arnediad

adjective. unnumbered, unnumbered, [N.] without reckoning, numberless, innumerable, countless, endless

A Sindarin word for “unnumbered” appearing in its archaic form arnoediad [arnœdiad] in the name Nirnaeth Arnoediad “[Battle of] Tears Unnumbered” and in its modern form in the variant name Dagor Arnediad (WJ/28). The e vs. archaic œ is the result of the Sindarin sound change of [[s|[œ] to [e]]] occurring sometime in the First Age. This word is a combination of ar- “without” and the gerund of the verb nedia- “to count”, so more literally “✱without count” or “countless”.

Conceptual Development: The modern and archaic forms N. arnediad and N. arnœdiad appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s with the translations: “without reckoning, numberless” (Ety/AR²) and “innumerable, countless, endless” (Ety/NOT). This was also the form used in the narratives of the 1930s and later. Prior to this point, Tolkien used numerous earlier forms:

• The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had G. udathnarol and udathriol “countless” as a combination of negative prefix G. u- and adjective forms of the verb G. tath- “count” (GL/74), with udathriol also appearing in the contemporaneous Lost Tales (LT2/84). Udathriol also appeared briefly in the Lays of Beleriand (LB/21 note #13), but underwent a number of changes in that narrative (see below).

• Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s had ᴱN. inathui and {inathadwed >} inathadren “innumerable” as a combination of negative prefix ᴱN. i- and an adjectival form ᴱN. nath “number” (PE13/148). A similar form unothradin appeared in the Lays of Beleriand (LB/6).

• These Early Noldorin Word-lists also had ᴱN. ornoth “numberless” as a combination of ᴱN. or- “without” and ᴱN. noth “number”, with variants únoth “without number, countless” and onath “numberless” (PE13/151, 155). Ornoth and únoth also appeared in the Lays of Beleriand (LB/59, 79).

• The Lays of Beleriand also had Nirnaith Dirnoth “Unnumbered Tears” (LR/136), a form that reappeared in Silmarillion narratives from around 1930 as {Nirnaith Irnoth >>} Nirnaith Dirnoth before being revised to Nirnaith Arnediad (SM/312).

• Tolkien used arnediad or arnoediad thereafter.

arnœdiad

adjective. innumerable, countless, endless, without reckoning, numberless

genediad

gerund noun. reckoning

genediad

gerund noun. calendar

genediad

noun. reckoning

A noun for “reckoning” from the King’s Letter, as in genediad Drannail “Shire-reckoning” (SD/129).

dagor arnediad

proper name. Battle of Unnumbered Tears

A variant name of Nirnaeth Arnoediad (WJ/22, 28), a combination of dagor “battle” and arnediad “unnumbered”.

Conceptual Development: An earlier variant name was N. Dagor Nirnaith (LR/405).

arnediad

numberless

arnediad (unnumbered, without reckoning), pl. ?arnediaid. Since the word literally means ”without reckoning” (ar + nediad) it is unclear whether it would pluralize as a common adjective. Alternative form arneidiad (VT46:6).Ó

arnediad

without reckoning

arnediad (unnumbered, numberless), pl. ?arnediaid. Since the word literally means ”without reckoning” (ar + nediad) it is unclear whether it would pluralize as a common adjective. Alternative form arneidiad (VT46:6).

arnediad

without reckoning

arnediad (unnumbered, numberless), pl. ?arnediaid if the word can be pluralized as a regular adjective. Since the word literally means ”without reckoning” (ar + nediad) it is unclear whether it would pluralize as a common adjective. Alternative form arneidiad (VT46:6).

arnediad

unnumbered

arnediad (without reckoning, numberless), pl. ?arnediaid. Since the word literally means ”without reckoning” (ar + nediad) it is unclear whether it would pluralize as a common adjective. Alternative form arneidiad (VT46:6).

arnediad

numberless

(unnumbered, without reckoning), pl. ?arnediaid. Since the word literally means ”without reckoning” (ar + nediad) it is unclear whether it would pluralize as a common adjective. – Alternative form arneidiad (VT46:6).

arnediad

without reckoning

(unnumbered, numberless), pl. ?arnediaid. Since the word literally means ”without reckoning” (ar + nediad) it is unclear whether it would pluralize as a common adjective. – Alternative form arneidiad (VT46:6).****

arnediad

unnumbered

(without reckoning, numberless), pl. ?arnediaid. Since the word literally means ”without reckoning” (ar + nediad) it is unclear whether it would pluralize as a common adjective. – Alternative form arneidiad (VT46:6).

genediad

reckoning

1. genediad (i **enediad) (count), pl. genediaid (i ngenediaid = i ñenediaid) if there is a pl. Used = ”calendar” in the Kings Letter. 2) gonoded (i **onoded), pl. genedid (i ngededid** = i ñededid). Archaic pl. gönödid. Also #nediad (pl. nediaid), isolated from arnediad** (see below).

genediad

reckoning

(i ’enediad) (count), pl. genediaid (i ngenediaid = i ñenediaid) if there is a pl. Used = ”calendar” in the King’s Letter.

nirnaeth arnoediad

proper name. Tears Unnumbered

The tragic battle in which the forces of Morgoth defeated the Elves and Men of Beleriand, translated “Tears Unnumbered” (S/192) or “Unnumbered Tears” (WJ/165). This name is a combination of nirnaeth “lamentation” and the archaic form †arnoediad “unnumbered” (Ety/NOT).

Conceptual Development: Although translated “Unnumbered Tears” throughout Tolkien’s writing, the Elvish form of the name changed greatly over the years. In the earliest Lost Tales, this name first appeared as G. Nínin-Udathriol (LT2/84). In the Lays of Beleriand from the 1920s, the name was revised to ᴱN. Nínin Unothradin or Nirnaithos Unothradin (LB/21), then revised again to ᴱN. Nirnaith Únoth >> Nirnaith Ornoth (LB/79).

In the earliest Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s the name was changed to N. Nirnaith Irnoth >> Nirnaith Dirnoth (SM/312, LR/136), then again to N. Nirnaith Arnediad (LR/147), the last of these also appearing as a late revision in the Lays of Beleriand (LB/102). The form Nírnaeth Arnediad with a long í appeared in The Etymologies (Ety/NAY), along with the archaic form of its second element arnœdiad (Ety/NOT). In the Silmarillion revisions from the 1950s-60s Tolkien switched to this archaic form in the main narratives (WJ/165), using S. Nirnaeth for earlier N. Nirnaith after his [[n|revision of [ai] to [ae]]].

gonoded

reckoning

(i ’onoded), pl. genedid (i ngededid = i ñededid). Archaic pl. ✱gönödid. Also #nediad (pl. nediaid), isolated from arnediad (see below).

aronoded

innumerable

aronoded (countless, endless), pl. erenedid (archaic erönödid)

pen-noediad

adjective. innumerable

adj. innumerable.

pennoediad

adjective. innumerable

A word appearing in Definitive Linguistic Notes (DLN) from 1959 glossed “innumerable” as a combination of pen “without” and the gerund of noedia- “to count”. The oe [œ] is archaic and the modern form would be pennediad.

aronoded

innumerable

(countless, endless), pl. erenedid (archaic erönödid)