceded by
the article , and followed by the singular: as I · SATTO NER (this is a relic of old dual
construction) .75 YUYO is indeclinable and also joined with the singular. It is not employed with
the few remaining old duals (see above) .
(iv) The numerals from NELDE to HUE and also MINQE, YUNQE, HUALQE are
indeclinable adjectives and employable with the singular usually , but the plural may also be
used, especially if the noun is further qualified, as minqe elda, but minqe laiqe eldali ' eleven
green elves ' .
(v) But all numerals , except KEA, can be employed with the partitive of collectives , as
YUYO KULUINEN 'two (pieces) of gold'; or with the ordinary genitive , as YUYO
N · ELDALION 'two (of the) elves ' . The difference between I · YUYO ELDA and YUYO
70 The plural form "TUKSE" is given in an ink note in the left margin . For "KEKAINEN" the manuscript has
keakai(li), replacing (kai)kainen, or possibly (ke)kainen.
7 1 This entry and the following were added in ink.
72 For "TUKSA KAINEN" the manuscript has a single word tuksakainen, and for the alternative forms "MAITE
(MAISI-)" and "MAISINYA" it has hume and humetya .

73 For "MINDO RE" and "MINDORINY A" the manuscript has mind6ra and "mind6ratya or -anya".
7 4 Instead of yund6re 'billion ' , neld6re 'trillion ' , etc . , the manuscript has yund6ra ' 2 m [illion] ' , neld6ra ' 3 m . ' , etc .
75 "SATTO" was in both cases altered in ink from "SATTA". In the manuscript version this relic dual form is
combined with a dual noun, as i·satta neri ' both the men ' .

N·ELDALION is precisely as in English, but in Qenya one can also employ a form I·YUYO
N·ELDALION with practically the same sense as I·YUYO ELDA.
(vi) KEA is a declinable adjective employed with the plural: as KEEN ELDALIN ' the ten
elves' (accusative pl .) , or with the singular of collectives , as KEA KULU 'ten pieces of gold' .
The same applies to the compound numerals as NELKEA, except that with these the forms
NELKAI &c. are now no longer in use even as nouns. KAI NERION 'ten men ' ; and KAI
KULUINEN are obsolete modes now no longer in use.76
(vii) KAINEN and the compound numerals in -KAINEN being in form partitives (of KAI) are
only employable as nouns and must be followed by the genitive or the partitive. The same
construction have also the nouns TUKSA, MAITE, SORA , MINDORE, &c .
THE ORDINALS. See list above . These are naturally fully declined ordinary adjectives .
QUOTIENTIALS. These are:

ERU 'once ' - hence frequently ERU- , as: ERUMAITE 'one-handed' .
YU 'twice' . YU- is frequent as a prefix .
NEL 'thrice' .
KAN ' four times ' .
The others are all formed with the suffix -LLUME (cf. lume 'time ' ) as: LEMILLUME,
ENQELLUME, &c . , KELLUME (from KAILLUME) , beside later KEALLUME,
MINQELLUME, &c ., NELKE(A)LLUME, &c . , YUKAINELLUME, &c . TUKSALLUME. In
addition the first four are also formable with the same suffix: ELLUME , YULLUME,
NELLUME (or NELDELLUME) , KANTALLUME. The same suffix is also added to the
ordinals , except MINYA, as: POTSINALLUME ' a second time' . MINYALLUME is rare
except as 'Firstly' in enumerating the heads of an argument. Otherwise MIN alone is employed
as an adverb . HU·KARNE HA MIN ' he did it first' (i .e . either before anyone else did so , or
before he did anything else).
FRACTIONS.
'Whole' KAINA, adj.; KAINO , n . Cf. KAI 'ten' = all fingers .
' Half' LEMY A I LEMPEA LEMPE Cf. LEMIN , half the fingers.77
'Third' NELDEST(Y)A NELDESTO.
'4th ' KANTAST(Y)A KANTASTO .
' 5th' LEMINTYA LEMINTO
' 6th' ENQEST(Y)A ENEKTO , or ENQEST078
' 7th ' OTSONTYA OTSONTO
' 8th' TOLTOST(Y)A TOLTOSTO
' 9th ' HUEST(Y)A HUES TO
' l Oth' KESTYA KESTO
' 1 1 th ' MINQEST(Y)A MINQESTO
76 The only examples in the manuscript are kei! neri ['ten men ' ] , and kai ner, described as "now archaic, & poetic" .
77"LEMYA " was altered in ink from "LENYA" .
78For ' 6th' the manuscript has adj . enektya, enquetya and noun enekto, enquetto, for ' 7th' otsotya and otsotto, for
'9th' huetya and huetto, for ' lOth' keatya and keatto, for the noun ' 1 3th' nelkeatto, for ' I OOth' tuksatya and tuksatto,
for ' I OOOth' maisitya and maisitto, and for the noun ' I ,OOO,OOOth' mindoritto.

' 1 3th' NELKESTYA NELKESTO

NELKEAST(Y)A NELKEASTO
' 2 1 st' YUKAINENTYA YUKAINENTO
' lOOth' TUKSANTYA TUKSANTO
' lOOOth' MAISINTYA MAISINTO
' I ,000 ,OOOth' mind6rintya mind6rinto
&c ., &c.
PRONOUNS .
PERSONAL PRONOUNS .
The stems or root syllables are: -
SG. 1 NI-; 2 KE 3 masc . HU- ; fern . HI- ; neut. HA-;
PL . l (a) ME-; l (b) QE-; 2 LE-; 3 masc . TU- ; fern. SI- (from *TI); neut. TA- :
PL. l a. excludes the persons addressed, l b . includes them . l a. & b. and 2 have dual forms
MU- , KU- , LU- , respectively. These pronouns have an unaccented preverbal (enclitic) form,
functioning according to place as an accusative or nominative (see below); also an unaccented
but disjunctive form of the dative and genitive; a complete declension of emphatic accented
forms , and a prenominal possessive adjectival enclitic form.79
PREVERBAL PROCLITIC .
A single proclitic before the ordinary verbal forms is taken as a NOMINATIVE , as:
HUMATE; usually (to show the accent) written HU · MATE 'he eats' ; HIMANTE ' she ate' . An
accusative proclitic with unexpressed nominative has naturally to be placed before the
impersonal or 'passive ' form as: HAMATSIR 'one eats it, it is eaten ' . When both nom. and ace .
pronouns are expressed, the first is the nominative and the second is the one regarded according
to Qenya syntax as accusative .
Preverbal forms are simply the stems as noted above , with certain slight modifications
according to the neighbouring sounds .
*** *Note that HA is only employed with definite reference - except when combined
with a pronoun of the accusative , the purely impersonal 'it' is expressed by the active
form without pronoun . Thus: HA·TULE ' it (some definite thing) comes ' , TULE MER ' it
comes to us, falls to our lot' , TULE NE 'it comes to pass that ' ; UQE 'it rains ' .
79The term enclitic (from the Greek , meaning literally 'leaning on ') refers to an unaccented form so closely attached
to the adjacent word that the resulting pair is accented as if it were a single word . Strictly speaking , an enclitic is
attached to a preceding word , as opposed to a proclitic, which is attached to the following word . (The term proclitic
is a modern word based by analogy on the older word enclitic.) Tolkien uses the term proclitic in the following
paragraph; but here he uses enclitic merely to contrast this type of attachment with "unaccented but disjunctive"
forms that do not affect the accent of neighboring words.

SG. 1 NI before vowel NY- , N before I as nyanta, nista 'I give , know' 80
2. KE before vowel TY-, T before I as ty 'anta, t'ista 'thou givest' &c .
3m. HU lbefore vowel] HW- , before D, H- as hwanta, hule = 'he pours'
f. HI lbefore vowel] HY- , before I , H- as hyanta, hista ' she knows'
n. HA [before vowel] H- as hanta, hule, hista .
PL. l a. ME see below \
lb. QE see below �
2. LE see below I
3m. TU , f. SI, n . TA8 1 }
D. l a. MU-
lb. KU-
2. LU-.
Before vowels the plural and dual forms proceed from ME! , QE! , LE! , TUl} or TU! , Tl! ,
TA! , MU! , KU! , LU! , giving ME- , QE- , LE- , TU- , SI- , TE- , MU- , KU- , LU- before A with
accent on the A.8 2 Thus meiintal, qeiintal, leiintal, tuiintal, siiintal, teiintal, muyantas (muyanyet,
pret.), &c .8 3
[Dialectally we get tuy- I p- for tu-, hy for si-, t- for te- ; as m (< nw-) for mu-, q- for
ku- .]s4
Before e, e1 gives i with accent on e of stem (verb) . mieltal 'we drive' , qieltal, lie/tal, tueltal,
sieltal, teiiltal (also teltal, or by analogy tie/tal) , muyeltal &c .85 eJ i should give e1 > ai: This is
retained in a few common verbs as maistal = 'we know' ; cf. also tuistal beside tui'stal = ' they
know' , but usually ei· is used, while si always [sistal (written s 'istal)] contracts , and ta usually .
Before o we have me6, qe6, !eh, tub, sib, tei', muyo, &c .
Before u we have meU, &c . with rare diphthong except in tu. tiimil ( = 'they . . . not'), taumil
neut., tyiimil fem .86
ey, iy > J ii would have obscured the pronominal forms . Such obscured forms as nyiimil,
(l)yiimil also occur, but are dialectal .87
0
8 The alternative prevocalic forms "N" and in the next line "T" and all of the example verbs were added in ink.
81 The plural 3rd person forms , the dual labels and forms , and the following paragraphs, were all added in ink .
82
This paragraph was added to the right of the brace connecting all of the plural forms. The text continues on the
verso of the sheet, where this version of the Qenya Grammar ends two-thirds of the way down the page.
83 The word muyantas replaced muantas, and muyanyet was altered from muanyet.
84 The brackets around this note are Tolkien' s .
8 5 The first example i n this list , mieltal replaced mientel i n the act of writing .
86
As originally written , this paragraph read: "Before u we have meil , &c. with rare diphthong except in meumil =
' we not ' , &c ., but tu . tumil (= 'they
0 0 . not'), siii but normally hyu, taumil neut . , tyumil fern ."
0 0 .
87 In this sentence an example, probably hyamil, was heavily deleted, apparently as the sentence was being written.

The Valmaric Script
Documents by J. R. R. Tolkien
Edited with introduction and commentary
by
Arden R . Smith

The Valmaric Script f. R. R. Tolkien

The Valmaric Script J. R. R. Tolkien
Introduction
The History of the Valmaric Script

The mid to late 1 920s were a period of experimentation in the history of J. R. R. Tolkien' s Elvish
alphabets. The Feanorian script did not achieve a familiar form until about 1 93 1 , but the
Alphabet of Rumil was not its only predecessor. During this period Tolkien created several
Tengwar-style writing systems that did not survive into later conceptions of Elvish linguistic
history. The earliest of these scripts appears with such names as Qenya writing, Qenyatic,
Qenyarinwa, and Valmaric. For the purposes of this edition , the script will generally be called
Valmaric, since this term is only used with reference to this type of script, whereas Qenyatic is
also applied to other Elvish alphabets .
The numerous variants of the Valmaric script seem to be confined to a relatively short space
of time , from about 1 922 to 1 925 . Most of the descriptions of this group of alphabets were
written on paper associated with the University of Leeds , where Tolkien taught from the autumn
of 1 920 until he returned to Oxford in the autumn of 1 925 . One table, however, is written on the
so-called "Oxford Paper," which could not have been used before the summer of 1 924, when
Tolkien acted as an external examiner at Oxford .1 Only one document is explicitly dated: the
"Lunar Landscape" drawing associated with Roverandom, which bears a date of 1 925 .2
The fictional history of the script is much more difficult to determine . Since Tolkien was
working on Rumilian and Valmaric simultaneously , it seems likely that they were intended to co
exist in the same linguistic conception , though this is not addressed in the documents themselves.
A diachronic development is reflected in the use of such adjectives as early, archaic, middle,
late, and revised to describe varieties of the script, though whether this is the script' s real-world
development or its development in the fictional world is not always clear. The texts concerning
the alphabet indicate that it was still supposedly in use by the Elves at the time of Tolkien ' s
writing , through the use of such phrases as "now always used ," "now seldom used ," and "still
frequent."
The Documents in the Corpus

The corpus presented in this edition contains every known example of the Valmaric script with
the exception of those found in an incomplete English-Qenya dictionary , which we plan to
publish in its entirety in Parma Eldalamberon, no . 1 5 . The two previously published examples,
which are both extremely brief, have not been included in the main corpus but are simply
presented here . These are the aforementioned caption to the "Lunar Landscape" drawing ,
�WZ,o l?Db'3h.roh (which may be transliterated as luwnr landskeyp) , and the word nt6n tilt
in the Early Noldorin Grammar? Included in the corpus are thirteen documents , to which I have
1 The Lays of Beleriand, 1 985. p. 8 1 .

