n. gift.
Sindarin
ann
noun. gift
ann
adjective. long
ann
adjective. long
ann
noun. gift
annael
masculine name. Annael
Grey-elf who fostered Tuor (S/238). The meaning of his name is unclear.
annon
noun. (great) gate, door
A word for a great and strong entrance, typically translated “gate” but also usable in reference to a “great door”, notably in Ennyn Durin “Doors of Durin”, the great doors at the entrance to Moria.
Conceptual Development: The earliest iteration of this word was G. {anda >>} anna “door, opening” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, appearing near adhwen “approach, avenue”, and so likely derived from ✱√AD (GL/17). In the Gnomish Lexicon Slips this become [a]nn “door” derived from ᴱ✶anda (PE13/110). ᴱN. ann “door” reappeared in Early Noldorin word-lists of the 1920s from primitive ᴱ✶andond- and with a new plural form ennyn (PE13/137, 160).
This 1920s plural may have inspired a more elaborate form N. annon “great gate” in The Etymologies of the 1930s, which had the same plural ennyn and appeared under the root ᴹ√AD “entrance, gate” (Ety/AD). On drafts of Thror’s map from 1936, annon was used for “door” in the phrase lheben teil brann i annon ar neledh neledhi gar godrebh “five foot high the door and three may walk abreast” (TAI/150). The longer form annon appeared in various names in Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s, include the first version of the Moria Gate Spell: N. annon porennin diragas·venwed (RS/451). From there it appeared in several names in the published version of The Lord of the Rings, as well as in the final version of the Moria Gate Spell: annon edhellen, edro hi ammen “Elvish gate open now for us” (LotR/307).
Notes on The Lord of the Rings provide further insights into Tolkien’s vision of this word’s later etymology, the clearest being notes from December 1959 (D59) where Tolkien said:
> The words for “door, gate”, [ancient Sindarin] annō, annon(d)- are derivatives of √ANA “to” and mean originally “entrances, approaches”. Cf. Q ando. Quite distinct is ANAD- “long”, Q andā, S ann/and rare except in old words or names as anduin, Q anduine (PE17/40).
In notes from around 1967 Tolkien gave S. ann(on) “gate” (PE17/90), perhaps indicating he considered restoring the shorter form ann from the 1910s and 20s.
annúminas
place name. Tower of the West
The capital of Arnor (LotR/244). Christopher Tolkien translated it as “Tower of the West” (SI/Annúminas), a combination of annûn “west” and minas “tower” (SA/andúnë, minas).
Conceptual Development: When this city first appeared in Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s, it was named N. Torfirion “Westermanton” (TI/144). In an early version of the Tale of Years the city was called N. Dunhirion (PM/167). Both of these variants were eventually replaced by Annúminas.
annúnaid
proper name. Westron
The Sindarin name for the “Westron” language (PM/316). Its initial element is clearly annûn “west”, but the meaning of the suffix -aid is unclear. It might be some variation on the gerund-suffix -ed/-ad seen in nouns like genediad “reckoning”, though this suffix usually forms nouns from verbs, not adjectives.
anno ammen sír i mbas ilaurui vín
give us this day our daily bread
The sixth line of Ae Adar Nín, Tolkien’s Sindarin translation of the Lord’s Prayer (VT44/21). The first word anno is the imperative form of anna- “to give”, followed by ammen “to us”, a combination of an “to” and men “us”. The third word sír “this day” seems to be the equivalent of Q. síra.
The fourth word is the definite article i “the”, followed by the lenited form mbas of bas(t) “bread”, the adjective ilaurui “daily” and the lenited form vín of the possessive pronoun mín “ours”. The adjectival elements follow the noun as is usual in Sindarin. See the entry for the second line of this prayer for a discussion of the use of the definite article i “the” before the possessed noun in this phrase.
Decomposition: Broken into its constituent elements, this phrase would be:
> ann-o am-men sír i mbas [← bas] ilaurui vín [← mín] = “✱give-(imperative) to-us this-day the bread daily ours”
Conceptual Development: Tolkien first wrote the unlenited form mín of the pronoun “our” before replacing it with the lenited form vín.
