hildórien

place name. *Land of the Followers

The land where Men first awoke (S/103). It clearly contains the Quenya word for Men: Hildor “Followers” (SA/khil). Its final element -ien is seen in the names of other lands, such as Arvernien and Lórien.

Conceptual Development: In the earliest Lost Tales, the name for the land where Men awoke was ᴱQ. Murmenalda (LT1/233). In Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s, the name changed to ᴹQ. Hildórien (LR/245). This name also appeared in The Etymologies as a derivative of ᴹ√KHIL (Ety/KHIL), and kept the form Hildórien in all later versions of the tales.

Elements

Word	Gloss
Hildor	“Men, Aftercomers, (lit.) Followers”
-ien	“-land”

Hildor

the followers

Hildor pl. noun "the Followers", an Elvish name of Mortal Men as the Second-born of Ilúvatar (WJ:387); sg #Hildo. Hildórien place-name: the land where Men first awoke, like the Elves did at Cuiviénen (Silm, KHIL, PHIR)