orod

noun. mountain

The Sindarin word for “mountain”, a derivative of √RŌ/ORO “rise” (PE17/63). Its proper plural form is eryd; the plural form ered in The Lord of the Rings is a late [Gondorian only?] pronunciation (PE17/33).

Conceptual Development: The singular form of this noun was extremely stable. It first appeared as G. orod “mountain” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s beside variant ort (GL/63), and it reappeared as N. orod “mountain” in The Etymologies of the 1930s as a derivative of the root ᴹ√OROT “height, mountain” (Ety/ÓROT). It appeared in a great many names in the sixty year span that Tolkien worked on the Legendarium.

The development of its plural form is a bit more complex. Its Gnomish plural was orodin (GL/63), but by the Early Noldorin of the 1920s, its plural was eryd (MC/217). In The Etymologies of the 1930s, however, Tolkien gave its plural form as oroti > ereid > ered (Ety/ÓROT). This fits with normal Noldorin plural patterns of the 1930s: compare plurals N. eregdos → eregdes, N. golodh → geleidh, N. doron → deren, N. thoron → therein. Sindarin plural patterns consistently show o → y in final syllables, such as S. golodh → gelydh or S. Nogoth → Negyth.

This Noldorin plural for orod “mountain” made it into Lord of the Rings drafts, and Tolkien never corrected it before publication. This meant Tolkien was stuck with this remnant of Noldorin plural patterns, which was contradicted by other plural forms in The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien was forced to contrive an explanation for this phenomenon:

> S. Ered. This is used always in L.R. as plural of orod, mountain. But Emyn, pl. of Amon. Cf. also Eryn Forest (oron originally plural = trees?) in Eryn Lasgalen. Rodyn, pl. of Rodon = Vala. It seems necessary to assume that: eryd > ered by late change, but y unstressed remained in certain circumstances, e.g. before nasals. † Use Eryd in Silmarillion (PE17/33).

Despite his statement that y only remained before nasals, ered is the only Sindarin word that retains the Noldorin plural pattern: see the examples golydh and nogyth above, neither involving nasals. Also, despite J.R.R. Tolkien’s intent to use eryd in The Silmarillion, his son Christopher Tolkien retained the form ered in The Silmarillion as published, most likely to avoid confusing readers when they compared this plural to the plural forms in The Lord of the Rings.

Neo-Sindarin: Most knowledgeable Neo-Sindarin writers assume o → y in final syllables is the correct Sindarin plural pattern, and orod → ered is an aberration. I personally assume it is a late Gondorian-only (mis)pronunciation. See the discussion of Sindarin plural nouns for more information.

orod

mountain

pl1. ered or eryd, pl2. #orodrim _n. _mountain. Tolkien notes that "eryd > ered by late change, but y unstressed remained in certain circumstances, e.g. before nasals" (PE17:33). >> dol, doll, Thangorodrim

orod

mount

pl1. ered or eryd** ** n. mount, mountain. Q. oro, orto.

orod

noun. mountain

orod-na-thôn

place name. Mount of the Pine Tree(s)

A mountain in Dorthonion (LotR/469) translated “Pine-mountain” (RC/384) or “Mount of the Pine Tree(s)” (PE17/147). This name is a combination of orod “mountain”, na(n) “of” and thôn “pine-tree” (PE17/82).

Conceptual Development: In Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s, this name first appeared as (singular) N. Orod Thon >> (plural) N. Orod Thuin (TI/420), omitting the na “of”.

orodreth

masculine name. Mountaineer

Second son of Finarfin (S/61) translated “Mountaineer” (PE17/182). This name was derived from his Quenya name Artaresto, adapted into Sindarin as Rodreth, then further modified to Orodreth due to his love of mountians (PM/350). His Sindarin name could be interpreted as a combination of orod “mountain” (Ety/ÓROT) and reth “✱climber” (PE17/182).

Conceptual Development: In the earliest Lost Tales, this character was named G. Orodreth (LT2/82) and retained that name through most of Tolkien’s writings. In The Etymologies from the 1930s, the initial element of N. Orodreth was given as orod “mountain” (Ety/ÓROT). In some late writings from 1965 Tolkien considered changing his name to Arothir (PM/350), but that name was not used in the published version of The Silmarillion.

orodruin

place name. Mountain of Fire

A name of Mount Doon translated “Fire-mountain” (LotR/61) or “Mountain of Fire” (LotR/899). This name is a combination of orod “mountain” (Ety/ÓROT) and ruin “red flame” (SA/orod, ruin).

Conceptual Development: When it first appeared in Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s, this name was already N. Orodruin “Fire-Mountain” (TI/28), though Tolkien did consider the form Orodnaur (TI/39).

orodben

noun. mountaineer, one living in the mountains

A word for “a mountaineer, one living in the mountains”, a compound of S. orod “mountain” and S. pen “person” (WJ/376).