Annúminas
noun. west tower
annûn (“west, sunset”) + minas (“tower”) #The assimilation of nm > mm > m could be “internal nasal mutation”.
ann-
prefix. long and far
_ pref. _long and far. Only preserved in certain compounds, owing to competition with ann 'gift' and ann(on) 'gate'.
annûn
going-down
n. going-down, esp. sunset, West. Q. Andúne, andū, Hadorian adûn. >> dûn, Henneth Annûn
annon-in-gelydh
place name. Gate of the Noldor
Entrance to a tunnel leading from Dor-lómin to Cirith Ninniach, translated “Gate of the Noldor” (S/238). It is a combination of annon “gate”, the plural in of the definite article i, and the plural Gelydh of Golodh “Noldo”.
Annon-in-Gelydh
noun. gate of the Noldor
annon (“great door or gate”) + in (pl. genitive article) + (n-)Gelyth (pl. of (n-)Golodh “Noldor”)
an
preposition. to, towards, for
With suffixed article and elision in aglar'ni Pheriannath
an
to
_ prep. _to, for. naur an edraith ammen! 'fire [be] for rescue/saving for us'. aglar an|i Pheriannath 'glory to all the Halflings'.
annon
great door
pl1. ennyn _ n. _great door, gate. Q. ando. Ennyn Durin Aran Moria 'the doors (of) Durin King (of) Moria'. annon edhellen edro hi ammen! 'Elvish gate open now for us'. >> annon
ann-thennath
proper name. *Long-shorts
an
preposition. to, for, to, for; [N. and G.] of
annûn
noun. sunset, west; (lit.) going down
anna-
verb. to give, †add to
annon edhellen, edro hi ammen
Elvish gate open now for us
annui
adjective. west[ern]
ann-thennath
noun. a verse mode, lit. "long-shorts" (alternance of long and short vowels, or rather alternance of long and short verse units, possibly of masculine and feminine rhymes)
The word is not translated by Tolkien. Refer to Tolkien's Legendarium p. 115 for a discussion of its probable meaning
anno
verb. give!
annon
noun. great door or gate
annui
adjective. western
annúnaid
noun. the "Westron" language (one of the names for Common Speech)
annûn
noun. west, sunset
henneth annûn
place name. Window of the Sunset
The falls where the men of Faramir camped, translated “Window of the Sunset” (LotR/0674), a combination of henneth “window” and annûn “sunset” (RC/473).
Conceptual Development: In Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s, Tolkien considered a large number of names before settling on N. Henneth Annûn (WR/164).
anann
adverb. long
adv. long. Cuio i Pheriain anann 'May the Halflings live long'.
anann
adverb. long, for a long time
annúnaid
westron
(a language) Annúnaid
annûn
west
1) annûn; 2) Dúven (na Núven, o Ndúven). Christopher Tolkien tentatively read the illegible gloss as ”southern” (LR:376 s.v. NDŪ), but the etymology seems to demand the meaning ”west”: dú-ven with the same ending as in Forven ”North” and Harven ”South”. The ending means ”way”, so Dúven may be ”west” considered as a direction. WEST-ELF (Elf of Beleriand, including Noldor and Sindar) Dúnedhel (i Núnedhel), pl. Dúnedhil (i Ndúnedhil). (WJ:378, 386)
annûn
sunset
annûn (west), pl. ennŷn
anna
give
anna- (i anna, in annar), pa.t. ?aun (with endings one-)
anna
give
(i anna, in annar), pa.t. ?aun (with endings one-)
anna-
verb. to thank
A neologism for “to thank” coined by Elaran in 2018, more accurately “to give thanks”, derived from the root √HAN “enrich, honour”, the (hypothetical) basis for Q. hanta- “to thank” (also hypothetical). It can be distinguished from S. anna- “to give” by the fact that this verb is intransitive, whereas “give” is transitive. Thus anna- without a direct object means “give thanks”, whereas anna- with a direct object means “give”. The common way to say “thank you” would be annon allen “I give thanks to you” or annas annin “[he/she] thanked me” (anna- with intransitive past, lit. “gave thanks to”), with the object of the “thanks” in the dative.
