bar

root. [ᴹ√] raise; uplift, save, rescue(?)

The root ᴹ√BAR appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s, where its original sense was probably “raise” but the basic root gained the added sense of “uplift, save, rescue” (Ety/BAR). The basic root included derivatives like ᴹQ. varna “safe” and ᴹQ. varya-/N. beria- “to protect”. But it seems it also had several extensions as in ᴹ√BARAD or ᴹ√BARATH with the meaning “lofty, sublime” and ᴹ√BARAT which was the basis for the word N. barad “tower” (Ety/BARAD, BARAT, BARATH).

Tolkien mentioned this set of extended roots in later writings (date unclear, but probably the late 1950s or early 1960s) along with a fourth extension √BARAS, all having to do with “great height combined with strength, size, majesty” (PE17/22-23). √BARAT was still the basis for S. barad “tower”. The roots √BARAD and √BARATH were respectively the basis for Q. Varda and S. Elbereth (< Elen-barathī) as they had been in the 1930s. The new root √BARAS had derivatives tied to cliffs, as opposed to the 1930s where ᴹ√BARAS was an (unrelated) root having to do with heat (Ety/BARAS).

There was no mention of the base root √BAR in later writings, so it is unclear whether it retained the meaning “save”. In addition, there were certain phonological problems in the derivation of Elbereth from √BARATH in Sindarin that were not present in Noldorin (where frequently ei > e in polysyllables), and this word may have been transferred to the root √BER “marry”; see the entry on Elbereth for further details.

barad

root. lofty, high, height combined with strength/size/majesty

barat

root. lofty, high, height combined with strength/size/majesty

barath

root. height combined with strength/size/majesty

stama-

verb. bar, exclude

ndorē

noun. land

keme

noun. earth

kemen

noun. earth

ndē̆r

noun. man

ndōro

noun. land

árātō

noun. lord

bar

noun. dwelling, home

bar

noun. inhabited land

bar

a house

pl1. bair _ n. _a house, a single house or dwelling (esp. of the larger and more permanent sort), a family dwelling. Q. mar (mard-).

bar

noun. house, dwelling, home

bar-in-gwael

place name. Bar-in-Gwael

An earlier name for Bar-in-Mŷl “Home of the Gulls” (WJ/418). The initial element of the name is bâr “home” and the second element is the plural in of the definite article i “the”, but the meaning of the final element is unclear. It may be a variation of gwae “wind”.

bar haleth

place name. Bar Haleth

A transient replacement for Ephel Brandir (WJ/157), a combination of S. bâr “house, home” and the Edain name Haleth.

bar-in-mŷl

place name. Home of the Gulls

Name of cape southwest of Eglarest, also known as Ras Mewrim (WJ/190, WJ/379). The initial element of the name is bâr “home”, the second element is the plural in of the definite article i “the” and the final element is the plural mŷl “gulls”.

Conceptual Development: This name was earlier given as Bar-in-Gwael (WJ/418). In one place it was changed in pencil to Bar-i-Mŷl, a more accurate rendering of the result of nasal-mutation of the plural definite article in before m (WJ/418); hat-tip to Vyacheslav Stepanov for this suggestion.

bardh

noun. home

A word for “home” appearing in draft notes from the 1960s discussing the root √MBAR, where it was contrasted with bâr “house, dwelling”:

> In Sindarin bar [< ✱mbăr-] (pl. bair) was used for a single house or dwelling, especially of the larger and more permanent sort; barð [< ✱mbardā̆] was much as English “home”, the (proper) place for one (or a community) to dwell in (PE17/164).

It was also contrasted with milbar “dear home” which was used for the “emotional senses ‘home’ as the place of one’s birth, or desire, or one’s home returned to after journey or exile” (PE17/164). In later versions of these notes on √MBAR, Tolkien mentioned bâr and milbar but not bardh (PE17/109).

Neo-Sindarin: Given its absence from the final version of the √MBAR notes, it is possible Tolkien abandoned bardh “home”. However, I prefer to retain it for purposes of Neo-Sindarin for the ordinary sense of “home”, and reserve milbar for one’s “emotional home” or “✱true home” from which one is currently separated, as opposed to the home that you are living now = bardh. I would use bâr primarily in the sense “house, dwelling”.

bardor

noun. home land, native land

A word for “home land, native land” appearing in notes from the 1960s discussing the root √MBAR, a combination of bâr “dwelling” with dôr “land” (PE17/164). Tolkien gave an archaic pseudo-form bar-ndor to explain why the d in this word did not mutate to dh (c.f. bardh), stating that it was similar to Mordor < mor-ndor, where the ancient medial n prevented the mutation of d, then the vanished later.

bar-en-danwedh

place name. House of Ransom

The name that Mîm gave to his home after he was forced to give it to Túrin in exchange for his life, translated “House of Ransom” (S/203). The initial element of the name is bâr “house” (SA/bar), followed by en “of” and danwedh “ransom”.

