coe

noun. earth

An indeclinable word given as {cíw >>} coe “earth” in The Etymologies of the 1930s as a derivative of the root ᴹ√KEM (Ety/KEM; EtyAC/KEM).

Possible Etymology: The primitive form of rejected cíw is given as ᴹ✶kēm and its derivation is clear: the long *ē* became *ī* and then the final *m* reduced to *w* after *i* as usual. The derivation of coe is more obscure, however. The likeliest explanation is that Tolkien imagined its ancient form with a slightly lowered vowel which he generally represented as ǣ in this period (in later writings as ę̄). According to the first version of the Tengwesta Qenderinwa and Comparative Vowel Tables from the 1930s (PE18/46; PE19/25), *ǣ* > *ei* > *ai* > *ae*, and in The Etymologies itself, it seems *ai* often became *oe* instead of *ae*.

Neo-Sindarin: Updating the derivation of hypothetical ✱kę̄m would produced ᴺS. cae in Sindarin phonology. But given the obscurity of its derivation, I recommend using 1950s S. ceven for “earth” instead.

amar

noun. Earth

amar

noun. earth

ambar

noun. earth

coe

noun. earth

This word is indeclinable, according to the Etymologies

emerin

place name. Middle-earth

A Noldorin name for “Middle-earth” appearing in The Etymologies as a cognate of ᴹQ. Ambarenya (Ety/MBAR), apparently derived from the same primitive form ✱✶ambarenyā.

cevn

adjective. of earth, earthen

A Noldorin adjective in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “of earth, earthen” and given as a derivative of the root ᴹ√KEM (Ety/KEM). Hiswelókë’s Sindarin Dictionary suggested an alternate (Neo) Sindarin spelling cefn (HSD/cefn) which is more than in keeping with Tolkien’s usual spelling conventions from the 1930s, but I prefer cevn as it makes the pronunciation clearer; see the discussion of the Sindarin phoneme [v] for more details.

barthan

masculine name. Earth-smith, Earthbuilder

bár

noun. home; earth

cef

noun. soil

A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “soil” derived from the root ᴹ√KEM “soil, earth” (Ety/KEM). It had a rather unusual plural form ceif which shows *i*-intrusion but not the usual *i*-raising of *e* to *i*; under ordinary phonetic developments the expected plural would be ✱cif. I can think of no good reason for this abnormal plural, but it would be ^caif if adapted to Sindarin. It is mostly moot since this word is very unlikely to be used in the plural.

cef

noun. soil

gwatha-

verb. to soil, stain

hmaw

noun. soil, stain

hmaw

noun. soil, stain

lith

noun. sand

maw

noun. soil, stain

dâira

noun. Earth

A noun translated as “Earth” in the final version of the Lament of Akallabêth (SD/247). It may be related to S. dôr “land”, as suggested by Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynn (AAD/13).

Conceptual Development: In the Lament of Akallabêth (first draft), this noun appeared as kamāt (SD/311).

bārun-adūnō rakkhatū kamāt sōbēthumā eruvō

the Lord of West broke asunder earth assent-with of God

The first draft of the 4th phrase of the Lament of Akallabêth (SD/311). It differs considerably from the final version:

• The subject is singular “Lord” rather than plural “Lords”, as is the case with the second draft as well.

• The adjectival phrase adūnō “of the West” uses the draft-genitive case instead of the later genitive prefix an-.

• The verb form is rakkhatū, perhaps the draft past tense of an early version rakhat- of the verb rahat-. It later changed >> urahhata >> urahta >> yurahta. It is glossed “broke asunder” rather than simply “broke” as in later versions.

• The word for “Earth” is kamāt rather than later dâira.

• In the final phrase sōbēthumā eruvō “assent-with of God”, the two words are likely declined into the draft-instrumental and draft-genitive cases, respectively.

kamāt

noun. earth (draft)

The noun for “Earth” in the first draft version of the Lament of Akallabêth (SD/311), later replaced by dâira (SD/247). Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne suggested (AAD/17) that it may be related to the Elvish root ᴹ√KEM “soil, earth”.

bârim an-adûn yurahtam dâira sâibêth-mâ êruvô

Lords of [the] West, they rent [the] Earth with assent from Eru

The 4th phrase of the Lament of Akallabêth (SD/247). One major conceptual change from earlier versions was that the subject of the sentence was plural Bârim an-Adûn (“Lords of the West”) instead of the earlier singular Bârun an-Adûn (“Lord of the West”). It seems that Tolkien decided that the drowning of Númenor was attributed to all of the Valar rather than just Manwë. A similar change from singular to plural was made in the corresponding Quenya sentence: herunūmen >> númeheruvi.

The subject Bârim of this sentence is the subjective plural of bâr “lord”. It is modified by the adjectival phrase an-Adûn “of the West”, with the genitive prefix an- “of” added to the noun adûn. The verb has the 3rd-plural suffix yu- “they”. In the grammatical rules of Lowdham’s Report this makes the subject emphatic, with a meaning more like “It was the Lords of the West who broke the Earth...” (SD/429).

The verb form rahtam is the aorist tense of rahat- “to break” with the verb plural suffix -m. The object of the sentence, dâira “Earth”, is in the normal-case.