For further information on this verb and phrase, see the How to Thank in Sindarin on Parf Edhellen.
Alternate Etymologies: The Sindarin verb for “to thank” is exceptionally controversial. For Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movies, David Salo coined the word ᴺS. hanna- “to thank” based on Q. hanta-, with hannon le becoming the common (Neo) Sindarin of saying “thanks, (lit.) I thank you”. However, Carl Hostetter criticized this word in his 2006 article Elvish as She Is Spoke, pointing that the likeliest basis for Q. hanta- was the root √HAN, but in Sindarin the initial h would be lost resulting in ✱anna- which could not be used since it conflicts with anna- “to give”.
In 2018, Elaran proposed annon allen as a new phrase for “I thank you”, eventually developing the intransitive/transitive markers to distinguish it from anna- “give”. In 2019, I made a counter proposal of in my own article In Defense of Hannon Le, arguing that ✱hanna- “to thank” might have entered Sindarin as a loan word from Quenya and thus still be usable. Ultimately, though, the community we both spend time in (the Vinyë Lambengolmor Discord Server) settled on using annon allen. Since I firmly believe that languages should be defined by their community of speakers, and annon allen has become the dominant phrase, I eventually caved and in 2022 added anna- “to give thanks” to Eldamo, deprecating David Salo’s older neologism ᴺS. hanna-.
annabon
long-snouted one
pl. ennebyn, coll. pl. annabonnath. (Archaic form andabon.)
annabon
elephant
annabon (lit. "long-snouted"), pl. ennebyn, coll. pl. annabonnath.
annabon
elephant
(lit. "long-snouted"), pl. ennebyn, coll. pl. annabonnath.
annon
great gate
annon (door), pl. ennyn
annui
western
annui. No distinct pl. form.
anneth
noun. (act of) giving
an
for
(prep.) an (+ nasal mutation), with article ni ”for the” (+ nasal mutation in plural).
an
for
(adverbial prefix) an-
an
for
(+ nasal mutation), with article ’ni ”for the” (+ nasal mutation in plural).
an
for the
(for) + i (the).
an
to
(prep.) an (+ nasal mutation), with article ni "to the" (+ nasal mutation in plural).
an
to
(adverbial prefix) an-. 3)
annad
noun. thanks
annas
5{#iD noun. length
Theoretical Sindarin; based on the attested formations thinnas (– adj. thent).
annas
noun. length
anneth
giving
pl. ennith
annon
great gate
(door), pl. *ennyn***
annui
western
. No distinct pl. form.
annúnaid
westron
annûn
west
annûn
sunset
(west), pl. ennŷn
inias beleriand
proper name. Annals of Beleriand
Sindarin name of the “Annals of Beleriand”, a combination of ínias “annals” and Beleriand (MR/200).
Conceptual Development: In Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s, this name first appeared as N. Inias Veleriand in keeping with the different rules of lenition from that period (LR/202).
ínias dor-rodyn
proper name. Annals of Valinor
Sindarin name of the “Annals of Valinor”, a combination of ínias “annals” and Dor-Rodyn “✱Land of the Valar” (MR/200).
Conceptual Development: In Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s, this name first appeared as N. Inias Valannor in keeping with the different rules of lenition from that period, later revised to Inias Balannor (LR/202).