2 Roverandom , ed. Christina Scull and Wayne G . Hammond, 1 998, facing p. 42 . The illustration was first published
in Hammond and Scull, J. R. R. Tolkien , Artist & Illustrator, 1 995, p. 7 8 .
3 Parma Eldalamberon , no . 1 3 , p. 1 23 , footnote 36.

The Valmaric Script ]. R. R. Tolkien
assigned the abbreviations V 1 through V 1 3 . Where a document consists of more than one page ,
the individual pages are indicated by lower case letters , e.g., V 1 a through V 1 d.
The thirteen documents are of various types. The most prevalent type consists of tables of
alphabetic symbols with phonetic values indicated, or discussions of the alphabet comprised
primarily of such tables: V 1 -V5 , V7 , and V 10-1 3 . Document V6 is an incomplete English
Qenya word-list of the parts of the body, with Qenya forms given in Valmaric script. The
remaining documents are comprised primarily of connected text in Valmaric: V8a is an excerpt
from Beowulf, V8b consists mainly of excerpts from the Lord' s Prayer, and V9 is essentially the
cover inscription to The Book of Scripts .
A list of the thirteen documents follows , each briefly described, with Tolkien ' s titles m
quotation marks, and the page number of each document in this edition:
V 1 : Description of "Valmaric (A)" 98 .
V2: Description of "Valmaric (B)" 1 03 .
V3: Description of "Qenya Writing" 1 06 .
V4: Untitled Table 1 12.
V5: Description of "Qenyatic: Special Eldarin Usage (Archaic)" 1 14 .
V6: List of "Parts of the Body" 1 17.
V7: Table of "Valmaric Writing: ( 1 ) Old Form" 1 19.
V8: "Beowulf in Qenyatic" and Lord' s Prayer Excerpt 1 20 .
V9: Title of "The Book of Scripts" 1 24 .
V 1 0: Untitled Table 1 26.
V 1 1 : Untitled Table 1 29 .
V 1 2: Untitled Table 131 .
V 1 3 : Untitled Table 1 33 .
General Overview of Modes and Varieties

The varieties of Valmaric script were classified by Tolkien into three main types: Old, Middle ,
and Late . In the Old and Middle types, the symbol for p has the form h , whereas the Late type
employs the form r.> . The three types are distinct in the representation of t: Old n (or Jr) ,
Middle d , Late ct . The Old type is the most prevalent, exemplified in all of the documents
except V2. The Middle and Late types are restricted to V2 and the two rightmost columns of
V l .4
The Valmaric modes may also be classified according to the language to which they were
applied. Of the modes presented in V 1 and V2, A(i) , A(iv) , A(v), B(i) , and B(iv) are explicitly
linked with Qenya, and B(v) also appears to be a distinctly Qenya mode . Tolkien identifies the
mode in V3 as A(i), that in V4 as A(iv) , and that in V5 as A(v) . The mode used to write the
Qenya vocabulary of V6 is consistent with A(iv) and nearly consistent with the very similar
A(v) . The modes used in V 1 0 , V 1 1 , V 1 3 , and in the word Qenyarinwa in V9 are also clearly
Qenya applications.
Turning to modes used for the representation of other Eldarin tongues, document V3 states
that the "old common Eldarin system (or its special Qenya development)" was "quite distinct
from the very special and distinct Gnome , or Gondolic, form that is now occasionally used for
4 The variety used in the "Lunar Landscape" drawing differs greatly from all the others . There p is represented by
h. and the form of the sign for d , 6, suggests that the sign for t would have the form b in this mode.

recent Qenya." Mode A(ii) is described in V I as "Early phonetic non Qenya form. (Gnomic)?"
and mode A(iii) is described there as "Gond[olic] form . Standard phonetic." A mode for the
writing of Noldorin can also be seen in the word tilt in the Early Noldorin Grammar. It should
be noted that in this mode the vowel diacritic is placed above the following consonant, whereas
in the Qenya modes it is placed above the preceding consonant, as we would expect from the
placement of tehtar in Rumilian and Feanorian modes .
In addition to the modes given as A(ii) and A(iii) in V 1 , there are several modes described by
Tolkien as "phonetic." Mode A(vi) is described in V 1 as "Revised arch[aic] phonetic ," and the
mode given in V7 is identified with this. Mode B(ii) in V2 is described as being "more extensive
and phonetic" than B(i) , and B(iii) is described as "Late revised phonetic (incomplete)." The
mode laid out in V 1 2 also has the appearance of a general phonetic system , albeit incomplete.
Valmaric script is used in the representation of Old English in V8a, with the vocalic tehtar
placed above the preceding consonant. Vowels also appear above the preceding consonant in the
Modem English texts in V8a and V9 , but above the following consonant in the "Lunar
Landscape" caption .
Arrangement of the Documents

It would be impossible to determine the relative chronology of the Valmaric documents , so no
attempt has been made to arrange them chronologically in the present edition. The sequence of
the documents has instead been keyed to the arrangement of the modes in the overview charts
"Valmaric (A)" and "Valmaric (B) ," which have been placed at the beginning as V l and V2
respectively.
The sequence of documents V3 , V4 , V5, and V7 has been established due to Tolkien ' s
identification of these tables with modes A(i) , A(iv) , A(v) , and A(vi) respectively. The mode
used in V6 most closely matches that of V4 , i .e . A(iv), and therefore should have been placed
between V4 and V5 . However, since the mode of V6 is also virtually identical to that of V5 and
since Tolkien filed document V6 immediately after V5 , I have placed V6 after V5 rather than
after V4. Document V8, however, has been placed in its appropriate position following V7 ,
since the mode used is essentially A(vi) . The use of red ink and the appearance of the word
Gmar6 in V9 show that this document is undoubtedly contemporary with V8 , so it has been
placed immediately after it.
The modes described in the remaining four documents have no close analogues in Vl and V2 ,
though they are certainly of the Old Valmaric type . V I O and V l l describe the same mode , so
they have been placed together. V 1 3 has been placed at the end , since it differs substantially
from the other Old Valmaric modes . Whereas the other modes of this type use the symbol d for
f, the symbol used in V 1 3 is f .
Symbol s and Conventions

In order to better understand the texts and the commentaries , the following editorial conventions
should be noted:
• The phonetic symbols used in the commentaries agree in general with those used by Tolkien
in the texts , which are explained below .

• In addition to the phonetic symbols, the following signs are used in the transliterations of
Valmaric texts: - represents a short carrier, = represents a long carrier, and I represents a
consonant-doubling tehta.5
• Curly brackets { } represent deletions in the manuscripts , whereas square brackets [ ]
indicate editorial additions. Where such brackets in a text are Tolkien ' s own, this is noted in the
commentary . All parentheses ( ) appearing in the texts are Tolkien' s .
• I n general , the Valmaric characters presented i n the texts are scanned directly from
photocopies of the actual manuscripts, whereas the non-Valmaric characters have for the sake of
clarity been replaced by typed versions. Manuscript forms of non-Valmaric text have been
retained in V8 and V9 , in order to give a better impression of the actual appearance of these
documents . In some instances , the scanned Valmaric characters have had to be cleaned up
digitally , as in those cases where the originals were smeared or struck through. Only in V8 have
deletions been given as they appear in the manuscript. All other legible deletions have been
reconstructed and placed within curly brackets . Illegible deletions are generally given as {?} .
Deletions and their treatment within the individual documents are discussed fully i n the
commentaries following the texts.
• The arrangement of the tables in the manuscripts has been retained for the most part in the
edited versions. In a number of cases, it has been necessary to spread tables over two facing
pages to achieve this . Where the arrangement has been changed significantly for reasons of
space or clarity , this is noted in the commentaries .
Phonetic Symbols Used by Tolkien

Symbol sequences not included in the table are clusters comprised of smaller phonetic units that
are given in the table , such as mp from m + p. The pronunciations given are approximate and
may vary according to the speaker.6 The symbols given in brackets are those employed by the
International Phonetic Association (IPA) .
a, a Short open front unrounded vowel [a] , as in Fr. patte 'paw ' , Ger. Mann ' man' , and the
Chicago pronunciation of the o in English pot; or short open back unrounded vowel [a] , as
in Fr. pate 'pie' .
a, a Long open front unrounded vowel [a:] , as in Fr. part ' part' , Ger. mahnen ' to urge' , and the
Boston pronunciation of Eng. park; or long open back unrounded vowel la:] , as in Eng .
father and Fr. pate 'paste' .
a Represents the same sound as a (q .v .), but indicates that it is to be pronounced in a different
syllable from the preceding vowel, as taa (distinct from ta) in V3; cf. la-a, also in V3,
indicating the same sort of dissyllabic pronunciation.
ai, aj Diphthongal lm] , as in Eng . mice. Note that in la-i (V3) a dissyllabic pronunciation is
indicated.
au Diphthongal [au] , as in Eng . mouse.
5 The usage of such signs in Valmaric agrees in general with the usage in the Feanorian system; see The Lord of the
Rings, Appendix E , II (i) , pp . 399-400.
6 The Principles of the International Phonetic Association , 1 949 , and Geoffrey K . Pullurn and William A . Ladusaw ,
Phonetic Symbol Guide , 1 986, have been invaluable resources in putting together these phonetic descriptions. Peter
T. Daniels and William Bright (eds .) , The World's Writing Systems, 1 996, The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed . ,
1 989, and a number o f foreign language dictionaries and textbooks have also been very useful .

re , reShort, not quite fully open , front unrounded vowel [&] , as in Eng . cat.
re Long , not quite fully open , front unrounded vowel [<e:] , a lengthened version of the above .
A Short open-mid back (or central) unrounded vowel [A] , as in Eng . cut.
A. Long open-mid back (or central) unrounded vowel [A:] , a lengthened version of the above .
b Voiced bilabial stop [b] , as in Eng. bat.
c Voiceless palato-alveolar affricate [tJ] , as eh in Eng . chat .
.; Voiceless palatal fricative [�] , as eh in Ger. ich 'I' .
CH Used in V7 as an equivalent of I{ (q.v.). It may indicate that the palatal series can be used
to represent the palato-alveolar sounds in English , such as [tf] = eh.
d Voiced dental or alveolar stop [d] , as in Eng . dog.
dy Cluster [dj] (or voiced palatal stop [j]) , as in the British "Received Pronunciation" (RP) of
Eng . during or the gy of Hungarian Magyar 'Hungarian ' .
dz Voiced palato-alveolar affricate [ d3] , as in Eng . judge.
i'S, d Voiced interdental fricative [5] , as th in Eng . that.
e, e Short open-mid front unrounded vowel [e] (see �); or short close-mid front unrounded
vowel [e] , as in Fr. bebe 'baby' .
� Short open-mid front unrounded vowel [e] , as in Eng. pet and Ger. Bett 'bed' .
e, e Long open-mid front unrounded vowel [e:] (see �) ; or long close-mid front unrounded
vowel [e:] , as in Ger. Beet ' (flower)bed' . The form in V I employing both the acute and the
macron merely indicates that the final [g] of English tier is to be lengthened and stressed in
that particular instance .
� Long open-mid front unrounded vowel [e:] , as in Fr. bete 'beast' and Ger. wiihlen 'to
choose' .
e Represents the same sound as e ( q .v .) , but indicates that it is to be pronounced in a different
syllable from the preceding vowel , as tee (distinct from te) in V3 .
ei Diphthongal [e1] , as in Eng . day.
eo Diphthongal [eo] , as in Finnish seura ' society ' , not as eu in Eng . [ju:] , Fr. [0] , Ger. [;)y] ,
etc .
a Short mid central unrounded vowel [g] , as a in Eng. above.
a Long mid central unrounded vowel [g:] or [3:] , as in the British RP of Eng . learn .
au Diphthongal [go] , as in Eng . boat; cf. ou.
f Voiceless labiodental fricative [f] , as in Eng. fish.
g Voiced velar (or advanced velar) stop [g] , as in Eng. go and give.
g Voiced palatal stop [j] (or palatalized [d-i ]/[ dj] or [gi]/[gj]), as m Hungarian Magyar
'Hungarian' .
g = dz.
gw Cluster [gw] (or [gw]) , as in Eng. guano, guar, and Welsh gwely 'bed ' .
gy Palatalized [gi] or cluster [gj] (or voiced palatal stop [j]), as in Icelandic gjof ' gift' or
Hungarian Magyar ' Hungarian ' (particularly in its English pronunciation).
h Voiceless glottal fricative or approximant [h] , as in Eng. hot.
ht Presumably the cluster [�t] , as in Ger. Licht 'light' , and/or the cluster [xt] , as in Ger. Nacht
'night' .
hty Presumably the cluster [�tj ] /[�c] or [xtj]/[xc] .
hw Voiceless rounded labiovelar approximant or fricative [M] or the cluster [hw] , as in Eng.
which, as pronounced by speakers who distinguish it from witch.

