oro

noun. mount, mountain, hill

An element meaning “mountain” or “hill” given as a derivative of √ORO/RŌ (PE17/64, 83) and appearing in various Quenya compounds in the 1950s and 60s: Q. Orocarni “Red Mountains” (MR/77), Q. Orofarnë “Mountain Ash” (PE17/83), Q. oromandi “mountain dweller[s]” (PE16/96), and Q. Pelóri “Mountain Wall” (PE17/26). It also appeared as ᴱQ. oro “hill” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s as a derivative of the early root ᴱ√ORO (QL/70).

See the discussion in the entry for Q. oron “mountain” for more details on the conceptual developments of this and related words.

oro

mount, mountain

oro (1) noun "mount, mountain" (PE17:64), cf. Qenya oro noun "hill" (LT1:256; rather ambo in LotR-style Quenya, though #oro "mountain, hill" appears in Orocarni and orofarnë, q.v. [PE17:83], also with the meaning "high" in oromar, q.v.) Cf. oro- element "up, aloft" (PE17:64).

oro

(high) above

orto

noun. mount, mountain, hill, [ᴹQ.] mountain-top; [Q.] mount, mountain

A word meaning “mount, mountain” given as a derivative of √ORO/RŌ in Notes on Galadriel’s Song (NGS) from the late 1950s or early 1960s (PE17/64). In The Etymologies of the 1930s, ᴹQ. orto “mountain-top” appeared as a derivative of the root ᴹ√OROT (Ety/ÓROT).

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I think it is best to use orto with its 1930s sense “mountain-top”, and use Q. oron for “mountain”; see that entry for more details on the conceptual developments of this and related words.

oromar

noun. lofty hall, high-mansion, high (lofty) dwelling

A word appearing in its plural form oromardi, referring to the dwelling of Varda and Manwë on the slopes of mount Taniquetil from the Namárië poem (LotR/377). It is a combination of oro- “up, aloft” and mar(da) “dwelling” (PE17/63-64). Though not a proper name, I suspect this word was poetic and not in general use.

oron

noun. mountain

A word for “mountain” in Quenya whose stem form was oront-, so that it’s plural would be oronti (Ety/ÓROT).

Conceptual Development: There were a number of competing “mountain” words in Quenya of similar derivation, all based on the root √ORO “rise”; its Sindarin cognate S. orod “mountain” was much more stable in form. The earliest iteration of these Quenya words was ᴱQ. oro “hill” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s as a derivative of the early root ᴱ√ORO, unglossed but with other derivatives like ᴱQ. oro- “rise” and ᴱQ. orto- “raise” (QL/70). The word oro “hill” also appeared in the Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa from this period, alongside a variant form oron(d) of the same meaning (PME/70).

The variant oron reappeared in the Declension of Nouns from the early 1930s, now with the gloss “mountain” (PE21/33); its inflected forms indicate a stem form of {orom- >>} orum- (PE21/34 and note #125). ᴹQ. oron “mountain” appeared again in The Etymologies of the 1930s as a derivative of the root ᴹ√OROT, this time with a stem form oront- as indicated by its plural oronti (Ety/ÓROT). Oron appeared once more in the name Q. Oron Oiolossë “Mount Everwhite” from the Quendi and Eldar essay of 1959-60 (WJ/403).

In Notes on Galadriel’s Song (NGS) from the late 1950s or early 1960s Tolkien gave the variant forms oro, orto “mountain” as derivatives of √ORO/RŌ “rise, mount” (PE17/63-64). ᴹQ. orto had previously appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s as a derivative of the root ᴹ√OROT but with the gloss “mountain-top” (Ety/ÓROT). Hints of this earlier meaning can be seen in the 1968 word Q. orotinga “mountain-top” though in this compound the second element Q. inga also means “top” (VT47/28). Orto “mountain” may be the final element of the 1968 name Q. Tarmacorto “High Mountain Circle”, but more likely the last element is derivative of √KOR “round”, perhaps ✱Q. corto “circle” (NM/351).

As for oro, it meant “mountain” as an element in many late names: Q. Orocarni “Red Mountains” (MR/77), Q. Orofarnë “Mountain Ash” (PE17/83), Q. oromandi “mountain dweller[s]” (PE16/96), and Q. Pelóri “Mountain Wall” (PE17/26), though in one place Tolkien glossed the prefix oro- as “hill” (PE17/83), perhaps a callback to its meaning in the 1910s.

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I feel oron(t) for “mountain” is better established among Neo-Quenya writers. It is the form used in Helge Fauskanger’s NQNT (NQNT), for example. The word Q. orto was not used for “mountain” until quite late, and I would stick with its 1930s meaning “mountain-top”. As for Q. oro, I would use it as “mountain” only in compounds, not as an independent word.