ínias
noun. annals
edinor
noun. anniversary day
Ínias
noun. annals
în (“year”) + as (#abstract collective suffix) #This suffix probably denotes “a complete set of different items of one kind”.
anann
long
(adverb, = "for a long time") anann
hanna-
verb. to thank
hannad
noun. thanks
anann
long
and
adjective. long
adj. long. i·arben na megil and 'The Knight of the Long Sword'. >> ann
dûn
noun. west
_n. _west. Q. nū-. >> annûn
edinor
anniversary day
(pl. edinoer). Archaic edinaur. In ”Noldorin”, the word appeared as edinar.
edinor
anniversary day
*edinor (pl. edinoer*). Archaic edinaur. In ”Noldorin”, the word appeared as edinar**.
edinor
anniversary day
*edinor (pl. edinoer). Archaic edinaur. In ”Noldorin”, the word appeared as edinar.
edinor
noun. anniversary day
edinor
anniversary day
(pl. edinoer). Archaic ✱edinaur. In ”Noldorin”, the word appeared as edinar.
trastadweg
adjective. annoying
ínias
annals
ínias (perhaps with a collective meaning, cf. the plural gloss). An explicit pl. form would be íniais; coll. pl. íniassath.
ínias
annals
(perhaps with a collective meaning, cf. the plural gloss). An explicit pl. form would be íniais; coll. pl. íniassath.
drab-
verb. to labour, work; (impersonal) to irk, annoy
ant
gift
ant, pl. aint, coll. pl. annath. Also ann (-an at the end of compounds), pl. ain.
ant
gift
pl. aint, coll. pl. annath. Also ann (-an at the end of compounds), pl. ain.
and
adjective. long
and
gate
!and (door), pl. aind, coll. pl. annath. Note that and is more commonly the adj. "long".
and
gate
(door), pl. aind, coll. pl. annath. Note that and is more commonly the adj. "long".
fend
door
(threshold), construct fen, pl. find, coll. pl. fennath, 2) fennas (gateway), pl. fennais, coll. pl. fennassath, 3) annon (great gate), pl. ennyn
and
adjective. long
aned
give
anha-
verb. to give
anw
noun. gift
anw
noun. gift
aur
noun. day, sunlight, morning
calan
noun. day, period of actual daylight
Attested in the first edition of LotR, but omitted from the second.
dûn
noun. west
dûn
noun. west
fen
noun. door, threshold
fen
door
_ n. _door. Q. fenna. >> fennas
fen(n)
noun. door, door; [N.] threshold
A word for “door” in the name Fen Hollen “Closed Door” (LotR/826; RC/550). In notes from December 1959 (D59), Tolkien based it on the root √PHEN and gave its Quenya equivalent as fenna, indicating a primitive form of ✱phennā (PE17/181). If so, its ordinary form should be fenn, and this was indeed the form in Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s (WR/341). Perhaps fen is a reduced pseudo-prefixal form.
Conceptual Development: In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien had N. fenn “threshold” derived from ON. phenda under the root ᴹ√PHEN (Ety/PHEN).
Neo-Sindarin: I don’t think the senses “door” and “threshold” are likely to coexist, so for purposes of Neo-Sindarin I would limit fenn to “door” and would use ᴺS. fend < ✱phenda for “threshold”, following the principle that nd remained “at the end of fully accented monosyllables” in Sindarin (LotR/1115).
linnod
noun. (?) a single verse used as a maxim
The word is not translated by Tolkien. The first meaning assumes that -od is a singulative affix (cf. filigod ). The second meaning is proposed by Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne in Tolkien's Legendarium p. 132, based on the metrical characteristics of Gilraen's linnod
linnod
noun. (?) a chant of a certain metrical type, where each (half-)verse is composed of seven syllables
The word is not translated by Tolkien. The first meaning assumes that -od is a singulative affix (cf. filigod ). The second meaning is proposed by Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne in Tolkien's Legendarium p. 132, based on the metrical characteristics of Gilraen's linnod
na
to
e _ prep. _to, towards (of spacetime). n' before vowels. >> nan 2
na
preposition. to
prep. to Na-chaered palan-díriel lit. "To-distance (remote) after-gazing" >> na-chaered, nan 2
oraearon
noun. seventh day of the Númenórean week, Sea-day
oranor
noun. second day of the week, day of the Sun
orbelain
noun. sixth day of the week, day of the Powers or Valar
orgaladh
noun. fourth day of the Númenórean week, day of the White Tree
This day was formerly called orgaladhad in the Elvish calendar
orgaladhad
noun. fourth day of the Elvish week, day of the Two Trees
This day was renamed orgaladh in the Númenórean calendar
orgilion
noun. first day of the week, day of the Stars
orithil
noun. third day of the week, day of the Moon
ormenel
noun. fifth day of the week, Heavens' day
ped-
say
_ v. _say. Q. quĕt-. >> pedo
penninor
noun. last day of the year
raud
lofty
taer
lofty
adj. lofty. Q. tāra.