The base sentence is modified by the prepositional phrase sâibêth-mâ Êruvô “with assent from Eru”. The combination sâibêth-mâ is the word sâibêth “assent” and the prepositional suffix -mâ “with”. The final word Êruvô is the name Êru and the prepositional suffix -ô “of”, with the usual glide-consonant [w] (which was sometimes written “v” as mentioned on SD/434) between the u and the following suffix.

kemen

earth

kemen noun "earth"; see cemen.

mar

earth

mar (1) noun "earth" (world), also "home, dwelling, mansion". Stem mard- (VT46:13, PE17:64), also seen in the ablative Mardello "from earth" (FS); the word is used with a more limited sense in oromardi "high halls" (sg. oromar, PM17:64), referring to the dwellings of Manwë and Varda on Mt. Taniquetil (Nam, RGEO:66). The initial element of Mardorunando (q.v.) may be the genitive mardo (distinguish mardo "dweller"). May be more or less identical to már "home, house, dwelling" (of persons or peoples; in names like Val(i)mar, Vinyamar, Mar-nu-Falmar, Mardil) (SA:bar, VT45:33, VT47:6). Már is however unlikely to have the stem-form mard-; a "Qenya" genitive maren appears in the phrase hon-maren, q.v., suggesting that its stem is mar-. A possible convention could therefore be to use már (mar-) for "home, house" (also when = household, family as in Mardil, q.v.), whereas mar (mard-) is used for for "earth, world". Early "Qenya" has mar (mas-) "dwelling of men, the Earth, -land" (LT1:251); notice that in LotR-style Quenya, a word in -r cannot have a stem-form in -s-.

ambar

noun. The World, Earth, (lit.) Habitation, Settlement

The word Ambar is probably the most common Quenya word for the “World”. Its more literal meaning is “Habitation” (MR/337; NM/226) or “Settlement” (PE17/163) in the sense that it is the realm in which the children of Eru (Elves and Men) live. A clear description of this notion can be found in notes from late 1960s:

> Ambar was thus “the great settlement”. This may be translated “world” - meaning this Earth as the place (by destiny) inhabited by Elves and Men, the Children of Eru. It thus resembles ἡ οἰκουμένη [Greek = “the inhabited world”], but was not limited either to the parts of Earth actually inhabited, or to those inhabited by any special peoples such as the Elves, or among Men the Numenóreans. The decision, the fixing of the dwelling place, was thought of as proceeding from Eru and was so part of his Umbar [Destiny]. Umbar, so used, might be said to be “the history of Ambar”, so far as already accomplished, and its future so far as already arranged and defined (PE17/163).

This specific note was rejected, but similar descriptions appear elsewhere (NM/226-227). As noted by Tolkien here and elsewhere, the term Ambar was also intertwined with the notion of Destiny (Umbar) as willed by Eru.

Another common term for “world” was Q. Arda, more literally “Realm”, but strictly speaking this referred to the regions under the dominion of Manwë, and so included areas outside of the world such as Aman (after its removal from the world) and the remainder of the Solar System (PE17/105; MR/337; NM/227). Tolkien also sometimes used Q. cemen “earth” for “the Earth” (VT44/34; MR/387), particularly in Q. Kementári “Queen of the Earth” as a name for Yavanna (S/28). But that seems to refer more to livable surface of the world rather than the entire world itself.

Etymology: This word was derived from the root √MBAR “settle, dwell”, with a vocalic augment: ✶a-mbar (PE17/105, 124). It is not the result of a syllabic nasal ✶ṃbar, as that would produce Q. umbar, the Elvish word for fate or destiny (PE17/104).

Conceptual Development: The word ᴹQ. Ambar first appeared in a document labeled ᴹQ. Ambarkanta “The Shape of the World” from the early 1930s (SM/235-240). It appeared as ᴹQ. Ambar “Earth” in The Etymologies of the 1930s, already with the same basic meaning and derivation as given above. A possible precursor is the word ᴱQ. irmin “the inhabited world” from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, which was similar in form and meaning but derived from a different root ᴱ√IŘI [IÐI] “dwell” (QL/43). There was a variant Imbar of Ambar in Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth from around 1959 (MR/337) which might be a callback to this earlier word.

aran endór

proper name. King of Middle-earth

A (rejected) title of Morgoth, replaced by the more grandious title Tarumbar “King of the World” (MR/121). This name is a compound of aran “king” and Endórë “Middle-earth”, though for some reason the final -ë was omitted (perhaps a slip).

ar mi cemen rainë i hínin

and on earth peace, good will toward men

The second line of Alcar mi Tarmenel na Erun, Tolkien’s translation of the Gloria in Excelsis Deo prayer. The first word is ar “and”, followed by mi cemen “on earth”, more literally “✱in earth”. The fourth word is rainë “peace, good will” followed by i hínin “toward men”, more literally “✱to the children”, with hínin being the dative plural of hína “child”.

Decomposition: Broken into its constituent elements, this phrase would be:

> ar mi cemen rainë i hín(a)-i-n = “✱and in earth [be] peace the child-(plural)-to”

Conceptual Development: In version I, Tolkien used the assimilated locative of kemende “on earth” instead of mi cemen as in versions II-III. He also wrote an incomplete form r... for “peace” in version I before revising it to sívë. In version II, he first wrote sérë for “peace” before changing it to rainë, the form that was also used in version III.