Orocarni

the red mountains

Orocarni noun "the Red Mountains", place-name: literally rather *"Mountain-Reds": a plural form of carnë "red" with the element oro- "mountain" or "high" prefixed (Silm)

oro-

verb. rise

oro- (2) vb. "rise" (LT1:256; Tolkien's later Quenya has orta-, but cf. oro #1)

oron

mountain

oron (oront-, as in pl. oronti) noun "mountain" (ÓROT; the root occurs in orotinga, q.v.) Oron Oiolossë "Mount Everwhite" (WJ:403)

oro-

prefix. up, aloft

lissë miruvóreva mí oromardi

of sweet nectar in the high-halls

The 4th phrase of the prose Namárië. Tolkien altered the text from the poetic version as follows:

> mi oromardi lissë miruvóreva >> lissë miruvóreva mí oromardi

Tolkien moved the possessive element lissë miruvóreva “of sweet nectar” forward in the prose version so that it immediately follows the noun it modifies, namely the lintë yuldar “swift draughts” of the previous line. Thus “swift draughts of sweet mead” as in the English translation of the poem.

orta-

verb. to rise

Tolkien defined an intransitive verb orta- “to rise” based on the root √OR “rise”, first mentioned in The Etymologies of the 1930s where Tolkien had ᴹQ. orta- glossed both transitive “raise” and intransitive “rise” (Ety/ORO). This intransitive verb reappeared in the Quenya Verbal System of 1948 as ta-formative ort(a), contrasted with ta-causative ᴹQ. ortā́ “raise, lift” = “✱make rise” (PE22/114). In this paradigm, intransitive “rise” was distinguished from transitive “raise” mainly in its half-strong past tense oronte “rose” (or archaic †ronte), as opposed weak past ortane “raised, lifted” (PE22/115).

In QVS, Tolkien gave another intransitive verb ᴹQ. orya-, and said “to avoid the confusion with the causatives -ya was preferred for intransitives: so oryane, rose, ortane, raised” (PE22/115). This seems to indicate orya- “rise” was preferred. Despite this, intransitive orta- “rise” continued to appear in Tolkien later writings (PE17/52, 64; PE21/77; PE22/164) as an alternate to orya- “rise”, which appeared regularly as well (see that entry for details).

Conceptual Development: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I prefer the more distinctive verb orya- for “rise”, and I use orta- only for transitive “raise”. However, some Neo-Quenya writers like the idea of a transitive/intransitive verb distinguished by different past forms. For example Helge Fauskanger used orta- for both “rise” and “raise” in his NQNT (NQNT).

orya-

verb. to rise

An intransitive verb for “to rise” mentioned in various places in Tolkien’s later writings of the 1940s, 50s and 60s, based on the root √OR “rise” (PE17/64; PE22/114, 156). Tolkien usually described it as a ya-formative verb with a half-strong past oronye (PE17/64, 77; PE22/164), though Tolkien occasionally gave it a weak past oryane (PE22/115, 157).

Conceptual Development: The Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had ᴱQ. oro- “rise” based on the early root ᴱ√ORO (QL/70). In a rejected page of verbs and roots from the Quenya Verbal System (QVS) written in 1948, Tolkien had [verb?] ᴹQ. oro, orro “up, rise (from ground)” derived from the root ᴹ√SRŌ (PE22/127), but in the main document he used ya-formative ᴹQ. orya- for “rise” (PE22/114-115), possibly the first appearance of this version of the verb. Tolkien sometimes gave the intransitive Quenya verb for “to rise” as ta-formative orta- with half-strong past oronte; see that entry for discussion.

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I prefer orya- “rise” with half-strong past oronye, and because Tolkien said “-ya was preferred for intransitives” (PE22/115).

orta-

verb. rise

orta- vb. "rise", also transitive "raise, lift up", pa.t. ortanë (Nam, RGEO:67, ORO; misreading "ortani" in Letters:426). According to PE17:63-64, this pa.t. form ortanë is only transitive ("raised"), whereas the intransitive pa.t. ("rose") is orontë. Cf. orya-.

orya-

verb. rise

orya- vb. "rise" (intrasitive only, contrast orta-), pa.t. oronyë (PE17:64)

am-

prefix. up, up, [ᴱQ.] upwards

Túna

hill, mound

Túna (also Tún) place-name, used of the hill on which Tirion was built (Silm, TUN, KOR), derived from a stem (TUN) apparently meaning simply *"hill, mound".

am-

up

am- (1) prefix "up" (AM2)

ama

up

ama adv.? element not glossed, evidently meaning "up" like the prefix am-, or an alternative form of amba (UNU)

amba

up, upwards

amba 1) adv. "up, upwards" (AM2, PE17:157). Apparently also ama (UNU).

amba

adverb. up

amba

adverb. up(wards)

ambo

hill, rising ground

ambo noun "hill, rising ground" (Markirya, PE17:92), "mount" (PE17:157), allative pl. ambonnar "upon hills" in Markirya (ruxal' ambonnar "upon crumbling hills") According to VT45:5, ambo was added to the Etymologies as a marginal note.

ambona

noun. hill

amu

up, upwards

amu adv. "up, upwards" (LT2:335; in Tolkien's later Quenya amba)

amun

hill

amun (amund-) noun "hill" (LT2:335; in Tolkien's later Quenya ambo)

orta/orya

verb. rise

tundo

hill, mound

tundo noun "hill, mound" (TUN)

umbo

hill, lump, clump, mass

umbo, umbon noun "hill, lump, clump, mass" (PE17:93)