by Voiceless palatal fricative [�] , as eh in Ger. ich ' I ' ; or the cluster [hj ] , as in Eng . huge and
Hugh, as pronounced by speakers who distinguish these from Eug(ene) and you.
by2 Represents the same sound as by, but the Valmaric symbol to which it is applied in V3 was
previously used for s.
fj = by . The form used by Tolkien actually has no curl on the top, being simply b with a tail .
lu = bw.
i, i Short semi-close front unrounded vowel [I] , as in Eng . pit; or short close front unrounded
vowel [i] , as in Fr. si ' if' .
! The vowel [I] or [i] in a consonantal function, especially in a diphthong such as [ei] in Eng .
day. Its pronunciation is essentially identical to that of the voiced palatal approximant U L
the y in Eng . yes.
i, i Long close front unrounded vowel [i:] , as in Eng . bee. It could also theoretically represent
a long semi-close front unrounded vowel [I:] .
iu Diphthongal [iu] , as in Gothic niun ' nine' and the Northern English pronunciation of new.
iy Diphthongal [ij ] , essentially = [i:]; see i .
j Voiced palatal approximant UJ , as y in Eng. yes.
k Voiceless velar (or advanced velar) stop [k] , as in Eng. cot and kit. A distinction is made in
V7 between a fronted k and "back k, q."
I{ Voiceless palatal stop [ c] (or palatalized [kj]/[kj] or [ tj]/[tj] ) , as ty in Hungarian kutya ' dog'
or kj in Icelandic kj6ll ' dress ' .
kw Cluster [kw] (or [kw]) , as the qu in Eng . quick.
I Voiced alveolar lateral approximant [1] , as in Eng . live .
J , 1 Voiceless alveolar lateral approximant U J (or fricative [i]) , as in Welsh llyjr 'book' .
Although Tolkien sometimes uses forms such as these to represent syllabic sonorants , it is
clear that in the Valmaric papers voiceless sounds are intended. One indication of this is
the fact that these sounds are often followed by a in the tables, indicating that they are not
functioning as syllabic nuclei . Another indication is that the Valmaric symbol stated to
represent the voiceless version of R in V7 is formed by adding a stroke to the symbol for its
voiceless counterpart, which is also what is done to form the symbols for I , 1 , 11} , n,, and the
like.
I (Palatalized) voiced alveolar lateral approximant [l(j)] , also the cluster [lj] ; see I and Iy.
f (Palatalized) voiceless alveolar lateral approximant [! (j)] (or fricative [i(j)] ) , also the cluster
[UJ or [ij] (so used in R 1 2); thus essentially I with or without a following y-glide. See I ·
Iy Voiced palatal lateral approximant [A:] , as gl in Italian .figlio ' son' and the Castilian
pronunciation of ll in Span . llama; or the cluster [lj] , as lli in Eng . brilliant.
t, l, t Velarized voiced alveolar lateral approximant [t] or voiced velar lateral approximant [L] , as
in Eng . all.
m Voiced bilabial nasal [m] , as in Eng . mat.
11}, n, Voiceless bilabial nasal [IIJ] ; the voiceless counterpart of m. See I ·
n Voiced dental or alveolar nasal [n] , as in Eng . no.
I], 1,1 Voiceless dental or alveolar nasal [I}] , as in Icelandic hn(fur ' knife' . See I ·
fi. Voiced palatal nasal [)1] , as gn in Fr. agneau ' lamb' and fi in Span . afio 'year' ; or the
cluster [nj ] , as ni in Eng . onion.
ij., I) Voiceless palatal nasal []] or the cluster [l}j] ; the voiceless counterpart of fi.. See I ·

ng Orthographic representation of the voiced velar nasal [I]] (see D) or the cluster [l)g] (see
Dg).
ngw Cluster [l)gw] (see Dgw) or [l)w] (see DW).
nj , iij , ny = ii.
D , I) Voiced velar nasal [1]] , as ng i n Eng . ring.
q , q Voiceless velar nasal [9 l ; the voiceless counterpart of D . See ! .
Dg Cluster [l)g] , as ng in Eng.finger.
Dgw Cluster [l)gw] , as ngu in Eng. language.
DlJ, Dw Cluster [l]W] , as in Eng . ringworm.
qq, qw Cluster [9 w]; the voiceless counterpart of the above . See ! .
o, o Short open-mid back rounded vowel [;:,] , as in Fr. pomme ' apple ' , Ger. Sonne ' sun ' , and the
Scottish pronunciation of Eng . pot; short open back rounded vowel [n] , as in the British RP
of Eng . pot; or short close-mid back rounded vowel [o] , as in Fr. eau ' water' .
o, 6 Long open-mid back rounded vowel [;:,:] , as in Eng. corn; or long close-mid back rounded
vowel [ o:] , as in Fr. dome 'dome' and Ger. Sohn ' son ' .
o Short open-mid front rounded vowel [re] , as in Fr. breuf 'ox' and Ger. Gotter 'gods ' ; or
short close-mid front rounded vowel [0] , as in Fr. feu ' fire ' and Ger. Okonomie 'economy ' .
o Long open-mid front rounded vowel [re:] , as in Fr. sreur ' sister' ; or short close-mid front
rounded vowel [0:] , as in Fr. meule ' millstone' and Ger. Goethe.
oi Diphthongal [;:,1] , as in Eng. boy.
ou Diphthongal [ou] (more accurately [du]) , as in Eng . boat.
re = o.
p Voiceless bilabial stop [p] , as in Eng . pat.
1> Voiceless interdental fricative [8] , as th in Eng . thin.
q, qu, qq Voiceless labiovelar stop [kw] or cluster [kw] ; see kw.
r Represents a variety of r-sounds that vary according to dialect and phonetic environment,
such as the voiced apico-alveolar trill [r] , as in Scottish English and in Span. perro 'dog ' ;
the voiced alveolar flap [r] , as i n Span. pero 'but ' ; and the voiced alveolar frictionless
continuant [1] , as used in most American varieties of English .
2
r Used in V3 to represent a sound with the same pronunciation as r , but etymologically
derived from r < z < () .
r , r The voiceless counterpart of r ([r] etc .) , as in Welsh rhan 'part ' ; see ! .
r Represents an intermediate sound in the development from z to r .
ry Cluster of r+j or palatalized r ( [rj ] , [rj] , etc.) , as in Fr. rien 'nothing' .
F , R Voiced uvular trill [R] , as prevocalic r in the pronunciation of some German speakers
(Ziipfchen-R, as opposed to the Zungenspitzen-R [r] recommended by Siebs and often heard
in Southern German dialects) ; or voiced uvular fricative or approximant [B"] , as
preconsonantal and word-final r in the pronunciation of some German speakers . Both
varieties are also found in Parisian French .
s Voiceless alveolar central fricative [s] , as in Eng . so.
s2 Used in V3 to represent a sound with the same pronunciation as s, but etymologically
derived from 1> .
s Voiceless palato-alveolar fricative [J] , as sh in Eng. show.
t Voiceless dental or alveolar stop [t] , as in Eng . toe.
ts, tl = c .

ty Cluster [tj] (or voiceless palatal stop [c]) , as in the British RP of Eng . Tuesday or in
Hungarian kutya 'dog ' .
u, ii Short semi-close back rounded vowel [u] , as in Eng . put; or short close back rounded
vowel [u] , as in Fr. doux ' sweet' and Ger. kulant 'obliging' .
u, u Long close back rounded vowel [u:] , as in Eng . boot. It could also theoretically represent a
long semi-close back rounded vowel [u:] .
The vowel [u] or [u] in a consonantal function , especially in a diphthong such as the [au] in
Eng . house . Its pronunciation is essentially identical to that of the voiced rounded
labiovelar approximant [w] , as in Eng . we.
ii Short semi-close front rounded vowel [Y] , as in Ger. MUller ' miller' ; or short close front
rounded vowel [y] , as in Fr. cru 'raw' .
ii Long close front rounded vowel [y:] , as in Fr. litterature ' literature' and Ger. griin 'green ' .
It could also theoretically represent a long semi-close front rounded vowel [ y:] .
ui Diphthongal [m] , similar to the sounds in Eng . ruin but pronounced as a single syllable .
uw Diphthongal [uw] , essentially = [u:] ; see u.
V Voiced labiodental fricative [v] , as in Eng . veil.
w Voiced rounded labiovelar approximant [ w] , as in Eng . wail.
X Voiceless velar fricative [x] , as in Ger. Bach ' stream' and Scottish loch.
X Voiceless palatal fricative [�] , as in Ger. ich ' I ' .
xw Voiceless labiovelar fricative [xw] or cluster [xw] , as in Welsh chwaer ' sister' .
X = x.
X = x.
y Represents the voiced palatal approximant [j] , as y in Eng . yes, but also represents the short
semi-close front rounded vowel [ Y] or short close front rounded vowel [y] in V 1 and V2
(see ii) .
Represents the same sound as y in its consonantal function , i .e . [j] , but the Valmaric
symbol to which it is applied in V3 was previously used for z.
z Voiced alveolar central fricative [z] , as in Eng . zoo.
Voiced palato-alveolar fricative [3] , as si in Eng . vision.
Voiced palatal fricative [j] , the fricative pronunciation of [j] .
Voiced velar fricative [y] , as g in the North German pronunciation of sagen ' to say ' and in
Span. hago ' I make ' . Tolkien does not use this symbol with its IPA value, for which see z,
above.
3 = �.
3W Voiced labiovelar fricative [yw] or cluster [yw] , as in Span . agua 'water' .
'
As described in V 1 , this represents "a smooth breathing (originally a glottal stop but not
now heard or used in Qenya) and is the carrier for vowels initially or following another
vowel ."

Texts and Commentary

Vl
Valmaric
A.
(i) Older Qenya form a s per dict[ionary] . (ii) Early phonetic non Qenya form. (Gnomic)? (iii)
Gond[olic] form . Standard phonetic, cf. archaic type . (iv) Pure Qenya form . (v) Revised
"archaic" special Qenyatic . (vi) Revised arch[aic] phonetic .
(i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) (vi) Middle Late

Standard Standard
p h k b h b b b Y.>
b - -
k b � b b m
f d cl d cl cl cl \') 1
V crl eel cd cd cd cd l';) b
m (") C) (') Q 0 C) Q ..,
- -
It} Q � Ci:) Q Q
mp ch Qb � eh p f
mb Q . uses b:l 6 '6 r r
sp eh cr.) c6 eh
pp 1:5 'h li � �
ps h., � �
pt * �
t ll l'1 7r n lT lT n n d Cl
d m h1 {?} J( m - - m � cd CGI
"1; ( 11.. ) "'(; u_ C'� - u.. Cl d

p
0 n:. ( 'm.. ) 'a; cm... - 'l:n.. � cd
s €: � 2. 9£ 2 l0 2. C"" � "t; � [ 2. ] {; ,; ...... '"C ""(';
(or in Q. = Ill
z - -n:; - -
e e-c � € a; "'l& :l: :x;
n c._) uv '-' 0 � c..> V "-!> c.,
{6} cb --lt b - - cb � c:b 6

J.l
nsi 'D. � nsi �
nt �� .Ja w Ja i { ( -n.)} 9 9
also -n.
rt A m
nd Q. = d 1. l1T" 1tf
CCf <:1
st 'TT 2.. 'b .2.. � 'tr iT ¥
It �
-
tt u ff " "5 n
ts n; � �
r 0 ( «. 'm.. ) 0 () 0 0 0 0 0

[f { &- (?)} ] C'!r-' &- rsi � rsi Q., � e- &-
I Y,) � Y.l "n Y.l \'3 TI Tl
n { m}] m m lsi � lsi � t.P '"01 m
6-' � 0-' ..g

rd in Q .
&- [m. ]
Id v:t;) in Q. y.o ,.,
1f'
ss � =e X � -x "r
k � [I{ c.] 9 9 � Cf h.
9"1 9 9 n..
g [ "' [g CCJ ] ] <:et «t 'af [ «I] r ttt l "'tt:IJ .... b.. bL
X [ 1 · x tL.] � '1 4 C) 4 'l.

t p... (b... ]
3 ["'} , 3 m.. ] "l "1 4 "l4 'll. ln.. [b]
2.
h i 1 I 1 I f I
' I ; I i I I 1- I
F back .A.. .A. .Ill.. E .lil
'a ') / 'J I ?