For “towards men”, Tolkien wrote fírimonnar in version I, the allative plural of Fírimo “mortals”, literally “✱towards mortals”. This form also appeared in version II, but it was rejected, replaced first by híniryannar, the 3rd-sg-possessive (-rya “his”) allative (-nna “towards”) plural of hína = “✱towards his children”. This in turn was replaced by i hinin with a short i (probably a slip) in version II, which was corrected to the form i hínin in version III.

|  I  |II|III| |ar| |kemende|mi kemen|mi cemen| |{r... >>} síve|{sére >>} raine|raine| |fírimonnar|{fírimonnar >> híniryannar >>} i hinin|i hínin|

The development for the word for “peace” was the basis for Arden Smith’s suggestion that version I might follow version II-III (VT44/33). The form sérë was the earliest of these words for “peace”, appearing in The Etymologies from the 1930s as ᴹQ. sére “peace”. Taken together with the incomplete form r... in version I, a plausible development would be:

> {sére >>} raine (II-III) >> {r... >>} síve (I)

However, the development of the phrase “towards men” makes more sense if the order of development were the same as the order in the page:

> fírimonnar (I) >> {fírimonnar >> híniryannar >>} i hinin (II) >> i hínin (III)

For this reason, I assume (as did Arden Smith) that the order in the page matches the order of development.

cemen

noun. the earth; earth, the earth; earth, [ᴹQ.] soil

Tolkien often used this Quenya word for “the Earth”, but in notes on Words, Phrases and Passages from the Lord of the Rings (WPP) from the late 1950s or early 1960s, he clarified that “kemen ‘the Earth’ [was] an apparent flat floor under menel [the Heavens]” (PE17/24). In The Etymologies of the 1930s, ᴹQ. kemen was glossed “soil, earth” (Ety/KEM), and ᴱQ. kemen had these same glosses in Early Qenya words lists from the 1910s and 20s (PE16/139; PME/46; QL/46). Thus it seems this term can be used of both “earth” in the ordinary sense of “soil” as well as “the earth”, but in the latter usage it referred more specifically to the habitable surface of the world rather than the entire planet, serving as its “floor” as opposed to the “roof” which was menel. More common terms for the entire world were Ambar and Arda.

Conceptual Development: As indicated above, Tolkien introduced this term in the 1910s, already as a derivative for the root ᴱ√KEME, and it retained this form and meaning thereafter.

cemendur

masculine name. *Servant of the Earth

Name of the 4th king of Gondor (LotR/1038). It was also the name of the third child of Axantur and grandfather of Hallacar (UT/210). The name seems to be a compound of cemen “Earth” and -(n)dur “-servant”.

cemendë tambe erumandë

on Earth as [it is] in Heaven

The fifth line of Átaremma, Tolkien’s Quenya translation of the Lord’s Prayer. The first word cemendë “on Earth” is an assimilated locative form of cemen “earth”. The word tambë likely corresponds to “as”, while Erumandë “in Heaven” is an assimilated locative form of Eruman “Heaven”. The English words “it is” are not represented in the Quenya phrase.

Decomposition: Broken into its constituent elements, this phrase would be:

> cemen-dë tambe Eruman-dë = “✱earth-on as [it is] Heaven-in”

Conceptual Development: In earlier versions of this phrase (I-V), Tolkien used menel for “Heaven”. Elsewhere, Tolkien said that menel referred to the dome of the sky or “the firmament”, and therefore was not proper for “Heaven” (MR/387, PE17/152), which is probably why he changed the word to Eruman in version VI of the prayer.

Tolkien experimented with various ways of comparing Earth to Heaven: ier ... ar tér (I), ier ... tier (IIa), ya(n) ... ar san (IIb) and san ... ya (III-IV), each probably meaning something like “as ... so ...”, as suggested by Wynne, Smith and Hostetter (VT43/16-7). In versions V and VI Tolkien switched to a single word “as”: sívë (V) and tambë (VI).

The English words “it is” are only expressed in version III-IV, with the Quenya verb na, appearing at the end of the phrase as is typical of declarative statements.

| |  I  |IIa|IIb|III|IV|V|VI| |{yé >> ye >>}|ier|ya(n)|san| | |menelle|menelze|menelde|cemende| |ar tér|tier|ar san|ya|sívë|tambe| |{kemenze >>}|cemenze|cemende|menelde|Erumande| | |na| |

endórë

place name. Middle-earth, (lit.) Middle Land

The Quenya word for “Middle-earth” (LotR/1115). It often appeared in its shorter form Endor (S/89), similar to Valinórë/Valinor and Númenórë/Númenor. Its initial element is endë “middle” and its final element is a blending of nórë and -ndor often seen in the names of lands (PE17/26).

Properly speaking, the word Endor applied only to the land mass containing Arnor and Gondor (and Beleriand before it was destroyed) where much of action of Tolkien’s tales took place. In his Nomenclature of the Lord of the Rings, Tolkien defined Middle-earth as “the inhabited lands of (Elves and) Men, envisaged as lying between the Western Sea and that of the Far East” (RC/774).

The informal use of the term “Middle-earth” for Tolkien’s entire fictional world came from the descriptions of his works by others rather than from Tolkien. Tolkien said that Middle-earth was “not a special land, or world, or ‘planet’ as too often supposed” (RC/774). Elsewhere, he said the Quenya word for the “World” (equivalent to “Earth”) was Ambar (LotR/967, WJ/402).

