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
Sindarin
drû
proper name. Wose
Cognates
Derivations
Element in
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √D)ROB > drû [drōb] > [drōv] > [drūv] > [drū] ✧ PE17/099 Variations
- drû ✧ PE17/099
drû
noun. wild man, Wose, Púkel-Man
drû
adjective. savage
adj. savage, wild. Q. hróva. >> Druadan
Druadan
noun. wose
n. wose, wild man.
dûr
adjective. dark, sombre
dûr
dark
_ adj. _dark, gloomy, 'hellish'.
dûr
dark
dûr (sombre), lenited dhûr, pl. duir
dûr
dark
(sombre), lenited dhûr, pl. duir
drúath
noun. the people of the Drû, the Woses
drúnos
family of the drû-folk
(i Dhrúnos), pl. Drúnys (in Drúnys), coll. pl. Drúnossath. See
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
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
dúath
adjective. dark
_ adj. _dark, black shadow.
eryn
noun. wood
glad
noun. wood
glad
noun. wood
A word for a “wood” in the name Methed-en-Glad “End of the Wood” (UT/153) and possibly also Gladuial “✱Twilight Wood” (WJ/183, 188 note #48). It resembles galadh “tree” and is probably related to it, but it cannot be derived directly from the same root ᴹ√GALAD as that would produce ✱✱gladh. It was either derived from a variant root ✱√GALAT, or was a loan word from Nandorin where the word for “tree” was Nan. galad (MR/182; PE17/50, 60).
Element in
- S. Methed-en-Glad “End of the Wood” ✧ UT/153
- S. Gladuial “*Twilight Wood”
Variations
- Glad ✧ UT/153
taur
noun. great wood, forest
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.
curunír
man of craft
(i gurunír, o churunír) (wizard), no distinct pl. form except with article (i churunír), coll. pl. ?curuníriath.
doll
dark
doll (dusky, misty, obscure), lenited noll, pl. dyll. Note: In ”Noldorin”, this word appeared as dolt as well as doll, but the latter seems the best form in S.
doll
dark
(dusky, misty, obscure), lenited noll, pl. dyll. Note: In ”Noldorin”, this word appeared as dolt as well as doll, but the latter seems the best form in S.
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.
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”.
dúath
dark shadow
(i dhúath) (nightshade), pl. dúaith (i núaith);
dúnadan
man of the west
(i Núnadan), pl. Dúnedain (i Ndúnedain) (WJ:378, 386).
eryn
wood
1) (forest) eryn. No distinct pl. form. 2) glâd (i **lâd, construct glad) (small forest), pl. glaid (in glaid**) See FOREST. 2)
eryn
wood
. No distinct pl. form.
firion
mortal man
(pl. firyn).
glâd
wood
(i ’lâd, construct glad) (small forest), pl. glaid (in glaid) See FOREST. 2)
graurim
dark people
(VT45:16);
graw
dark
graw (swart), lenited raw, pl. groe. (VT45:16)
graw
dark
(swart), lenited ’raw, pl. groe. (VT45:16)
guldur
dark sorcery
(i nguldur = i ñuldur), pl. gyldyr (in gyldyr = i ñgyldyr)
morn
dark
morn (black), pl. myrn, lenited vorn. Note: the latter word is also used as a noun ”darkness, night”. (Letters:386)
morn
dark
(black), pl. myrn, lenited vorn. Note: the latter word is also used as a noun ”darkness, night”. (Letters:386)
môr
dark
môr (black), lenited vôr, pl. mŷr (Letters:382), also
môr
dark
(black), lenited vôr, pl. m**ŷr* (Letters:382)*, also
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:
tawar
wood
(as material) tawar (i dawar, o thawar) (forest), pl. tewair (i thewair).
tawar
wood
(i dawar, o thawar) (forest), pl. tewair (i thewair).
thalion
dauntless man
(hero), pl. thelyn. Also used as an adj. ”dauntless, steadfast, strong”.
A Sindarin word for “Wose”, a loan word from the Wose’s name for themselves: Drughu (UT/385).
Conceptual Development: In his Words, Phrases and Passages from the Lord of the Rings from the late 1950s or early 1960s, Tolkien considered making this word a native Sindarin adjective “savage, wild” derived from the root √DROB, a variant of √SROB from which rhaw “wild” was derived (PE17/99). These roots would produce the Q. cognate (h)róva instead of better established Q. (h)ráva “wild”, so I personally prefer the later derivation of Drû as a loan word from Wos. Drughu.