D [ (%) -l c::>O CO [ (/.) ] r <.r.> l c.? Cr.> c.'.)
t 6 €. 6 .r.& .k.
et<> CM'O ep
:q Cf'<:.n c...p c.;:>
Dk 00 { c.t:) QQ } c,..::) CO
"9 � r-
Dg CCJ '9 C-9 <ut F- '}¥'--
sk '4 � � � � ..,.
--
kk C1 9
ks c..r;) c,.r., ctO cL.
er et<>
kt !f -,' 4'� r b... J
ht y tr
c, ty, t! b- \:,- b- � lr- b.- -d. �
g, dy, dz [ b:r ] 6:,- h,. [ \v-] [b.:r- ] tu- -u:l -nt.
�, fj, hy cL [ v ] J, � J, cl.nr dJy "lT -d.

� .
� ' 3 , J used = y liT � cP' tD' =y - Jl:l -- "ftJ

s [tr] V U' - V \,.. lr-
fw] 'lXJ' - br br-
z 'UT' ["ID ] '"lJT'
j, y .., [wl '"" c..u Gu w 'UT"' w CA:I u
fi, nj , ny rerJhr J.d: � c�. c,.) J; et

Cf k- Ccr) br (i)
i lJ "!)(voiceless)
i} c;h ':f ++ +
nty, fie fel-l er + .Jr rcr.;J cs c.r + 4r-1'- [ >t:tl 'tf
ltya 'lr-
ndy, fig br- b,. ny ..,r- ra- [ '�Jt]

�
=
sty dr- dr-

hty
r- � � [ \n,. ]
rtya .11..

lka { (.W') }
rka {�}
kw, q b.. h. h. b. b.. � (, l, J .Y 2 l
gw Cb = Dgw] h lw lkl (b.) \n. (p b- :zz 2
..
rry yr
hw, ro 'f LP 'P � 'f cp <f f 'r
w (.'Y) en (l;) (1') CD (Y) m tn
DW .m = nw A)... = ngw m. ..oo... = nwa .01 'IlL= nw ..m ...() 0
'\:D...
DkW, DQ Cf' � <J:r[> e.;> ..,£' l� ] ? 4 -c ay

ogw b. bz_ b 0) ((u)A:t "'{; 1
qw ..eh.. � {\n.} - ..L
skwa ak.. �
3
xwa (,.-
3wa (;,g----
(A) types of vowelling .

(i) a) Each consonant is deemed to be followed by -a, unless otherwise vowelled, or unless
marked beneath with : 't:l = t, "t\ = ta.
•
b) other vowel signs are i; .-. e; -' o; r u written above preceding consonant: u , ii , .f. ,
·•
J, -rr = ta, ti, te, to, tu.

c) a dot is placed under a consonant that has no vowel - thus enabling final consonants
(such as � C? n, r) to be written or the groups that have no special signs: \.:>n = pta.
d) a consonant occurring twice with intervening vowel(s) is usually written twice as e>a =
nana; if no vowel intervenes it is written u = nna, � = nn. Vowels placed above the bar are
deemed to follow the double consonant ('\:5 = ppe); if, as is occasionally done, they are
written below the bar they are deemed to come between the consonants: l; = nena, � = nen
(this latter is frequently employed at end of longer words, but nen 'water' is usually written
�f::.? ) . Similarly T! = tat (or tt, which is never wanted and is clearer expressed by T,T).
'1 is a smooth breathing (originally a glottal stop but not now heard or used in Qenya) and is the
carrier for vowels initially or following another vowel . .J (or l) is used as the carrier for long
vowels . Long vowels are written under the consonants: '\:} = te; for ta '"1 (= ta'), Tf) and
usually J {not to be confused with y to TT} are used; ti � but to is usually .if , tu #�
tn ata � = ota or 1o- for ti u ii� may be used
·m eta liT or ltY = uta [for] tii .ff -6(Y) [may be used]
m ita.
Further A types .
Phonetic. Vowels a1;> ove following consonant, consonant has no inherent vowel.
....
a e i
..,
... a I e ., w i
""
i.) ai � ei en iu
00 au (Y"' eu

) 0 /" u a, A
J.J
? 0 p l'<h ii a
cJ oi ,£ ui � a u
� ou
final vowels ..::.. but -o <A, -u /!.
Phonetic . a, A assumed to be inherent: consonants have to be stopped as in Qenya system .

i is -if = ti
y = ta = 'a
e is ff = te � � = ti =a
?
re is u = tre -n = te l? = tih
a is fT = ta = tre in = tier
o is -6 = to = ta
ii is C = tu = to
-8 �In = tii
add. .(? = y, ii
1 � = o , re .
Commentary on Vl
This document is written on four long sheets of ruled examination script paper with candidates'
answers written on the versos. The material is divided among the sheets as follows: (V 1 a)
consonantal table from p to ss, with the key to the individual columns written at the bottom of
the page; (V 1 b) consonantal table from k to rka; (V 1 c) consonantal table from kw, q to 3 wa and
the section on "(A) types of vowelling"; (V 1 d) "Further A types" to the end.
The "diet." mentioned in the key to column (i) is presumably the English-Qenya dictionary
with Qenya words given in Valmaric , which is to be published in Parma Eldalamberon 1 5 ,
though a few of the characters used in the dictionary deviate from those given in this table . The
expansion of "Good." as "Gondolic" rather than "Gondolinic" is based on the appearance of the
former in other papers from this period, such as Valmaric document V3 .
Notes on the consonantal table (by value):

v: The symbol in the Middle Standard column is given as written in the manuscript, though
we should expect '= here .

sp: This value was corrected from ps .
ps: This value was corrected from sp .
pt : Three smeared characters , zr n rr , appear in the Late Standard column of the
manuscript, but these are most likely doodles and not symbols for pt.
d: The exact form of the deleted symbol in column (ii) is impossible to determine , but it was
similar in shape to the undeleted forms.
1,1: The subscript dot is clearly written as such , though all the other voiceless sonorants are
written with a subscript ring , e.g. 11} . This is also the case in document V2 . The entries for nsi in
columns (iv) and (v) were written on the same line as the entries for 1,1 in the manuscript, with the
dashes appearing between the values and the symbols.

rt: This line was a later insertion .

It: This line was a later insertion.
r: The second deleted symbol in column (i) , given in parentheses in the manuscript, is
completely illegible .
1: Tolkien began to add a second bow to the symbol in column (i) but struck it out; it has been
removed in the edited version. Tolkien wrote in the value and symbol for lsi in column (iv) but
deleted them and moved them to the line below .
F back: This line was a later insertion .
t: This line was a later insertion. The symbol in column (vi) is actually misplaced in the
manuscript, appearing between the lines for q and :Dk.
f: This line was a later insertion .
nty, fie : The third symbol in the Middle Standard column replaces a deleted character with
the bow to the left of the stem . The symbol in the Late Standard column replaces an incomplete ,
deleted version with a doubled bow .
ltya: This line was a later insertion .
lka; rka: The deleted symbols in these entries were not struck through, but rather marked
with proofreaders' deletion signs. The value rtya was written again below rka, but then struck
through and smeared.
N .B . All square brackets in the consonantal table are Tolkien' s own .
Notes on the material concerning vowels:

The following abbreviations have been expanded in the text: cons[onant(s)], occas[ionally],
Q[enya], and & >> and. In the parenthetical remarks "originally . . . in Q [enya]" and "= ta '"
Tolkien 's square brackets have been replaced with parentheses .
The final instance of tii is actually written in the manuscript as tu, but this is clearly an error.

V2
Valmaric
B.
B I and 1 1 are early forms of Middle revised Valmaric, (i) being practically (except for (j) &c.) a
Qenyatic form . (ii) is more extensive and phonetic. B I ll is a Late revised phonetic
(incomplete) . B IV Late revised applied to Qenya.
I 11 I ll IV V Ida 1f' q,
pa b b y;) )? Q Ita tp
ba b \,;, ln 'Y-)';) [1\Y.)] ltya ::t
fa 'r,) b b b b ra 9-' &- 9-- e-
va m m h, ln 'b !a m 'Uf '0' "t1l
ma 0 0 0 c,) � rka ..-9

mpa � r r r
r lka �
mba r l" F r 'f' [ D>] tta a
ll}a (j) cp � Cl) rpa �
ppa r5 Y5 lpa -d,
rma (/.)
pta L1')
psa lma f
.It
rna ..b
spa .J,_
rwa (;
mna ell) e
rya .),
ta d d ct C4 Cl
lwa 2
da cd ccl CCI <XI
l CO] lya ...,
I>a q ct d d [ c.l] lla n
()a 01:1 cc.l cJ ocl [ cd ] rsi � 9-'

Isi
sa -c �� 1: '1:0 [ d] "t; nsi
of'
�
za D; ;K: tr. :l; Cl: [ �] ntya 4 'et
u 0 c:.> 0 sta
na (.)
T
nta 9 9 9 9
ssa (,}(;)
nda � � «t CCJ [ ... ] stya \.,-
I,la cl, cb Cl:) cl. tsa ()

ra 0 0 0 0 [o]:J; ka b.. 'b.. b.. ( a) n... (.n.. ) 'IL. .4.
rda <-9 c.d tU.

� ln. lJL( IlL ) 'nL( .tn) [ lll-.111. ]
rta d [ &-t] ga
rtya .-e
g (...
la n '0 1l
xa 'D.- n.. A. h. b... [ h.. ]
3a ln. 'DI.. .III. ln. � ['ha.]

Da c-:J c.;, (A) o:. ( .o ) c.o ( A) [ c.:. ] hwa, lu tp cp(l..)

'r �
� 'Jl- 'P- wa m m m( �.r) Cl)
Dka p- (L �r-
n l{ 9 xwa lr- 2.
Dga '-Of '"fl1- � � f'L f- ("'-) 3wa hr- 2t_
'?
qa c.p "1' Types ojvowelling
kka '1'1-
Phonetic.
kta (h.. )
A a inherent. "0 = la
hta h.
i n = li
ksa � d. e il = le
ska � re -n = Ire
htya k. a ·'
t; = la
7 '
'1... .2.
ha i 0
r
.,..,
= lo
'a u -6" = lu
.r .P
y (ii) "Tl = ly
'a J ? J re (o) 1 � =
Fa &c Al.
10
la c..�. dz
a, x
i ..
n •.
I nw
.
ea (tya) [t,. hi -cl u. tx.(u) v u.
e I �
ga (dya) [b,-] u:l d. 'IJ(. Ul.(ID") [ -ro lL ]
0 7
t
(
-' -/?
fja (�a), -u J, G -d. cL J.,
(hya) [ .}T'tt ] ii (f .,f �
3a ( �a), � w � � [-a!] Initial vowels
(ya) [ .;x:o- �] , = a, A '} = a, A.
ja (ya), CAJ w (_..) ()..) oo -ul ; =i ') =i
(ya) ., =e J =e
sa (hya) l:r- ,.. -d b- 1 =� J =�
...
za (ya) b:r "ttT -ttl k- ' = re ? = re
fia (nya) J, d; ');" :J; [-o] d) ur Olro , =a J =a
..( .1 =0 �3 =o
fica 4 t f- ""9 � "9 4 "9 -£t
(ntya) r =u fl f = ii
figa � �"F- "UJ 't:lf � .<¥) � .at ; =0 f =0
(n(d)ya) r =y f = ii
I}.a +l f cl>
After cons[onants]
kwa, qa {., b- 9 J> .% 2(2)
n = la '\")
'
= la
w h:1- '11
gwa �JI' [ 11 ( 2)]
i1 = li n
.
�. = li
Dkwa 9 f- 4 ('- 4 1:; 0) 0 = le -n = le
Dgwa 21 1
'!) �4 M 're "
...
= ·�
Dwa ..0 0 = nwa "'0 = Ire
skwa 3 -f, = la Tl = la
lqa b .J = lo tf = 10
rqa t;, R = lu �r n� =m