Conceptual Development: The term “Middle-earth” was inspired by Old English Middanġeard or Norse Midgard (RC/774). In Northern European mythology, Midgard referred to the Earth as the land of men between the Heaven(s) and Hell(s), but Heaven and Hell as realms above and below the world did not exist within Tolkien’s cosmology. The word Endor instead referred to the home of Elves and Men in the center of the world between the East and West.

The name ᴹQ. {Endon >>} Endor first appeared in maps and notes associated with Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s, where it was given as the name for the “midmost point of Middle-earth” (SM/241, 254). It later appeared in The Etymologies with the translation “Middle-earth” (Ety/NDOR), also described as “centre of the world” (Ety/ÉNED).

In Silmarillion revisions from the 1950s-60s, this name also appeared in the (ultimately rejected) forms Endon, Endór and Endar (MR/70, 121, 126).

kementári

feminine name. Queen of the Earth

One of the names of Yavanna, a compound of cemen “earth” and tári “queen”, that is: “Queen of the Earth” (S/28). Normally, the [k]-sound in Quenya is written with a “c”, but Tolkien consistently wrote this name with a “k”, as he did with the names Melkor and Tulkas.

Conceptual Development: In the earliest Lost Tales, Yavanna’s second name was ᴱQ. Palúrien (LT1/66), glossed “Wide World” and given as a derivative of the root ᴱ√PALA “flatness” in the Qenya Lexicon from the 1910s (LT1A/Palúrien, QL/71). The name ᴹQ. Palúrien “Bosom of the Earth, Lady of the Wide Earth” also appeared in Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s (SM/78, LR/205), and in The Etymologies it was given as a compound of palúre “surface, bosom” and the feminine suffix -ien (Ety/PAL).

In Silmarillion revisions from the 1950s-60s, Tolkien replaced this name with Kementári (MR/157, 202). This was a partial restoration of one of her earliest names in the legendarium: ᴱQ. Kémi “Earth-lady, Mother Earth” (LT1/79, GL26), which may also be the reason for its unusual spelling.

már

noun. home, dwelling, habitation, home, dwelling, habitation; [ᴹQ.] house; earth

This is the basic Quenya word for a “home” or “dwelling”, derived from the root √MBAR “settle, dwell”.

Conceptual Development: This word dates back all the way to the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, where (archaic) ᴱQ. †mar (mas-) was glossed “dwelling of men, -land, the Earth” (QL/60). It appeared under the early root ᴱ√MBARA “dwell, live”, but that root was mingled with many others, and its stem form mas- indicates some unusual developments. The contemporaneous Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa instead has mař “dwelling, -land, †Earth” (PME/60), consistent with an earlier deleted form of the root, ᴱ√MAŘA [MAÐA] (QL/60).

In the Name-list to The Fall of Gondolin from the 1910s Tolkien had mar as a cognate to G. bar “dwelling” (PE15/21). In the Early Qenya Grammar of the 1920s it was glossed “house” in the phrase ᴱQ. i·mar tye “that house (of yours)” (PE14/55). In the English-Qenya Dictionary of the 1920s mar was glossed “home”, where its plural form mari indicated a stem form of mar- (PE15/74).

In the Declension of Nouns of the 1930s, ᴹQ. mar “house” had a stem form of mard- (PE21/27), and on the title page of The Etymologies from 1937, Tolkien had mar(d)- “home, dwelling” from the root ᴹ√MBAR (EtyAC/MBAR). It appeared in the form Mardello “from Earth” in Fíriel’s Song from the mid-1930s, along with an uninflected form i-mar “the earth” (LR/72), but as mar- in the (1930s) genitive form hon-maren “heart of the house” (LR/63).

In Outline of Phonetic Development (OP1) from the 1940s, it appeared as már “habitation”, the first time that it had a long á (PE19/36). In Quenya Verbal System (QVS) and Demonstrative, Relative, and Correlative Stems (DRC) from the late 1940s, már “house” appeared with long á in a couple phrases like már karnelya e·tulle “having built a house he came” (PE22/108) and mana (már) tanion “which of those houses” (PE23/105). The word már “habitation” reappeared in the Outline of Phonology (OP2) of the 1950s (PE19/76).

Tolkien discussed the word már at length in notes from the 1960s on the root √MBAR, first writing:

> The usual word in Eldarin for a “home”, as the established residence of a family consisting of one or more associated buildings, was ✱mbā̆r (stem mbăr-), and ✱mbardā̆ (an adjectival formation). In Q mar (stem mard-), a blending of the two, was used like “residence” usually with a defining genitive, for the “great house” of a family. In place-names -mar (stem mār-) was used for a region settled by a community or group, as Eldamar “Elvenhome” the coastal region of Aman, settled by the Elves (PE17/164).

And then in a later version of the same notes:

> The simplest form of this base ✱mbără became a much used word or element in primitive Eldarin: which may be rendered “dwelling”. This application was probably a development during the period of the Great Journey to the Western Shores, during which many halls of varying duration were made by the Eldar at the choice of their leaders, as a whole, or for separate groups. This element survived in various forms in Quenya and Sindarin with sense­ changes due to the divergent history of the Eldar that passed over Sea and of those remaining in Beleriand. The principal forms were the primitive simple form PE ✱mbăr(a) > uninflected mbār, inflected mbar-; and the derivative form ✱mbardā ...

