carn

noun. deed

A Sindarin noun for a “deed”, attested only in its lenited form garn within the word othgarn “misdeed” (PE17/151). The alternate form carth “deed” is perhaps better attested.

caran

adjective. red

caran

adjective. red

caran

red

_ adj. _red, ruddy. >> Caradhras

carn dûm

place name. ?Red Valley

Chief settlement of Angmar (LotR/146). The language and meaning of this name is unclear, but it is often suggested this it is Sindarin, a combination of carn “red” and a lenited form of tûm “valley” (as suggested by David Salo, GS/371). The name may be debased Elvish, like the name of its kingdom Angmar, since the normal Sindarin words would be caran and tum. The name also resembles an early (rejected) name N. Caron-dûn or Carndoom “Red Valley” found in Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s, and could be a re-emergence of that name (RS/419, 433).

carnen

place name. Redwater

A river flowing from the Iron Hills, translated “Redwater” (LotR/1072), a combination of caran “red” and nen “water”.

Carnen

noun. red water

car (from caran “red”) + nen (“water”)

car-

verb. to do, make

Car- is the Sindarin verb for “do, make”, derived from the root √KAR of the same meaning. Tolkien often used it for examples of verb inflections in his writings.

Conceptual Development: The earliest iteration of this verb was G. {car- >>} cartha- “make, finish” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s with past tense côri (GL/25), reappearing as cartha- “to finish” in the Gnomish Lexicon Slips modifying that document with past tense cair- or cawr- (PE13/111). A set of rough verb forms caron, {cur}, côr, {carn}, crantha, cor and cranthi appear in the margin of a page of the Early Noldorin Grammar, which the editors suggested might be related to the (unglossed and rejected) sentence ᴱN. on gós i·bhelon ar cranthi gwaist ’worin o nomad othra, perhaps meaning “✱he made everyone aware of your sinking” (PE13/128 and note #76).

In the Early Noldorin Dictionary, also from the 1920s, Tolkien had ᴱN. cara- “to make, do, perform, act (trans. and absolute)” with a new past form agor (PE13/161). Hints of the verb N. car- can be found in The Etymologies of the 1930s in words like N. ceredir “doer, maker” and N. osgar “cut round, amputate” (Ety/DER, OS). The verb appeared regularly in conjugation charts and sentences Tolkien’s later writings of the 1950s and 60s (VT50/22; PE17/132).

caran

red

1) caran (lenited garan, pl. cerain). Also carn (lenited garn, pl. cern), 2) coll (scarlet), lenited goll, pl. cyll (VT45:15, 24). Note: homophones mean "hollow" and also "cloak". 3) born (hot), lenited vorn, pl. byrn, 4) (fiery red) naru (analogical pl. nery). The archaic fom narw is also listed (LR:374 s.v. _NAR_1). 5) rhosc (russet, brown), lenited ?throsc or ?rosc (the lenition product of rh is uncertain), pl. rhysc. Cf. also

caran

red

(lenited garan, pl. cerain). Also carn (lenited garn, pl. cern)

car

make

1) car- (i gâr, i cherir), pa.t. agor (do, build) (WJ:415), 2) echad- (i echad, in echedir) (fashion, shape), pa.t. echant (VT45:19)

carnen

adjective. done, made, finished

caranthir

masculine name. Red-face

Fourth son of Fëanor, called “the Dark” (S/60). His name is a combination of caran “red” and thîr “face” (VT41/10), an adaptation of his mother name Q. Carnistir “Red-face” (PM/353).

Conceptual Development: In the earliest Lost Tales, his name was ᴱN. Cranthor (LT2/241). Tolkien change his name to Cranthir in the Lays of Beleriand from the 1920s (LB/80) and this was also his name in Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s (LR/223). N. Cranthir appeared in The Etymologies with the translation “Ruddy-face” (Ety/KARÁN, THĒ), already with essentially the same etymology as its final version.

In Silmarillion revisions from the 1950s-60s, Tolkien vacillated between Cranthir and Caranthir, ultimately settling on the latter (WJ/115).

carth

noun. deed

Sindarin noun for a “deed”, attested only in its lenited plural form gerth within the word úgarth “trespass” (VT44/28), which probably more literally means “✱misdeed”. This word is not completely compatible with its Quenya cognate Q. carda “deed” from primitive ✶kardā, which in Sindarin should produce ✱cardh. Perhaps the Sindarin word had a slightly different primitive form ✱✶kartā. The expect form cardh might appear as an element in the variant form athragarð of S. athragared “interaction”.

Conceptual Development: Perhaps the earliest precursors of this word are G. cara “deed, act” and G. carm “act, deed, exploit” in the Gnomish Lexicon from the 1910s (GL/25; PE13/111), the latter a cognate of contemporaneous ᴱQ. karma “shape, fashion; act, deed” (QL/45). Early Noldorin word lists from the 1920s had ᴱN. carbh “deed” (PE13/140), reflecting Tolkien’s changing conception of the phonetic development of final -m in Noldorin. In The Etymologies from the 1930s, the word appeared as N. carth or carð “deed” (cardh), but these forms were rejected and replaced by N. car(ð) “building” when Tolkien decided the root meant only “make, build” and not “do” (Ety/KAR), a decision he later reversed.

gaer

adjective. red, copper-coloured, ruddy

ruin

adjective. (fiery) red

amosgarn

noun. robin, (lit.) red-breast

born

red

(hot), lenited vorn, pl. byrn

cardh

deed

cardh (i gardh, o chardh), pl. cerdh (i cherdh). Note: cardh may also mean "house, building".

cardh

deed

(i gardh, o chardh), pl. cerdh (i cherdh). Note: cardh may also mean "house, building".

coll

red

(scarlet), lenited goll, pl. cyll (VT45:15, 24). Note: homophones mean "hollow" and also "cloak".

coll

scarlet

coll (red), lenited goll, pl. cyll (VT45:15, 24). Note: homophones mean "hollow" and also "cloak".

coll

scarlet

(red), lenited goll, pl. cyll (VT45:15, 24). Note: homophones mean "hollow" and also "cloak".

crann

ruddy

(lenited grann, pl. crain).

cên

gore

(i gên, o chên, construct cen) (wedge), pl. cîn (i chîn). Alternative sg. form cîn (i gîn, o chîn, construct cin), no distinct pl. form except with article (i chîn)  (VT45:20)

gaer

red, reddish

(copper-coloured, ruddy); lenited ’aear; no distinct pl. form. (This is a suggested Sindarin form of ”Noldorin” goer.) Note: homophones mean "dreadful, awful, fearful; holy" and also "sea".

mechor

noun. gore

naith

gore

1) naith (spearhead, wedge, point, promontory); no distinct pl. form; 2) cên (i gên, o chên, construct cen) (wedge), pl. cîn (i chîn). Alternative sg. form cîn (i gîn, o chîn, construct cin), no distinct pl. form except with article (i chîn) (VT45:20)

naith

gore

(spearhead, wedge, point, promontory); no distinct pl. form

naru

red

(analogical pl. nery). The archaic fom narw is also listed (LR:374 s.v. NAR1).

rhosc

red

(russet, brown), lenited ?throsc or ?rosc *(the lenition product of rh is uncertain)*, pl. rhysc. Cf. also

úgarth

ill deed

(sin), pl. úgerth (VT44:23)