cirith dúath

place name. Shadow Cleft

The original name of Cirith Ungol (UT/279-80 note #11), a combination of cirith “cleft” and dúath “night shadow”.

Elements

Word	Gloss
cirith	“cleft, ravine, defile, cleft, ravine, defile, [N.] pass”
dúath	“night shadow, dark/black shadow, night shadow, dark/black shadow, [N.] night-shade”

Cirith Dúath

noun. pass of shadow

cirith (“pass, cleft”), dû (“nightfall, night, dimness”) + gwath (“shadow”)