Bar-en-Danwedh

noun. house of ransom

bar (“house”) + en (gen. article) + #dan (“back”) +#gwedh (“bond”) #We would expect it to be Bar-e-Ndanwedh, but this could be a dialectal variant of the name

Bar-i-Mýl

noun. home of the gulls

(m-)bar (“dwell, inhabit”) + in (gen. pl. article) + mýl (pl. of mýl “gull”)

bar erib

place name. *House of the Lonely Ones

A stronghold in Dor-Cúarthol (UT/153). It appears to be a combination of S. bâr “house, home” and the plural form erib of the adjective ereb “lonely”, so perhaps: “✱House of the Lonely Ones” (hat tip to Gilruin for this suggestion).

bar-en-nibin-noeg

place name. House of the Petty Dwarves

The original name of the house of Mîm, translated “House of the Petty Dwarves” (UT/100). The initial element of the name is bâr “house” followed by en “of” and the plural Nibin-noeg of the name Niben-nog “Petty Dwarf”.

bar-goll

place name. Hollow Dwelling

Another name for Nogrod (NS. Novrod), a more direct translation of Kh. Tumunzahar “Hollowbold” (WJ/414). The initial element of the name is bâr “dwelling” and the second element is the lenited form goll of coll “hollow” (WJ/414).

bar bëora

proper name. House of Bëor

Sindarin for the House (Clan) of Bëor (WJ/230). It is a combination of S. bâr “house, home” and the Edain name Bëor with the old genitive suffix -a “of”. Given the combination of elements, it may be from a different language than Sindarin, perhaps Nandorin or Bëorian.

bardh

home

{ð}_ n. _home, the (proper) place for one (or a community) to dwell in.

bâr

noun. house, dwelling, home, house, dwelling, home; [N.] earth

The basic Sindarin word for “house, dwelling” derived from the root √MBAR “settle, dwell” (PE17/109; PE17/164). This Sindarin word (unlike its Quenya counterpart már) can also be used to refer to the “house” of a clan or family, as in Bar Bëora “House of Bëor” (WJ/230) and Narn e·mbar Hador “✱Tale of the House of Hador” (MR/373). It could also mean “-home (for a people)” in compound names for regions as in Eglamar “Home of the Eglain” and Brithombar (WJ/379; S/120), but it seems this use was archaic and in more recent names the trend was to use dôr “land” (PE17/164).

This word appears as both bâr with long â and bar with short a. As a general rule, it has a long â when used as an independent word, following the general Sindarin principle whereby short vowels (usually) lengthened in monosyllables. It has a short vowel when appearing in compounds or as a “pseudo-prefix” in names like Bar-en-Danwedh “House of Ransom” (S/203).

Conceptual Development: This word dates all the way back to the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, where (adverbial?) G. bar appeared as a variant of G. barthi or barai “at home, home” (GL/21). In the Gnomish Lexicon its noun form seems to be G. bara “home” (GL/21), but in the contemporaneous Gnomish Grammar it was bar “home” (GG/8). These Gnomish words were all derived from the early root ᴱ√MBARA “dwell, live” (QL/63).

In Gnomish Lexicon slips, Tolkien modified the word to G. bawr “house” derived from primitive ᴱ✶mbāră (PE13/116). In the Name-list to the Fall of Gondolin Tolkien had G. bar “dwelling” (PE15/21). In the Early Noldorin Grammar of the 1920s it was ᴱN. bâr “house”, though a change in its mutated form {i·bhar >>} i·mâr indicates some vacillation on its primitive form (PE13/120 and note #2). In Early Noldorin word-lists of this period it was bar “house” (PE13/138).

In The Etymologies of the 1930s it was N. bár “home” written in the margin next to the root ᴹ√MBAR “dwell, inhabit” (EtyAC/MBAR), but it also meant “Earth” in the name N. Barthan “Earth-smith” (Ety/TAN). In later notes (date unknown) this name was S. Barthan “World-artificer” (LT1A/Talka Marda). In notes on The Feanorian Alphabet from the 1930s it was †băr “home”, which became bār after vowels lengthened in monosyllables (PE22/36).

In notes from the 1960s, Tolkien described this word in some detail, first saying:

> In Sindarin bar [< ✱mbăr-] (pl. bair) was used for a single house or dwelling, especially of the larger and more permanent sort; barð [< ✱mbardā̆] was much as English “home”, the (proper) place for one (or a community) to dwell in (PE17/164).

Here it seems bar = “house, dwelling” but bardh = “home”. However, in a later iteration of these notes Tolkien said:

> There were thus tendencies both (a) for Noldorin terms for things peculiar to their culture to be translated into Sindarin forms or imitated ... Examples ... were (a) the use of Sindarin bâr (< ✱mbăr(a)) for “house” a settled built dwelling of a family, larger or smaller: in true Sindarin use it only denoted a small area in which some group had at last settled more or less permanently (PE17/164).

This was revised slightly to read:

> There was thus a tendency: (a) for Noldorin words and terms for things peculiar to their culture to be translated into Sindarin, or imitated ... Examples of these processes are: (a) the use of Sindarin bâr (< ✱mbăr(a)) for “house”: the permanent building serving as the home of a family, larger or smaller, though in genuine older Sindarin use this word referred to a (small) area, in which some group had at last settled, more or less permanently (PE17/164).

