The War of the Jewels (67 page)

This prefix was normally unstressed in verbs or derivatives of verbs; or generally when the next following syllable was long. When stressed it had the form o-, as in ononi 'twins', beside the adj. onona 'twin-born', also used as a noun 'one of a pair of twins'.

TELERIN use does not materially differ; but in form the su-

(lost in Quenya before o) is retained: prefix vo, vo-. (Note 1, p. 407)

SINDARIN. In the prefix gwa-, go- 'together, co-, com-'. The dual limitation was no longer made; and go- had the senses both of *wo and *jo. *jo, *jom- disappeared as a living prefix. gwa- occurred only in a few S dissyllables, where it was stressed, or in their recognizable derivatives: e.g. gwanun

'a pair of twins', gwanunig one of such a pair. These were mostly of ancient formation, and so retained their dual significance. gwa- is regularly developed from *wo > *wa > gwa, when stressed in prehistoric Sindarin. go- is from *wo > gwo > go, when primitively unstressed; and also from gwa-

> go-, when it became again unstressed. Since PQ *wa (one of the forms of *AWA) would also have produced go-, go-, Or gwa- if primitively shortened (e.g. before two consonants), while *au would have produced o-, the same as the frequent initially mutated form of go- 'together', the prefixal forms of

*AWA were lost in Sindarin.

*HO.

QUENYA. This was evidently an ancient adverbial element, occurring principally as a proclitic or enclitic: proclitic, as a prefix to verb stems; and enclitic, as attached to noun stems (the usual place for the simpler 'prepositional' elements in PQ). Hence Quenya ho- (usually so, even when it had become unstressed), as a verb prefix. It meant 'away, from, from among', but the point of view was outside the thing, place, or group in thought, whereas in the derivatives of *AWA the point in thought was the place or thing left. Thus Q hokiri-

'cut off', so as to have or use a required portion; whereas aukiri- meant 'cut off' and get rid of or lose a portion. hotuli-

'come away', so as to leave a place or group and join another in the thought or place of the speaker; whereas au could not be used with the stem tul- 'come'.

As a noun enclitic *-ho became -o, since medial h was very early lost without trace in CE. This was the source of the most used 'genitive' inflexion of Quenya. Properly it was used partitively, or to describe the source or origin, not as a

'possessive', or adjectivally to describe qualities; but naturally this 'derivative genitive' (as English of) could be used in many circumstances that might have possessive or adjectival implications, though 'possession' was indicated by the adjectival suffix -va, or (especially in general descriptions) by a 'loose compound'. Thus 'Orome's horn' was roma Oromeva (if it remained in his possession); Orome roma would mean 'an Orome horn', sc. one of Orome's horns (if he had more than one); but roma Oromeo meant 'a horn coming from Orome', e.g. as a gift, in circumstances where the recipient, showing the gift with pride, might say 'this is Orome's horn'. If he said

'this was Orome's horn', he would say Oromeva. Similarly lambe Eldaron would not be used for 'the language of the Eldar' (unless conceivably in a case where the whole language was adopted by another people), which is expressed either by Elda-lambe or lambe Eldaiva. (Note 2, p. 407)

There remained naturally many cases where either possessive-adjectival or partitive-derivative genitives might be used, and the tendency to prefer the latter, or to use them in place of the former, increased. Thus alkar Oromeo or alkar Oromeva could be used for 'the splendour of Orome', though the latter was proper in a description of Orome as he permanently was, and the former of his splendour as seen at the moment (proceeding from him) or at some point in a narrative. 'The Kings of the Eldar' might be either i arani Eldaron or i arani Eldaive, though the former would mean if accurately used

'those among the Eldar who were kings' and the latter 'those (kings) in a particular assembly who were Elvish'. In such expressions as 'Elwe, King of the Sindar (people), or Doriath (country)' the derivative form was usual: Elwe, Aran Sindaron, or Aran Lestanoreo.

TELERIN. The Telerin use of the prefix ho- was as in Quenya.