Commentary on V2
This document is written on three sides of two long sheets of ruled examination script paper with
candidates' answers written on the versos. The material is divided among the sides as follows:
(V2a) in column 1 , the table from pa to tta, and in column 2, from rpa to la; (V2b) the verso of
V2a, a key to the columns of the table, given at the beginning of the edited text , following the
title; (V2c) in column 1 , the table from ea to 3wa, and in column 2 , "Types of vowelling ."
Notes on the consonantal table (by value):

nta: The symbols in columns (I) and (Ill) replace the symbols given below for l}.a in their
respective columns.
l}.a: As in V I , this is clearly written with a subscript dot rather than a subscript ring .
rda; lda: These lines are later insertions .
rwa: The symbol is written in the manuscript with a dotted line through it, showing that it
extends below the line of writing .
rya: This line is a later insertion.
lwa: The symbol is written in the manuscript with a dotted line through it , showing that it
extends below the line of writing.
lya: This line is a later insertion .
ka; ga; Dka; Dga: The palatal counterparts in column (II) , I{, g, nl{, and the unlabelled ng,
were actually inserted above the symbols for the velar sounds in the manuscript .
fja (�a) , (hya); 3a (�a) , (ya); ja (ya) , (ya): Each of these three entries was written on a single
line in the manuscript and has been split into two lines for purposes of space . In each of these
entries , the third variant appears to have been added later, at the same time as the parenthetical
variant in all the nearby two-variant entries . These added variants represent the values used in
the representation of Qenya.
fi.a (nya): In the manuscript, the bracketed symbol is actually written after the other one , with
an arrow indicating that it is to be placed before it.
fi.ca (ntya); fi.ga (n(d)ya): Each of these entries was written on a single line in the manuscript
and has been split into two lines for purposes of space . Tolkien drew a double-pointed arrow
pointing to the entries for fi.a (nya) and fi.ga (n(d)ya) to indicate that these symbols could be used
interchangeably .
N .B . All square brackets in the consonantal table are Tolkien ' s own .
Notes on "Types of vowelling":

The symbols for y (ii) and ly in the Phonetic table were originally written with the curl facing
the other direction , i .e . , like the signs for re (o) and 10 respectively .
In the manuscript table of initial vowels , the value i was erroneously written as i. The symbol
for o replaces an incomplete , deleted character.
In the manuscript entry for li, � was inserted before �-

V3
Qenya writing .
Old form A(i)
The old common Eldarin system (or its special Qenya development) quite distinct from the very
special and distinct Gnome , or Gondolic , form that is now occasionally used for recent Qenya.'
Qenya is written from left to right.
Consonant Signs (present and original values given) .

p h t n k 9 I{ CA q b.. ty \r
b b d m g CCj g ec:- gw ln. dy b:Y- (ny, ndy)
f d s C:, ":) 2. "[; h [ j �) { ? } q = X hw Gf 'P by J,
V cd sz {'t:;} (11- = J>) ' w c:n hy2 "U
m n Q r 0 lJ c-Q 00 * DW ...CO.. ** y w
mp �'h or cb rz "a; (t)n.. = 1'1) y2 "UJ'
...,. = z
sp sh or.. n (..) ny [Cf' ] �

ps � nt [c,.m] m. gk [ c.xt ] IX) Dq er { } nty <=t' [�]
..1.
st � en- ks cr.� or o:om
ts � sk '"9 �
I � [X] '1 j
Id m l iJ Cl..
rd e-- uu
[:�] C'Y1-
SS { ;x;} or ;;' 3 1 ,
'C = ts or s. 2. = st. C = s.
mn nJJ C\.? nm C§) _l
* S ince medial lJ > ng this sign is rarely used except before 4 - hence it i s often used alone as g k .
* * Since DW > D g w this sign is not needed but is now always used for the frequent combination nw .
( 1 ) Since b , g, gw, dy only appear in combinations mb, ng, ngw, ndy, these letters in writing
Qenya are used for the nasal groups; and by analogy m for nd, hence the new signs for Id, rd.
In archaic writing the nasal is represented. The latest formations are the groups mp, nt, &c .
(2) Since ndy is normally in colloquial Qenya pronounced = ny: "colloquially" br is used
for ny and Cfl is then preferred for nty to eJ:,.
( 3 ) a. is only used for s when joined without intervening vowel to a consonant. Separately it
may have form "t; or 2. r is old sign for { n;} 1> and is to a certain extent still used in historic
positions . Similarly n; is sign for old () > z > r and is still to a certain extent confined to historic
position .
(4) hy2 , y2 are really the old signs for s , z, but are used without distinction; but er is preferred
when vowelled and ro is preferred initially . "l:rT""" is never used in diphthongs or as lengthener of i.
1 The closing parenthesis was misplaced between "Qenya" and "devel." i n the manuscript .
2 The items on these last two lines were added in the left margin.

[Deleted text:]
Vowels
( 1 ) Every consonant or consonant group is deemed to be followed by the vowel-sound a.
Thus n = ta, m = (n)da.
(2) When consonants are juxtaposed without intervening vowel a consonant group must be
used as m = nd or if none exists (as for pt) a dot is placed under the vowelless consonant as \:>n
= pta. Similarly with final consonants , only '? c;:> � � (�) and occasionally �
·
(3) The same consonant occurring twice with intervening vowel is usually written twice as
c.:>� = nana; but if none intervenes a bar is laid over top as u = nna. Any vowel signs (see
below) placed over this bar follow the double consonant as <J = nni, though '? � is also used .
Where any short vowel other than a intervenes the vowel sign may if convenient be placed under
the bar - but this form is archaic and obsolescent . 6 = nina, e:;, = nin.
The short vowel signs are written over the consonant, which then is deemed to be followed by
the given vowel and not by a.
They are: i ·• e .-. o r-or r
thus e.:, ni u ne S no
Initial a is expressed by f as !'-<i = anga
i is expressed by ·r as "!ct' = intya
e is expressed by ·r as ·!ln = elda
o is expressed by [.{:' or] s;.. as � = ondo
u is expressed by ,?. [�] as �ffi = umbe.4
For long vowels , is added to consonant. -m = taa = Hi .
[For] e ·j· [is added.] M [ = te] for which 'lfi· is usually used , though strictly = tae, so
that occasionally r.:'\·j· is used. Similarly are possible z:ti r;"l: z:" = ti, to, tu
but i is usually expressed t'i� = tiy
fi is expressed �� = tow or 1-< = tfi
o is usually rf' or -tF = to.
5
[Inserted a t the top of the deleted page:]
a � a {0'}} � ta n
.•.
ta �
e { 'i' ;:. } f e ;:,. te "TI te �
U} r w i rw ti n ti �
{A.c} 0 tC {' 0 k to "
r
to "'
{ C: {} u 1. cl, fi � 2.-y, tfi .JO?
3 The manuscript has "this" instead of "thus".

4 The square brackets in this and the preceding line are Tolkien ' s . The following rejected forms underlie this
paragraph: � � �.
5 In the manuscript version of this table, o and fi are erroneously given as o and u respectively. An illegible diacritic
was deleted above the symbol for ta . The symbol and value for tu are lacking in the manuscript .

[Inserted in the left margin of the deleted page:]
initial long vowels a is , (for , = aa while � = a)

e is {'i·i} ;i ea is i·
o is � oa is JC
i [is] ·� i + vowel is · · '-" ia [is] ·j
.
ii [is] :R or � u + vowe 1 IS 7rr.> ua [is] J.
[Replacement text:]
Vowel sounds
The vowel signs are
i e o u
1 ) These are written above the consonant that they immediately follow . If the vowel sound is
a it is unexpressed , for every consonant sign is deemed to be followed by a unless a vowel sign
is placed above it. If no vowel follows a consonant (final or before another consonant) a dot is
placed under it.6
Thus n-e, = tat : n, -A , � , � : = ti, te, to, tu. [Pencilled in left margin :] � = tat
2) Thus groups of consonants where no special groups exist must be expressed as in � =
pta. Note the forms CL- I> are only used for unvocalic s and so need no under-dot. eh = spa,
T'rn = tas, � or h sta.7
3) A consonant occurring twice with intervening vowel is now usually written twice as c..;� �
= nana. If no vowel intervenes it is marked as C-' = nna and vowel signs (which are placed over
the bar) are deemed to follow the double consonant as � = ppe. Archaically and now seldom
used except in certain words is the placing of intervening vowels under the bar as �o- =
nanena.8 -nen is a frequent ending and often written 4 {for} or { 6} � 9 .
The sign 1 is a smooth breathing , originally a glottal stop but now not heard or used, and so ,
is a mere carrier for vowels preceded by another vowel in different syllable or initial; but 1 (as
other consonants) is also deemed unless vowelled to = (')a. Thus f:n = tea, M = tee. Note m
= taa (not ta).
Thus initially a is r as rTT = ata
e is r as i'n = eta
m = ita
o fn. = ota { is occasionally written .:?
u n; = uta r is occasionally written i
The long vowels are more difficult to express: a special letter :; is used = a which is not
consonantal although written on the line and requires no dot.
a) Thus _.90 = ata, -r:!J or t5J � = ta , T'l7 = ta ' a.
e) is archaically expressed by thus 'm = eta, � = te, but now it is usually expressed
u
initially by j, jn = eta, medially rarely by -ryj = te (note -M/ = teii , nj = tae) , usually
by writing ·: below: � = te.1 0
6 The closing parenthesis was erroneously placed at the end of the sentence in the manuscript .
7 This sentence was emended from "Note the form CL- is only used . . . ."
8 A letter, which appears to have been n, was deleted between n and e.

9 The writing after the first Valmaric symbol in this sentence is in pencil.
10
The first occurrence of eta in this sentence is erroneously written as eta in the manuscript.

i) usually initially [and] medially by � = iy.

Thus "fL:uo = ita but recently this rather clumsy method is tending to be replaced by 5
initially and by j medially or more frequently by . . below as � or � = ti.
o) usually initially 1' as {�} .)'m = ota c} is rare), medially invariably by v, � = to .
fi) archaically always as i but � = uw, but now usually thus: fb. = uta, -{( = tfi . But �
� are still frequent.
Diphthongs are naturally expressed with � �
as {Uw} n� = tai �� = toi �"':' = tui
"Of? = tau -A � = teu n� = tiu.
Such combinations as kaiya (= l Oth) thus C( W . 1 1
�
Vowels. 1 2
a
is inherent in each consonantal sign , and it is held to follow it. Hence final consonants t, n,
"I)' � 9 '? � when final not followed b y a vowel. This was formerly the
r, I, s, nt are written
way of writing all groups except nasal + stop (mp, mb, nt, nd, ndy, nty, nk, ng, nq, ngw) and
nw, ny, Id, rd. Thus � = sta.
Initial vowels must therefore be written over the • (smooth breathing) , •'tn = eta, rti = ate,
which by itself stands for 'a. This sign was originally that of the "glottal stop" or clear opening
and was often used for initial vowels of compounds: nn9-ln-
teler-'ohta instead of ��&r-
Since no "glottal stop" is now employed in Qenya, • is now used for all vowels not immediately
preceded by a consonant [tlb-. = telea, m = la-a (not la)], but in a different syllable . m = la-i,
not the diphthong la! , which must be written Y-l�.13 Archaically telea had to be written -fu;:,_ ,
melie 6..:,.:... .
The vowel signs written above the consonant that precedes them in utterance as
a n ta initial 1
e il te initial I
initial ,'.
· ·
i iT ti
0 J to initial I
u , '(("" tu initial r .
The long vowels.
Initial a :J after consonants l),? = Hi (n.? = ta-a) or ""J
J.. C!.) after consonants � or better -v,
i (
J ..I ) after consonants il� or 1! rarely 'l)J
r rarely 3 after consonants -/(
fi ) rarer f after consonants -/1 rarer £rn .
11
The example "kaiya C(� W" is repeated at the bottom of the page .
12
The following was deleted at the top of the page: "In formal writing [illegible diacritic] is placed over f. . . "
13 The square brackets in this sentence are Tolkien ' s . The words "note I" were deleted before "(not la)".

Archaically the sign � o-:> under a consonant reversed the order of vowel and consonant, �
= at, !?. = et, � = et, but this is not much used now in Qenya.
The sign - doubles the consonant under it in if tta, q kka, Y5 Ha, but Z1 is always used for
ssa . ..ft � = tte, He.
However the sign - may be used with all consonants with intervening vowels: [ b = nene] ,
-:\'"' • ,'l
• - - •
{ c.J = nen} u. = nen, u = nan, u = nene, <:...7 u u = nana. 1 4

= nene, ---
. . - .., -
The sign - may be written under or over but is usually written on opposite side of vowelling:
u = na
c:_:, =n
b = nna (rare in Qenya)
6 tU = nana with a a dot is placed in vowel place for � = n but c;. = nan
•
u = nan short for c::
.
0 = nn
.
i;, = ne
b
..
= nen short for iS
� = ne
0 = nene
u
..
= nene, nene
r � less productive form = nene
l '[, less productive form = nen. 1 5

These combinations are not much employed in short root-words but are regular in suffixes : 1 6
6 c.J water (nen) rarely 6 i;
�4 golden (kuluine�) r�rely �� be.: .
14 The square brackets in this sentence are Tolkien ' s .