The former survived in Quenya in the archaic word már, which was used with a defining genitive or more often in genitival compound: as Ingwemar, Valimar, Eldamar ... This signified, when added to a personal name the “residence” of a family of which the head was the named person; it included not only the permanent buildings, developed by the Eldar in Aman, but also the surrounding attached land ... After the name of a people or “kindred” it referred to the whole area occupied or owned by them, in which their dwellings or “houses” were distributed (PE17/106).

These revised notes indicate that marda was a distinct word:

> The derivative form ✱mbardā became in Quenya marda “a dwelling”. This normally referred to the actual dwelling place, but was not limited to buildings, and could equally well be applied to dwellings of natural origin (such as caves or groves). It was nonetheless the nearest equivalent to “house” in most of its senses ... Not to the use of “house” as the name of a (small) separate building with a function such as bake-house, wood-house; nor to the use of “house” as a family especially of power or authority. The former in Quenya was usually koa. The latter was represented by words for “kindred” [nóre] (PE17/107).

Thus it seems in these notes, már = “residence”, marda = “dwelling” but coa = “house” as in a type of building.

In terms of its use in other words and phrases, mar or már is most notably an element in Eldamar “Elvenhome” (S/59), Val(i)mar “Dwelling of the Valar” (RGEO/62), and Mar Vanwa Tyaliéva “[ᴱQ.] Cottage of the Lost Play; House of Departed Mirth” (LT1/28; PE21/80). As for mard-, its most notable use was in oromardi “lofty halls” from the Namárië poem (LotR/377).

Although always meaning “home” or “dwelling” and always derived from √MBAR “dwell”, the various changes in the stem form between mar, mard- and már make the conceptual development difficult to trace. The rough timeline seems to be:

• In the 1910s the stem was mař- >> mas-, becoming mar- in the 1920s.

• In the 1930s the stem was mostly mard-, but in OP1 már (mar-) with long á was introduced and became more prevalent in the 1940s and 50s.

• In the 1960s Tolkien decided that már (mar-) < ✱mbără and marda (mard-) < ✱mbardā were distinct words of similar meaning.

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya I would use már mainly in the sense “home, a place dwelled in”, as opposed to marda for “a dwelling” whether inhabited or not. In place names -mar can refer to the dwelling place of an entire people, or of an individual family. The word már might be used as “house” in the sense of the dwelling place of a family, but when referring specifically to the building, the word coa is more appropriate.

oärel

proper name. Elf who left Middle-earth for Aman

A term for the Elves who left Middle-earth for Aman, equivalent to Amanyar (WJ/374), a combination of öar “away from” and a suffixal form -el(d) of Elda “Elf”.

This name originally developed from primitive ✶awādelo = ✶awa- + ✶edelō, which became either Oarel or Aurel (WJ/363). The Oarel form was preferred due to its similarity to the preposition öar (WJ/364). Its plural form Oareldi was influenced by the archaic plural †Eldi of Elda (WJ/363). In the Vanyarin dialect, the forms were Oazel and Auzel. In the Telerin branches, only descendants of the Au- forms were used: T. Audel and S. Ódhel (WJ/364).

Ambarenya

middle-earth

Ambarenya, older [MET] Ambarendya place-name "Middle-earth" (but the more usual word is Endor, Endórë) (MBAR)

Cemendur

earth-servant

Cemendur masc. name *"Earth-servant" (i.e. farmer?) (Appendix A, UT:210)

Endamar

middle-earth

Endamar place-name "Middle-earth" (EN, MBAR, NDOR). However, Middle-earth is normally called Endor, Endórë.

Endor

middle-earth

Endor place-name "Middle-earth" (SA:dôr, NDOR), "centre of the world" (EN); also long form Endórë "Middle-earth" (Appendix E); allative Endorenna "to Middle-earth" in EO. The form Endór in MR:121 may be seen as archaic, intermediate between Endórë and Endor (since long vowels in a final syllable are normally shortened: Endór > Endor). Endór functions as an uninflected genitive in the source: Aran Endór, "King of Middle-earth".

Entar

thither lands, middle-earth, outer lands, east

Entar place-name "Thither Lands, Middle-earth, Outer Lands, East" (seen from Aman) (EN)

Entarda

thither lands, middle-earth, outer lands, east

Entarda place-name "Thither Lands, Middle-earth, Outer Lands, East" (seen from Aman) (EN, VT45:12)

Imbar

the habitation, = earth,

Imbar place-name "the Habitation, = Earth," also "the principal part of Arda" (= the Solar System) (MR:337, also WJ:419 note 29)

Kementári

earth-queen

Kementári noun "Earth-queen", title of Yavanna (SA:tar). The Kemen- of this name was at one stage intended as the genitive of kén, kem- "earth", so that Kementári meant "Earth's Queen", but Tolkien later changed the Quenya genitive ending from -(e)n to -o. Apparently so as to maintain the name Kementári, he turned kemen into the nominative form; see cemen.