Both these later paragraph imply that the original sense of Sindarin bâr was something like “✱settlement (of a group or community)” but came to mean “house, dwelling” under the influence of Quenya már.

Of its uses in compounds Tolkien said:

> This was also in old compounds used (like Q -mar) for a region, but not in ordinary language ... Only in old names was -bar used like Q -mar for a region inhabited by a people. For this Sindarin used usually -dor (< ndor) “land” (PE17/165).

-bar

suffix. a region inhabited by a people

_ suff. _a region inhabited by a people. Only used in old names. Sindarin usually used -dor instead. Q. -mar. >> -dor

bar

bar

PQ *mbar- from Root MBAR "dwelling, habitation"

bar-

verb. to live, dwell, stay

bar telien

noun. gymnasium, (lit.) house of sport

A neologism for “gymnasium” coined by Rínor posted on 2025-06-22 in the Vinyë Lambengolmor Discord Server (VLDS), a combination of bâr “house” and [N.] telien “sport”.

bâr

dwelling

bâr (house, home, family; land, earth) (i mâr, o mbâr, construct bar), pl. bair (i mbair). Also -bar, -mar at the end of compounds

bâr

house

bâr (dwelling, home, family; land, earth) (i mâr, o mbâr, construct bar), pl. bair (i mbair). Also -bar, -mar at the end of compounds.

bâr

home

bâr (dwelling, house, family; land, earth) (i mâr, o mbâr, construct bar), pl. bair (i mbair). Also -bar, -mar at the end of compounds.

bâr

dwelling

(house, home, family; land, earth) (i mâr, o mbâr, construct bar), pl. bair (i mbair). Also -bar, -mar at the end of compounds

bâr

house

(dwelling, home, family; land, earth) (i mâr, o mbâr, construct bar), pl. bair (i mbair). Also -bar, -mar at the end of compounds.

bâr

earth

(dwelling, house, home, family; land) (i mâr, o mbâr, construct bar), pl. bair (i mbair). Also -bar, -mar at the end of compounds.

bâr

home

(dwelling, house, family; land, earth) (i mâr, o mbâr, construct bar), pl. bair (i mbair). Also -bar, -mar at the end of compounds.

bâr

land

(dwelling, house, home, family; earth) (i mâr, o mbâr, construct bar), pl. bair (i mbair). Also -bar, -mar at the end of compounds.

-dor

suffix. a region inhabited by a people

_ suff. _a region inhabited by a people. Usually used instead of -_bar _in Sindarin. >> -bar

ceven

earth

1) ceven (i geven, o cheven), pl. cevin (i chevin) (VT48:23), 2) (world) Amar (archaic Ambar), pl. Emair; 3) bâr (dwelling, house, home, family; land) (i mâr, o mbâr, construct bar), pl. bair (i mbair). Also -bar, -mar at the end of compounds. 4) (maybe ”earth” as substance) cae (i gae, o chae). No distinct pl. form even if there is a pl., except with article (i chae). For ”earth” as a substance, see also SOIL.

dôr

land

1) dôr (i nôr, construct dor) (dwelling place, region), pl. dŷr (i ndŷr), coll. pl. dorath (WJ:413), 2) bâr (dwelling, house, home, family; earth) (i mâr, o mbâr, construct bar), pl. bair (i mbair). Also -bar, -mar at the end of compounds.

amar

earth

(archaic Ambar), pl. Emair

parth

enclosed grassland

(i barth, o pharth) (field, sward), pl. perth (i pherth);

dôr

noun. land, land, [N.] region where certain people live, [ᴱN.] country; [G.] people of the land

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”.

car

house

(building, dwelling-place) 1) car or cardh (i gar[dh], o char[dh]) (building), pl. cerdh (i cherdh) or cair (i chair). Note: cardh also means "deed, feat". Therefore, the form car may be preferred for clarity. 2) adab (building), pl. edaib. In ”Noldorin”, the plural was edeb. 3)

dortha

dwell

dortha- (i northa, i ndorthar) (stay)

dîr

man

1) (adult male of any speaking race) dîr (dír-, also agentive ending -dir or -nir; with article, i nîr, hard mutation as in o ndîr), no distinct pl. form except with article (i ndîr); coll. pl. díriath. Also benn (i venn, construct ben), pl. binn (i minn). The latter is in archaic language used = "husband" (the etymological meaning). The ending -we in names may also express ”being, man, person”. 2) (mortal human as opposed to Elf) Adan (pl. Edain; the coll. pl. Adanath is attested). The word Adan came to be used primarily of a member of the Three Houses of the Edain, not of the mortal race of Men in general.

