Tolkien Gateway

MOR

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*''[[Morwen]]''<ref name=SApp/>
 
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==Inspiration==
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Based on manuscripts held at the [[Cushing Memorial Library and Archives collection]], Madeline J. Keyser has suggested that [[J.R.R. Tolkien|Tolkien]] was inspired by a real-world word ''mora'', which "''seems to be of North (Scandinavian) and West Germanic origin — the Latin root is found in Modern English words such as murky, and in other Germanic words associated with darkness''". A manuscript note appears to consist of the glosses ''mora'' "dark", ''moranya'' "darker", and ''moranta'' "darkest".<ref name=Sixteen>{{webcite|author=Madeline J. Keyser|articleurl=http://www.tolkienlibrary.com/press/1066-Sixteen-philological-books-notes-library-of-Tolkien.php|articlename=Sixteen Philological Books and Notes from the Library of J.R.R. Tolkien|dated=30 December 2012|website=TL|accessed=3 January 2013}}</ref>
  
 
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[[Category:Roots]]
 
[[Category:Roots]]

Latest revision as of 18:34, 3 January 2013

MOR is a Primitive Quendian root signifying "black, dark".[1][2][3]

[edit] Derivatives

[edit] Other versions

In the Etymologies appears the root MOR-, yielding Primitive Quendian mori ("black"). From this root derives such words as:[4]

  • Quenya: morna ("gloomy, sombre"); mordo ("shadow, obscurity, stain, smear, dimness")[5]

[edit] Examples

The element mor appears in a large number of compounds. Christopher Tolkien notes in the Etymologies that the entry MOR- is "extremely confused through changes and afterthought additions" and that it is not clear if "all the forms given were intended to stand".[4] It can therefore be hard to know if the element mor in a compound is supposed to consist of a certain derivative of MOR.

[edit] Inspiration

Based on manuscripts held at the Cushing Memorial Library and Archives collection, Madeline J. Keyser has suggested that Tolkien was inspired by a real-world word mora, which "seems to be of North (Scandinavian) and West Germanic origin — the Latin root is found in Modern English words such as murky, and in other Germanic words associated with darkness". A manuscript note appears to consist of the glosses mora "dark", moranya "darker", and moranta "darkest".[6]

[edit] References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 J.R.R. Tolkien; Humphrey Carpenter, Christopher Tolkien (eds.), The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter 297, (dated August 1967) (root appearing as "√MOR")
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 J.R.R. Tolkien, "Words, Phrases and Passages in Various Tongues in The Lord of the Rings", in Parma Eldalamberon XVII (edited by Christopher Gilson), pp. 73, 81 , 165 (root appearing as "√MOR-")
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Appendix: Elements in Quenya and Sindarin Names" (element appearing as "mor", signifying "dark")
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Lost Road and Other Writings, "Part Three: The Etymologies", pp. 373-4
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, "Addenda and Corrigenda to the Etymologies — Part One" (edited by Carl F. Hostetter and Patrick H. Wynne), in Vinyar Tengwar, Number 45, November 2003, p. 35
  6. ↑ Madeline J. Keyser, "Sixteen Philological Books and Notes from the Library of J.R.R. Tolkien" dated 30 December 2012, Tolkien Library (accessed 03 January 2013)
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