órë (1) noun "heart" (inner mind), also name of tengwa #21 (Appendix E), "premonition" (VT41:13), "nearest equivalent of 'heart' in our application to feelings, or emotions (courage, fear, hope, pity, etc.)" (VT41:13). The órë apparently defines a person's personality, cf. the description of Galadriel in PM:337, that "there dwelt in her the noble and generous spirit (órë) of the Vanyar". Órenya "my heart" (VT41:11).
Quenya
órë
noun. heart (inner mind); warning, caution, (pre)monition, heart (inner mind), *conscience; warning, caution, (pre)monition
órë
heart
órë
rising
órë (2) noun "rising", anarórë "sunrise" (ORO). Cf. early "Qenya" órë "the dawn, Sunrise, East" (LT1:264). See under Melkor concerning the final element of Melkórë.
órë
óre
In the manuscript "Notes on Óre", óre ("heart (inner mind)") derives from the Common Eldarin root ƷOR. The word is also said to be associated with the root OR, although probably not "semantically connected". In the Etymologies, the word óre ("rising") derives from root ORO.
númenórë
place name. Westernesse, (lit.) West-land
The island-continent where the Edain settled after the fall of Beleriand (LotR/1035, S/261), often appearing in its shorter form Númenor. It is generally translated as “Westernesse” (LotR/194, S/261) but more literally means “West-land” (Let/224, RC/778). It is a compound of númen “west” and nórë “land” (Let/361).
Conceptual Development: In the very first draft of the Fall of Númenor, this name was given as ᴹQ. Númar or ᴹQ. Númenos (LR/11), but in the next draft these became the name its capital city, and the name Númenor emerged as the name of the land (LR/14). The full form ᴹQ. Númenóre appeared in The Etymologies, already with the derivation discussed above (Ety/NDŪ). It also appeared in an adjectival form Númenórea in linguistic notes from the 1930s (PE22/19).
Númen(n)órë
people of the west
Númen(n)órë noun "people of the west", confused with Númendor "land of the west" (SA:dôr); hence Númenor as the name of the great isle given to the Edain by the Valar (FS, LR:56); full form Númenórë (LR:47, SD:247, NDŪ); allative númenórenna "to Númenor" (LR:56)
The meaning of the Quenya word órë is quite subtle, and does not have a direct equivalent in English. In The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien translated the word as “heart (inner mind)” (LotR/1123), but elsewhere he said that this was a poor translation of the word (VT41/11; NM/220). Tolkien wrote a lengthy essay on the nature of this word, first published in the year 2000 (VT41/11-19) and again in 2021 (NM/219-225). In this essay Tolkien described it as the source of wisdom and moral impulses that informed one’s judgement, so perhaps the closest English equivalent is “conscience”. This is still not quite right, however, since the órë could be the source of negative impulses as well, particularly among Men (VT41/13; NM/223). Furthermore, divine powers such as the Valar could sometimes (but not always) communicate subtly through one’s órë (VT41/15). Galadriel was described as having a particularly noble and generous órë (PM/337).
This word could also be used with the sense “warning, caution” (VT41/15) or even “premonition” (VT41/13). It seems that the órë and its urges was viewed as almost external to the mind itself, as indicated by the phrase órenya quetë nin “my heart tells me” = “I feel compelled to ...”, not unlike the pop-cultural “shoulder angel and devil” whispering into your ear. Tolkien said that in Quenya this word was associated with the sense of √OR “rise” and its urges were seen as rising up within the spirit (VT41/13). Compare this to the words for ordinary feelings, such as fëafelmë “✱(lit.) spirit-impulse”.
The word órë was also the name of tengwa #21 [6] used for a weak and untrilled medial r (LotR/1123), many of which originated from primitive intervocalic [z] or [d]. There is no sign that órë ever had such a consonant medially, however, and it seems this name was chosen simply because it had a medial r.
Conceptual Development: Possible precursors to this word in Tolkien’s earlier writings include ᴹQ. hóre “impulse” from The Etymologies (Ety/KHOR), as well as ᴱQ. ir (ird-) “interior, centre, inwards, inner parts” >> ᴱQ. hir (hird-) “inwards, interior, inside, heart” from Early Noldorin word lists of the 1920s (PE13/144, 161).