ereg (“holly tree”) + ion (#-ond commonly used suffix in the names of regions and countries) #The suffix could be reinterpreted or might have blended with Dor. -ion - plural genitive suffix, as in Dor. Region
Sindarin
Eregion
place name. Hollin
Eregion
noun. land of holly trees
eregion
place name. Hollin, (lit.) Holly-region
The realm of the Noldor in Middle-earth during the Second Age, translated “Hollin” (LotR/305) but more accurately “Holly-region” (RC/772). This name is a combination of ereg “holly” and the suffix -ion “-region” (SA/ereg; PE17/37, 42).
Conceptual Development: In Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s, this region was first named N. Nan-eregdos in a chronology for Chapter XV (TI/166), but appeared in the draft text as N. Eregion (TI/124-5). This form also appeared in The Etymologies, already with the derivation given above (Ety/ÉREK).
Element in
- S. Celebrimbor o Eregion teithant i thiw hin “Celebrimbor of Hollin drew these signs” ✧ LotR/0305; PE17/042
Elements
Word Gloss ereg “holly, thorn, holly, [N.] holly-tree, [S.] thorn” -ion “-region, -land”
_ topon. _Hollin. >> ereg, -ion