neldoreth

place name. Neldoreth

neldor

noun. beech

A Doriathrin noun for “beech (tree)”, properly referring to Hirilorn with a true meaning of “three trunks” (Ety/NEL). Tolkien indicated it was a combination of neld “three” and orn “tree”, though it is unclear why the final -n vanished. He marked this derivation with a “?” perhaps because of this uncertainty.

Conceptual Development: Tolkien seems to have coined this word to explain names like Neldoreth. Its most obvious precursor is ᴱQ. neldor (QL/65).

neld Reconstructed

cardinal. three

The Doriathrin number “three” attested only as an element in the word neldor “beech” = “three trunks” (Ety/NEL). Its cognates ᴹQ. nelde and N. neledh indicates a primitive form ✱✶neledē, which would have become Ilk. neld due to the Ilkorin syncope, as suggested by Helge Fauskanger (AL-Doriathrin/neldor).

galbreth

noun. beech

A Doriathrin (and Falathrin) noun for “beech (tree)”, a combination of gald “tree” and breth “(beech) mast” (Ety/GALAD, BERÉTH). The second element originally meant “beech”, but later meant “mast”; this original meaning seems to be preserved in this compound.