The inflexion was -o, as in Quenya, but it did not receive -n addition in the plural. It was more widely used than in pure Quenya, sc. in most cases where English would employ the inflexion -s, or of; though the possessive, especially when it concerned a single person or possessor, was expressed without inflexion: either with the possessor placed first (the older usage), or (possibly under the influence of the genitival or adjectival expressions which were placed second) following the possessed. In the latter case, the appropriate possessive suffix ('his, hers, its, their') was usually appended to the noun. So Olue cava; or cava Olue, usually cavaria Olue (sc.

'the house of him, Olwe'); = 'Olwe's house'. The last form was also used in Quenya with proper names, as koarya Olwe.

Both languages also used the adjectival possessive suffixes in a curious way, attaching them to adjectives attributed to proper names (or names of personal functions, like 'king'): as Varda Aratarya, 'Varda the Lofty, Varda in her sublimity'.

This was most usual in the vocative: as in Meletyalda, or fuller Aran Meletyalda (literally 'your mighty' or 'king your mighty'), more or less equivalents of 'Your Majesty'. Cf.

Aragorn's farewell: Arwen vanimalda, namarie!(4) SINDARIN. Since initial h- disappeared in Sindarin *ho would have become u and so, clashing with the negative u, naturally did not survive. >ho as a proclitic might have given o; butg it does not occur as a verbal prefix, although it possibly contributed to the Sindarin preposition o (see under *Awa, Sindarin) which is used in either direction, from or to the point of view of the speaker. Since all final vowels disappeared in Sindarin, it cannot be determined whether or not this language had in the primitive period developed inflexional -o. Its presence in Telerin of Aman makes its former presence in Sindarin probable. The placing of the genitive noun second in normal Sindarin is also probably derived from inflexional forms. Compounds of which the first element was 'genitival' were evidently in the older period still normal, as is seen in many place- and personal names (such as Egla-mar), and was still in more limited use later, especially where the first element was or was regarded as an adjective (as Mordor 'Land of Darkness' or 'Dark Land'). But genitival sequences with the possessor or qualifier second in the later period also became fixed compounds: as Doriath, for Dor lath 'Land of the Fence'.

*ABA.

Though this became a verbal stem, it is probably derived from a primitive negative element, or exclamation, such as *BA

'no!' It did not, however, deny facts, but always expressed concern or will; that is, it expressed refusal to do what others might wish or urge, or prohibition of some action by others.

As a verbal stem it developed the form *aba- (with connecting vowel a in the aorist); as a particle or prefix the forms *aba,

*ba, and *aba.

QUENYA. In Quenya the verb ava- was little used in ordinary language, and revealed that it was not in origin a 'strong' or basic verbal stem by having the 'weak' past form avane. In ordinary use it was replaced by the compound va-quet (vaquetin, vaquenten) 'to say no', sc. 'to say I will not', or 'do not', 'to refuse' or 'to forbid'.

As a prefix the form used was usually ava-, the force of which can be observed in avaquetima 'not to be said, that must not be said', avanyarima 'not to be told or related', as contrasted with uquetima 'unspeakable', that is, 'impossible to say, put into words, or unpronounceable', unydrima 'impossible to recount', sc. because all the facts are not known, or the tale is too long. Compare also Avamanyar 'those who did not go to Aman, because they would not' (an equivalent of Avari) with Uamanyar 'those who did not in the event reach Aman' (an equivalent of Hekeldi).

As a particle (the form of this stem most used in ordinary language) the Quenya form was usually va! This was an exclamation or particle expressing the will or wish of the speaker, meaning according to context 'I will not' or 'Do not! '

Note that it was not used, even in the first person, in a statement about the speaker's future action, depending on foresight, or a judgement of the force of circumstances. It could sometimes, as seen in vaquet- (above), be used as a verbal prefix.

A longer form ava or ava (stressed on the last syllable), which shows combination with the imperative particle *a, was commonly used as a negative imperative 'Don't!', either used alone or with an uninflected verbal stem, as ava kare!

'Don't do it!' Both va and ava sometimes received verbal pronominal affixes of the first singular and first plural exclusive: as avan, van, vanye 'I won't', avamme, vamme 'we won't'.

An old derivative of *aba- as a quasi-verbal stem was

*abaro > CE *abar. This was an old agental formation, as seen also in Teler, pl. Teleri, made with the suffix -ro, added to omataina.(5) (Other forms of this suffix were -ro added to stem, with or without n-infixion; and -rdo > rd.) *abar thus meant 'recusant, one who refuses to act as advised or commanded'. It was specially applied to (or first made to describe?) the section of the Elves who refused to join in the Westward March: Q Avar, pl. Avari.

