S. galenas n. “pipeweed, nicotiana, *tobacco” (Category: Tobacco)
The Sindarin word for “pipeweed [*tobacco]” (LotR/869). In notes on Words, Phrases and Passages in the Lord of the Rings from the late 1950s or early 1960s, Tolkien gave it the gloss “nicotiana” and said its original form was galanes, assembled from [g]ala- “plant, grow” and (primitive?) ✶nes- “sweet smelling”, with a Quenya cognate Q. alanessë (PE17/100).
Conceptual Development: The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had G. fuglas “tobacco” (with variants fuglos, fauglas), a combination of G. fug- “smoulder” and G. lass “leaf” (GL/36). Some remnant of this earlier form might be seen in N. fuilas, the first word Tolkien gave for pipeweed in Lord of the Rings drafts of the 1940s (WR/38). Tolkien revised this to N. marlas and then N. romloth before settling on N. galenas (WR/38).
References ✧ LotR/869; LotRI/Galenas, Pipe-weed; PE17/100
Glosses
Elements
| √GAL² | “grow (like plants), flourish, be healthy, be vigorous, bloom” | |
| ✶nes- | “sweet smelling” | ✧ PE17/100 |
| #-as | “abstract noun” |
Element In
Cognates
N. galenas n. “pipeweed” (Category: Tobacco)
References ✧ WR/38; WRI
Glosses