drû

noun. wild man, Wose, Púkel-Man

In PE/11:31, an older Gnomish word drû, drui meant "wood, forest", and in PE/13:142, the early Noldorin word drú was assigned the meaning "dark". Drû pl. Drúin later came to be used for the name of the Woses, with other derivatives (Drúadan, etc.). "Wose" is actually the modernization of an Anglo-Saxon word wasa only found in the compound wudu-wasa "wild man of the woods", cf. UT/385 sq. In the drafts of the "Ride of the Rohirrim" in WR/343-346, the Woses first appeared as "the dark men of Eilenach". Though internally said to derive from drughu in their own tongue, Tolkien's choice for the Sindarin name of the Woses was apparently influenced by earlier meanings assigned to this word

drû

proper name. Wose

A Sindarin word for “Wose”, a loan word from the Wose’s name for themselves: Drughu (UT/385).

Conceptual Development: In his Words, Phrases and Passages from the Lord of the Rings from the late 1950s or early 1960s, Tolkien considered making this word a native Sindarin adjective “savage, wild” derived from the root √DROB, a variant of √SROB from which rhaw “wild” was derived (PE17/99). These roots would produce the Q. cognate (h)róva instead of better established Q. (h)ráva “wild”, so I personally prefer the later derivation of Drû as a loan word from Wos. Drughu.

Cognates

• Q. hráva “wild, savage, wild, savage, [ᴹQ.] untamed” ✧ PE17/099
• Q. Rú “Wose” ✧ UT/385; UTI/Drúath; UTI/Rú

Derivations

• Wos. Drughu “Wose”
• √DROB “*wild” ✧ PE17/099

Element in

• S. Drúadan “Wose, (lit.) Wild-man” ✧ PE17/099; UT/385; UTI/Drúedain
• S. Drúnos “a family of the Drû-folk” ✧ UT/385
• S. Drúwaith “the wilderness of the Drû-folk” ✧ UT/385

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√D)ROB > drû	[drōb] > [drōv] > [drūv] > [drū]	✧ PE17/099

Variations

• drû ✧ PE17/099

drû

adjective. savage

adj. savage, wild. Q. hróva. >> Druadan

dûr

adjective. dark, sombre

dûr

dark

_ adj. _dark, gloomy, 'hellish'.

drúath

noun. the people of the Drû, the Woses

drúadan

noun. wild man, one of the Woses

dúath

adjective. dark

_ adj. _dark, black shadow.

Druadan

noun. wose

n. wose, wild man.

Dúnadan

noun. Man of the west, Númenórean

dîr

noun. man, man, [N.] adult male; agental suffix

A word for “man” as a male person, attested only as an element in compounds or as (archaic?) ndir (PE17/60). This word likely refers to male individuals of all races including Elves, Men, Dwarves and so forth, much like its Quenya cognate Q. nér. This word must have been derived from the primitive subjective form ✶ndēr of the root √N(D)ER “male person”, where the ancient long ē became ī, and the initial cluster nd- became d-, though the ancient cluster would still be reflected in mutated forms, such as in i nîr “the man” rather than ✱✱i dhîr.

Conceptual Development: Perhaps the earliest precursor to this word is (archaic) G. †drio “hero, warrior” with variants driw, driodweg and driothweg, a cognate of ᴱQ. nēr (GL/22). This Gnomish word was derived from primitive ᴱ✶n’reu̯, where the initial nr- became dr-. At this early stage, the root was unstrengthened ᴱ√NERE (QL/65), as reflected in (archaic) ᴱN. nîr “hero, prince, warrior-elf” in the Early Noldorin Dictionary of the 1920s (PE13/164).

In The Etymologies of the 1930s the root became ᴹ√DER “adult male, man” of any speaking race and the derived form was N. dîr (Ety/DER). However, in this document Tolkien said:

> EN †dîr surviving chiefly in proper names (as Diriel older Dirghel [GYEL], Haldir, Brandir) and as agental ending (as ceredir “doer, maker”) ... In ordinary use EN has benn [for “man”] (properly = “husband”).

Thus in the scenario described in The Etymologies, dîr “man” was archaic and used only as an element in names or as a suffix. In ordinary speech it was replaced by N. benn, which used to mean “husband” but now meant “man”, while the word for “husband” became N. hervenn (Ety/BES). It is unlikely Tolkien imagined this exact scenario in later Sindarin, however, since the 1930s root for benn was ᴹ√BES “wed”, but by the 1960s the root for husband/wife/marry words had become √BER.

Neo-Sindarin: Since the status of N. benn is questionable given ᴹ√BES >> √BER, many Neo-Sindarin writers prefer to use S. ✱dîr as the Sindarin word for man. I am of the opinion that both dîr and benn are acceptable for “man, male person”. This is because I prefer to retain ᴹ√BES as the root for “marry, wed”, since it is the best basis for attested husband/wife words in (Neo) Sindarin.