cemi

earth, soil, land

cemi noun "earth, soil, land"; Cémi ("k")"Mother Earth" (LT1:257; the "Qenya" word cemi would correspond to cemen in LotR-style Quenya)

cemna

of earth, earthen

cemna ("k")adj. "of earth, earthen" (In Etym as printed in LR:363 s.v. KEM, this word is cited as cemina, but according to VT45:19 Tolkien's manuscript actually reads cemna.)

cén

soil, earth

cén (cem-) ("k")noun "soil, earth"; see cemen (KEM)

martan

earth-smith

Martan (2), also Martano, noun "Earth-smith", "Earthbuilder", a surname of Aule (TAN, GAWA/GOWO the form _Martan_ō given under MBAR must be understood as a primitive form). LT1:266 refers to a "very late note" where a variant Quenya form "Martamo" is derived from ¤mbartanō**"world-artificer"; the stated primitive form (as well as the Sindarin cognate Barthan) would suggest that the Quenya form should be Martano; on the other hand, tamo (q.v.) does occur as a variant of tano** "smith".

olvar

growing things with roots in the earth, *plants

olvar (sg. #olva) noun "growing things with roots in the earth, *plants" (Silm). Apparently more or less the same word as olwa, olba, which is however glossed "branch". Cf. laima.

palúrë

surface, bosom, bosom of earth

palúrë noun "surface, bosom, bosom of Earth" (= Old English folde) (PAL); cf. Palúrien.

aurel

proper name. Elf who left Middle-earth for Aman

A less common variant of Oärel (WJ/363, 374). See the entry for Oärel for further discussion.

et eärello endorenna utúlien

Out of the Great Sea to Middle-earth I am come

First phrase @@@

endor

noun. Middle-earth

imbi menel cemenyë menë ráno tië

between Heaven and Earth goes the path of the Moon

olva

noun. plant, growing things with roots in the earth

A word for plants appearing only in its plural form olvar “plants” (S/45; NM/270). It may be related to the roots √OLOB “branch” and √OL “grow”, hence “growing thing” as opposed to a celva = “moving thing” (WJ/341). For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I think this word refers mainly to plants as a category of beings (as in the Plant Kingdom), as opposed to an individual plant which would laima.

yallumë eldalië enwa marnië endoressë lumincë

in times when the Eldalie dwelt yet a little while in Middle-earth

cemellet

noun. asparagus, (lit.) earth-finger

A neologism coined by Luinyelle posted on 2024-05-23 in the Vinyë Lambengolmor Discord Server (VLDS), a combination of cemen “earth” and a reduced form of lepetā “finger”.

cemorva

noun. potato, (lit.) earth-apple

A neologism for “potato, (lit.) earth-apple” coined by Yitzik on the Vinyë Lambengolmor Discord Server (VLDS) in 2018, inspired by Gnomish G. grothorf (GL/42).

norma

noun. crust [of the earth]

A neologism for “crust [of the earth]” coined by Arael posted on 2025-05-12 in the Vinyë Lambengolmor Discord Server (VLDS), an instrumental form √NDOR “land”.

cémë

noun. clay

A neologism for “clay” coined by Luinyelle posted on 2024-11-08 in the Vinyë Lambengolmor Discord Server (VLDS), from primitive ✱kę̄mē based on ᴹ√KEM “earth”.

litsë

sand

litsë noun "sand" (LIT)

luxo

mud

luxo (luxu-) noun "mud" (QL:56)

loxo

noun. mud

ceven

noun. *Earth, *earth; Earth

A word for “Earth” used in the Sindarin translation of the Lord’s Prayer from the 1950s, in the phrase: bo Ceven sui vi Menel “on Earth as [it is] in Heaven” (VT44/21). It is clearly a cognate of Q. cemen of the same meaning, and like Quenya I suspect this word can be used for both “Earth” and “earth”. The more usual Sindarin word for “world” was amar, so I suspect that, where referring to the global realm, ceven meant more the “habitable surface of the earth” rather than the entire planet. See, for example Christopher Tolkien’s note on kemen “referring to the earth as a flat floor beneath menel, the heavens” from The Silmarillion appendix (SA/kemen).

Possible Etymology: If this word is indeed a direct cognate of Q. cemen < ✱kemen, it is not clear why the final *n* didn’t vanish as was usual in Sindarin; perhaps the Sindarin form was derived from a variant primitive form like kemenē. Alternately, it may be a back-formation from some inflected form, as happened with other similar words like S. aran and S. thoron.

cae

noun. earth

This word is indeclinable, according to the Etymologies

ceven

noun. Earth

amar

noun. world, the Earth, (lit.) settlement, the great habitation

The usual Sindarin word for “world”, cognate of Q. Ambar, more literally meaning “settlement” or “the great habitation” (PE17/105; NM/226). It was derived from an augmented form of the root √MBAR “settle, dwell”: ✶a-mbar > ammar > amar (PE17/104, 124), with the usual shortening of long *mm* in Sindarin. For a discussion of its connection to Destiny, see the entry on Q. Ambar. However, in some notes from 1968, Tolkien said this word was not actually found in Sindarin, and was only hypothetical (NM/228).