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.

noss

house

(family) 1) noss (construct nos, pl. nyss) (family, clan), 2) nost (pl. nyst) (family) (PM:360), 3) nothrim (family); no distinct pl. form (PM:360)

ortha

raise

ortha- (i ortha, in orthar);

Dúnadan

noun. Man of the west, Númenórean

adan

noun. man, one of the Second People (elvish name for men)

adanadar

noun. man, one of the Fathers of Men

adanath

noun. men

cae

noun. earth

This word is indeclinable, according to the Etymologies

ceven

noun. Earth

dor

noun. land, dwelling-place, region where certain people live

The form dor in the Etymologies is a misreading, see VT/45. In composition and in toponyms, the word is nevertheless reduced to Dor

drúadan

noun. wild man, one of the Woses

drû

noun. wild man, Wose, Púkel-Man

In PE/11:31, an older Gnomish word drû, drui meant "wood, forest", and in PE/13:142, the early Noldorin word drú was assigned the meaning "dark". Drû pl. Drúin later came to be used for the name of the Woses, with other derivatives (Drúadan, etc.). "Wose" is actually the modernization of an Anglo-Saxon word wasa only found in the compound wudu-wasa "wild man of the woods", cf. UT/385 sq. In the drafts of the "Ride of the Rohirrim" in WR/343-346, the Woses first appeared as "the dark men of Eilenach". Though internally said to derive from drughu in their own tongue, Tolkien's choice for the Sindarin name of the Woses was apparently influenced by earlier meanings assigned to this word

dîr

noun. man, man, [N.] adult male; agental suffix

A word for “man” as a male person, attested only as an element in compounds or as (archaic?) ndir (PE17/60). This word likely refers to male individuals of all races including Elves, Men, Dwarves and so forth, much like its Quenya cognate Q. nér. This word must have been derived from the primitive subjective form ✶ndēr of the root √N(D)ER “male person”, where the ancient long ē became ī, and the initial cluster nd- became d-, though the ancient cluster would still be reflected in mutated forms, such as in i nîr “the man” rather than ✱✱i dhîr.

Conceptual Development: Perhaps the earliest precursor to this word is (archaic) G. †drio “hero, warrior” with variants driw, driodweg and driothweg, a cognate of ᴱQ. nēr (GL/22). This Gnomish word was derived from primitive ᴱ✶n’reu̯, where the initial nr- became dr-. At this early stage, the root was unstrengthened ᴱ√NERE (QL/65), as reflected in (archaic) ᴱN. nîr “hero, prince, warrior-elf” in the Early Noldorin Dictionary of the 1920s (PE13/164).

In The Etymologies of the 1930s the root became ᴹ√DER “adult male, man” of any speaking race and the derived form was N. dîr (Ety/DER). However, in this document Tolkien said:

> EN †dîr surviving chiefly in proper names (as Diriel older Dirghel [GYEL], Haldir, Brandir) and as agental ending (as ceredir “doer, maker”) ... In ordinary use EN has benn [for “man”] (properly = “husband”).

Thus in the scenario described in The Etymologies, dîr “man” was archaic and used only as an element in names or as a suffix. In ordinary speech it was replaced by N. benn, which used to mean “husband” but now meant “man”, while the word for “husband” became N. hervenn (Ety/BES). It is unlikely Tolkien imagined this exact scenario in later Sindarin, however, since the 1930s root for benn was ᴹ√BES “wed”, but by the 1960s the root for husband/wife/marry words had become √BER.

Neo-Sindarin: Since the status of N. benn is questionable given ᴹ√BES >> √BER, many Neo-Sindarin writers prefer to use S. ✱dîr as the Sindarin word for man. I am of the opinion that both dîr and benn are acceptable for “man, male person”. This is because I prefer to retain ᴹ√BES as the root for “marry, wed”, since it is the best basis for attested husband/wife words in (Neo) Sindarin.

dôr

noun. land, dwelling-place, region where certain people live

The form dor in the Etymologies is a misreading, see VT/45. In composition and in toponyms, the word is nevertheless reduced to Dor

ennorath

noun. central lands, middle-earth

raud

lofty

adj. lofty. Q. rāta. >> arod, taer

sennas

noun. guesthouse

taer

lofty

adj. lofty. Q. tāra.

taer

adjective. lofty, lofty, *high

adab

house

(building), pl. edaib. In ”Noldorin”, the plural was edeb.

adan

man

(pl. Edain; the coll. pl. Adanath is attested). The word Adan came to be used primarily of a member of the Three Houses of the Edain, not of the mortal race of Men in general.

arth

lofty

(noble, exalted), pl. erth

brand

lofty

(high, noble, fine), lenited vrand, pl. braind

brannon

lord

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

bôr

trusty man

(boron-) (i vôr, construct bor) (steadfast man, faithful vassal), pl. *b**ŷr* for older beryn, i meryn (archaic böryn, i möryn). In ”Noldorin”, the older pl. forms were berein, beren.

cae

noun. earth

cae

earth

(i gae, o chae). No distinct pl. form even if there is a pl., except with article (i chae). For ”earth” as a substance, see also

car

house

or cardh (i gar[dh], o char[dh]) (building), pl. cerdh (i cherdh) or cair (i chair). Note: cardh also means "deed, feat". Therefore, the form car may be preferred for clarity.