1 5 This and the preceding line are joined b y a single bracket at the left i n the manuscript.
16
"These" was erroneously written as "This" . The word "much" is an insertion .
PARMA ELDALAMBERON No. 14 - Page 1 1 0

Commentary on V3
This document is written on six sides of four sheets of ruled examination script paper, with the
material divided among the sides as follows: (V3a) title through note (4) ; (V3b) verso of V3a,
deleted text on vowels ; (V3c) replacement text on vowel sounds through " ( is occas[ionally]
wr[itten] i"; (V3d) verso of V3c , text from "The long vowels are more difficult . . . " to " C(�w " ;
(V3e) text from " Vowels. a is inherent. . . " to "� � = nana"; (V3f) text from "The sign - . . . " to
the end. Candidates' answers are written on the versos of V3e and V3f.
All square brackets in the consonant table are Tolkien ' s . The following abbreviations have
been expanded in the text: colloq[uial(ly)], comb[ination], c[om]p[ounjds, cons[onant(s)],
devel[opment], dip[h]th[ong]s, expr[essed], foll[owed], jreq[uent(ly)], init[ially], interv[ening],
interven[ing], med[ially], occas[ionally], orig[inally], prod[uctive], pron[ounced], Q[enya],
rec[ently], sim[ilar]ly, syll[able], us[ually], wr[itten], and & >> and.
Several unglossed Qenya words appear in the text, for which the meanings can be determined
from other sources: 1 7
anga 'iron' (QL s .v . ANGA; ND s .v . ANG; Etym . s .v . ANGA).
intya ' guess, supposition , idea'(Etym. s .v . INK) .
elda 'elf' (NW s .v . Uidhel; EQD s.v. Elf; Etym . s.vv . ELED , ELED) .
ondo ' stone ' (QL s .v . ON0°); EQD s .v . Stone; Etym . s .v . GOND) .
umbe 'dale , dell ' (QL s .v . 0°)) .
teler- 'ohta * ' sea-elf war' , presumably a reference to the Kinslaying . teler 'elf, sea-elf'
(Etym. s .v . TELES) . The Teleri were the First Kindred in the Lost Tales , but by the
time Tolkien wrote the Sketch of the Mythology (c . 1 926-30) , they had become the
Third Kindred; see IV 1 3 , 44 . This change is also reflected in the Noldorin Word-lists ,
which gloss Teleri as ' sea-elves' (s.v. Tiledh) . ohta 'war' (NW , ND s .v . oith; Etym.
s .v . OKTA).
telea * 'roofed, covered' , cf. tel 'roof'< TELE 'cover in' in QL and TEL of similar
meaning in the Etymologies.
melie * ' loving' , cf. mel- 'love ' (QL s .v MELE; Etym. s.v . MEL) .
Among the various combinations of sounds used to demonstrate Valmaric spelling are also
some interpretable Qenya forms , such as nan 'woodland' (QL s .v . NARA) or ' dale' (cf. N nann,
nand in NW) and nen 'water' (QL s .v . NENE; Etym. s .v . NEN; also glossed in the text) . The
form nen appears with the meaning ' nostril ' in EQD .
17 References are to roots in the "Qenya Lexicon" (QL) in Parma Eldalamberon, no. 1 2 ; to entries in the "No1dorin
Word-lists" (NW) and "Noldorin Dictionary" (ND) in no. 1 3 , pp. 1 33-56 and 1 57-65; to English entries in the
"English-Qenya Dictionary" (EQD), to be published in no. 1 5 ; and to Eldarin bases in The Etymologies (Etym .) in
The Lost Road and Other Writings, 1 9 8 7 , pp . 339-400.

V4
A iv .
pa ka � okka
psa ksa &16' veru
pta kta maptalelehesta
��
ba used = kka �e-3 andarama
mba b ga used = m£� lintuilind6rea
fa d Dga '4 �carl'ri lintatasarindea
va cd ha 1
ma 'a 1 ; vowels over consonant that
mpa Da but only occurs in Dga precedes (cancel the a)
[spa usually written <:.9 e ·"· j · · o 7 u ,-,
hence c-;, is used = initial vowels or those
Dka eo following a vowel
ta hta tp i =a i· = e
tsa ska C1t.f CUi � J or ? = o � (' = u
tta n note 1 = a :.. only initial
da used = qa k.. a dot is usually placed before
nda m- gwa used = an initial consonant
sa 't"" in comb . Dgwa ln. as · ct ka.
usually e:.... � hwa 'f 'P ? = long a
sta 2.. or Go- wa m as 7" ata.
ra 0 rra o Dwa but this is used = j=e j=i
rda tx; or e--' nwa ..al. or 'W- but � 6 r u
la Dqa op or cnf? medially e ·: i
Ha [sqa aiz. ] consonant is dotted thus
Id a W ta nJ = ta'a
rsi tya i may be 'i ":'
Isi dya used = n = tta
na u { � } { :o- } ndya or nya � n = tte

7.""
nta {:n} lh. * [H-]{u} hya J, or -u- note c:.:> = nen
{ nsi � � S:;Z.. 6.. } ya w or 'tXT - = tata
note -n
...
ssa � or :x; nya Ct> or br u = nene
0 f-t_.,
nsi � or 22. ntya { 4'} c.p -J,...
* properly Si? but also cJ? stya e.l::r-
( :zz has also been used) 0 htya r \r
[ Written at the top of the sheet:]
2. 2l I 2mb
Commentary on V4
This document is written on one side of a sheet of examination script paper, with a candidate' s
answers on the verso.
All square brackets are Tolkien ' s . The connection between the second symbol for nta and the
footnote at the end of the first column , indicated by asterisks in the edited text , is shown in the
manuscript by means of an arrow from the former to the latter. The note originally included the
Valmaric letters d2 �, later deleted.
The following abbreviations have been expanded: cons[onant], foll[owing], init[ial],
us[ually], wr[itten]; but comb[inations] has been left unexpanded due to lack of space .
A list of unglossed Qenya words appears in the upper right hand corner:
okka ' knee ' (QL s .v . OQO) .
veru 'husband' (QL s.v . VERE; EQD). The word would not yet have had the meaning
'husband and wife, married pair' (Etym. s.v . BES) .
maptalelehesta 'raid' (EQD). maptale 'robbery by violence' (QL s .v . MAPA) , ' rape ,
ravishment: forcible seizure and carrying off' (EQD); cf. mapa- 'grasp, seize ' (Etym.
s .v . MAP) . lehesta ' ride' [noun] (EQD).
andardma 'long-winged' (EQD). anda ' long' (Etym. s .v . ANAD). rdma 'wing ' (QL s.v.
RAHA; Etym . s .v . RAM) .
lintuilind6rea 'of autumn ' = 'when many swallows congregate and sing at dawn ' (QL
s .v . LI) .
lintatasarindea 'with many willows' (QL s.v. Ll) .

vs
[Top and left half]
Qenyatic .
Special Eldarin usage : - (archaic)
A v.
(i) Since b, g, gw, dy only occurred in mb , Dg, Dgw, ndy, [the signs for] b, g, gw, dy (dz)
were used for the nasal combination , and by analogy d = nd , hence new signs were used
for rd, Id.
(ii) Regular groups to represent nasal + voiceless stop were analogically invented, and then
for all the not very frequent Qenya consonant groups .
(iii) Since ndy > ny, the sign dy is used = ny, ndy; old ny sign is used = nty .
(iv) Since hy ( fj ) , s; z, y; ty , c; d , Z , r; }> , s respectively coalesce , so is there confusion in their
signs.
pa b ta T1 ka 9
psa h., � tsa �� ksa cr:' cfQ
pta m (\;n'r) [tta] n kta .!1' &21'
ba = mba k da = nda tn ga = Dga 09
fa cl sa e 9 [2] "'(; { [n.. ] } ha t
va c.d ra 0 { � } { 'ln- } 'a
{mpa} la Y.) ska �
spa eh sta CZo or * 2 hta "91
ma n rda e-- � { m. } * Da C%)
mpa J, lda m Dka 0.0 C;:)
ssa "'G" :x; lka �
na <:..,) rka c.d)
nta � � 4 c? [ n. ]
nsi b. � � * only occurs in � C99 . .
rsi � CL when c:q = Dga Cor.) is used

I si � n_ alone = � nka
s €. � only used next to consonant without intervening vowel.

-e is normal . � is survival of 1> but is not now used except as
a form of n. = rta. u:o is only used as a joining form of .,. .

[Right half of V5]
qa tya
gwa = Dgwa � dya = ndya, nya lu-

hwa er 'P hya J, -u- -.r- (when vowelled)
wa ya LU" "'tXT � initially and when vowelled
sqa <Z--1::z.. stya d,- (but never in diphthongs)
htya p. p-
owa used nwa [..al. ( 'bl-)] { 'k } nya
=
to- [er l
Dqa er' ( �) ntya [� 4'1 a; cb
rtya { ??} { .JiL } ..Q_ ( Gl)
ltya { ? ? tr }
rta (.,0_) Jal
Ita {n-} 1:;

Commentary on VS
answers o n the verso.
All square brackets are Tolkien' s except those around "the signs for." The following
abbreviations have been expanded: cons[onant], diphth[ong]s, init[ially], interv[ening], and &
>> and.
The symbol for la follows a deleted horizontal stroke, the beginning of an incomplete
character. The value ska was emended from skta, probably anticipating the following hta. The
value gwa was emended from Dgwa before "= Dgwa" was added. The third symbol for hya was
actually inserted below the second; the parenthetical statement refers to the second and third
symbols . The third symbol for ya was inserted above and to the right of the second; the
statement "init. & when vowelled (but never in diphths)" refers to the second and third symbols .
The deleted symbols for rtya and ltya that are represented by queries are too thoroughly struck
through to reconstruct.

V6
parts of the body : rantali n·kolumen c JJ,;:, o9rC�

body , J r.·.
9r.>n ko lume.
head, 9Q kar, pl . la_ kasti;
crown of head, lJy::, n6la, or 9rfi'ro kand6la.
forehead , nh,i:, timbare.
temple, ft¥CJQ ainar, pl . �0.2.. ainasti, dual �c...*L ainaqi.
hair, -r;yt, , pl . fn3 tile, a single hair.
The pl . may be used as 'hair' or use Cf?a_ silqe, sg .; pep laksa = tress.
neck , � yat, stem � - yakt- .
.
throat , � b_ qelqa.
eye , ��. pl . 'itn, du. lc? : hen, hendi, henqi.
ear, e./ unko, du . � unqi.
hand, <if/ md, du. c-:>l:L maqi, pl . �.;.; mdli.
face , '"Q!O yema .
.
skin , c:Jcpfr naute, pl . �{ 9} nausi.

mouth , b> pe.
lip, er->� kaile; Cf'?n kilma.
tooth.
Commentary on V6
answers on the verso.
In the entry for ' hair' , tile is the singular form; the untransliterated plural is tili. In the entries
for 'ear' and ' hand' , "du." replaced "pl ." In the entry for ' skin ' , the Valmaric rendering of the
plural originally read nausin, but the final character was struck through . The entry for 'tooth '
was left unfinished.
The untransliterated word below the word-list appears to be timbarehye (cf. timbare above) ,
and the three characters below it presumably have the values n(d)ya, n( d)ya, hya; see V5 .

Notes on vocabulary: 18
rantali (pl . of *ranta or *rantale): Previously unpublished. QL has ranta ' arch , bridge' (s.v.
RAI>A) , but this is most likely unrelated.
kolume: Previously unpublished.
kar, pl . kasti: kar (kas-) ' head' (QL s .v . KASA); kar ' head ,' pl . kasi, "used as upper, top or
chief part of anything ," also kar 'top (summit) ,' pl . kasti (EQD); kar (kas-) ' head' (Etym . s .v .
KAS).
n6la: nola ' head, hill ' (QL s .v . NOHO , cf. GL s .v . nol). EQD states that n6la ' summit' "is
not used of human head except colloq[uially] ."
kand6la: Previously unpublished.
timbare: Previously unpublished.
ainar, pl. ainasti, du. ainaqi: Previously unpublished. Note that the word for ' temple' (the
body part) bears a remarkable similarity to aina ' holy , revered' and related words (QL s .v . A YA;
Etym. s .v . AYAN) .
tile, pl . tili: tif<2l ' a hair' (QL s .v . TILI<2l) .
silqe: silqe (e) 'tress of hair' (QL s .v . SILl) .
laksa: Previously unpublished.
yat (yakt-): yatt , yatta ' neck' (QL s .v . YATA); yat (yaht-) ' neck' (Etym. s .v . YAK) .
qelqa: Previously unpublished.
hen, pl . hendi, du . henqi: hent (hend-) ' eye,' pl. hendi, du . henwi (QL); hen (hendi) 'eye'
(Etym. s .v . KHEN-0-E) . The forms in EQD are identical to those in V6. See also GL s .v . hen;
NW s .v . henn.
unko, du . unqi: unk (unq-) ' ear of animals,' unqi (dual) 'the ears , ears , one ' s ears' (QL s .v .
(U)NQ(U)N< 1l). The forms i n EQD are identical to those i n V6.
ma, du . maqi, pl . mali: ma ' hand' (irreg .) , maqi (dual) 'pair of hands' (QL s .v . MAHA); mii
' hand' (Etym. s .v . MAG) . The forms in EQD are identical to those in V6, apart from the a of ma
being marked with a circumflex and the a of maqi with a breve . See also GL s .v . ma.
yema: Previously unpublished; perhaps to be associated with QL root DYE<1l, whence 'yeta
'look at' .
naute, pl . nausi: Previously unpublished.
pe: pe 'the two lips, the (closed) mouth' (QL s .v . PE) , 'mouth ' (Etym. s .v . PEG) .
kaile: Previously unpublished. QL has kailen (n-) 'throat, gullet' (s.v. KAYA), and GL
references Qenya kUa (s.v. cail ' lip ' ) .
kilma: Cf. kilme ' lip' (QL s .v . KILl) and Gnomish cilm 'rim , brink , edge' (GL) .
18
See footnote 1 7 . References here also include entries in the "Gnomish Lexicon" (GL) in Parma Eldalamberon,
no . 1 1 .

