@@@ a compound of curu “skill, craft” (SA/curu) and the agental suffix -n(d)ir
Sindarin
curunír
masculine name. Man of Skill
Cognates
Element in
- S. Curunír ’Lân “Saruman the White” ✧ UT/390
- S. Nan Curunír “Valley of Saruman”
Elements
Word Gloss curunír “wizard, wizard, [N.] man of craft”
curunír
noun. wizard, wizard, [N.] man of craft
Element in
- S. Curunír “Man of Skill”
Elements
Word Gloss curu “skill (of the hand), craft; power, ability, skill (of the hand), craft; power, ability; [N.] cunning; [ᴱN.] magic” dîr “man, man, [N.] adult male; agental suffix”
curunír
noun. man of craft, wizard
curunír
noun. wizard
curunír
wizard
curunír (i gurunír, o churunír) (man of craft), no distinct pl. form except with article (i churunír), coll. pl. curuníriath.
curunír
man of craft
curunír (i gurunír, o churunír) (wizard), no distinct pl. form except with article (i churunír), coll. pl. ?curuníriath
curunír
man of craft
curunír (i gurunír, o churunír) (wizard), no distinct pl. form except with article (i churunír), coll. pl. ?curuníriath.
curunír
man of craft
(i gurunír, o churunír) (wizard), no distinct pl. form except with article (i churunír), coll. pl. ?curuníriath.
curunír
man of craft
(i gurunír, o churunír) (wizard), no distinct pl. form except with article (i churunír), coll. pl. ?curuníriath
curunír
wizard
(i gurunír, o churunír) (man of craft), no distinct pl. form except with article (i churunír), coll. pl. curuníriath.
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.
Derivations
Element in
- S. Borondir “?Steadfast-man”
- S. Brandir “*Noble Man”
- S. condir “mayor, *(lit.) chief-man”
- S. curunír “wizard, wizard, [N.] man of craft”
- S. dagnir “slayer, bane”
- S. Dírhael “*Wise Man”
- S. dírnaith “wedge-shaped battle-formation, (lit.) man-spearhead”
- S. Emeldir “Manhearted, *Manly-mother”
- S. Haldir
- S. Handir
- S. Hathaldir
- S. Hatholdir “*Axe-man”
- S. herdir “master”
- S. Lindir
- S. Othrondir “?Stronghold Man”
- S. randir “wanderer, wandering man, pilgrim” ✧ PE17/060
- S. Thorondir “*Eagle-man”
Variations
- ndir ✧ PE17/060
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.
ithron
wizard
1) ithron (= Quenya istar, one of the order Gandalf belonged to), pl. ithryn, coll. pl. ithronnath (UT:388), 2)
maenas
craft
maenas (i vaenas) (handicraft, art), pl. maenais (i maenais), coll. pl. maenassath. Also curu (i guru, o churu) (cunning, cunning device, skill), pl. cyry (i chyry) (VT45:24);
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
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
ithron
noun. wizard
ithron
noun. Wizard
Cognates
- Q. Istar “Wizard, (lit.) One Who Knows” ✧ UT/388; UTI/Istari
Element in
- S. Ithryn Luin “Blue Wizards” ✧ UT/390
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.
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.
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”.
dúnadan
man of the west
(i Núnadan), pl. Dúnedain (i Ndúnedain) (WJ:378, 386).
firion
mortal man
(pl. firyn).
ithron
wizard
(= Quenya istar, one of the order Gandalf belonged to), pl. ithryn, coll. pl. ithronnath (UT:388)
maenas
craft
(i vaenas) (handicraft, art), pl. maenais (i maenais), coll. pl. maenassath. Also curu (i guru, o churu) (cunning, cunning device, skill), pl. cyry (i chyry) (VT45:24);
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:
thalion
dauntless man
(hero), pl. thelyn. Also used as an adj. ”dauntless, steadfast, strong”.
The Sindarin name of Saruman, translated “Man of Skill” (LotR/1085), “Man of Craft” (UT/390) or “one of cunning devices” (RC/389). His name is a compound of curu “skill, craft” (SA/curu) and the agental suffix -n(d)ir.
Conceptual Development: Saruman’s Sindarin name did not emerge until late in the writing of The Lord of the Rings (PM/228), but the noun N. curunir “a man of craft, wizard” appeared in The Etymologies from the 1930s (Ety/KUR), where it had essentially the same derivation as above. This noun was capitalized (EtyAC/KUR) and so could have been Saruman’s name, but curunír also appeared in Tolkien’s later writings as a general word for “wizard” (PE22/151). Any even earlier precursor might be G. curug “wizard” in the Gnomish Lexicon from the 1910s (GL/28).