N. galw n. “?increase, growth” (Category: to Add, Increase)
An unglossed word in The Etymologies of the 1930s derived from the root ᴹ√GALA “thrive” (Ety/GALA). This entry had several similar Quenya words: ᴹQ. alma “good fortune, weal, wealth” and ᴹQ. almie or almare “blessedness, ‘blessings’, good fortune, bliss”. An earlier, deleted version of this entry had ᴹQ. alma “[?increase], growth” followed by N. galw (EtyAC/GAL²). The challenge in interpreting this Noldorin word is that it cannot plausibly be derived from *galm(a), since that would produce galf [galv]; compare N. dalf < ON. dalma.
Neo-Sindarin: In later Sindarin, final w is more often represented as u, so I would use ᴺS. galu as suggested by Hiswelókë’s Sindarin Dictionary (HSD). HSD also suggested this word might mean “good fortune, blessedness, blessings”, but I use “increase, growth” from the deleted entry and assume it is derived from *galwā. For the other meanings I would suggest using ᴺS. alvar “(good) luck, fortune”, ᴺS. elias “blessedness”, or ᴺS. eliad “blessing”.
References ✧ Ety/GALA; EtyAC/GAL²
Glosses
Cognates
Derivations
Phonetic Developments
| ᴹ√GALA > galw | [galma] > [galm] > [galv] ? [galu] | ✧ Ety/GALA |
| ᴹ√GAL² > galw | [galme] > [galm] > [galv] ? [galu] | ✧ EtyAC/GAL² |