naur

fire

_ n. fire. naur an edraith ammen! _'fire [be] for rescue/saving for us'. Q. nár. >> Sammath Naur

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

-ruin

suffix. fire

suff. #fire. Q. ruine. >> Angruin

nor-

verb. to run

anor

noun. Sun

The most common Sindarin name for the Sun derived from primitive ✶Anār, an augmented form of the root √NAR “fire” (PE17/38; Ety/ANÁR; SD/302-303, 306). The o is the result of ancient ā becoming au and then this au becoming o in polysyllables.

Conceptual Development: The term Anor was first mentioned in conjunction with early tales of Númenor (LR/41). It briefly appeared as N. {ánar >>} Anar “sun” in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the entry for ᴹ√NAR (Ety/NAR¹; EtyAC/NAR¹), but as Anor under ᴹ√ANÁR (Ety/ANÁR). In The Notion Club Papers of the 1940s it was Anor, archaic †Anaur (SD/302-303, 306) and it retained this form thereafter.

Cognates

• Q. Anar “Sun” ✧ PE17/038; SA/nár
• ᴹQ. Anar “Sun” ✧ SDI2/Anar

Derivations

• √NAR “fire, fire, [ᴹ√] flame” ✧ PE17/038
• ✶Anār “Sun” ✧ SA/nár
  • √NAR “fire, fire, [ᴹ√] flame”

Element in

• ᴺS. anóren “sunny”
• S. Anórien “Sunlending, *(lit.) Sun-lands” ✧ SA/nár
• ᴺS. coranor “solar year, (lit.) sun-round”
• S. elanor “pimpernel, small golden star-shaped flower, (lit.) sun-star” ✧ PE17/055
• S. Minas Anor “Tower of the (Setting) Sun” ✧ SA/nár
• S. Oranor “*(lit.) Sun-day, Sunday”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√(A)NAR > anor	[anār] > [anǭr] > [anaur] > [anor]	✧ PE17/038

Variations

• anor ✧ PE17/030; PE17/038; PE17/055

nor-

verb. to ride

uru

noun. brazier, grate

Derivations

• √UR “heat, be hot”

nor

run

(verb) 1) nor- (i nôr, in nerir). Only attested as imperative noro! 2) *yr-. Only the ”Old Noldorin” form yurine* ”I run” is given in the source; the verbal stem would become ior**- in ”Noldorin”, but apparently *yr- in Sindarin. Compare COURSE, q.v., where the words come from the same root __-.

nor

run

(i nôr, in nerir). Only attested as imperative noro! 2) ✱yr-. Only the ”Old Noldorin” form yurine ”

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

naur

sun

(mainly in compounds as nar-, -nor) (flame, fire), pl. noer, coll. pl. norath.

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

• ✶ūr “a fire (on hearth)” ✧ PE21/71
  • √UR “heat, be hot”

Element in

• S. Urui “August, *Hot-one”
• S. Urwen

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶ūr > ūr	[ūr]	✧ PE21/71

Variations

• ūr ✧ PE21/71 (ūr)

ûr

fire

(heat), pl. uir. Notice the homophone ûr ”wide”.

cell

running

(of water: flowing), lenited gell; pl. cill

anor

sun

(pl. Anoer if there is a pl.) Archaic Anaur (SD:306).

bregedúr

wildfire

(i vregedúr), pl. bregedýr (i mregedýr)

ior

i

in ”Noldorin”, but apparently ✱yr- in Sindarin. Compare

narthan

fire-sign

pl. **nerthain** (VT45:20)