A common word, but so very much loved by Tolkien who bemoaned the encroachment of grey-brown smokestacks into the green countryside. Green is from roots which denote the growing and life of plants. Thank you, plants, for our oxygen.

• 1.002 like a porthole, painted green,
• 1.004 (chiefly green and yellow);
• 1.006 and more green,
• 1.008 and the grass was very green.
• 1.021 and scuttled inside his round green door,
• 1.023 on the hobbit’s beautiful green front-door.
• 1.032 he said when he caught sight of Dwalin’s green hood hanging up.
• 1.047 but a hard rat-tat on the hobbit’s beautiful green door.
• 1.050 and a pale green one;
• 1.068 Then Gandalf’s smoke-ring would go green
• 1.070 in a green cloth.
• 1.094 in the Battle of the Green Fields,
• 2.010 and shall await your respected person at the Green Dragon Inn,
• 3.008 some of them green pleasant places to look at,
• 3.012 The last green had almost faded out of the grass,
• 5.035 Saw an eye in a green face.
• 5.103 in Gollum’s eyes had become a green fire,
• 5.106 and saw Gollum’s eyes like small green lamps
• 5.127 and his eyes went green.
• 6.064 another in green.
• 7.014 and then began to march through the long green grass
• 7.116 green, blue, red, silver-grey, yellow, white;
• 8.002 in a sort of darkened green glimmer.
• 8.005 and sometimes pairs of yellow or red or green eyes
• 8.041 he was greened
• 8.042 he saw all round him a sea of dark green,
• 8.058 in green
• 8.071 green and white gems
• 8.124 At any rate here the light was greener,
• 11.004 it had been green
• 11.007 The mountain’s sides were green with woods
• 12.022 in a spout of green
• 12.091 The dragon has withered all the pleasant green,
• 12.096 green as grass,
• 14.031 to the green shores of the lake.
• 15.044 They bore with them the green banner of the Elvenking
• 18.053 and darkly green at the nearer edge
• 19.027 But the land was green
• 19.032 Look at last on meadows green

I am gobsmacked by how rare this word is in our story! Etymonline.com says:

from PIE *bhle-was “light-colored, blue, blond, yellow,” from root *bhel- (1) “to shine, flash, burn,” also “shining white” and forming words for bright colors.

Definitely sky colors, and definitely slippery to modern English speakers — but I’ve seen the sky be salmon, gold, white, so very blue that it makes me weep. Now I’m fascinated to look at all the color words. After the poetry words.

• 1.007 He had a tall pointed blue hat,
• 1.017 and lasses going off into the Blue for mad adventures?
• 1.026 with a blue beard
• 1.038 both with blue hoods,
• 1.040 and they both swept off their blue hoods
• 1.092 Gandalf struck a blue light on the end of his magic staff,
• 3.013 and blue.
• 3.050 blue sky
• 4.002 where things were blue
• 4.035 into a tower of blue glowing smoke,
• 4.041 now it was bright as blue flame
• 5.035 in a blue face
• 6.064 Then he set one alight with bright blue fire,
• 6.064 one in blue flames,
• 7.116 green, blue, red, silver-grey, yellow, white;
• 8.106 by the tip of a blue hood sticking out at the top.
• 11.022 but of what lay beyond the blue distance,
• 15.044 and the blue banner of the Lake,
• 18.053 blue

More muttering going on than I had imagined! Apparently this one is nearly the four thousandth most common word in the Project Gutenberg corpus.

• 2.031 and Thorin muttered something about supper,
• 2.036 and muttering,
• 5.033 Mouthless mutters.
• 7.083 and muttered:
• 8.068 he muttered,
• 8.126 he kept on muttering
• 9.033 they muttered.
• 10.012 where they sat or lay muttering
• 15.034 and they muttered
• 17.035 muttering

We do already have mouthful, since we broadly didn’t lemmatize in the first go-round, but now that I’m adding common words, here it is again in context of other mouths!

• 1.090 who was wagging his mouth
• 1.100 and when Bilbo tried to open his mouth to ask a question,
• 1.100 till Bilbo shut his mouth tight with a snap.
• 1.110 so that he forgot to keep his mouth shut.
• 2.046 “Shut yer mouth!”
• 2.059 “He wouldn’t make above a mouthful,”
• 2.103 so shut yer mouth!” said Bert.
• 4.034 with his mouth open.
• 5.033 Mouthless mutters.
• 5.056 in his mouth;
• 5.130 The cry brought Bilbo’s heart to his mouth,
• 5.148 Bilbo’s heart jumped into his mouth.
• 7.092 in their mouths,
• 7.153 and put his hands to his mouth
• 8.142 At that Thorin shut his mouth
• 9.003 and at the far end were gates before the mouth of a huge cave
• 9.018 beyond the steep slope out of which the main mouth opened.
• 9.026 in his mouth,
• 10.006 There it had a wide mouth with stony clifflike gates at either side
• 10.007 Not far from the mouth of the Forest River
• 11.038 a yawning mouth leading

Poor Gollum has only six.

