A word for “ocean” (PE17/27), “great sea” (PM/363) or “great ocean” (RGEO/64) variously attested as gae(a)ron (PE17/027; PE17/149; PM/363) or aearon (RGEO/65), and a combination of gaear or aear “sea” with the augmentative suffix -on (PE17/27, RGEO/65). Since I prefer gaear for sea; I also prefer gaearon or gaeron for “ocean”. Of these, I think gaeron is the ordinary form, and gaearon is more archaic or poetic.
Sindarin
gaearon
noun. great sea, ocean
gaearon
ocean
gaearon
noun. ocean, (lit.) great sea
Cognates
Element in
- S. nef aear, sí nef aearon “here ... beyond the Sea, beyond the wide and sundering Sea” ✧ LotR/0238; PE17/027; RGEO/63; RGEO/64
- S. Oraeron “Sea-day, *Thursday”
- S. Seron Aearon “Sea-lover” ✧ PM/348
Elements
Word Gloss gaear “sea” -on “augmentative suffix” Variations
- (g)aearon ✧ PE17/027
- gaer(on) ✧ PE17/149
- gae(a)ron ✧ PM/363
- aearon ✧ RGEO/65
aearon
noun. great sea, ocean
Tolkien changed this word several times, see gaearon
aearon
ocean
_n. _ocean. Augmentative form of _aear _Sea. Q. earon, airon. nef aear, sí nef aearon lit. 'beyond the Sea, here beyond the Great Sea'. >> aear
gaeron
noun. great sea, ocean
gaeron
noun. ocean
_ n. _ocean.
gaear
noun. sea
gaear
Sea
gaear
noun. sea
A word for “sea” variously attested as gaear (PE17/027; PM/363; WJ/400), gaer (PE17/27; PE17/149), and aear (Let/386; RGEO/65) in later writings. Of these, I prefer gaear for purposes of Neo-Sindarin, reduced to gaer in compounds.
Possible Etymology: The presence or absence of the initial g- depends on whether the word’s root is √AY(AR) (as it appears in The Etymologies and some later writings) or √GAY(AR) (as it appears in other later writings). See the entry of the root √GAY(AR) for a discussion of this vacillation. Similarly, the form gaer appears primarily as an element in compounds, and can be explained as a reduced form of gaear in that context. For these reasons, this entry uses gaear as the ordinary Sindarin word for “sea”. This has the additional advantage of disambiguating it from the adjective gaer “dreadful”.
Conceptual Development: This word appeared as N. oer or oear “sea” in The Etymologies of the 1930s, reflecting the Noldorin sound change of ai to oe (Ety/AY). However name for the “Great Sea” was N. {Belegar >>} Belegaer in the narratives of this period (LR/19), and the name N. Rhûnaer “Eastern Sea” appeared in draft Lord of the Rings maps from 1943 (TI/307). The element N. oer did appear in the day-of-the-week name N. Aroeren “✱Sea-day” in drafts of The Lord of the Rings appendices, but this was revised to S. Oraeron (PM/130, 138).
Cognates
Derivations
Element in
- S. Aerandir “Sea-wanderer”
- S. Belegaer “Great Sea” ✧ PM/363; SA/ëar; SA/gaer
- S. gaearon “ocean, (lit.) great sea” ✧ PE17/027; PE17/149; PM/363; RGEO/65
- S. Gaerdil “*Sea-lover” ✧ PE17/027
- ᴺS. gaeruil “seaweed”
- S. Gaerys “Ossë” ✧ SA/gaer
- ᴺS. gaessarn “pearl, (lit.) sea-pebble”
- S. nef aear, sí nef aearon “here ... beyond the Sea, beyond the wide and sundering Sea” ✧ LotR/0238; PE17/027; RGEO/63; RGEO/64
- S. Tirith Aear “Sea-ward Tower”
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ✶gaı̯ră > gaer [gaira] > [gair] > [gaer] ✧ PE17/027 ✶Gayar- > gaear [gaiara] > [gaiar] > [gaear] ✧ PM/363 Variations
- aear ✧ Let/386; RGEO/65
- gaer ✧ PE17/027; PE17/149; SA/ëar; SA/gaer
aear
noun. sea
Tolkien changed this word several times, see gaear
aear
Sea
aear
noun. sea
gaer
noun. sea
gaer
Sea
gaer
noun. sea
gaer
ocean
_ n. _ocean.
aer
noun. sea
belegaer
noun. ocean
_ n. _ocean.
gaearon
great ocean
(i ‘Aearon), pl. Gaearyn (i Ngaearyn = i Ñaearyn) if there is a pl.
gaearon
great ocean
Gaearon (i **Aearon), pl. Gaearyn (i Ngaearyn** = i Ñaearyn) if there is a pl.
aearon
great ocean
Aearon, also Gaearon (i **Aearon), pl. Gaearyn (i Ngaearyn = i Ñaearyn). Also short form Gaeron (i **Aeron), pl. Gaeryn (i Ngaeryn = i Ñaeryn). Coll. pl. Gaearonnath, Gaeronnath.
aearon
great ocean
Aearon (pl. ?Aeryn if there is a pl.) In some conceptual phases, Tolkien prefixes a g- to these forms, hence
gaear
ocean
gaear (i **aear) (sea), pl. gaeair (i ngaeair** = i ñaeair).
gaear
ocean
(i ’aear) (sea), pl. gaeair (i ngaeair = i ñaeair).
aear
sea
aear (ocean); pl. aeair. The shorter form aer (for N oer) is maybe best avoided since it can be confused with aer "holy", unless the latter is actually a lenited form of gaer. Forms with g-, representing an alternative concept of the word for ”sea”: gaear (i **aear) (ocean), pl. gaeair (i ngaeair = i ñaeair) (PM:363), also gaer (i **aer, no distinct pl. form except with article: i ngaer = i ñaer), but homophones of the latter mean "reddish, copper-coloured, ruddy" and also "dreadful, awful, fearful; holy".
aear
sea
(ocean); pl. aeair. The shorter form aer (for N oer) is maybe best avoided since it can be confused with aer "holy", unless the latter is actually a lenited form of gaer. Forms with g-, representing an alternative concept of the word for ”sea”: gaear (i ’aear) (ocean), pl. gaeair (i ngaeair = i ñaeair) (PM:363), also gaer (i ’aer, no distinct pl. form except with article: i ngaer = i ñaer), but homophones of the latter mean "reddish, copper-coloured, ruddy" and also "dreadful, awful, fearful; holy".
aear
ocean
aear (sea), pl. aeair.
aear
ocean
(sea), pl. aeair.
_n. _ocean. Augmentative form of _gaear _Sea. Q. earon, airon. >> gaear