-gon

suffix. lord, prince, lord, prince; [N.] valour

gon-

gon-

{ŏ}n. -. >> gond, Gondor

gond

noun. great stone, rock

gond

stone

_n. _stone, rock. Archaic S. gond > gonn. Q. ondo. >> Gondor

gond

noun. stone, rock, stone (general as a substance or material), rock, [N.] stone (as a material), [G.] great stone

The basic word for “stone” or “rock” in Sindarin (PE17/28-29; WJ/201). More specifically, it was “stone as a material” (PE17/28; Ety/GOND) as opposed to an individual stone, which was gôn (PE17/28; PE23/139) or sarn (RC/327; VT42/11). Longer gond was derived from the root ᴹ√GONOD of essentially the same meaning, as was its Quenya cognate Q. ondo (Ety/GOND). In a discussion of plurals from the late 1960s, Tolkien revised gond to gôn, and plural i·ñ(g)uind to i·ñ(g)uin (PE23/139), however I do not believe Tolkien was rejecting gond as word, but instead realized it was a mass noun that would not have a plural. He then replaced it with gôn which could be used or individual stones and thus had a plural for “stones”.

Conceptual Development: This word dates all the way back to the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s where it appeared as G. gonn “great stone, rock” (GL/41). It was probably a derivative of ᴱ√ONO “hard” from the contemporaneous Qenya Lexicon from which its Qenya cognate ᴱQ. on(d) “a stone” was derived (QL/70). The early root form was probably ✱ᴱ√ƷONO, with the initial ʒ vanishing in Qenya but becoming g in Gnomish. Later on, this derivation no longer worked, since Tolkien decided that initial ʒ became h in Qenya. In The Etymologies of the 1930s, this word appeared as N. gonn “stone (as a material)” with the derivation given above (Ety/GOND).

Neo-Sindarin: Tolkien gave this word as both gonn and gond, but in keeping with the notion that the sound “remained nd at the end of fully accented monosyllables” in Sindarin (LotR/1115), most Neo-Sindarin writers use gond.

gonn

noun. stone, rock

gorn

noun. valor

gond

rock

gond (i **ond, construct gon) (great stone), pl. gynd (i ngynd = i ñynd), coll. pl. gonnath** (Letters:410).

gond

rock

(i ’ond, construct gon) (great stone), pl. gynd (i ngynd = i ñynd), coll. pl. gonnath (Letters:410).

gond

stone

(i ’ond, construct gon) (great stone or rock), pl. gynd (i ngynd = i ñynd), coll. pl. gonnath (Letters:410).

gorn

valour

1) #gorn (i **orn), pl. gyrn (i ngyrn = i ñyrn). Isolated from the name Aragorn, ”Kingly Valour” (PM:xii). Note: a homophone is the adjective ”hasty, vigorous, impetuous”. 2) caun (i gaun, o chaun), pl. coen (i choen) if there is a pl. Note: a homophone of caun** means "clamour, outcry, cry, shout".

gorn

valour

(i ’orn), pl. gyrn (i ngyrn = i ñyrn). Isolated from the name Aragorn, ”Kingly Valour” (PM:xii). Note: a homophone is the adjective ”hasty, vigorous, impetuous”.

turgon

masculine name. Ruling Lord, Victory Prince, (lit.) Master Shout

Second son of Fingolfin and the lord of Gondolin (S/60). His name seems to be a combination of tûr “mastery, victory” (SA/tur) and the suffix -gon (PM/345). His name was variously translated “Master Shout” (PM/345), “Ruling Lord” or “Victory Prince” (PE17/113).

Conceptual Development: In the earliest Lost Tales, his name was already G. Turgon (LT1/115), and it remained so throughout Tolkien’s writings. At the earliest stage it seems to have been derived from the root ᴱ√TURU “be strong”, as suggested by Christopher Tolkien (LT1A/Tuor). In Early Noldorin word lists from the 1920s, the name was glossed “fierce k[ing]”, but this entry was replaced with an unglossed form marked “ON”. In The Etymologies from the 1930s, Tolkien specified that the final element of N. Turgon was -gon, the suffixal form of caun “valour” (Ety/KAN).

In later writings, Tolkien considered several origins for this name, based on a variety of Quenya equivalents. In Notes on Names (NN) from 1957, he considered and rejected Q. Turondo “Lord of Stone” (PE17/112), briefly considered Q. Turucáno “Ruling Lord” (PE17/117) and also Q. Turukondo “Victory Prince” (PE17/113).

In his “Shibboleth of Fëanor” from 1968, Tolkien said his Quenya name was Turucáno (PM/345), untranslated but likely meaning something like “Victory Commander”. Tolkien said that his Sindarin name Turgon was a phonetic adaptation with no real meaning, but that it could be interpreted as “Master Shout” (PM/345). This seems to have been Tolkien’s last word on the subject, but it is possible that the final element could also be interpreted as a suffixal form -gon of caun “prince”; see those entries for discussion.

argonath

place name. Pillars of the Kings, (lit.) Royal Stones

Two statues of Gondorian kings just north of Nen Hithoel, translated “Pillars of the Kings” (LotR/392), more literally “(Pair of) Royal Stones” (RC/347, RGEO/67, Let/427). It is combination of the prefix ar(a)- “noble”, the noun gond “stone”, and the class-plural suffix -ath (RC/347).

