S. niphredil n. “white flower (similar to a snowdrop); *(lit.) pale point” (Category: Flower (other))
Name of a pale flower growing in Lórien and elsewhere (LotR/350). Tolkien described it as “a pale white flower (like snowdrop)” or “a delicate kin of a snowdrop” (PE17/55; Let/248). It is a combination of niphred “pallor” and -til “point” (PE17/55).
Conceptual Development: In Lord of the Rings drafts of the 1940s Tolkien first gave N. nifredil as the name of “a green snowdrop” (TI/233). In The Etymologies of the 1930s, Tolkien gave N. nínim “snowdrop” under the root ᴹ√NEI̯ “tear”, but nifredil was written beside it, perhaps a later addition (Ety/NEI). The first element of nínim is N. nîn “tear”, and the second element might be N. nimp “pale” from ᴹ√NIK-W (Ety/NIK-W); see below.
In the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s Tolkien had G. ninconin “snowdrop” with ninghonin written below it, possible an alternate form (G/60). This earlier word was derived from primitive ᴱ✶ninqe-nı̯ēne and was a cognate to ᴱQ. nieninqe “snowdrop, (lit.) white tear” containing ᴱQ. nie “tear” under the early root ᴱ√NYEHE and ᴱQ. ninqe “white” under the early root ᴱ√NIQI (QL/66, 68). Thus 1910s G. ninconin was similar in origin to 1930s N. nínim before Tolkien changed it to nifredil.
References ✧ LBI; Let/248, 402; LotR/350; LotRI/Niphredil; PE17/55, 168; S/91; SA/nim; SDI1/niphredil; SI; WJI
Glosses
Elements
| niphred | “pallor” | ✧ PE17/55; PE17/168; SA/nim | |
| till | “point, spike, (sharp) horn, tine, ending” | soft-mutation | ✧ PE17/55 (-il) |
N. nifredil n. “(green) snowdrop; *(lit.) pale point” (Category: Flower (other))
References ✧ Ety/NEI, NIK-W; PMI; TI/233; TII; WRI
Glosses
Related
Elements
| nifred | “pallor, fear” | ✧ Ety/NIK-W; TI/233 | |
| till | “horn” | soft-mutation |
Cognates
N. nínim n. “snowdrop” (Category: Flower (other))
Reference ✧ Ety/NEI ✧ “snowdrop”
Related
Elements
| nîn | “tear” | ✧ Ety/NEI |
| nimp | “pale” |
Cognates
G. ninconin n. “snowdrop” (Category: Flower (other))
References ✧ GL/60
Glosses
Variations
Related
Inflections
| ninconînin | plural | ✧ GL/60 |
Elements
| nimp | “pallid” | ✧ GL/60 |
Cognates
Derivations