ceven

earth

(i geven, o cheven), pl. cevin (i chevin) (VT48:23)

curunír

man of craft

(i gurunír, o churunír) (wizard), no distinct pl. form except with article (i churunír), coll. pl. ?curuníriath.

dortha

dwell

(i northa, i ndorthar) (stay)

dîr

man

(dír-, also agentive ending -dir or -nir; with article, i nîr, hard mutation as in o ndîr), no distinct pl. form except with article (i ndîr); coll. pl. díriath. Also benn (i venn, construct ben), pl. binn (i minn). The latter is in archaic language used = "husband" (the etymological meaning). The ending -we in names may also express ”being, man, person”.

dôr

dwelling place

(i nôr, construct dor) (land, region), pl. dŷr (i ndŷr) (WJ:413).

dôr

land

(i nôr, construct dor) (dwelling place, region), pl. dŷr (i ndŷr), coll. pl. dorath (WJ:413)

dúnadan

man of the west

(i Núnadan), pl. Dúnedain (i Ndúnedain) (WJ:378, 386).

ennor

place name. central land, middle-earth

firion

mortal man

(pl. firyn).

gobel

enclosed dwelling

(i ’obel) (walled house or village, ”town”), pl. gebil (i ngebil = i ñebil). Archaic pl. göbil.

gobel

village

(i ’obel) (enclosed dwelling, ”town”), pl. gebil (i ngebil = i ñebil). Archaic pl. ✱göbil.

grôd

underground dwelling

(i ’rôd, construct grod) (cave, delving, excavation), pl. grŷd (in grŷd) (WJ:414)

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

(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)

nand

wide grassland

(construct nan) (valley), pl. naind, coll. pl. **nannath **(VT45:36);

noss

house

(construct nos, pl. nyss) (family, clan)

nost

house

(pl. nyst) (family) (PM:360)

nothrim

house

(family); no distinct pl. form (PM:360)

orchall

lofty

(superior, eminent), pl. erchail (for archaic örchail)

ortha

raise

(i ortha, in orthar);

orthad

raising

(MR:373)

rhavan

wild man

(?i thravan or ?i ravan – the lenition product of rh is uncertain), pl. rhevain (?idh revain) (WJ:219). – The following terms apparently apply to ”men” of any speaking race:

rhûd

dwelling underground

(construct rhud, with article ?i thrûd or ?i rûd – *the lenition product of rh- is uncertain) (artificial cave, rockhewn hall, mine), pl. rhuid (?idh ruid) (PM:365)*.

sennas

guesthouse

(i hennas), pl. sennais (i sennais), coll. pl. sennassath (RC:523)

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”.

thalion

dauntless man

(hero), pl. thelyn. Also used as an adj. ”dauntless, steadfast, strong”. 

tûr

lord

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

bár

noun. home; earth

ambar

noun. earth

heltha-

verb. to strip, to strip, *flay, peel skin; *to despoil, make bare

A verb in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “strip” derived from primitive ᴹ✶skelta- under the root ᴹ√SKEL (Ety/SKEL; EtyAC/SKEL). In The Etymologies as published in The Lost Road Christopher Tolkien gave the form as helta (LR/386), but Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne corrected this to heltha in their Addenda and Corrigenda to the Etymologies (VT46/14). According to Hostetter and Wynne the original form was haltha- “strip” from ᴹ√SKAL until Tolkien decide this A-root meant “screen, hide” instead.

Conceptual Development: In Tolkien’s earlier writings he had a number of other words of similar meanings. The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had G. daf- “strip, flay, peel skin” and G. dautha- or dauthra- “strip” (GL/29). It also had G. {falta- >>} faltha- “strip, despoil, rob, make bare” based on the early root ᴱ√fal- (GL/33), and G. pasta- or padhra- “skin, peel, flay”, probably based on the early root ᴱ√PARA [PAÐA?] (GL/63; QL/72). The Gnomish Lexicon Strips had {dautha- >>} dawtho “to flay” (PE13/112), while Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s had ᴱN. gwath “to strip” (PE13/146).

Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I would extend the use of heltha- to cover all of these earlier meanings: “to strip, ✱flay, peel skin”, and by extension “✱to despoil, make bare”.

amar

noun. Earth

brannon

noun. lord

car(dh)

noun. house, house, *construction, structure

A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s appearing as car or carð with the gloss “house” under the root ᴹ√KAR “make, build, construct” (Ety/KAR). Its Quenya cognate ᴹQ. kar (kard-) was glossed “building, house”.

Neo-Sindarin: Given the meaning of its root, I would use cardh for any kind of building-like construction or structure for purposes of Neo-Sindarin. For an ordinary “house” where people live, I would use S. bâr.

amar

noun. earth

benn

noun. man, male

brand

adjective. lofty, noble, fine

brand

adjective. high (in size)

brann

adjective. lofty, noble, fine

brann

adjective. high (in size)

brannon

noun. lord

car

noun. house, building

cardh

noun. house, building

coe

noun. earth

This word is indeclinable, according to the Etymologies

coe

noun. earth

An indeclinable word given as {cíw >>} coe “earth” in The Etymologies of the 1930s as a derivative of the root ᴹ√KEM (Ety/KEM; EtyAC/KEM).