• 2.080 in his teeth for that,
• 4.033 and all his soldiers gnashed their teeth, clashed their shields,
• 5.032 Teeth!
• 5.032 teeth!
• 5.033 Toothless bites,
• 5.070 goblins’ teeth,
• 6.082 and gnashed their teeth;
• 12.072 my teeth are swords,
• 14.030 but the Master ground his chattering teeth.

Fish, dwarves, eagles, houses, Smaug himself, things on the borders of the Desolation of the Dragon, the thrush, Roäc, ravens, and bats!

• 5.033 Wingless flutters,
• 6.074 But, funny little birds, they had no wings!
• 6.082 the dark rush of their beating wings smote them to the floor
• 7.002 and cling between his wings.
• 7.008 May the wind under your wings bear you
• 7.034 and its two long wings.
• 12.014 with wings folded like an immeasurable bat,
• 12.016 Smaug stirred a wing,
• 12.029 beating his great wings
• 12.072 my wings a hurricane,
• 12.090 it silently spread its wings
• 14.011 beneath the awful beating of his wings.
• 14.021 and silvered his great wings.
• 14.040 among all things with wings
• 15.004 Then he fluttered his wings
• 15.013 Before long there was a fluttering of wings,
• 15.013 slowly flapped his wings,
• 15.021 and strong of wing,
• 17.040 so dense that no light could be seen between their wings.

Around the 13th century the word came to also mean “to produce tears” as well as to make a loud noise.

Cry, etymonline.com

• 2.113 they cried.
• 3.027 father!” they cried to Thorin,
• 4.043 and horrible cries
• 4.044 so that do what they could the dwarves heard the cries
• 4.048 in full cry,
• 5.033 Voiceless it cries,
• 5.034 Half a moment!’ cried Bilbo,
• 5.051 Fish! fish!’ he cried.
• 5.077 cried Bilbo very much relieved;
• 5.091 Bilbo heard him crying.
• 5.094 cried Bilbo,
• 5.130 The cry brought Bilbo’s heart to his mouth,
• 5.139 they cried.
• 6.051 what shall we do!’ he cried.
• 6.052 Up the trees quick!’ cried Gandalf;
• 6.065 and they fled off down the slopes crying
• 6.082 Loud cried the Lord of the Eagles,
• 6.092 he cried
• 7.002 The dwarves were crying farewells
• 7.007 Farewell!’ they cried,
• 7.110 he cried.
• 7.114 they all cried.
• 7.118 he cried,
• 7.132 and the cries of goblins.
• 8.009 and peering forward cried:
• 8.030 he cried.
• 8.033 Before Thorin could cry out
• 8.043 but at length the cries of the dwarves,
• 8.045 they cried,
• 8.048 he cried.
• 8.072 and their cries.
• 8.073 But the cries of the others got steadily further
• 8.073 and cries for help
• 8.080 the cries for help had come
• 8.130 their cries as the spiders caught them
• 9.042 Ha, ha!’ came a cry.
• 9.046 cried some,
• 9.067 cried the raftman.
• 10.029 cried Thorin
• 10.030 Pressing forward before the Master’s table they cried:
• 11.034 cried Bilbo.
• 12.024 inside the tunnel when Bifur gave a cry:
• 12.086 cried the dwarves.
• 13.014 he cried.
• 13.025 Fili! Kili!’ he cried as loud as he could –
• 13.027 Faintly the dwarves heard his small cries,
• 13.033 and cried out to one another,
• 13.036 he cried.
• 13.040 Thorin!’ he cried aloud.
• 13.063 cried the others.
• 13.070 Hear, hear!’ cried Bilbo,
• 14.008 they cried,
• 14.009 he cried.
• 14.029 he cried.
• 14.032 and people further off took up the cry:
• 14.034 were now heard as loudly crying that the dwarves
• 14.040 crying and piping.
• 15.001 and crying unceasingly above.
• 15.003 he cried.
• 15.023 cried Thorin.
• 15.024 cried Bilbo,
• 15.025 cried the dwarves as if they had not heard him;
• 15.046 and he cried:
• 15.056 one cried,
• 17.014 cried Thorin,
• 17.015 he cried
• 17.023 cried Bard.
• 17.027 he cried to them.
• 17.031 when a cry was heard
• 17.041 Halt!’ cried Gandalf,
• 17.042 The elves cried out with many voices.
• 17.048 and already their cries
• 17.051 With cries of ‘Moria!’
• 17.052 when a cry rang out on the heights above.
• 17.057 he cried,
• 17.062 He gave a great cry:
• 17.065 The Eagles! the Eagles!’ Bilbo cried,
• 17.065 Soon they too took up the cry,
• 17.066 The Eagles!’ cried Bilbo once more,
• 18.009 he cried,
• 19.035 he cried.

