S. dan [nd-] prep. “back to, (back in return) against, down upon, back on, back again” (Category: Behind, At the Rear)
A preposition translated as “back to, back (in return) against” in Tolkien’s notes on Words, Phrases and Passages from the Lord of the Rings from the late 1950s or early 1960s (PE17/38). In drafts of these notes it was translated “down upon, back on” (PE17/38). In notes from 1959, Tolkien gave dan as a derivative of √NDAN(A) “back (again)”, itself an enlargement of √NDĀ̆ (PE17/166). Its most notable use is in the phrase naur dan i ngaurhoth (LotR/299), which probably means “*fire [be] against the wolf-horde”.
Conceptual Development: In Lord of the Rings drafts of the 1940s the phrase was [N.] naur ad i gaurhoth (TI/187), with preposition ad perhaps related to [N.] ad- “back, again, re-” from The Etymologies of the 1930s (Ety/AT(AT)). In the Túrin Wrapper from the late 1940s or early 1950s, Tolkien had a similar word den in the phrase sí il chem en i Naugrim en ir Ellath thor {a >>} den ammen, which perhaps meant “*now all hands of the Dwarves and Elves will be against us” (VT50/5, 23), but this den could have meant something else instead. See VT50/24-25 for possible meanings suggested by Carl Hostetter. The deleted {a} in this phrase might be an incomplete ad.
Possible precursors from the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s was G. abod “again; in return, in exchange, back”, originally two separate entries avod “again; in return, in exchange” and abod “back” (GL/17). G. abod was the adverbial equivalent of the prefix G. bod- “back, again” (GL/23). Early Noldorin word lists of the 1920s has ᴱN. {abod >>} avod “again, back again, in return” (PE13/136-137, 160).
References ✧ LotR/299; PE17/38, 166; PM/395; VT50/23
Glosses
Variations
Inflections
| dan- | prefix | ✧ PE17/166 | |
| dan/dad- | prefix | “back again” | ✧ PE17/166 |
Element In
Cognates
Derivations
Phonetic Developments
| ✶nana-/ndan- > dan- | [ndan-] > [dan-] | ✧ PE17/166 |
| √NDĀ̆ > dan/dad- | [ndan-] > [dan-] | ✧ PE17/166 |
N. ad prep. “*against” (Category: Behind, At the Rear)
Reference ✧ TI/187
Elements
| ad- | “back, again, re-” |
Element In
ᴱN. avod adv. “again, back again, in return” (Category: Behind, At the Rear)
References ✧ PE13/136-137, 160
Glosses
Variations
Changes
G. abod adv. “again; in return, in exchange; back” (Category: Behind, At the Rear)
References ✧ GL/17, 23
Glosses
Variations
Related
Changes
Elements
| a-² | “?” | |
| bod | “behind, back, of time ago, ‘a while back’” | ✧ GL/23 |