Orod na Thôn

place name. 'Mount with Pine Tree'

topon. 'Mount with Pine Tree(s)'. >> na, orod, thôn

Orodruin

noun. mountain of blazing fire

orod (“mountain”) + ruin (“fiery red”)

orodben

noun. mountaineer, one living in the mountains

Orodreth

noun. 'mountainer'

prop. n. 'mountainer'. >> -reth

orchorod

place name. High Mountain Circle

orod

mountain

1) orod (pl. ered, eryd; coll. pl. #orodrim isolated from Thangorodrim), 2) ôr (stem orod-), also with pl. eryd, ered. (Names:178). Archaically, the plural forms were öryd, öröd.

orod

mountain

(pl. ered, eryd; coll. pl. #orodrim isolated from Thangorodrim)

Orodruin

Orodruin

Orodruin is glossed as "burning mountain" and "mountain of the red flame". The name likely consists of orod ("mountain") + ruin ("fiery red").

orodrim

orodrim

orodrim likely consists of orod meaning "mountain", and the suffix -rim which is a collective plural meaning "a great number, a host".

Orodreth

Orodreth

The name Orodreth is glossed as "mountaineer".

orodrim

range of mountains

(itself a coll. pl. of orod ”mountain”)

orodrim

range of mountains

orodrim (itself a coll. pl. of orod ”mountain”)

Orodreth

mountaineer

The name Orodreth is glossed as "mountaineer".

orodben

mountaineer

(one living in the mountains) orodben, pl. erydbin or orodbin (WJ:376). Archaic pl. ”oerydbin” = örydbin.

orodben

mountaineer

pl. erydbin or orodbin (WJ:376). Archaic pl. ”oerydbin” = örydbin.

ôr

mountain

(stem orod-), also with pl. eryd, ered. (Names:178). Archaically, the plural forms were öryd, öröd.

aegas

noun. mountain peak

aeglir

noun. range of mountain peaks

aeglir

range of mountain peaks

aeglir (no distinct pl. form). See also HORN.

aeglir

range of mountain peaks

aeglir (no distinct pl. form);

amon

steep-sided mount

(hill), pl. emyn.

main

chief

(adj.) main (lenited vain; pl. mîn) (prime, prominent) (VT45:15)

main

chief

(lenited vain; pl. mîn) (prime, prominent) (VT45:15)

orod

noun. mountain

orod

noun. mountain

orod thuin

place name. Orod Thuin

orodlin

masculine name. Orodlin

Name of a younger son of Orodreth appearing only in some genealogy charts from the 1930s (LR/403), perhaps a combination of orod “mountain” and lhîn “pool”.

orodras

place name. Orodras

Name of one of the beacon hills in Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s (WR/233), perhaps a combination of orod “mountain” and rhas “horn”, as suggested by Roman Rausch (EE/3.22).

orodreth

masculine name. Orodreth

orodruin

place name. Mountain of Fire

orodrim

noun. range of mountains

menniath

noun. many points

menniath

noun. range of mountains

oegas

noun. mountain peak

oeglir

noun. range of mountain peaks

oeglir

noun. range of mountain peaks

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).

oron

noun. mountain

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

oron

mountain

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

tarmacorto

place name. High Mountain Circle

An element of the name Q. i Tumbo Tarmacorto for the valley of Gondolin, meaning “High Mountain Circle” (NM/351). A possible etymology is that the first element is Q. tarma, normally “pillar” but used of a high mountain in Q. Meneltarma, and the second element is some derivative of √KOR “round”, perhaps an otherwise unattested word ✱Q. corto “circle”. This etymology was suggested to me on a Discord chat in 2021-11-09 by Röandil.

#turco

chief

#turco (1) noun "chief" (isolated from Turcomund "chief bull", Letters:423). Turco, masc. name, see Turcafinwë.

Ingwë

chief

Ingwë masc. name, "chief", name of the "prince of Elves" _(PM:340, ING, WEG, VT45:18). Pl. Ingwer "Chieftains", what the Vanyar called themselves (so in PM:340, but in PM:332 the plural has the more regular form Ingwi). Ingwë Ingweron "chief of the chieftains", proper title of Ingwë as high king (PM:340)_. In the Etymologies, Ingwë is also said to be the name of a symbol used in writing: a short carrier with an i-tehta above it, denoting short i (VT45:18).

héra

chief, principal

héra adj. "chief, principal" (KHER)

ingwë

masculine name. Chief

Lord of the first tribe of the Elves and the high king of Elvenkind (S/52, 62). His name is ancient and its original meaning is unclear, but it is sometimes translated as “Chief”, and is interpreted as a combination of the root √ING “first, foremost” and the suffix -wë common in ancient names (PM/340).

Conceptual Development: In the earliest Lost Tales, this character was first named ᴱQ. Ing, but this was soon changed to ᴱQ. Inwe (LT1/22). The form become ᴹQ. Ingwe in Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s (SM/13, LR/214), and the derivation for Ingwë discussed above had already emerged in The Etymologies (Ety/ING, WEG).

turco

noun. chief

orot

noun. mountain

urud

noun. mountain

A noun attested only in its plural form urîd “mountains” (SD/251). Several authors have suggested it is related to S. orod “mountain”, either borrowed directly or derived from the same Elvish root ᴹ√OROT (AAD/24, EotAL/ÓROT).