arn (prefix “royal”) + gond (“great stone, rock”) + ath (collective plural suffix). Triconsonantal cluster rgn produces rg; in this case original nd doesn’t produce nn before the collective plural suffix ath. #It might be a dialectal form or a mistake on the part of Gondorians who didn't always use Elvish languages correctly (VT42 “Rivers and Beacon-hills”).
Sindarin
argonath
place name. Pillars of the Kings, (lit.) Royal Stones
Elements
Word Gloss ar(a)- “noble, royal, high” gond “stone, rock, stone, rock, [N.] stone (as a material), [G.] great stone” -ath “collective or group plural” Variations
- argonath ✧ Let/427
- arn(a)gon-ath ✧ Let/427 (arn(a)gon-ath)
Argonath
noun. royal stones
Argonath
Argonath
The name is Sindarin and is composed of ar "royal" plus gond "stone". The ending -ath is a collective plural, used sometimes (perhaps irregularly) for dual.
Argonath
Argonath (name)
gondrath
street of stone
(i ’ondrath) (causeway, raised stone highway), pl. gendraith (i ngendraith = i ñendraith). Archaic pl. göndreith. (WJ:340)
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).
gôn
stone
(i ’ôn, construct gon); pl. gŷn, coll. pl. #gonath as in Argonath.
gond
noun. great stone, rock
gond
stone
_n. _stone, rock. Archaic S. gond > gonn. Q. ondo. >> Gondor
gondren
adjective. (made) of stone
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
gond
stone
(i ’ond, construct gon) (great stone or rock), pl. gynd (i ngynd = i ñynd), coll. pl. gonnath (Letters:410).
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”)
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”.
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).