V7
Valmaric Writing
(1) Old form (phonetic : with occasional past variants) .
A vi .
p h ql}, kw h. k � �* Q c, ts \, t n X
b b.> gw � g C9 "'tXJ * UA g, dz 1xr- d lT1 �

C-S
f d hw, lu 'r X
9 4
0 s V s c :> 'l::: (2.)
V cd w en
3 "1 -'lJ IY\ z w- z E. 3 tx:. [t ]
m C') Dl} .en. h I fj cL I> 'h.. [ �] -p_
11} Q Gtl 1?1} .tb. y (.C) d � ['I& ] -m_
(Smooth breath [ing])
mb [ co-b] [Dkw op ] D 00 00 [� �] n CJ V
mp :q C'f' e-t? GM'i)

[� c:ar ] I}
cl, -ll
ps � t € I
'J r 0
sp eh [ �] R .A voiceless .m. i 1""!) r &-'
back or uvular
[ks Ct'Q ] ii (iij) c:b d> [ cr ] I y.,
[sk � � ] i} �+ l Y.D
nc, nty Cf 4 st CTr- -u
OL..O
2j. 2.
* 9 = k -q = back k , q nt .4l x
for I{ ( = CH) is used
ea ts �
sim[ilar]ly g = cct ss OlC'
Commentary on V7
answers on the verso. Tolkien used black ink for the majority of the page, but the following
items are in red ink: the bracketed symbol for mb; the parenthetical iij and the bracketed symbol
in the entry for ii; and the full entries for sp, ks, sk, nc/nty, ts, and ss. The significance of the
items in red ink is unexplained. The brackets used in the expansions of abbreviations are
editorial ; all others are Tolkien ' s . The word "Letters" was written and struck through below the
entry for sp.

vs
[V8a: Beowulf excerpt]

lY8b: Our Father excerpts and doodles]
.
r_ .�_ I O ("\
·.·
, ..
(
,
'h .
- o,u.t}� J � � ..J � .
[OE. (� L . ) CNJ!&r.j

Commentary on V8
This document is written on two sides of a small slip of paper, measuring 4 x 5 3/4 inches. The
sheet was originally a dictionary slip for Tolkien ' s A Middle English Vocabulary (Oxford:
Clarendon Press , 1 922) , but the Valmaric writing would probably not have been added until after
the Vocabulary had been published, or at least until it was ready for publication.
Notes on V8a:
The title , "Beowulf in Qenyatic," was written in pencil , as was the deleted caption , "Atta
Unsar &c ." Atta Unsar is the beginning of the Lord's Prayer in Gothic and presumably refers to
the excerpts from the English version written on the verso.
The Valmaric text is written in red ink, with vocalic tehtar either above or below the
preceding consonant. The text may be transliterated as follows:
{ 31 } be=owulf
luret we g=ar{e }dena -on [sic] ge=arda
gum pe=odkyniPa prym gefrunno [sic]
h=u 5=a -re5;:}liPas -el/en fremedon
-oft syld SefiP s { e}e-a/');:}na pre=atum
monigum [sic] m=reg5um me--odosetla
--ofte=ah -egsode -e-orlas sip/an [sic] =rere
Si we-arp fe=ase-aft funden he 5res
frovre 3eb=ad we=oks -under wo
lknum we-or5myndum p=ah -up/ret [sic]
him =regroylk 5=ara -ymbsit/endra
-uver [sic] hronr=ade hyran solde gomba
n gyldan - 5ret [ < 5red] wres g=od
kyniP
k kyniP
The text consists of lines 1-1 1 of Beowuljin Old English , which (in Klaeber' s edition) run thus:
HWJET, WE GAR-DEna in geardagum,
peodcyninga prym gefrunon,
hu 5a repelingas ellen fremedon !
O ft Scyld Scefing sceapena preatum ,
monegum mregpum meodosetla ofteah ,
egsode eorl[as] , syMan rerest wear5
teasceaft funden; he pres frOfre gebad ,
weox under wolcnum weor5myndum pah,
o5 pret him reghwylc ymbsittendra
ofer hronrade hyran scolde,
gomban gyldan; pret wres god cyning ! 1 9
The Valmaric text lacks the editorial marking of some long vowels and all punctuation
marks?0 The following errors in the text should be noted: on for in, gefriinno for gefriinon,
monigum for monegum, sippan for syooan, uppa:t for oo pa:t, and uver for ofer? 1
1 9 Beowulf and the Fight at Finnsburg, ed. F. Klaeber, 3rd ed ., Lexington, D. C . Heath, 1 950, p. 1 .
20
Periods appear after fremedon and cyning in the Beowulf manuscript; most of the punctuation in the Klaeber
excerpt is editorial .
21
The forms monigum and sippan are attested alternate spellings . The forms uppcet and uver are only incorrect in
Tolkien' s use of the u-diacritic for o; intervocalicj was pronounced as v in Old English.

Notes on V8b:
The vocabulary entry for Culter was written in blue-black ink . The remaining ink portions of
the text were written in red . The text in red ink is written in Valmaric, with vocalic tehtar placed
above the preceding consonant (or below , if the vowel is word-final) . Absence of a tehta above
a consonant indicates that it is followed by a or a; lack of a following vowel is indicated by a
subscript dot . This text may be transliterated as follows:
z
z z
z z z z neyll)
-wr f=i'lr hu -rcJ [sic] -iiJ hevo hrelowcJ bi i'IY. neY. Il)
i'IY. kiJ?dll) kll) i'IY. wi! bi dQ -OIJ -rP. -rez -re z
-rez --ez z z
This is the beginning of the Lord's Prayer in English: "Our Father who art in heaven , hallowed
be thy name . Thy kingdom come . Thy will be done , on earth as . . . "
The remainder of the V almaric text on the page was written in pencil and may be
transliterated as follows:
ronalcJ
ro ro ro ronfcJ [inverted line]

I [inverted symbol]
ku! tur kow I ter

-wr f=i'lr hu =rt -in
hevn hrelowd bi i'IY.
This text consists of Valmaric renderings of Tolkien' s name (Ronald), words on the dictionary
slip (cultur, coulter) , and another fragment of the Lord 's Prayer. The tehta :. is used for a in the
first occurrence of Ronald, in accordance with one of the types of vowelling discussed in V I ,
although it is most frequently used for e, as elsewhere in this document. The subscript dot,
indicating absence of a following vowel , is frequently omitted in this text.
Also in pencil are seven words in Latin letters , as well as the numeral 265 , the significance of
which is unknown . The form neim is clearly a phonetic rendering of the Valmaric word above it
(name). The remaining six words are transliterations of Valmaric words on the page viewed
upside-down. 22 Thus wo? is transliterated as gyamar6 and gmar6; 6cn9 as n�;Jme, nawame,
and name (the last incorrect and struck through) ; and .ill. CJ oo as ntkameri5. Tolkien has rendered
' G
the single-dot tehta (the subscript dot from the uninverted forms) in different ways: it is
transliterated as a in n�;Jme (as per one of the types of vowelling in V I ) , regarded as equivalent
to the subscript dot in gmar6 and ntkameri5, and apparently ignored in the remaining
transliterations . The value of the letter ttA , transliterated here as both gy and g, is given as g in
V I (Ai), V3, and V7 , and as g in V I (Avi) and V7 . Similarly, ct , transliterated here as k, is
given the value k: in VI (Ai), V3 , and V7 , and the value k in V I (Avi) and V7. The more usual ,
long-stemmed form of the letter for nt, � appears in V l (Ai , iv , v) , V3 , V4 , and V5 , but the
'
short-stemmed form found in this document also appears in V7 .
22
I am indebted to Christopher Gilson for pointing this out.

V9
["The Book of Scripts"]

Commentary on V9
This text is written on the inside back cover of a notebook from which the pages have been torn
out. Tolkien wrote "SCRIPTS 1 2b Gen . phil. notes. 'Collecta"' on the front cover and
"JRRT :. Exeter Coli. Scripts" on the inside of the front cover. The notebook was therefore
used during the period 1 9 1 1 - 1 5 . The text presented here , written over illegible pencil erasures ,
must date from about ten years later. The words "Quenyatic or Qenyarinwa" were written in
pencil , and the remainder in red ink . This use of red ink, along with the reoccurrence of the word
Gmar6, shows this inscription to be contemporary with document V8.
The Valmaric text may be transliterated as follows:
5 buk -v
skripts
qenyatik
qenynnw
s[k] sk skrf
skrpts
Note that the Qenya word Qenyarinwa is written using a different mode from the English text,
employing a different diacritic for e and the absence of a vocalic sign for a. The title , The Book
of Scripts, appears to have a twofold meaning: with reference to the Exeter College notes
originally contained in the notebook , as well as to the cover' s later use as a folder containing
documents pertaining to Elvish alphabets .

VlO
[Left half]
Cl.\) = ya = &
b pa n ta q tya
d fa 't sa cL hya
eel va 0 ra w ya
p mpa
'G nta
r- � ntya
6 mba � nda
cq ndya
C) ma u na nr nya
pl pta 11 tta
"} J
� psa
� ts J
3 spa 2 sta
� nJ stya
tl � )\
la
� htya
m Ida
13 9-J CO
c:..J
rda C.r.l CJr)
,_, D lla
r> � '11. ssa

[Right half of V lO]
* used in Q[enya] indiscriminately
'q ka b. qa lpa
'"?
I ha
� hwa Ita :I; I si
��
l 'a
?
,_
a m wa ltya * dl Ima { p } !)
JL nka
� nqa lka & cb rma c:p d.
'nJ * nga k ngwa lqa � ). { ob } rna { 0 � } h
[<X>] * Da .al. nwa rpa � di. mna 'O ..P
� �
y hta rta rsi
L[, ksa rtya Y: s...t nsi

<-s «
4 ska
4 sqa rka o/ ""11'
rqa
� -'P-
�· · · · lya m JP" { 13.. } { "!) } { SL }
!piece torn out] lwa 1:IlJ m { 'l:i } {U}
rya u ""{!}
rwa ...a_ ..(i)_

Commentary on V l O
This document is written on one side of a sheet of examination script paper, with a candidate ' s
answers o n the verso. Tolkien used black ink for the Valmaric symbols and pencil for the values
and the note.
The brackets around the symbol for Da are Tolkien ' s . The value ma was emended from pta.
The values nta and rda refer to the symbols to the left and right. The values rma and mna refer
to the symbol to the left and the two symbols to the right in each of these entries . The value rna
refers to the two symbols to the left (one deleted) and the three to the right (two deleted) ; the
undeleted symbol to the right was written above the two deleted symbols in the manuscript.
Among the doodles at the top of the page are symbols for na, rna, and rma, as well as three
occurrences of karma ' shape, fashion; act, deed' (QL s.v. KARA) . The values of the three
symbols in the upper right corner are uncertain . The group of five symbols in the lower left
corner, one of them incomplete , may be variants of the symbol for tsa or that for lsi. The group
of five symbols to the right of the values tta through lda may also be variants of the symbol for
tsa. A piece was tom from the page, obscuring part of the word written below the entry for ska.
The word in question may be *alkanda, most likely a derivative of alka 'ray' or alkana- 'to
blaze ' (QL s .v . 1.-KJ..) , but the value of the second letter is uncertain .