Conceptual Development: N. amar “Earth” first appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s, already as a derivative of ᴹ√MBAR “dwell, inhabit”. In the Early Noldorin Grammar and Early Noldorin Wordlists of the 1920s, however, Tolkien used ᴱN. barth for “world, earth” (PE13/120, 138), and in the Gnomish Lexicon the word G. mar meant “Earth” along with “ground, soil” (GL/56).

bâr

noun. house, dwelling, home, house, dwelling, home; [N.] earth

The basic Sindarin word for “house, dwelling” derived from the root √MBAR “settle, dwell” (PE17/109; PE17/164). This Sindarin word (unlike its Quenya counterpart már) can also be used to refer to the “house” of a clan or family, as in Bar Bëora “House of Bëor” (WJ/230) and Narn e·mbar Hador “✱Tale of the House of Hador” (MR/373). It could also mean “-home (for a people)” in compound names for regions as in Eglamar “Home of the Eglain” and Brithombar (WJ/379; S/120), but it seems this use was archaic and in more recent names the trend was to use dôr “land” (PE17/164).

This word appears as both bâr with long â and bar with short a. As a general rule, it has a long â when used as an independent word, following the general Sindarin principle whereby short vowels (usually) lengthened in monosyllables. It has a short vowel when appearing in compounds or as a “pseudo-prefix” in names like Bar-en-Danwedh “House of Ransom” (S/203).

Conceptual Development: This word dates all the way back to the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, where (adverbial?) G. bar appeared as a variant of G. barthi or barai “at home, home” (GL/21). In the Gnomish Lexicon its noun form seems to be G. bara “home” (GL/21), but in the contemporaneous Gnomish Grammar it was bar “home” (GG/8). These Gnomish words were all derived from the early root ᴱ√MBARA “dwell, live” (QL/63).

In Gnomish Lexicon slips, Tolkien modified the word to G. bawr “house” derived from primitive ᴱ✶mbāră (PE13/116). In the Name-list to the Fall of Gondolin Tolkien had G. bar “dwelling” (PE15/21). In the Early Noldorin Grammar of the 1920s it was ᴱN. bâr “house”, though a change in its mutated form {i·bhar >>} i·mâr indicates some vacillation on its primitive form (PE13/120 and note #2). In Early Noldorin word-lists of this period it was bar “house” (PE13/138).

In The Etymologies of the 1930s it was N. bár “home” written in the margin next to the root ᴹ√MBAR “dwell, inhabit” (EtyAC/MBAR), but it also meant “Earth” in the name N. Barthan “Earth-smith” (Ety/TAN). In later notes (date unknown) this name was S. Barthan “World-artificer” (LT1A/Talka Marda). In notes on The Feanorian Alphabet from the 1930s it was †băr “home”, which became bār after vowels lengthened in monosyllables (PE22/36).

In notes from the 1960s, Tolkien described this word in some detail, first saying:

> In Sindarin bar [< ✱mbăr-] (pl. bair) was used for a single house or dwelling, especially of the larger and more permanent sort; barð [< ✱mbardā̆] was much as English “home”, the (proper) place for one (or a community) to dwell in (PE17/164).

Here it seems bar = “house, dwelling” but bardh = “home”. However, in a later iteration of these notes Tolkien said:

> There were thus tendencies both (a) for Noldorin terms for things peculiar to their culture to be translated into Sindarin forms or imitated ... Examples ... were (a) the use of Sindarin bâr (< ✱mbăr(a)) for “house” a settled built dwelling of a family, larger or smaller: in true Sindarin use it only denoted a small area in which some group had at last settled more or less permanently (PE17/164).

This was revised slightly to read:

> There was thus a tendency: (a) for Noldorin words and terms for things peculiar to their culture to be translated into Sindarin, or imitated ... Examples of these processes are: (a) the use of Sindarin bâr (< ✱mbăr(a)) for “house”: the permanent building serving as the home of a family, larger or smaller, though in genuine older Sindarin use this word referred to a (small) area, in which some group had at last settled, more or less permanently (PE17/164).

Both these later paragraph imply that the original sense of Sindarin bâr was something like “✱settlement (of a group or community)” but came to mean “house, dwelling” under the influence of Quenya már.

Of its uses in compounds Tolkien said:

> This was also in old compounds used (like Q -mar) for a region, but not in ordinary language ... Only in old names was -bar used like Q -mar for a region inhabited by a people. For this Sindarin used usually -dor (< ndor) “land” (PE17/165).

ennor

place name. Middle-earth

Sindarin equivalent of Endórë “Middle-earth”, derived from the same primitive form because in Sindarin [[s|[mb], [nd] became [mm], [nn]]] (LotR/1115).

Conceptual Development: In The Etymologies from the 1930s, the form N. Emerin appeared with the same translation but a completely different derivation (Ety/MBAR). In later writings, Tolkien generally derived S. Ennor from the root √ENED “centre, middle” (Let/384, PE17/26). He considered several alternate derivations, from √ENET or √HEN(ET) (VT41/16), but these reflected his uncertainty of the proper form of the root √ENED, not of S. Ennor itself.

bo ceven sui vi menel

on Earth as [it is] in Heaven

The fifth line of Ae Adar Nín, Tolkien’s Sindarin translation of the Lord’s Prayer (VT44/21). The first word is the preposition bo “on” (possibly a mutated form for po), followed by ceven “earth”. The third word is the preposition sui “as”, followed by vi the lenited form of mi “in” and menel “heaven”. There is no Sindarin equivalent for English “it is” in this phrase.

