nandë (1) noun "valley" in Laurenandë (UT:253), elided nand in the name Nand Ondoluncava (k") "Stonewain Valley" (PE17:28). Possibly the complete word is here meant to be the variant nando (PE17:80), as suggested by the alternative form Ondoluncanan(do) ("k") "Stonewain Valley". Also nan, nand- noun "valley" (Letters:308); Nan-Tasarion "Vale of Willows" (LotR2:III ch. 4) (Note that this and the next nandë would be spelt differently in Tengwar writing, and originally they were also pronounced differently, since nandë "harp" was ñandë in First Age Quenya.)
Quenya
Nando
valley, wide valley
nandë
valley
nandë
noun. valley
-ndor
land
-ndor, final element in compounds: "land" (Letters:308, UT:253)
nór
land
nór noun "land" (stem nor-, PE17:106) this is land as opposed to water and sea (nor in Letters:308). Cf. nórë.
nór
noun. land
A term for “land” as in “(dry) land as opposed to the sea”, mentioned in the Quendi and Eldar essay of 1959-60 (WJ/413) and again in notes from around 1968 (PE17/106-107).
Possible Etymology: In the Quendi and Eldar essay this term was derived from primitive ✶ndōro, but in the aforementioned 1968 notes Tolkien clarified that its stem form was nŏr-. This means it was probably derived from ancient ✱ndŏr-, where the long vowel in the uninflected form was inherited from the Common Eldarin subjective form ✱ndōr, a phenomenon also seen in words like nér (ner-) “man”. I prefer this second derivation, as it makes the independent word more distinct from the suffixal form -ndor or -nóre used in the names of countries.
Derivations
Element in
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ✶ndōr > nōr [ndōr] > [nōr] ✧ PE17/106 ✶NDŌR/NDŎR- > nôr [ndōr] > [nōr] ✧ PE17/107 ✶ndōro > nór [ndōro] > [ndōr] > [nōr] ✧ WJ/413 Variations
- nōr ✧ PE17/106
- nôr ✧ PE17/107
nóre
noun. land
nórë
land
nórë noun "land" (associated with a particular people) (WJ:413), "country, land, dwelling-place, region where certain people live, race, clan" (NŌ, NDOR, BAL), also used = "race, tribe, people" (SA:dôr, PE17:169; however, the normal word for "people" is lië). Early "Qenya" hasnórë "native land, nation, family, country" (in compounds -nor) (LT1:272)
nan(do)
noun. (wide) valley, vale, (wide) valley, vale; [ᴹQ.] water-mead, watered plain; [ᴱQ.] woodland
A common Quenya word for “vale” or “valley”, cognate of S. nan(d) and derivative of the root √NAD (Ety/NAD; NM/351). In one place, Tolkien indicated this word was used more specifically for wide valleys (PE17/80). A narrow valley might be better described with a word like Q. imbe “deep valley”, ᴹQ. cirisse “cleft” or ᴹQ. yáwe “ravine”.
This word appears as nan(d) in numerous compounds (Let/308, UT/253, RC/384). The independent form of this word is more difficult to determine. It variously appeared as nanda (Ety/NAD, PE17/80), nando (PE17/28, 80) and nandë within the compound Laurenandë (UT/253). This entry uses nando because it looks more noun-like than nanda while avoiding conflict with [ᴹQ.] nande (ñande) “harp”, but any of these forms could be correct.
Conceptual Development: The earliest appearance of this word was as ᴱQ. nan (nand-) “woodland” from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s from the early root ᴱ√NAŘA [NAÐA] (QL/64), but its use in actual names in this period indicates the actual meaning was “land”, such as ᴱQ. Hisinan “Land of Twilight” (QL/40) and ᴱQ. Tasarinan “Land of Willows” (LT2/140). It appeared as ᴹQ. nanda “water-mead, watered plain” in The Etymologies of the 1930s as a derivative of the root ᴹ√NAD (Ety/NAD), but this meaning also seems to be an aberration since it still appeared in ᴹQ. Tasarinan “Land of Willows” in this period (LR/261; TI/417). In later writings, the various nand- variants were regularly glossed “valley”, as reflected in the new gloss for Q. Tasarinan as “Willow-vale” (RC/384).
Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I’d limit this word to nando “valley”, ignoring its earlier meanings and alternate forms. For “water mead[ow]”, I’d restore the Early Qenya word ᴱQ. nendo instead.
Cognates
- S. nan(d) “vale, valley, vale, valley, [ᴱN.] dale; [N.] wide grassland; [G.] field acre” ✧ NM/351
Derivations
- √NAD “hollow (of structures or natural features more or less concave with rising sides)” ✧ NM/351
Element in
- Q. Laurelindórenan “(Land of the) Valley of Singing Gold” ✧ Let/308; NM/351; PE17/080; UT/253
- Q. Laurenandë “Valley of Gold” ✧ UT/253
- Q. Nand’ Ondoluncava “Stonewain Valley” ✧ PE17/028
- Q. Nan-tasarion “Vale of Willow[s]” ✧ PE17/080
- Q. Noirinan “Valley of Tombs” ✧ UT/166
- Q. Ondoluncanan(do) “Stonewain Valley” ✧ PE17/028
- Q. Tasarinan “Willow-vale” ✧ RC/384
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √NAD > -nan [-nando] > [-nand] > [-nan] ✧ NM/351 Variations
- nan ✧ Let/308; RC/384
- -nan ✧ NM/351
- nando ✧ PE17/080
- nanda ✧ PE17/080
- nandë ✧ UT/253 (nandë)
nalda
valley
nalda adj. "valley" (used as an adjective), also "lowly" (LT1:261, QL:66)$
nal
dale, dell
nal, nallë noun "dale, dell" (LT1:261)
nando (2) "valley, wide valley", variant of nandë #1, q.v. (PE17:80)