[ᴱ]*√NITH root. “smell sweet”
A hypothetical root serving as the basis for the element nis- in late Quenya words like Q. nísima “fragrant” in Nísimaldar “Fragrant Trees” (UT/167); the root must be *√NITH rather than **√NIS because otherwise the Quenya forms would have nir-. It may be a later iteration of ᴱ√NṚŘṚ [NṚÐṚ] “smell sweet” from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, given as nṛþ- in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon (GL/30). This early ð vs þ variation was reflected in words like ᴱQ. nar (nard-) vs. G. narth “odour” and ᴱQ. narda- “smell sweetly” vs. G. drith- “it smells, smacks of, savours of”.
Another possibly related form is ✶nes- “sweet smelling” < √NE “scent” serving as the basis for Q. alanessë and S. galanes > galenas “tobacco” = “*sweet smelling growth” in notes on the words and phrases in The Lord of the Rings from the late 1950s or early 1960s (PE17/100).
Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I’d recommend sticking with *√NITH for sweet smelling, as this form has been known for longer and produces clearer results in derived words.
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ᴱ√NṚÞṚ root. “smell sweet”
References ✧ GL/30; QL/68
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