It is not clear why this noun uses the class-plural. However, in one place Tolkien describes a dual variant argonad using the archaic dual suffix †-ad (Let/427). Perhaps this was the original form of the name, altered to Argonath after the Sindarin dual form was forgotten.

Conceptual Development: In Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s, this name first appeared as N. Sern Aran(ath) “King Stones” along with an alternate name N. Sern Ubed “[Stones of] Denial” (WR/98, 132). Later in these drafts it was revised to N. Argonath (TI/366).

gon(g)lin

place name. Singing Stone, Stone of Music

A hypothetical Sindarin name for Gondolin if it had developed from the same primitive form as its Quenya name Ondolindë (PE17/133), also appearing as Goen(g)lin (PE17/29).

gondor

place name. Stone-land

Southern kingdom of the Dúnedain (LotR/242), a combination of gond “stone” and dôr “land” (SA/gond, dôr).

Conceptual Development: This land was first mentioned as ᴹQ. Ondor in the 1930s in drafts of the tale of the Fall of Númenor (LR/33). While this name could be Noldorin, linguistic notes from the 1940s indicate it was Quenya (PE22/125). In Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s, it first appeared as ᴹQ. Ond (R/381), revised to Ondor (TI/146) and finally Gondor (TI/423).

gondren

adjective. (made) of stone

gôn

noun. stone (a stone or a single thing made of stone)

A word mentioned in notes from the late 1950s, as contrasted with S. gond “stone”:

> Sindarin had a short form gŏn- < ✶PQ gōn, gon-, stone, a stone, or a single thing made of stone, as dist[inct] from gondō, stone — general as a substance or material (PE17/28).

Tolkien also mentioned it in his Nomenclature of the Lord of the Rings, saying “in Sindarin the shorter gon- was used for smaller objects made of stone, especially carved figures” (RC/347). In notes on the Common Eldarin Article (CEA) from 1969, Tolkien had gôn with plural form i·ñ(g)uin “stones” (PE23/139). In that document Tolkien revised {gond >>} gôn, but I believe this was because he realized gond was a mass noun that would not have a proper plural, and changed to the “short form” gôn to illustrate plural mutations.

As such, I think Tolkien intended gôn and gond to co-exist, with gôn being an individual stone or a (small) single thing made of stone, while gond was “stone” as a mass noun, for stone as a material, a body of rock, or stone as an abstraction.

sarn

noun. stone (as a material)

Sern in UT/463 is a misprint, see VT/42:11

sarn

noun. small stone

Sern in UT/463 is a misprint, see VT/42:11

brannon

lord

(i** vrannon), pl. brennyn (i** mrennyn), coll. pl. brannonnath

carag

tooth of rock

(i garag, o charag) (spike), pl. ceraig (i cheraig)

caun

valour

(i gaun, o chaun), pl. coen (i choen) if there is a pl. Note: a homophone of caun means "clamour, outcry, cry, shout".

gondrath

street of stone

(i ’ondrath) (causeway, raised stone highway), pl. gendraith (i ngendraith = i ñendraith). Archaic pl. göndreith. (WJ:340)

gondren

made of stone, stony

(stony), lenited ’ondren, pl. gendrin. Archaic pl. göndrin (TI:270).

gonhir

master of stone

(i ’Onhir), no distinct pl. form except with article (i Ngonhir = i Ñonhir), maybe primarily used as a coll. pl. Gonhirrim  (WJ:205, there spelt ”Gonnhirrim”)

gôn

stone

(i ’ôn, construct gon); pl. gŷn, coll. pl. #gonath as in Argonath.

heron

lord

(i cheron, o cheron) (master), pl. heryn (i cheryn), coll. pl. heronnath** (VT45:22). Since the pl. heryn clashes with the fem. sg. heryn** ”lady”, other words for ”lord” may be preferred.

hîr

lord

1) hîr (i chîr, o chîr; also hir-, her- at the beginning of compounds) (master), no distinct pl. form, not even with article (i chîr), coll. pl. híriath (Letters:282, 386; VT41:9); 2) heron (i cheron, o cheron) (master), pl. heryn (i cheryn), coll. pl. heronnath (VT45:22)._ _Since the pl. heryn clashes with the fem. sg. heryn ”lady”, other words for ”lord” may be preferred. 3) brannon (i vrannon), pl. brennyn (i mrennyn), coll. pl. brannonnath; 4) tûr (i dûr, o thûr, construct tur) (mastery, power, control; master, victor), pl. tuir (i thuir), coll. pl. túrath.

hîr

lord

(i chîr, o chîr; also hir-, her- at the beginning of compounds) (master), no distinct pl. form, not even with article (i chîr), coll. pl. híriath (Letters:282, 386; VT41:9)

sarn

stone

1) (small stone, or stone as material) sarn (i harn, o sarn), pl. sern (i sern); also used as adj. ”stony, made of stone”. 2) gôn (i **ôn, construct gon); pl. gŷn, coll. pl. #**gonath as in Argonath. 3) (larger stone) gond (i **ond, construct gon) (great stone or rock), pl. gynd (i ngynd = i ñynd), coll. pl. gonnath** (Letters:410).

sarn

stone

(i harn, o sarn), pl. sern (i sern); also used as adj. ”stony, made of stone”.

sarn

made of stone, stony

(lenited harn; pl. sern); also used as noun ”small stone, pebble, stone [as material]”; as adj. also = ”stony”.

tûr

lord

(i** dûr, o thûr, construct tur) (mastery, power, control; master, victor), pl. tuir (i** thuir), coll. pl. túrath.