S. groth n. “large excavation, delving, underground dwelling” (Category: Cave)
A noun for a large excavation (WJ/415) or a cave or tunnel (EtyAC/ROT) with variants groth and grod, the former seen in names like Menegroth “Thousand Caves” and the latter in names like Novrod “Hollow-delving” (later Nogrod “Dwarf-delving”). It was derived from strengthened forms ✶grottā or grotā of the root √ROT (WJ/414-415).
Conceptual Development: The earliest iteration of this word was (archaic) G. †roth “cave, grot” from the early root ᴱ√roto (GL/65); this root was glossed “hollow” in the contemporaneous Qenya Lexicon (QL/80). Both strengthened and unstrengthened variants N. groth and roth “cave, tunnel” appeared under the root ᴹ√ROT “bore, tunnel”, a late entry to The Etymologies of the 1930s (EtyAC/ROT). Suffixal forms -roth, -rod were mentioned in passing in Words, Phrases and Passages from the Lord of the Rings from the late 1950s or early 1960s as derivatives of √ROT “cave” in connection to the name S. Nimrodel (PE17/49).
A fairly lengthy discussion of these words appeared in the Quendi and Eldar essay from 1959-60 (WJ/414-415), where Tolkien gave the root form as √groto “dig, excavate, tunnel” contrasted with √rono “arch over, roof in”. Tolkien also compared groth/grod to S. rond “vaulted or roofed chamber”, only the latter of which “could be applied both to natural and to artificial structures”. Of the two Tolkien said:
Though distinct in origin the derivatives of *groto and *rono naturally came into contact, since they were not dissimilar in shape, and a *rondō was usually made by excavation. Thus S groth < *grottā (an intensified form of grod < *grotā) “a large excavation” might well apply to a rond. Menegroth means “the Thousand Caves or Delvings”, but it contained one great rond and many minor ones (WJ/415).
Neo-Sindarin: Despite Tolkien’s comments in the Quendi and Eldar essay, there are some cases where grod/groth seems to apply to natural caves as well as excavated ones, such as Nimrodel “Lady of the White Cave” and Androth “*Long Cave”. As such, I would use it for both natural and excavated caverns.
References ✧ PE17/49; SA/groth, naug; WJ/414-415
Glosses
Variations
Related
Inflections
| #-rod | soft-mutation; g-mutation | ✧ SA/groth | |
| -rod | soft-mutation; g-mutation | ✧ WJ/414 | |
| -roth/rod | suffix | “cave” | ✧ PE17/49 |
Element In
Cognates
Derivations
Phonetic Developments
| √ROT > -roth/rod | [-rottā] > [-rotta] > [-rottʰa] > [-roθθa] > [-roθθ] > [-roθ] | ✧ PE17/49 |
| ✶(g)rotā > grod | [grotā] > [grota] > [grot] > [grod] | ✧ WJ/414 |
| ✶grottā > groth | [grottā] > [grotta] > [grottʰa] > [groθθa] > [groθθ] > [groθ] | ✧ WJ/415 |
N. groth n. “cave, tunnel” (Category: Cave)
References ✧ EtyAC/ROT
Glosses
Variations
Cognates
Derivations
Phonetic Developments
| ᴹ√ROT > roth | [rotto] > [rottʰo] > [roθθo] > [roθθ] > [roθ] | ✧ EtyAC/ROT |
| ᴹ√ROT > groth | [grotto] > [grottʰo] > [groθθo] > [groθθ] > [groθ] | ✧ EtyAC/ROT |
G. †roth n. “cave, grot” (Category: Cave)
References ✧ GL/65; LT2A/Rothwarin
Glosses
Element In
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Derivatives