taer
adjective. lofty, lofty, *high
ammen
for us
(to us).
and
long
(adjective) and (pl. aind),
and
long
(pl. aind)
andaith
long mark
(no distinct pl. form). The word refers to an accent-like mark used to indicate long vowels in Tengwar modes that employ separate vowel letters, like the Mode of Beleriand.
anfang
longbeard
pl. Enfeng, coll. pl. Anfangrim (WJ:10, 108, 205)
angerthas
long rune-row
(and + certhas).
ar
outside
(adv. prefix) ar- (without)the literal meaning of a word translated SPY (q.v.)
ar
outside
(without)
arth
lofty
1) arth (noble, exalted), pl. erth, 2) brand (high, noble, fine), lenited vrand, pl. braind, 3) orchall (superior, eminent), pl. erchail (for archaic örchail), 4) taur (also tor-, tar- in compounds) (high, sublime, noble; vast, masterful, mighty, overwhelming, huge, awful), lenited daur, pl. toer. Note: homophones mean ”king (of a people)” and also ”great wood, forest”.
arth
lofty
(noble, exalted), pl. erth
aur
day
aur (morning), pl. oer. As prefix or- in names of weekdays.
aur
day
(morning), pl. oer. As prefix or- in names of weekdays.
brand
lofty
(high, noble, fine), lenited vrand, pl. braind
brûn
long endured/established/in use
(old), lenited vrûn, pl. bruin;
calan
daytime
(i galan, o chalan), pl. celain (i chelain)
dúnedhel
west-elf
(i Núnedhel), pl. *Dúnedhil*** (i Ndúnedhil*). (WJ:378, 386)*
dúven
west
(na Núven, o Ndúven). Christopher Tolkien tentatively read the illegible gloss as ”southern” (LR:376 s.v. NDŪ), but the etymology seems to demand the meaning ”west”: dú-ven with the same ending as in Forven ”North” and Harven ”South”. The ending means ”way”, so Dúven may be ”west” considered as a direction.
ennin
long year
. No distinct pl. form, but coll. pl. enniniath.
eth
adverb/adjective. outside
gwachae
far away
(adj.) *gwachae (remote), lenited wachae, no distinct pl. form. The form occurring in the primary source, #gwahae, must represent the late Gondorian pronunciantion with h for ch (PM:186, isolated from gwahaedir).
gwachae
adjective. far away
idhor
thoughtfulness
. (Correction of idher in LR:361 s.v.
idhr
id
> idhor as the later forms.)
idhren
thoughtful
(pondering, wise), pl. idhrin;
muda
labour
(verb.) muda- (i vuda, i mudar) (toil), pa.t. mudas
muda
labour
(i vuda, i mudar) (toil), pa.t. mudas
nauth
thought
nauth (pl. noeth, coll. pl. nothath);
nauth
thought
(pl. noeth, coll. pl. nothath);
orchall
lofty
(superior, eminent), pl. erchail (for archaic örchail)
ped
say
ped- (i **bêd**, i phedir) (speak), pa.t. pent (attested in mutated form -phent); the imperative pedo is also attested.
ped
say
(i bêd, i phedir) (speak), pa.t. pent (attested in mutated form -phent); the imperative pedo is also attested.
taen
thin
(lenited daen, no distinct pl. form). Note: a homophone means ”height, summit of high mountain”.
taur
lofty
(also tor-, tar- in compounds) (high, sublime, noble; vast, masterful, mighty, overwhelming, huge, awful), lenited daur, pl. toer. Note: homophones mean ”king (of a people)” and also ”great wood, forest”.
adj. long. Rare except in old names (e.g. Anduin). >> and