_ n. fire. naur an edraith ammen! _'fire [be] for rescue/saving for us'. Q. nár. >> Sammath Naur
Sindarin
san
pronoun. that
Derivations
- ✶san- “that” ✧ PE17/042
Element in
- S. im Narvi hain echant “I, Narvi, made them” ✧ LotR/0305; PE17/042
han
that
gamp
noun. hook, claw, crook
naur
fire
naur
noun. fire, fire, [N.] flame
The basic Sindarin word for “fire”, derived from the root √NAR of the same meaning (LotR/942; PE17/38) and very well attested. It is derived from primitive ✱nār- since primitive long ā became au in Sindarin. It appeared as N. naur “flame” in The Etymologies of the 1930s with the same derivation (Ety/NAR). As a suffix it usually reduces to -nor, since au usually becomes o in polysyllables. As a prefix, though, it is often Nar- before consonant clusters, no doubt because the ancient long ā was shortened before it could become au.
Conceptual Development: In the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, the word for “fire” was G. sâ with archaic form †sai (GL/66) clearly based on the early root ᴱ√SAH(Y)A “be hot” as suggested by Christopher Tolkien (LT1A/Sári; QL/81). In Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s, the word for “fire” was ᴱN. byr or buir from primitive ᴱ✶ [mburyē] (PE13/139). Tolkien introduced naur in The Etymologies of the 1930s and stuck with it thereafter.
Cognates
- Q. nár “fire (as an element), fire (as an element); [ᴹQ.] flame” ✧ PE17/038; SA/nár
Derivations
- √NAR “fire, fire, [ᴹ√] flame” ✧ PE17/038
Element in
- S. Aegnor “Fell Fire, Sharp Flame” ✧ SA/nár
- S. Baranor “?Eager Fire”
- S. Faenor “Spirit of Fire”
- S. Fëanor “Spirit of Fire” ✧ SA/nár
- S. Goenor “Fell Fire” ✧ PM/363
- S. Narbeleth “October, Sun-fading, Sun-waning”
- S. Nardol “Fire-hilltop”
- ᴺS. narvaenas “firework”
- S. Narwain “January, *(lit.) New Fire”
- S. naur an edraith ammen “fire [be] for saving of us” ✧ LotR/0290; LotR/0299; PE17/038
- S. naur dan i ngaurhoth “*fire against the wolf-horde” ✧ LotR/0299; PE17/038
- S. Nórui “June, *Fiery”
- S. Rodnor
- S. Sammath Naur “Chambers of Fire” ✧ LotR/0942; PE17/038; PE17/101; SA/nár
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √(A)NAR > naur [nār] > [nǭr] > [naur] ✧ PE17/038 Variations
- Naur ✧ LotR/0299; LotR/0942
ten
pronoun. (?) it (as object)
-ruin
suffix. fire
suff. #fire. Q. ruine. >> Angruin
bregedúr
wildfire
(i vregedúr), pl. bregedýr (i mregedýr)
e
pronoun. he
The meaning "he" is deduced from the apparent function of this word in the so-called "King's Letter", but it also seems possible to interpret it as "indeed" (as in Q. e, LR/63, VT/45:11), used here in a way of formal address expressing the wishes or the will of the King
e
he
1) e (SD:128-31), 2) ho, hon, hono. (The distinctions between these forms are unclear. Possibly ho is the nominative ”he”, whereas hon is the accusative ”him”. Hono could be an emphatic form. It may be that all of these pronouns, except e, are ”Noldorin” and were not maintained in Sindarin proper.)
e
pronoun. he
Cognates
- ᴹQ. e “he, she, it”
Element in
- S. ar e aníra ennas suilannad mhellyn în phain “and he desires to greet there all his friends” ✧ AotM/062; SD/129
- S. edregol e aníra tírad i Cherdir Perhael (i sennui Panthael estathar aen) Condir i Drann “in especial he desires to see Master Samwise (who should be called Fullwise) Mayor of the Shire” ✧ AotM/062; SD/129
e
he
(SD:128-31)
ho
he
hon, hono. *(The distinctions between these forms are unclear. Possibly ho is the nominative ”he”, whereas hon is the accusative ”him”. Hono could be an emphatic form. It may be that all of these pronouns, except e, are ”Noldorin” and were not maintained in Sindarin proper.)*
ûr
fire
(heat), pl. uir. Notice the homophone ûr ”wide”.