See the entry for the first line of this prayer for a discussion of the (mis)use of menel for “Heaven” in this phrase.

Decomposition: Broken into its constituent elements, this phrase would be:

> bo Ceven sui vi Menel = “✱on Earth as in Heaven”

ennor

'Middle-earth'

topon. 'Middle-earth'. Poetic form ennorath. Q. Endor, Endóre. >> ennorath

mâf

noun. a pile or mass of rock or earth

n. a pile or mass of rock or earth.

mâf

noun. pile or mass of rock or earth

A noun from 1967 notes on the comparative, glossed “a pile or mass of rock or earth” (PE17/93). It appeared underneath the root √MBŎNO, but was almost certainly actually derived from √MAB “lump, mass” appearing earlier in the same notes (PE17/90). Both these roots were considered as a new basis for the words Q. ambo and S. amon “hill” when Tolkien repurposed the root √AM “up” as √AMA “addition, increase, plus” in order to serve as a new basis for Quenya comparative forms, with √MAB >> √MBŎNO.

Neo-Eldarin: Given the evolution of its roots, this Sindarin word is pretty dubious, but I don’t have a good alternative for it at the moment.

athelas

noun. "kingsfoil", a healing herb brought to Middle-earth by the Númenóreans

cirith

noun. cleft, high climbing pass, narrow passage cut through earth or rock, ravine, defile

ennorath

noun. central lands, middle-earth

ennorath

noun. central lands, Middle Earth

en(ed) (“center”) + (n-)dor (“region, dwelling”) + ath (class plural suffix)

ceven

earth

1. ceven (i geven, o cheven), pl. cevin (i chevin) (VT48:23), 2) (world) Amar (archaic Ambar), pl. Emair; 3) bâr (dwelling, house, home, family; land) (i mâr, o mbâr, construct bar), pl. bair (i mbair). Also -bar, -mar at the end of compounds. 4) (maybe ”earth” as substance) cae (i gae, o chae). No distinct pl. form even if there is a pl., except with article (i chae). For ”earth” as a substance, see also SOIL.

cae

earth

(i gae, o chae). No distinct pl. form even if there is a pl., except with article (i chae). For ”earth” as a substance, see also

amar

earth

(archaic Ambar), pl. Emair

bâr

earth

(dwelling, house, home, family; land) (i mâr, o mbâr, construct bar), pl. bair (i mbair). Also -bar, -mar at the end of compounds.

cae

noun. earth

ceven

earth

(i geven, o cheven), pl. cevin (i chevin) (VT48:23)

cevemphast

noun. earth quake

A neologism for “earthquake” created by Paul Strack in 2021 specifically for Eldamo, inspired by Gnomish G. maragwast from the 1910s but with its elements updated to S. ceven “earth” and ᴺS. past “shaking”. Another possibility would be cevemmast if it were a more ancient compound with medial *mph* > *mm*, but I think the elements would remain transparent and the word would be reformed to back to cevemphast.

ennor

middle-earth

Ennor, also in coll. pl. ennorath = lands of Middle-earth (RGEO, Letters:384). Apparently less usual is the term Emerain.

ennor

middle-earth

also in coll. pl. ennorath = lands of Middle-earth (RGEO, Letters:384). Apparently less usual is the term Emerain.

cevorf

noun. potato, (lit.) earth-apple

cefn

adjective. of earth, earthen

ennor

place name. central land, middle-earth

cêf

soil

(noun) 1) *cêf (i gêf, o chêf), pl. cîf (i chîf), coll. pl. cevath (suggested Sindarin forms of ”Noldorin” cef, pl. ceif). 2) maw (i vaw) (stain), pl. moe (i moe). Note: a homophone is an archaic word for ”hand”.

gwatha

soil

(verb) gwatha- (i **watha, in gwathar**) (stain)

lith

sand

lith (sand, dust) (Names:178), no distinct pl. form.

madha

noun. mud

mud

madha

noun. mud

A word given as maða “mud” in the Outline of Phonology (OP2) of the 1950s, a derivative of ✶mazgō (PE19/101). A similar form N. mada [probably a slip for maða] appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s with the gloss “soft, pliant, yielding” as a derivative of madhgh < ᴹ√MASAG (EtyAC/MASAG). But this form was rejected and apparently replaced by N. moe “soft, pliant” < ON. maiga (Ety/MASAG). These variations seem to reflect shifting thoughts on the development of zg in Sindarin and Noldorin, either (in the 1930s) *zg* > *i̯g* to form diphthongs or (in the 1950s) *zg* > *ðg* > *-ða*.

cêf

soil

(i gêf, o chêf), pl. cîf (i chîf), coll. pl. cevath (suggested Sindarin forms of ”Noldorin” cef, pl. ceif).

gwatha

soil

(i ’watha, in gwathar) (stain)

lith

sand

(sand, dust) (Names:178), no distinct pl. form.

maw

noun. soil, stain

maw

soil

(i vaw) (stain), pl. moe (i moe). Note: a homophone is an archaic word for ”hand”.

keme

noun. earth

kemen

noun. earth

auzel

proper name. Elf who left Middle-earth for Aman

oazel

proper name. Eldar who had come to Aman, Elves who left Middle-earth for Aman

hendor

place name. Middle-earth