Elvish languages
"The Etymologies" is Tolkien's etymological dictionary of the Elvish languages, written during the 1930s. It was edited by Christopher Tolkien and published as the third part of "The Lost Road and Other Writings", the fifth volume of the History of Middle-earth. Christopher Tolkien described it as "a remarkable document." It is a list of roots of the Proto-Elvish language, from which J. R. R. Tolkien built his many Elvish languages, especially Quenya, Noldorin and Ilkorin. "The Etymologies" do not form a unified whole, but incorporate layer upon layer of changes. It was not meant to be published. In his introduction to "The Etymologies", Christopher Tolkien wrote that his father was "more interested in the processes of change than he was in displaying the structure and use of the languages at any given time."