TELERIN. The Telerin use was closely similar to that of Quenya. The forms were the same, except that Telerin preserved CE b distinct from v or u: hence the prefix was aba- (abapetima 'not to be said'); the particle ba; the exclamation aba. The verbal form, however, was in normal use: aban 'I refuse, I will not'. In a negative command only the uninflected aba was used: aba care 'don't do it!'

SINDARIN. In Sindarin the following forms are found. baw!

imperious negative: 'No, no! Don't! ' avo negative adverb with verbs, as avo garo! 'don't do it'; sometimes used as a prefix: avgaro (< *aba-kar a). This could be personalized in the form avon 'I won't', avam 'we won't': these were of course not in fact derived from avo, which contained the imperative -o < >a, but from the verb stem *aba, with inflexions assimilated to the tense stems in -a; but no other parts of the verb survived in use, except the noun avad refusal, reluctance'. Derived direct from baw! (*ha) was the verb boda- 'ban, prohibit' (*ba-ta).

(With the uses of this stem, primary meaning 'refuse, be unwilling', to form negative imperatives, cf. Latin noli, nolite.)

B. Meanings and use of the various terms applied to the Elves and their varieties in Quenya, Telerin, and Sindarin.

Quenya.

1. quen, pl. queni, person, individual, man or woman.

Chiefly used in the unstressed form quen. Mostly found in the singular: 'one, somebody'; in the pl. 'people, they'. Also combined with other elements, as in aiquen 'if anybody, whoever', ilquen 'everybody'. In a number of old compounds

-quen, pl. queni was combined with noun or adjective stems to denote habitual occupations or functions, or to describe those having some notable (permanent) quality: as -man in English (but without distinction of sex) in horseman, seaman, work-man, nobleman, etc. Q roquen 'horseman, rider'; (Note 3, p. 407) kiryaquen 'shipman, sailor'; arquen 'a noble'. These words belong to everyday speech, and have no special reference to Elves. They were freely applied to other Incarnates, such as Men or Dwarves, when the Eldar became acquainted with them.

2. Quendi Elves, of any kind, including the Avari. The sg.

Quende was naturally less frequently used. As has been seen, the word was made when the Elves as yet knew of no other

'people' than themselves. The sense 'the Elvish people, as a whole', or in the sg. 'an Elf and not some other similar creature', developed first in Aman, where the Elves lived among or in contact with the Valar and Maiar. During the Exile when the Noldor became re-associated with their Elvish kin, the Sindar, but met other non-Elvish people, such as Orcs, Dwarves, and Men, it became an even more useful term. But in fact it had ceased in Aman to be a word of everyday use, and remained thereafter mainly used in the special language of Lore: histories or tales of old days, or learned writings on peoples and languages. In ordinary language the Elves of Aman called themselves Eldar (or in Telerin Elloi): see below.

There also existed two old compounds containing *kwendi:

*kala-kwendi and *mori-kwendi, the Light-folk and the Dark-folk. These terms appear to go back to the period before the Separation, or rather to the time of the debate among the Quendi concerning the invitation of the Valar. They were evidently made by the party favourable to Orome, and referred originally to those who desired the Light of Valinor (where the ambassadors of the Elves reported that there was no darkness), and those who did not wish for a place in which there was no night. But already before the final separation *mori-kwendi may have referred to the glooms and the clouds dimming the sun and the stars during the War of the Valar and Melkor,(6) so that the term from the beginning had a tinge of scorn, implying that such folk were not averse to the shadows of Melkor upon Middle-earth.

The lineal descendants of these terms survived only in the languages of Aman. The Quenya forms were Kalaquendi and Moriquendi. The Kalaquendi in Quenya applied only to the Elves who actually lived or had lived in Aman; and the Moriquendi was applied to all others, whether they had come on the March or not. The latter were regarded as greatly inferior to the Kalaquendi, who had experienced the Light of Valinor, and had also acquired far greater knowledge and powers by their association with the Valar and Maiar.