Possible Etymology: The primitive form of rejected cíw is given as ᴹ✶kēm and its derivation is clear: the long ē became ī and then the final m reduced to w after i as usual. The derivation of coe is more obscure, however. The likeliest explanation is that Tolkien imagined its ancient form with a slightly lowered vowel which he generally represented as ǣ in this period (in later writings as ę̄). According to the first version of the Tengwesta Qenderinwa and Comparative Vowel Tables from the 1930s (PE18/46; PE19/25), ǣ &gt; ei &gt; ai &gt; ae, and in The Etymologies itself, it seems ai often became oe instead of ae.

Neo-Sindarin: Updating the derivation of hypothetical ✱kę̄m would produced ᴺS. cae in Sindarin phonology. But given the obscurity of its derivation, I recommend using 1950s S. ceven for “earth” instead.

dor

noun. land, dwelling-place, region where certain people live

The form dor in the Etymologies is a misreading, see VT/45. In composition and in toponyms, the word is nevertheless reduced to Dor

dortha-

verb. to dwell, stay

dîr

noun. man, referring to an adult male (elf, mortal, or of any other speaking race)

forodrim

noun. Northmen

forodwaith

noun. Northmen

forodwaith

noun. the lands of the North

forodweith

noun. Northmen

forodweith

noun. the lands of the North

gobel

noun. walled house or village, town

ortha-

verb. to raise

bâr

noun. lord

A noun translated as “lord” (SD/311, 428). This nouns wins the prize for “most inflected Adûnaic noun”, since we have declensions for this noun in both the draft Adûnaic grammar and the later grammar of Lowdham’s Report. As such, it is very helpful for comparing how the noun declensions changed as Tolkien developed Adûnaic grammar. For example, comparing its draft plurals bāri/bārim to its later plural bârî/bârîm indicate the draft plural was originally formed with a short rather than long i. There are a few lingering examples of this short-i plural in later writings (SD/247, 251).

Conceptual Development: In earlier writings the rejected name Kherû “Lord” (SD/376) indicates a possible earlier form of this noun; Kherû itself was changed to Arûn. A similar form reappears in later writings in the name Adûnakhôr “Lord of the West”: either akhôr or khôr “lord”. Whether or not this later word replaced bâr is unknown.

dâira

noun. Earth

A noun translated as “Earth” in the final version of the Lament of Akallabêth (SD/247). It may be related to S. dôr “land”, as suggested by Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynn (AAD/13).

Conceptual Development: In the Lament of Akallabêth (first draft), this noun appeared as kamāt (SD/311).

zâyan

noun. land

An Adûnaic word for “land” (SD/423). It has an irregular plural form zâin which is the result of the phonetic change (SD/423): [[pad|medial [w] and [j] vanished before [u] and [i]]]. Thus, the archaic plural changed from †zâyîn > zâîn > zâin.

Conceptual Development: In earlier names this word appeared as zen (SD/378, 385).

ar-pharazônun bâr ’nanadûnê

King Pharazon is Lord of Anadune

An example sentence illustrating Adûnaic grammar: it is a copula (a “to be” expression) without an explicit verb for “is” (SD/428). The subject of the sentence, Ar-Pharazônun, is in the subjective case, which represents the verb “to be”. The rest of the sentence, Bâr ’nAnadûnê “Lord of Anadune (Númenor)” is the predicate and is in the normal-case. This sentence also provides an example of the use of the genitive prefix an- “of”, here elided to ’n because of the preceding uninflected noun.

arûn

masculine name. Lord

An Adûnaic name for Morgoth, perhaps coined by Sauron when he introduced the worship of the dark god to the Númenóreans, translated as “Lord” (SD/376). It is derived from the word ârû “king” and was sometimes used in a compound together with Morgoth’s true Adûnaic name: Arûn-Mulkhêr (SD/367). In other writings (SD/357) it was the original Adûnaic name of Morgoth before he fell to evil, but that hardly makes sense in the conceptual scenario of the later Silmarillion, in which Morgoth had already become evil before men awoke.

bâr ukallaba

the lord fell

An example sentence showing how the normal-case can sometimes be used for the subject of a sentence (SD/429). The subject is bâr “lord” while the verb has the masculine singular pronoun prefix u- “he”. Such a prefix is required when the subject is in the normal case (SD/429). The verb form kallaba is the past tense of kalab- “to fall”. This sentence is contrasted with bârun (u)kallaba in which the subject is in the subjective case.

kherû

masculine name. Lord

A rejected draft version of the Adûnaic name for Morgoth translated “Lord”, replaced by Arûn of the same meaning (SD/376). It is transparently a derivative of the Elvish root ᴹ√KHER, as suggested by Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynn (AAD/18). A later form of this word, ✱khôr “lord”, may appears as an element in the name Adûnakhôr “Lord of the West”.

thâni

noun. land

A noun translated “land” (SD/435) appearing in the Adûnaic names for the Blessed Realm: Amatthâni and thâni’nAmân. Its Primitive Adûnaic form was also ✶thāni, though its primitive was glossed “realm" (SD/420).

zadan

noun. house

A noun translated “house” and fully declined as an example of a Strong I noun (SD/430).

khôr Reconstructed

noun. lord

An element meaning “lord” appearing only in the name Adûnakhôr “Lord of the West”, though a similar form appears in the earlier names Kherû “Lord” and Mulkhêr “Lord of Darkness”. It isn’t clear whether this element is ✱akhôr or ✱khôr, but khôr resembles the Primitive Elvish root √KHER “rule, govern, possess”, to which it may be related.

