Caras Galadhon

noun. fortress of the trees

caras (#Nan. “moated fortress”), galadh (“tree”) + #on (#could be Nan. genitive suffix [HKF])

caras galadhon

place name. City of the Trees

Name of the city of Lórien (LotR/355), translated “City of the Trees” (LotR/353). This name is an adaptation of Nan. Caras Galadon of the same meaning (LotR/1127), replacing Nan. galad “tree” with S. galadh. In pure Sindarin, it would S. Caras i-Ngelaidh (PE17/60). Its initial element is S. (or Nan.) caras “moated fort” and its final element has the Nandorin genitive plural suffix -on.

Conceptual Development: In Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s and in the 1st edition of The Lord of the Rings, this name appeared as N. Caras Galadon (TI/245, RC/311). In between the 1st and 2nd editions, Tolkien became disatisified with this name, which was clearly different from S. galadh “tree”. In his Words, Phrases and Passages from the Lord of the Rings from the late 1950s or early 1960s, Tolkien considered changing the meaning of this name so that it, like Galadriel had nothing to do with trees (PE17/84). Ultimately, though, he decided that the form Caras Galadon was Nandorin (PE17/60), and changed the name to its Sindarized form in the 2nd edition of The Lord of the Rings.

Elements

Word	Gloss
caras	“city, fort or dwelling surrounded by bulwarks, circular earthwall with dike, city, [N.] city (built above ground); [S.] (orig.) fort or dwelling surrounded by bulwarks, circular earthwall with dike”
galadh	“tree”

Variations

• Caras Galadon ✧ PE17/084; RC/311

caras i-ngelaidh

place name. City of the Trees

The pure Sindarin form of Caras Galadhon, appearing in notes from the mid-1960s (PE17/60). In these notes, it appears as Caras (i)Ngelelaið, but Christopher Gilson suggested the final word was probably a slip for Ngelaið, which would be the ordinary nasal mutation of the plural of galadh “tree”. Its initial element is S. (or Nan.) caras, and the i is the elided form of the plural definite article in, whose elision causes the nasal mutation of the final word.

Cognates

• Nan. Caras Galadon ✧ PE17/060

Variations

• Caras (i)Ngelelaið ✧ PE17/060