(adjective) laden (flat, wide, open, cleared), pl. ledin (suggested Sindarin forms for ”Noldorin” lhaden pl. lhedin, LR:368 s.v. LAT)
Sindarin
lad
noun. plain, valley
lad
noun. plain, valley, plain, valley; [G.] a level, a flat; fair dealing
Derivations
- √LAT “open, unenclosed, free to entry; low, lowlying, at ground level, open, unenclosed, free to entry, [ᴹ√] lie open; be extended, stretch, be situated (of an area); [√] low, lowlying, at ground level”
Element in
- S. Dagorlad “Battle-plain” ✧ S/292; SA/lad
- S. Himlad “Cool Plain; (lit.) ?Ever-plain” ✧ SA/lad
- S. imlad “deep valley, narrow valley with steep sides, gap, gully, deep valley, narrow valley with steep sides, gap, gully, [N.] dell, glen” ✧ SA/lad
- S. laden “flat, wide, flat, wide, *level; [N.] open, cleared; [G.] fair, equitable; [ᴱN.] smooth”
- S. Lithlad “Plain of Ashes”
unt
noun. nothing
Derivations
lad
noun. nothing, zero
Derivations
- √LA “no, not; negative; not to be”
alnad
pronoun. nothing
Elements
Word Gloss al- “no, not” nad “thing”
laden
plain
laden
plain
(flat, wide, open, cleared), pl. ledin (suggested Sindarin forms for ”Noldorin” lhaden pl. lhedin, LR:368 s.v. LAT)
lâd
plain
(valley, lowland), construct lad, pl. laid
talath
plain
(noun) 1) talath (i dalath, o thalath) (flat surface, plane, flatlands, [wide] valley), pl. telaith (i thelaith). Tolkien changed this word from ”Noldorin” dalath_, LR:353 s.v.
talath
plain
(i dalath, o thalath) (flat surface, plane, flatlands, [wide] valley), pl. telaith (i thelaith). *Tolkien changed this word from ”Noldorin” dalath, LR:353 s.v. DAL. Compare the Talath Dirnen or ”Guarded Plain” mentioned in the *Silmarillion.
nogen
noun. boy, lad, urchin; *(orig.) short (of persons)
Derivations
- √NUK “dwarf, stunted”
An element meaning “plain” in many Sindarin names, such as S. Dagorlad “Battle-plain” (S/292) and S. Lithlad “Plain of Ashes” (LotR/636; RC/457). Christopher Tolkien translated it as “plain, valley” in The Silmarillion appendix, but it only seems to have had the sense “valley” in the word S. imlad as in S. Imladris “Rivendell”, so I think “plain” is the better translation.
Conceptual Development: This word was connected to flat things very early in Tolkien’s notions of the Elvish languages. It first appeared as G. lad “a level, a flat; fair dealing” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/52), probably a derivative of the early root ᴱ√LATA (QL/51). The element -lad also appeared in many Noldorin names from the 1930s and 40s, though in this period it likely had the form N. lhad, as in N. lhaden “open, cleared” (Ety/LAT). It seems to appear in the earliest name for the “Gladden Fields” from Lord of the Rings drafts form the 1940s: N. Palath-ledin (TI/114). Here it has an unusual plural form ledin using the plural suffix -in, but whether that would have remained true in Sindarin is unclear.