This possible relationship has been suggested by various authors (AL/Adûnaic, EotAL/KHUR). Andreas Moehn rejected the relationship, pointing out that Primitive Elvish ✶khēru “lord” would have developed phonetically into Ad. ✱✱khîru (EotAL). However, khôr may be derived from some more ancient Avari loan word, which underwent different phonetic developments than those of the Eldarin languages, perhaps ✶kher- > khar > khaur > Ad. khôr.

langa

noun. thing that crosses, ferry, ford, crossway, bridge, cross-bar

sandastan

shield-barrier

sandastan noun "shield-barrier", a battle-formation (UT:282; probably with stem sandastam_- since the final element is derived from a stem stama- "bar, exclude". Compare _talan with stem talam- from the root TALAM.)

sandastan

noun. shield-barrier

sama-

verb. to bar, exclude

A neologism for “to bar, exclude” coined by Paul Strack in a 2023-04-24 discussion on the Vinyë Lambengolmor Discord Server (VLDS), based on ✶stama- of the same meaning.

san

noun. bar, barrier

A neologism for “bar, barrier” coined by Orondil on 2021-09-24 in the Vinyë Lambengolmor Discord Server (VLDS), related to ✶stama- “bar, exclude” (UT/282). Luinyelle proposed ᴺQ. sámo [þ] on 2023-01-11 of similar derivation, but I prefer Orondil’s neologism since Luinyelle’s conflicts with partially attested ✱sámo [þ] “helper”, a hypothetical element of Rómestámo “East-helper” (PM/385).

sámo

noun. bar, barrier

mar

earth

mar (1) noun "earth" (world), also "home, dwelling, mansion". Stem mard- (VT46:13, PE17:64), also seen in the ablative Mardello "from earth" (FS); the word is used with a more limited sense in oromardi "high halls" (sg. oromar, PM17:64), referring to the dwellings of Manwë and Varda on Mt. Taniquetil (Nam, RGEO:66). The initial element of Mardorunando (q.v.) may be the genitive mardo (distinguish mardo "dweller"). May be more or less identical to már "home, house, dwelling" (of persons or peoples; in names like Val(i)mar, Vinyamar, Mar-nu-Falmar, Mardil) (SA:bar, VT45:33, VT47:6). Már is however unlikely to have the stem-form mard-; a "Qenya" genitive maren appears in the phrase hon-maren, q.v., suggesting that its stem is mar-. A possible convention could therefore be to use már (mar-) for "home, house" (also when = household, family as in Mardil, q.v.), whereas mar (mard-) is used for for "earth, world". Early "Qenya" has mar (mas-) "dwelling of men, the Earth, -land" (LT1:251); notice that in LotR-style Quenya, a word in -r cannot have a stem-form in -s-.

-ndor

land

-ndor, final element in compounds: "land" (Letters:308, UT:253)

Malantur

lord, ruler

Malantur, masc. name. Apparently includes -(n)tur "lord, ruler". The initial element is unlikely to connect with the early "Qenya" element mala- "hurt, pain", and may rather reflect the root MALAT "gold" (PM:366): Malat-ntur > Malantur "Gold-ruler"? (UT:210)

amu-

verb. raise

amu- vb. "raise" (LT2:335; LotR-style Quenya has orta-)

cemi

earth, soil, land

cemi noun "earth, soil, land"; Cémi ("k")"Mother Earth" (LT1:257; the "Qenya" word cemi would correspond to cemen in LotR-style Quenya)

condo

noun. lord

farnë

dwelling

#farnë (2) noun "dwelling", in orofarnë (as translated in Letters:224, but in other notes of Tolkiens the word was interpreted "any growing thing or plant", PE17:83)

har-

verb. dwell, abide, reside permanently

heru

lord, master

heru (also hér) noun "lord, master" (PM:210, KHER, LT1:272, VT44:12); Letters:283 gives hér (heru); the form Héru with a long vowel refers to God in the source where it appears (i Héru "the Lord", VT43:29). In names like Herumor "Black Lord" and Herunúmen "Lord of the West" (SA:heru). The form heruion is evidently a gen.pl. of heru "lord": "of the lords" (SD:290); herunúmen "Lord-of-West" (LR:47), title of Manwë. Pl. númeheruvi "Lords-of-West" (*"West-lords") in SD:246, a title of the Valar; does this form suggest that #heruvi is the regular plural of heru?

hér

lord

hér noun "lord" (VT41:9), also heru, q.v.

