Q. roquen n. “horseman, rider; knight” (Category: to Ride)
A word for a “horseman, rider” in the Quendi and Eldar essay of 1959-60, a reduction of ancient ✶roko-kwēn “*horse-person” (WJ/372, 407). In notes on the Disaster of Gladden Fields, Tolkien translated roquen as “knight” for a rank higher than a mere ohtar “warrior” (UT/282 note #17), though apparently all ranks rode horses. It may be that the sense “knight” applies only in a [Gondorian?] military context, while in ordinary use roquen can apply to anyone capable of riding a horse. A more general term for a “knight” as a noble person would be arquen.
References ✧ UT/282; WJ/372, 407
Glosses
Elements
rocco | “horse” | |
quén | “person, individual, man or woman; one, somebody” | ✧ WJ/372 (-quen); WJ/407 (-quen) |
Derivations