An Adûnaic name for Morgoth, perhaps coined by Sauron when he introduced the worship of the dark god to the Númenóreans, translated as “Lord” (SD/376). It is derived from the word ârû “king” and was sometimes used in a compound together with Morgoth’s true Adûnaic name: Arûn-Mulkhêr (SD/367). In other writings (SD/357) it was the original Adûnaic name of Morgoth before he fell to evil, but that hardly makes sense in the conceptual scenario of the later Silmarillion, in which Morgoth had already become evil before men awoke.
Adûnaic
kherû
masculine name. Lord
Changes
Kherū→ Arûn “Lord” ✧ SD/376Kherū→ Arûn ✧ SDI2/ArûnDerivations
- ᴹ√KHER “rule, govern, possess”
Variations
Kherū✧ SD/376 (Kherū); SDI2/Arûn (Kherū)
arûn
masculine name. Lord
Elements
Word Gloss ârû “king”
bâr
noun. lord
A noun translated as “lord” (SD/311, 428). This nouns wins the prize for “most inflected Adûnaic noun”, since we have declensions for this noun in both the draft Adûnaic grammar and the later grammar of Lowdham’s Report. As such, it is very helpful for comparing how the noun declensions changed as Tolkien developed Adûnaic grammar. For example, comparing its draft plurals bāri/bārim to its later plural bârî/bârîm indicate the draft plural was originally formed with a short rather than long i. There are a few lingering examples of this short-i plural in later writings (SD/247, 251).
Conceptual Development: In earlier writings the rejected name Kherû “Lord” (SD/376) indicates a possible earlier form of this noun; Kherû itself was changed to Arûn. A similar form reappears in later writings in the name Adûnakhôr “Lord of the West”: either akhôr or khôr “lord”. Whether or not this later word replaced bâr is unknown.
Element in
- Ad. Ar-Pharazônun Bâr ’nAnadûnê “King Pharazon is Lord of Anadune” ✧ SD/428
- Ad. Bârim an-Adûn yurahtam dâira sâibêth-mâ Êruvô “Lords of [the] West, they rent [the] Earth with assent from Eru” ✧ SD/247
- Ad. bārun an-adūn {urahhata >>} urahta dāira sāibēth-mā ēruvō ✧ SD/312
- Ad. bārun-adūnō rakkhatū kamāt sōbēthumā eruvō “the Lord of West broke asunder earth assent-with of God” ✧ SD/311
- Ad. bâr ukallaba “the lord fell” ✧ SD/429
- Ad. bârun (u)kallaba “the lord fell, it was the lord who fell” ✧ SD/429
- Ad. narîka ’nBâri ’nAdûn yanâkhim “The Eagles of the Lords of the West are at hand” ✧ SD/251
Variations
- Bār ✧ SD/428
- bār ✧ SD/429; SD/437; SD/438; SD/438
khôr Reconstructed
noun. lord
An element meaning “lord” appearing only in the name Adûnakhôr “Lord of the West”, though a similar form appears in the earlier names Kherû “Lord” and Mulkhêr “Lord of Darkness”. It isn’t clear whether this element is ✱akhôr or ✱khôr, but khôr resembles the Primitive Elvish root √KHER “rule, govern, possess”, to which it may be related.
This possible relationship has been suggested by various authors (AL/Adûnaic, EotAL/KHUR). Andreas Moehn rejected the relationship, pointing out that Primitive Elvish ✶khēru “lord” would have developed phonetically into Ad. ✱✱khîru (EotAL). However, khôr may be derived from some more ancient Avari loan word, which underwent different phonetic developments than those of the Eldarin languages, perhaps ✶kher- > khar > khaur > Ad. khôr.
Cognates
- Q. heru “lord, master”
Derivations
- √KHER “possess, possess, [ᴹ√] rule, govern, [ᴱ√] have power”
Element in
- Ad. Adûnakhôr “Lord of the West”
A rejected draft version of the Adûnaic name for Morgoth translated “Lord”, replaced by Arûn of the same meaning (SD/376). It is transparently a derivative of the Elvish root ᴹ√KHER, as suggested by Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynn (AAD/18). A later form of this word, ✱khôr “lord”, may appears as an element in the name Adûnakhôr “Lord of the West”.