toll (“island”) + in (pl. gen. article) + gaur (“werewolf”) + hoth (class plural suffix) #[HKF] with collective plurals ending in -hoth, the article can be optionally singular, cf. Naur dan i ngaurhoth.
Sindarin
gaurhoth
noun. group of werewolves
gaurwaith
noun. wolf-men
tol-in-gaurhoth
place name. Isle of Werewolves
Tol-in-Gaurhoth
noun. isle of werewolves
naur dan i ngaurhoth
*fire [be] against the wolf-horde
@@@ for gloss, compare to naur an edraith ammen “fire [be] for rescue/saving us” (PE17/38).
gaurhoth
werewolf
).
gaur
noun. werewolf
A noun for a “werewolf” (PE17/39; PE19/107; SA/gaur; Ety/ÑGAW), as opposed to a more ordinary wolf which would be [N.] garaf or draug. In The Etymologies of the 1930s, N. gaur was derived from the root ᴹ√ÑGAW “howl” (Ety/ÑGAW), and a similar derivation appeared in the Outline of Phonology (OP2) from the 1950s (PE19/106-107), but in notes on Words, Phrases and Passages from the Lord of the Rings (WPP) from the late 1950s or early 1960s, Tolkien said the meaning of its root was “falsify, deform, disguise” (PE17/39).
Conceptual Development: The first appearance of the word Gaurhoth (untranslated) was The Lay of Beleriand from the 1920s, already in reference to “Gaurhoth Ilse” as the home of Sauron the werewolf lord (LB/337).
gaur
werewolf
gaur (i ngaur = i ñaur), pl. goer (in goer = i ñgoer), coll. pl. gaurhoth (attested in lenited form: i ngaurhoth, "the [were]wolf-host": gaur + hoth "host")
hoth
host
(noun) 1) hoth (i choth, o choth) (crowd, horde), pl. hyth (i chyth). 2) rim (great number, crowd), no distinct pl. form except with article (idh rim), coll. pl. rimmath. Note: a homophone means ”cold pool or lake”. 3) gwaith (i **waith) (manhood, manpower, troop of able-bodied men, regiment, people, region; wilderness), no distinct pl. form except with article (in gwaith). WOLF-HOST, see under WEREWOLF (concerning gaurhoth**).
gaur
wolf
(i ngaur = i ñaur), pl. goer (in goer = i ñgoer), coll. pl. gaurhoth (attested in lenited form: i ngaurhoth = i ñaurhoth).
gaur
werewolf
(i ngaur = i ñaur), pl. goer (in goer = i ñgoer), coll. pl. gaurhoth (attested in lenited form: i ngaurhoth, "the [were]wolf-host": gaur + hoth "host")
draug
wolf
- draug (i dhraug), pl. droeg (in droeg), coll. pl. drogath; 2) garaf (i ngaraf = i ñaraf, o n**garaf = o ñgaraf), pl. geraif (in geraif = i ñgeraif), coll. pl. garavath**, 3)
draug
noun. wolf
draug
noun. wolf
gaur
noun. werewolf
werewolf
hoth
noun. host, crowd, horde (nearly always in a bad sense)
draug
wolf
(i dhraug), pl. droeg (in droeg), coll. pl. drogath
garaf
wolf
(i ngaraf = i ñaraf, o n’garaf = o ñgaraf), pl. geraif (in geraif = i ñgeraif), coll. pl. garavath
gwaith
host
(i ’waith) (manhood, manpower, troop of able-bodied men, regiment, people, region; wilderness), no distinct pl. form except with article (in gwaith). –
gûr
noun. wolf
A neologism for “wolf” coined by Elaran posted on 2025-03-07 in the Vinyë Lambengolmor Discord Server (VLDS), derived from primitive ✶ñgūr in notes from the early 1950s (PE21/82). This derivation is perfectly viable, but I personally think we already have enough “wolf” words from Tolkien, and would stick with existing words like draug.
hoth
host
(i choth, o choth) (crowd, horde), pl. hyth (i chyth).
rim
host
(great number, crowd), no distinct pl. form except with article (idh rim), coll. pl. rimmath. Note: a homophone means ”cold pool or lake”.
The name of Tol Sirion after it was inhabited by Sauron and his minions, translated “Isle of Werewolves” (S/156), a combination of tol(l) “island”, the plural in of the definite article i and the class-plural of gaur “werewolf” using the suffix hoth “host” (SA/gaur, hoth).
Conceptual Development: In Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s, this name was Tol-na-Gaurhoth (SM/311, LR/284).