Adjective, adverb, noun, and verb, this common word does a great deal of heavy lifting! Through Proto-Germanic from Proto IndoEuropean, meaning something like “stand, put, or put in order.”

• 1.004 but certainly there was still something
• 1.005 Still it is probable that Bilbo,
• 1.006 and the hobbits were still numerous
• 1.017 but I had no idea you were still
• 1.023 was still standing outside the door,
• 1.068 Bilbo stood still
• 1.071 and still they played on,
• 1.072 and still they played on.
• 1.119 but so far still Tookishly determined to go on with things.
• 1.124 we still mean to get it back,
• 1.143 he could hear Thorin still humming to himself
• 2.027 but still he began to feel that adventures were not so bad after all.
• 2.030 Still the dwarves jogged on,
• 2.116 also one barrel of ale which was still full.
• 3.032 there were still some people
• 3.037 I have heard that there are still forgotten treasures of old
• 3.047 We still call it Durin’s Day
• 4.002 they were still going up
• 4.004 More terrible still are thunder
• 4.012 and the thunder still growling,
• 4.012 Still it was not very far to go,
• 4.044 Still goblins go faster than dwarves,
• 4.048 The ones behind yelled still more,
• 5.004 Still at the moment he felt very crushed.
• 5.008 still they are more used to tunnelling than we are,
• 5.009 All he knew was that it was still going down pretty steadily
• 5.009 and still he heard no sound of anything
• 5.011 Still he did not dare to wade out into the darkness.
• 5.011 and the original owners are still there
• 5.030 Then they stand still.
• 5.034 who was still thinking uncomfortably about eating.
• 5.041 and still he did not answer;
• 5.060 still he could not think of anything.
• 5.073 but still he did not dare to waste his last guess.
• 5.078 He sat still,
• 5.087 when such rings were still at large
• 5.087 And still sometimes he put it on,
• 5.087 He still had a bone or two left to gnaw,
• 5.089 Still he waited a while;
• 5.110 who was still going quickly,
• 5.119 still cautiously,
• 5.119 Still there it was:
• 5.130 but still he held on.
• 5.138 And there was the ring still,
• 5.146 It was still ajar,
• 5.148 while bewildered goblins were still picking up
• 6.002 they are not still back there
• 6.003 He still wandered on,
• 6.005 He crept still nearer,
• 6.005 He had still got the ring on,
• 6.014 If they had still doubted that he was really a first-class burglar,
• 6.031 where they still come
• 6.034 And we are still pretty high up.
• 6.039 but the blackberries were still only
• 6.040 They still went on
• 6.045 they could still see the evening lights on the plains beyond.
• 6.058 Still Dori did not let Bilbo down.
• 6.061 for whom they were probably still hunting.
• 6.084 A few eagles were still circling
• 7.002 The sun was still close to the eastern edge of things.
• 7.012 You are still some miles north of the path
• 7.014 if still sore
• 7.018 Still I warn you he gets angry easily.’
• 7.024 They still had a long way to walk before them.
• 7.045 and was still warm
• 7.076 Or have you still got some more jacks
• 7.096 and still they sat
• 7.120 and while the dwarves were still singing songs
• 7.120 still puzzling his little head about Beorn,
• 7.121 So here you all are still!’
• 7.122 the goblin patrols were still hunting
• 7.123 but I like it still better now I am sure it is true.
• 7.130 if they had still had their ponies,
• 7.130 and would have left them still with a long
• 7.131 Still you are safer going north,
• 7.133 Still the next morning dawned bright
• 7.133 and while the shadows were still long they were off again.
• 7.133 that they rode still forward after dusk
• 7.143 he still said the same.
• 8.002 and still more luck
• 8.004 and it was everlastingly still
• 8.006 Worse still it brought thousands of dark-grey
• 8.007 and still the forest seemed just the same,
• 8.012 Still twelve yards is as good as a mile.
• 8.016 and still has the best sight,’
• 8.022 looking at the snapped painter that was still dangling from it.
• 8.029 (still grumbling)
• 8.029 and then go still.
• 8.031 They could still see his hood
• 8.032 They were still standing over him,
• 8.035 and the gloom gathered still deeper on them