sa
pronoun. that
Derivations
- ✶sa “3 sg. neuter [it], the thing, impersonal; this by me, [ᴱ√] demonstrative”
sa
preposition/adverb. beside, alongside, next (to)
Derivations
- √AS “beside”
ha
it
ha, han, hana. (The distinctions between these forms are unclear. Possibly ha is the nominative, whereas han is the accusative. Hana could be an emphatic form. It may be that these pronouns as ”N” rather than Sindarin proper.)
ha
it
han, hana. *(The distinctions between these forms are unclear. Possibly ha is the nominative, whereas han is the accusative. Hana could be an emphatic form. It may be that these pronouns as ”N” rather than Sindarin proper.)*
taw
that
(demonstrative pronoun) ?taw. _Only the ”Old Noldorin” form tó is actually given in LR:389 s.v. _
taw
pronoun. that
Derivations
- √TA “that, there, then; demonstrative”
taw
that
. Only the ”Old Noldorin” form tó is actually given in LR:389 s.v.
gamp
hook
1) gamp (i **amp) (claw, crook), pl. ?gaimp or ?gemp (i ngaimp = i ñaimp or i ngemp = i ñemp), coll. pl. gammath**
gamp
hook
(i ’amp) (claw, crook), pl. ?gaimp or ?gemp (i ngaimp = i ñaimp or i ngemp = i ñemp), coll. pl. gammath
i
that
(+ soft mutation), basically in in the plural, but often loses the n which is then replaced by nasal mutation of the next consonant (e.g. gyrth i chuinar ”dead that live [cuinar]”, Letters:417). Sometimes i (+ soft mutation) is used in the singular as well. – The form ai (following by lenition) occurs in the phrase di ai gerir ✱”those who do” (VT44:23). Possibly it is a form of the relative pronoun that is used when the previous word ends in -i. Whether ai is both sg. and pl. is unclear; in its one attestation it is followed by a plural verb that is lenited.
naur
fire
1) naur (in compounds nar-, -nor) (flame, sun), pl. noer, coll. pl. norath; 2) ûr (heat), pl. uir. Notice the homophone ûr ”wide”.
naur
fire
(in compounds nar-, -nor) (flame, sun), pl. noer, coll. pl. norath
narthan
fire-sign
pl. **nerthain** (VT45:20)
ûr Reconstructed
noun. fire, fire; [ᴱN.] sun
A word for “fire” attested in later writings only as an element in names, such as S. Urui “August, ✱Hot-one” (LotR/1110). It appeared as N. ûr “fire” in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√UR “be hot”, but this and related words were deleted when Tolkien changed the sense of the root to “wide, large, great” (Ety/UR). However, √UR “heat” was restored in later writings (PE17/148; PE22/160), and primitive ✶ūr “a fire (on hearth)” appeared in Common Eldarin: Noun Structure from the early 1950s, though Tolkien did mark it with a “?” (PE21/71 and note #8).
Conceptual Development: Perhaps the first precursor to this word was G. †Uril, an archaic word for the Sun in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s appearing beside its modern form G. Aur (GL/75) and clearly a derivative of the early root ᴱ√URU as suggested by Christopher Tolkien (LT1A/Ûr; QL/098). In Gnomish Lexicon Slips revising this document, it became {ŷr >>} hŷr “sun” (PE13/114), and in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s it became ᴱN. {húr >>} úr “sun”, derived from primitive ᴱ✶ourū̆ (PE13/155).
This in turn became N. ûr “fire” in The Etymologies of the 1930s under ᴹ√UR “be hot”, but as noted above the meaning of this root was changed in that document (Ety/UR). Although the root √UR “heat” was later restored, it isn’t clear whether Tolkien also restored ûr “fire”, though there is some secondary evidence of it: primitive ✶ūr “a fire (on hearth)” appeared in notes from the early 1950s, as also noted above (PE21/71).
Neo-Sindarin: If S. naur is (like its Quenya cognate Q. nár) more representative of an elemental or abstract notion of fire, then ûr might be used for an individual physical fire such as one in a fireplace.
Cognates
- Q. úrë “heat”
Derivations
Element in
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ✶ūr > ūr [ūr] ✧ PE21/71 Variations
- ūr ✧ PE21/71 (ūr)
pl1. hain _pron. _that, the thing previously mentioned. Tolkien notes "hain = heinn (< san-)" (PE17:42). Im Narvi hain echant 'I Narvi made them'.