Mordor

Mordor

topon. >> mor

Mordor

Mordor

topon.

Mordor

noun. black land

morn (“dark, black”) + (n-)dor (“land, dwelling place”)

mordor

place name. Black Land

The home of Sauron, usually translated “Black Land” (Let/178, RC/75) but sometimes “Black Country” (RC/766, RS/216) or “Land of Darkness” (WJ/370). This name is a combination of morn “black” and dôr “land” (Let/427; SA/mor, dôr).

Conceptual Development: The name Mordor “Black Country” first appeared in the tale of the Fall of Númenor (LR/29), and appeared consistently in this form in Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s.

Elements

Word	Gloss
morn	“black, dark; night”
dôr	“land, land, [N.] region where certain people live, [ᴱN.] country; [G.] people of the land”

Variations

• morñdor ✧ Let/427
• mordor ✧ PE17/073

barad-dûr

place name. Dark Tower

Sauron’s fortress in Mordor, translated “Dark Tower” (LotR/555). It is a combination of barad “tower” and dûr “dark” (PE17/22, 85; RC/274; SA/barad, dûr).

Conceptual Development: In Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s, this name was already N. Barad-dûr when it first appeared (TI/178).

Cognates

• Q. Lúnaturco “?Dark Stronghold” ✧ PE17/022
• Q. Taras Lúna “*Dark Tower” ✧ PE17/022
• Bs. Lugbúrz “Dark Tower” ✧ LotR/0564; LotRI/Barad-dûr; PE17/012

Elements

Word	Gloss
barad	“tower, great towering building, tower, great towering building, [N.] fort, fortress”
dûr	“dark (with evil implications), gloomy, hellish”

Variations

• barad-dûr ✧ PE17/086

Mordor

Mordor

The term Mordor translates to "The Black Land" or "The Dark Land" in Sindarin. mor = "dark, black", dôr = "land" (The Silmarillion, Appendix - Elements in Quenya and Sindarin Names). Mordor is also coincidentally Quenya for "shadows" (plural), though the direct calque of Sindarin Mordor was Morinórë or Morinor, a name also used for the Dark Land.