erui

place name. Erui

A river in Gondor. It seems to be a combination of er “one” with the adjective suffix -ui, but in notes on The Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor Tolkien stated that: “it cannot be used for ‘first’ ... er was not used in counting series: it meant ‘one, single, alone’” (VT42/10). Tolkien further indicated it was not the usual adjective for “alone”, which was ereb, but it nevertheless got its name because it was short and swift and the only major Gondorian river without a tributary. Perhaps it was a pseudo-Sindarin name, assembled by less knowledgable Gondorians like the region name Arnen.

Conceptual Development: In Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s, this name first appeared as N. Ereg “First” (TI/312, WR/436).

erui

adjective. single, alone

The proper word for first in Sindarin was minui

erui

adjective. first (incorrect use by the Gondorians)

The proper word for first in Sindarin was minui

ethraid erui

proper name. Crossings of Erui

Sindarin name of the crossing over the river Erui, mentioned only in the drafts of the Lord of the Rings appendices (PM/199), though the English translation “Crossings of Erui” appears on the maps of The Lord of the Rings (LotR/1087). This name is a combination of the plural of athrad “ford” and the river name.

erui

first

(single, alone). No distinct pl. form. Some would argue that Tolkien abandoned erui as a word for ”first”.

erui

alone

erui (first, single). No distinct pl. form. Also eriol (pl. erioel); archaic *eriaul.

erui

single

erui (first, alone). No distinct pl. form. 3) minai (distinct, unique), lenited vinai; pl. mini

erui

alone

(first, single). No distinct pl. form. Also eriol (pl. erioel); archaic ✱eriaul.

erui

single

(first, alone). No distinct pl. form. 3) minai (distinct, unique), lenited vinai; pl. mini**

minui

ordinal. first

The ususal Sindarin word for “first” appearing in notes from the late 1960s, replacing more archaic †mein that was a direct cognate of Q. minya “first” (VT42/10, 25). It is a combination of min “one” and the adjectival suffix -ui.

Conceptual Development: The word N. ereg “first” appeared in Lord of the Rings drafts of the 1940s as the initial version of the river-name S. Erui (TI/312). The Etymologies of the 1930s had various rejected words for “first” tied to variations on Firstborn as a title of the Elves: N. edhen “first” under rejected entry ᴹ√EDE or ᴹ√EDEL “precede, come forward” (EtyAC/EDE) and N. seth “first” {>> “forth”} under rejected ᴹ√SET “precede forward” (EtyAC/SET). The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had G. thegra “first, foremost” related to G. thegor “chief” (GL/72).

minui

first

1. minui (lenited vinui; no distinct pl. form), 2) mîn (lenited vîn; no distinct pl. form) (isolated, towering). Note: homophones include the noun ”peak” and the number ”one”; 3) erui (single, alone). No distinct pl. form. Some would argue that Tolkien abandoned erui as a word for ”first”.

er

adjective. single

er-

prefix. alone, one

main

ordinal. first, (only in the sense of) prime, chief, pre-eminent

mein

ordinal. first, (only in the sense of) prime, chief, pre-eminent

mein Archaic

ordinal. first

minai

adjective. single, distinct, unique

minui

ordinal. first

ned

noun. first, *one more; first; *during

This word replaced the preposition uin “of the” in the third version of the King’s Letter, appearing in the phrase nelchaenen ned Echuir “the thirty-first day of Stirring”. Both Carl Hostetter (VT31/30) and David Salo (SG/229) theorized that this replacement has a similar prepositional function, from either √NOT “count” or √NED “middle”. Fiona Jallings suggested it might be a temporal preposition, with sense “during” (FJNS/349).

On VT47/40, note 67, Patrick Wynne suggested that this word might be a cognate of the newly published Quenya word net(ë) “one more”. This theory is supported by the most likely interpretation of nelchaenen. This word seems to mean “thirtieth” rather than “thirty-first”, and Patrick Wynne suggested that nelchaenen ned means “thirtieth and one more” = “thirty-first”. I find this theory the most compelling, and use it here.

er

alone

(adjectival prefix) er- (one, lone)

er

alone

(one, lone)

er

single

1. er (pl. ir) (VT48:6), 2)

er

single

(pl. ir) (VT48:6)

minui

first

(lenited vinui; no distinct pl. form)

mîn

first

(lenited vîn; no distinct pl. form) (isolated, towering). Note: homophones include the noun ”peak” and the number ”one”