• 8.038 Still Bombur slept
• 8.044 Still he did not see this,
• 8.046 that they were still gnawingly hungry,
• 8.089 in Bombur still.
• 8.092 and even grown-up he had still spent a deal of his time at quoits, dart-throwing,
• 8.100 but still they cannot find me!
• 8.108 But there were still five dwarves hanging at the end of the branch
• 8.125 though he would have felt a lot bolder still,
• 8.131 Still elves they were
• 9.016 and the still unconquered dragon)
• 9.019 It seemed a town of Men still throve there,
• 9.035 still happily snoring with smiles upon their faces.
• 9.044 and still less at being laughed at.
• 9.055 he could hear the elves still singing
• 9.069 but whether alive or dead still remains to be seen.
• 10.002 but still a strong water flowed on steadily through the midst.
• 10.003 still,
• 10.006 In the still evening air
• 10.007 who still dared to dwell here
• 10.007 They still throve on the trade
• 10.007 The rotting piles of a greater town could still be seen
• 10.008 though some still sang old songs
• 10.011 Are you still
• 10.016 Still –
• 10.040 Still, I daresay, more was guessed than was known,
• 10.042 While the enthusiasm still lasted
• 11.010 The dragon is still alive
• 11.011 and still I expect smokes
• 11.014 and brought them at last to a still narrower ledge,
• 11.014 grassy-floored, still and quiet.
• 11.032 but still Bilbo stood almost without moving.
• 11.036 Try it now while there is still time!’
• 12.008 and stopped where he could still see
• 12.010 but went still on
• 12.017 but still he clutched the cup,
• 12.019 The dwarves were still passing the cup
• 12.020 Smaug was still to be reckoned with.
• 12.027 and still all was safe.
• 12.027 and still all was safe.
• 12.033 to last them still for some time.
• 12.095 and we know that still;
• 12.095 and I still think that when we have won it will be time enough
• 12.096 if they were still lying there
• 12.101 What would have happened if the door had still been open
• 12.101 glad to be still alive,
• 13.001 they woke still to darkness
• 13.017 Mr. Baggins was still officially their expert burglar
• 13.018 while he was still near enough,
• 13.018 and still went on.
• 13.023 And still there was no sight nor sound of Smaug.
• 13.029 and still there were no dragon-noises,
• 13.034 and finding still hanging there many golden harps
• 13.034 they were still
• 13.038 Still I wish there was a looking-glass handy!’
• 13.048 still showing the fragments of old carven work within,
• 13.055 even if the old steps are still there.’
• 13.067 Still,
• 14.011 Still they had a little time.
• 14.015 and still no arrow hindered Smaug or hurt him
• 14.018 But there was still a company of archers
• 14.026 while some were still willing to defend it.
• 14.036 I serve you still –
• 14.042 Still elves are lightfooted,
• 14.044 who were still able,
• 15.001 and the crows that still lived about the Mountain
• 15.014 but we remember still the king that was of old.
• 15.021 If you would earn our thanks still more,
• 15.021 if any of you are still young
• 15.026 you will see that the dwarves still had some days before them.
• 15.026 and at such work the dwarves were still very skilled.
• 15.027 and they still had a breathing space.
• 15.027 Better still,
• 15.031 The morning was still pale
• 15.052 And still my other claims remain unanswered.’
• 15.060 The whole place still stinks of dragon,’
• 16.026 (which he still wore over his mail)
• 16.046 it was still where he had left it.
• 17.004 Are you still of the same mind?’
• 17.005 Still the elf-host has not departed as I bade!
• 17.031 The morning was still early
• 17.037 Let us hope still for something
• 17.040 Still more suddenly a darkness came on
• 17.054 while still the great bats swirled
• 18.002 but I suppose there is still time enough for that!’
• 18.003 Surely there was a camp still
• 18.003 But all was deadly still.
• 18.022 they were still outnumbered.
• 18.023 The dwarves were making a stand still
• 18.025 but the pursuit was still on foot,
• 18.051 The Wild was still the Wild,
• 19.001 Bilbo heard the elves still singing
• 19.002 Here grass is still growing,
• 19.025 still hidden
• 19.036 they were more surprised still.