hér

noun. lord

indo

house

indo (2) noun "house" (LT2:343), probably obsoleted by #1 above (in Tolkiens later Quenya, the word for "house" appears as coa).

kemen

earth

kemen noun "earth"; see cemen.

lér

man

**lér noun "man" (NI1; hypothetical Q form of PQ dēr; the form actually used in Quenya was nér)

marda

dwelling

marda noun "dwelling" (PE17:107)

már

home, house, dwelling

már (mar-) (2) noun "home, house, dwelling" (also "house" in the sense of family as in Mardil, q.v.). See mar above for references. In Mar-nu-Falmar, Mardil, and as final element in Eldamar, Fanyamar, Valimar, Vinyamar..

mélamar

home

mélamar noun "home", Exilic Quenya word of emotional sense: place of ones birth or the familiar places from which one has been separated (PE17:109). Mélamarimma noun "Our Home", an expression used by Exilic Noldor for Aman.

nér

man

nér (1) (ner-, as in pl. neri) noun "man" (adult male elf, mortal, or of other speaking race) (MR:213, VT49:17, DER, NDER, NI1, VT45:9; see also WJ:393)

nér

noun. man

nór

land

nór noun "land" (stem nor-, PE17:106) this is land as opposed to water and sea (nor in Letters:308). Cf. nórë.

nór

noun. land

A term for “land” as in “(dry) land as opposed to the sea”, mentioned in the Quendi and Eldar essay of 1959-60 (WJ/413) and again in notes from around 1968 (PE17/106-107).

Possible Etymology: In the Quendi and Eldar essay this term was derived from primitive ✶ndōro, but in the aforementioned 1968 notes Tolkien clarified that its stem form was nŏr-. This means it was probably derived from ancient ✱ndŏr-, where the long vowel in the uninflected form was inherited from the Common Eldarin subjective form ✱ndōr, a phenomenon also seen in words like nér (ner-) “man”. I prefer this second derivation, as it makes the independent word more distinct from the suffixal form -ndor or -nóre used in the names of countries.

nóre

noun. land

nórë

land

nórë noun "land" (associated with a particular people) (WJ:413), "country, land, dwelling-place, region where certain people live, race, clan" (NŌ, NDOR, BAL), also used = "race, tribe, people" (SA:dôr, PE17:169; however, the normal word for "people" is lië). Early "Qenya" hasnórë "native land, nation, family, country" (in compounds -nor) (LT1:272)

orta

verb. raise

orta-

verb. raise

raise

orto-

verb. raise

orto- vb. "raise" (LT1:256; in Tolkien's later Quenya orta-)

os

house, cottage

os (ost-) noun "house, cottage" (LT2:336; hardly valid in LotR-style Quenya writers may use coa or már)

tára

lofty

tára (1) adj. "lofty". (SA:tar, LT1:264, TĀ/TA3 (AYAK, TÁWAR), VT45:6), "tall, high" (WJ:417). Compare antara. Adverb táro in an early "Qenya" text (VT27:20, 26). The adj. tára is not to be confused with the continuative form of the verb #tar- "stand".

túrin

noun. lord

vëo

man

†vëo noun "man" (WEG; etymologically connected to vëa "manly, vigorous"; the more neutral word for "man" is nér. According to VT46:21, Tolkien indicated that vëo is an archaic or poetic word.) Tolkien at a later point defined the word as "living creature" (PE17:189). Cf. variant wëo, q.v.

herunauco

9V7J5.DaH noun. dwarf-lord, dwarven lord

uzbad

noun. lord

cava

noun. house

beorn

noun. man

The shift of e to eo is strange and has no direct parallels, but compare eo from i in meord "fine rain" (< primitive mizdê). Normally final -ô becomes -â in Nandorin (see golda), but here it is simply lost instead of producing *beorna. C.f. meord the other word where we might have expected to see a final -a (in that case from -ê); it may be that final vowels are lost in words that would otherwise come to have more than two syllables. - The shift of primitive s to r in besnô > beorn may be ascribed primarily to the blending with ber(n)ô, but r from z is seen in meord < mizdê; perhaps the s of besnô first became z and then r. Such developments are common in Quenya.

dóri-

noun. land

Isolated from Lindórinan. The independent form of the word may differ; it is unclear where the i of the compound Lindórinan comes from. In the Etymologies, the Eldarin words for "land" are derived from a stem NDOR "dwell, stay, rest, abide" (LR:376).

No Nandorin word is there listed, but Sindarin dor is derived from primitive ndorê. Notice, however, that Tolkien many years later derived the Eldarin words for "land" from a stem DORO "dried up, hard, unyielding" (WJ:413). However, this later source does confirm that the Primitive Quendian form was ndorê, now thought to be formed by initial enrichment d > nd. This is defined as "the hard, dry land as opposed to water or bog", later developing the meaning "land in general as opposed to sea", and finally also "a land" as a particular region, "with more or less defined bounds".

Whether dóri- actually comes from ndorê is highly doubtful (this would rather yield *dora in Nandorin), but it must be derived from the same set of stems.