Primitive elvish
ndor
root. land; hard, firm; [ᴹ√] dwell, stay, rest, abide
Derivations
- √DOR “hard, tough, dried up, unyielding”
Derivatives
- ✶ndorē “land” ✧ PE17/106; PE17/107
- Q. -ndor “land, country” ✧ SA/dôr
- Q. nór “land” ✧ PE17/106; PE17/107
- Q. nórë “land, country; †people, race, tribe, land, country, [ᴹQ.] region where certain people live, [ᴱQ.] nation; [Q.] †people, race, tribe, [ᴹQ.] folk, [ᴱQ.] family” ✧ PE19/076
- S. dôr “land, land, [N.] region where certain people live, [ᴱN.] country; [G.] people of the land” ✧ PE17/164; SA/dôr; WJ/413
- Q. nórë “land, country; †people, race, tribe, land, country, [ᴹQ.] region where certain people live, [ᴱQ.] nation; [Q.] †people, race, tribe, [ᴹQ.] folk, [ᴱQ.] family” ✧ PE17/072; PE17/181
- Q. norna “tough, stiff; hard, firm, resistant; thrawn, obdurate” ✧ PE17/106
Element in
Variations
- NDŎR/NDŌR ✧ PE17/167
- ndŏr ✧ PE17/181
ndorē
noun. land
Derivations
Derivatives
- Q. -ndor “land, country” ✧ SA/dôr
- Q. nór “land” ✧ PE17/106; PE17/107
- Q. nórë “land, country; †people, race, tribe, land, country, [ᴹQ.] region where certain people live, [ᴱQ.] nation; [Q.] †people, race, tribe, [ᴹQ.] folk, [ᴱQ.] family” ✧ PE19/076
- S. dôr “land, land, [N.] region where certain people live, [ᴱN.] country; [G.] people of the land” ✧ PE17/164; SA/dôr; WJ/413
Element in
Variations
- (n)dor ✧ Let/384
- ndōr ✧ PE17/106
- NDŌR/NDŎR- ✧ PE17/107
- ndor ✧ PE17/164; SA/dôr
- ndōrē ✧ PE19/076; VT42/04
ndōro
noun. land
Derivations
- √DOR “hard, tough, dried up, unyielding” ✧ WJ/413
Derivatives
- Q. nór “land” ✧ WJ/413
This root was the basis for “land” words for much of Tolkien’s life. It first appeared in a deleted note from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s: “Nōre, -nor land is different from family, one = Gnome Dor, other Gor. NᵈOR and NGOR”; the editors indicate that the superscript “ᵈ” was a later addition (QL/67). The Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa also mention nᵈor and ŋor as the basis for ᴱQ. nóre (PE12/66, 67). However in the Qenya Lexicon proper, ᴱQ. nóre “native land, nation, family, country” was given under the root ᴱ√NŌ “become, be born” with variant ᴱ√NDO; the root was originally given as ŊŌ (QL/66). Thus it seems the two roots NDO(R) and ŊO(R) were combined. In the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon, G. dôr “land, country (inhabited), people of the land” appeared, probably from NDO(R) (GL/30), whereas “family, kinship” was nothri instead, almost certainly from ᴱ√NŌ given its relationship to G. nost “birth” (GL/61).
The two roots were separated again in The Etymologies of the 1930s where the root ᴹ√NDOR “dwell, stay, rest, abide” was the proper basis for “land” words, but in Quenya was blended with nóre “clan, race” from the root ᴹ√NŌ “beget” (Ety/NDOR, NŌ). This derivation allowed Tolkien to retain his preferred suffixes Q. -nóre/-nor vs. N./S. -dor for “-land”, and he mentioned this parallel derivation several times in later writings (PE17/26, 106-107; WJ/413 note #25). The only later change was in the gradual refinement of the meaning of NDOR as more properly referring to (dry) land as opposed to water, seas and swamps (PE17/106, 181), properly a strengthened form of √DOR “hard, tough” (PE17/181; WJ/413).