Vll
1> pa n ta q tya 'Cl ka h qa

J fa l; sa J, hya I ha GP hwa
eel va 0 ra w ya I 'a
? 'a m wa
p mpa
t; {'" nta '-d ntya
� nka
JlL nqa
6 mba "r(l nda cq ndya } * l:IJ nga } * � ngwa
0 ma 0 na 'DJ nya (X) Da .!ll- nwa
!A "
F pta n tta htya y hta
{�} 13 � psa
� 1) tsa
�q q ksa
�
3 3 2. 4
sta stya ska sqa
spa 4
d2 -i ltya (, (x,
" :x;
lpa Ita lka lqa
* rpa c.e rta U X rtya � l:{Y rka "P"- 'f rqa

tlL JD lya af lwa
'J :J lma 'nl-
a rma .]5 "Q rna 't1 "UT rya .0.. .4\ rwa
� � t:1 mna
-
Y.l Ha
m Ida
6-- ew;) rda
2Z. ssa
:rr; � lsi
Q... rsi
� � nsi (b) = ya = &

Commentary on V l l
This document i s written o n one side of a sheet of examination script paper, with a candidate' s
answers o n the verso . Tolkien used black ink for the Valmaric symbols and pencil for the
values, as well as for the braces and asterisks to the right of ndya/nya and nga/na. Though not
explicitly stated in this document, these braces and asterisks indicate that the symbol for ndya is
interchangeable with that for nya, and that for nga interchangeable with that for na; cf. the note
in V lO .
The symbol to the immediate right of the deleted symbol for psa was actually written above it
in the manuscript, with an arrow pointing to its correct position . The symbols for rya were
written over an illegible erasure .

V12
[V 1 2a: Table with values]
1=., p TT t q ts � k li. kw
mb � d cq dz nr g 'lxL gw
cl r 2.. }l 'Cl s V
� X
cJ V 12 () �z � 3
p mp -c s cL fj 1 h
cp hw, lu
.Fmb :x;- z (A..) j I ' (a) en w
n m
� nt llr nj (ii) CO D
C? n, 7 nd cp ns cp �
� sp r st fL nk 4 nkw
� ps � ts '}lL ng 4 ngw
-
� pp
'---
n tt O Ti r
""9' kk
c tr B-t!J r � sk
{,., dr r.:> t '=�., ks
<-' n m ,
� 1}.

[V l 2b: Additions and doodles]
p t ty k q
mb nd ndy ng ngw
f s hy h hw
V r y w
m n ny [D ] nw
I ! 1}
Cl
pt l!2 {�} ss {([)} {�}
tt {}' } % T '=::1 {u.l}
hty {!!\} {�} � pty � );
ht l! kk {-q}
{?} {m} lm { - } ce { � } en n if
Commentary on V12
This document is written on two sides of a small sheet of note-paper bearing the printed headings
"THE UNIVERSITY , LEEDS" and "TELEPHONE No . 2025 1 ."
In the table on the recto (V l 2a) , the tengwar were written in black ink and the values in
pencil . Tolkien made only one emendation , replacing h with X ·
All of the writing on the verso (V 1 2b) is in black ink. The table at the top clearly represents
the consonantal system of Qenya; the brackets around D are Tolkien' s . The intended values of
the tengwar below the table , several of which are smeared in the manuscript, are uncertain; the
three-letter word in this group of doodles seems to read fatala, assuming that the first letter has
the value f (as in V 1 3) rather than mp (as in V 1 2a) , and assuming that the second letter is a
variant of TT . In the manuscript, the beginning of a draft of a letter appears between the doodles
and the fragmentary table below it:
Dear F . r . Martindale
Martindale I am very glad to hear from you - I did not expect to do so
until after Easter.

V13
b TI {cJ}cr Lf h_
p t ty k q
� ln {cJ}"J 9 k
mb nd ndy ng ngw
p "t; G { 9}J lh r-
f s by hw "'CL
F X X w J CO n
{lJ}"CT �
V {r} y w \:::::1__
U = r Jt = r �
� � eel nl Jil \')?
m n ny [D] nw (A
� GcA
[The following was deleted:]

Commentary on V13
This document is written on one side of a sheet of "Oxford paper" (see The Lays of Beleriand, p .
8 1 ) , and therefore i t cannot b e dated earlier than 1 924 . The Valmaric symbols are written in
black ink, as are the symbols and values for r and r below the deleted r. The remaining values
are written in pencil, as is the column of characters in the right margin . These do not appear to
be Valmaric symbols , but rather letters from some Feanorian or Proto-Feanorian script. The
value ty was written over tJ. The brackets around D are Tolkien' s .
The deleted doodles at the bottom of the page are unintelligible . The word at the upper right,
if in Valmaric script, would seem to be kalafatya, perhaps a derivative of KALA ' shine golden '
in QL.

Early Qenya and Valmaric f. R. R. Tolkien
Acknowledgements
First of all , we would like to thank the scholars , collectors and readers of Tolkien' s works who
have encouraged our efforts over the last two years , with eager but patient anticipation of the
result. We greatly appreciate your support.
In particular we are grateful for the friendship of Bruce and Marcy Leonard, whose hospitality
in the summer of 2002 provided an opportunity for us to meet and work together more closely
while editing the materials in this collection . We also thank Adam Victor Christensen for his
beautiful artwork, and his continuing fellowship and support. Christina Scull , Wayne G .
Hammond, and Douglas A. Anderson provided advice regarding the chronology of the early
materials, for which we are also grateful . And we want to thank the Mythopoeic Society and its
members , at whose annual conference the discussion and study of Tolkien' s invented languages
and scripts has flourished for more than 30 years .
We are indebted to Cathleen Blackbum and the Tolkien Estate for their permission to publish
all of the documents by J . R. R. Tolkien presented here . And we are grateful to Dr. Judith
Priestman and the staff of the Department of Western Manuscripts at the Bodleian Library in
Oxford , for granting us access to the papers in their collection , and allowing us to publish the
early Qenya fragments found among those of Tolkien' s manuscripts that are deposited there .
Finally , we wish to express our deepest appreciation to Christopher Tolkien , who provided
photocopies and descriptions of the Valmaric and early Qenya documents in his keeping , and
access to those kept elsewhere . He has always been willing to answer our questions and assist in
the interpretation of difficulties in the manuscripts . It is only with his continued generosity and
encouragement that our edition of these documents was possible .
CHRISTOPHER GILSON
CARL F. HOSTETTER
ARDEN R. SMITH
BILL WELDEN
PATRICK WYNNE
December, 2003 .

Early Qenya and Valmaric ]. R. R. Tolkien
List of Abbreviations
[Note that abbreviations for grammatical categories are frequently capitalized in examples and paradigms.]
a. = accusative. PME = "The Poetic and Mythologic Words

adj . = adjective . of Eldarissa" (in PE 1 2) .
adv . = adverb. pres. = present.
aor. = aorist. Q = Qenya.
c., ea. = circa. QL = "Qenya Lexicon" (in PE 1 2) .
CE = Cor-eldarin . q.v . = which see .
cf. = refer to . sg ., sing. = singular.
cp. = compare . Span . = Spanish .
d. = dative. SQ = "The Sounds of Qenya" (in PE 1 2) .
du. = dual . s .v . , s .vv. = under the entry , entries .
*E, E* = Primitive Eldarin . T = Telerin .
ed(s) . = editor(s) ; edition . VT = Vinyar Tengwar.
e .g . = for example . V 1 . . . V 1 3 = Valmaric documents (see
Eng . = English . page 90 for a detailed list) .
EQD = "English-Qenya Dictionary". 1 , 2, 3 = first, second, third person .
EQG = "Early Qenya Grammar" . I = The Book of Lost Tales, Part One.
etc . , &c . = et cetera. 11 = The Book of Lost Tales, Part Two.
Etym. = The Etymologies (in V) . Ill = The Lays of Beleriand.
f. , fern. = feminine. IV = The Shaping of Middle-earth.
Fr. = French . V = The Lost Road and Other Writings.
fut. = future . & = and.
g., gen . = genitive. t = archaic or poetic .
Ger. = German . v' = root.
GL = "Gnomish Lexicon" (in PE 1 1 ) . * = unattested. (Also used by Tolkien to
Gn. = Gnomish . mark notes .)
HS = Historical Sketch (PE 1 2 , pp . 1 -2) . < = derived from (historically) .
i .e. = that is . > = shifted to (historically) .
imp . = impersonal. << = changed from (in the manuscript) .
lPA = International Phonetic Alphabet. >> = changed to (in the manuscript) .
irreg . = irregular. { . . . } = deleted (in the manuscript) .
m., masc . = masculine. [ . . . ] = added editorially; IPA spelling .
N = N oldorin. (Tolkien also occasionally uses brackets ,
n . = noun; nominative. and these have been indicated as such
n., neut. = neuter. when they occur.)
ND = "Noldorin Dictionary" (in PE 1 3 ) . In the texts every Elvish and other non-English form
n o . = number. is given in italics or bold (unless it was typed in
NW = "Noldorin Word-lists" (in PE 1 3) . ALL-CAPITALS ) , whether or not Tolkien has
p . , pp . = page, pages . underlined the form in the manuscript (he usually
has). Other italics represent Tolkien's underlining
pa.(t.) = past (tense) .
for emphasis. All glosses are placed in single quotes
PE = Parma Eldalamberon . ( ) unless emphasized by Tolkien in some other
' 0 0 . '
pl(s) . = plural(s). way , such as double quotes ( ) or underlining .

" 0 0 ."

Cover illustrations © 2003 Adam Victor Christensen
Front cover "Lords of the Sea" . . . B ack cover "Harp of the Air"

Parma Eldalamberon 14

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Parma Eldalamberon 14

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pARCDA elOALAm5eRON 7\lV

eaR(y QeN(JA. & VALOJA.RlC

edired by p<\rnicK Wynne a_ ChRisropheR c:;Kson

eaRly Qenyc\ c;Rc\mmc\R

Lhe Vc\[mc\Ric ScRipr

Early Qenya Fragments

The Creatures of the Earth 5.

Early Qenya Grammar

The Valmaric Script

List of Abbreviations 136.

PARMA ELDALAMBERON No. 14 - Page 2

Patrick Wynne and Christopher Gilson

Copyright © 2003 The Tolkien Trust

PARMA ELDALAMBERON No. 14 - Page 3

The Creatures of the Earth

PARMA ELDALAMBERON No. 14 - Page 5

PARMA ELDALAMBERON No. 14 - Page 6

PARMA ELDALAMBERON No. 1 4 - Page 7

PARMA ELDALAMBERON No. 14 - Page 8

The Creatures of the Earth

Isbaroth, Q Irmaldi ( < Irmardi)

A . Eldar (Eglath), Elves (or fairies) .

PARMA ELDALAMBERON No. 14 - Page 9

E. Children of the Gods .

G. Beasts and Creatures .

(1) E Valar and their folk

17 An unfinished form aid was changed to alandri .

PARMA ELDALAMBERON No. 14 - Page 10

The Names of the V alar

PARMA ELDALAMBERON No. 14 - Page 1 1

Manwe Sulimo Manweg Sulios 1

PARMA ELDALAMBERON No. 14 - Page 12

Nornoros Kapalimor Dornod Cablin Drondos12

PARMA ELDALAMBERON No. 14 - Page 13

(Kemi) Yavanna Palfirien /van Plauril 1 5

PARMA ELDALAMBERON No. 14 - Page 14

PARMA ELDALAMBERON No. 14 - Page 15

Otsan and Kainendan

PARMA ELDALAMBERON No. 14 - Page 1 6

PARMA ELDALAMBERON No. 1 4 - Page 1 7

PARMA ELDALAMBERON No. 14 - Page 18

PARMA ELDALAMBERON No. 14 - Page 19

PARMA ELDALAMBERON No. 14 - Page 20

The OTSAN or OTSOLA (oglad)

PARMA ELDALAMBERON No. 14 - Page 21

The KAINENDAN , KAINELLA (caineglad)

Sunday Manwisan - Sfilisan25

PARMA ELDALAMBERON No. 14 - Page 22

Matar and Tulir

PARMA ELDALAMBERON No. 14 - Page 23

5 See the "Early Qenya Grammar" , below pp . 5 2 , 56-7 .

PARMA ELDALAMBERON No. 14 - Page 24

The Qenya Verb Forms

PARMA ELDALAMBERON No. 14 - Page 25

PARMA ELDALAMBERON No. 14 - Page 26

3 Parma Eldalamberon , no. 1 2 , p. 26.

PARMA ELDALAMBERON No. 14 - Page 27

The Qenya Verb forms .

PARMA ELDALAMBERON No. 14 - Page 28

M tuliksoi tulvaksoi tulieksoi

in ink; but the other changes and additions are in pencil .

PARMA ELDALAMBERON No. 14 - Page 29

Passive. 'be brought; come (indefinite)' .27

add tfilima '(worth bringing) bringable , able to be brought'