Derivations

• ✶ndē̆r “man”
  • √N(D)ER “male (person), man”

Element in

• S. Borondir “?Steadfast-man”
• S. Brandir “*Noble Man”
• S. condir “mayor, *(lit.) chief-man”
• S. curunír “wizard, wizard, [N.] man of craft”
• S. dagnir “slayer, bane”
• S. Dírhael “*Wise Man”
• S. dírnaith “wedge-shaped battle-formation, (lit.) man-spearhead”
• S. Emeldir “Manhearted, *Manly-mother”
• S. Haldir
• S. Handir
• S. Hathaldir
• S. Hatholdir “*Axe-man”
• S. herdir “master”
• S. Lindir
• S. Othrondir “?Stronghold Man”
• S. randir “wanderer, wandering man, pilgrim” ✧ PE17/060
• S. Thorondir “*Eagle-man”

Variations

• ndir ✧ PE17/060

adanadar

noun. man, one of the Fathers of Men

adan

noun. man, one of the Second People (elvish name for men)

eryn

noun. wood

glad

noun. wood

glad

noun. wood

A word for a “wood” in the name Methed-en-Glad “End of the Wood” (UT/153) and possibly also Gladuial “✱Twilight Wood” (WJ/183, 188 note #48). It resembles galadh “tree” and is probably related to it, but it cannot be derived directly from the same root ᴹ√GALAD as that would produce ✱✱gladh. It was either derived from a variant root ✱√GALAT, or was a loan word from Nandorin where the word for “tree” was Nan. galad (MR/182; PE17/50, 60).

Element in

• S. Methed-en-Glad “End of the Wood” ✧ UT/153
• S. Gladuial “*Twilight Wood”

Variations

• Glad ✧ UT/153

taur

noun. great wood, forest

adanath

noun. men

dûr

dark

dûr (sombre), lenited dhûr, pl. duir

dûr

dark

(sombre), lenited dhûr, pl. duir

drúnos

family of the drû-folk

(i Dhrúnos), pl. Drúnys (in Drúnys), coll. pl. Drúnossath. See

dúath

dark shadow

(i dhúath) (nightshade), pl. dúaith (i núaith);

dúnadan

man of the west

(i Núnadan), pl. Dúnedain (i Ndúnedain) (WJ:378, 386).

doll

dark

doll (dusky, misty, obscure), lenited noll, pl. dyll. Note: In ”Noldorin”, this word appeared as dolt as well as doll, but the latter seems the best form in S.

doll

dark

(dusky, misty, obscure), lenited noll, pl. dyll. Note: In ”Noldorin”, this word appeared as dolt as well as doll, but the latter seems the best form in S.

graw

dark

graw (swart), lenited raw, pl. groe. (VT45:16)

graw

dark

(swart), lenited ’raw, pl. groe. (VT45:16)

morn

dark

morn (black), pl. myrn, lenited vorn. Note: the latter word is also used as a noun ”darkness, night”. (Letters:386)

morn

dark

(black), pl. myrn, lenited vorn. Note: the latter word is also used as a noun ”darkness, night”. (Letters:386)

môr

dark

môr (black), lenited vôr, pl. mŷr (Letters:382), also

môr

dark

(black), lenited vôr, pl. m**ŷr* (Letters:382)*, also

dîr

man

1) (adult male of any speaking race) dîr (dír-, also agentive ending -dir or -nir; with article, i nîr, hard mutation as in o ndîr), no distinct pl. form except with article (i ndîr); coll. pl. díriath. Also benn (i venn, construct ben), pl. binn (i minn). The latter is in archaic language used = "husband" (the etymological meaning). The ending -we in names may also express ”being, man, person”. 2) (mortal human as opposed to Elf) Adan (pl. Edain; the coll. pl. Adanath is attested). The word Adan came to be used primarily of a member of the Three Houses of the Edain, not of the mortal race of Men in general.

dîr

man

(dír-, also agentive ending -dir or -nir; with article, i nîr, hard mutation as in o ndîr), no distinct pl. form except with article (i ndîr); coll. pl. díriath. Also benn (i venn, construct ben), pl. binn (i minn). The latter is in archaic language used = "husband" (the etymological meaning). The ending -we in names may also express ”being, man, person”.

guldur

dark sorcery

(i nguldur = i ñuldur), pl. gyldyr (in gyldyr = i ñgyldyr)

graurim

dark people

(VT45:16);

curunír

man of craft

(i gurunír, o churunír) (wizard), no distinct pl. form except with article (i churunír), coll. pl. ?curuníriath.

bôr

trusty man

(boron-) (i vôr, construct bor) (steadfast man, faithful vassal), pl. *b**ŷr* for older beryn, i meryn (archaic böryn, i möryn). In ”Noldorin”, the older pl. forms were berein, beren.

adan

man

(pl. Edain; the coll. pl. Adanath is attested). The word Adan came to be used primarily of a member of the Three Houses of the Edain, not of the mortal race of Men in general.

eryn

wood

1) (forest) eryn. No distinct pl. form. 2) glâd (i **lâd, construct glad) (small forest), pl. glaid (in glaid**) See FOREST. 2)

eryn

wood

. No distinct pl. form.

glâd

wood

(i ’lâd, construct glad) (small forest), pl. glaid (in glaid) See FOREST. 2)

tawar

wood

(as material) tawar (i dawar, o thawar) (forest), pl. tewair (i thewair).

tawar

wood

(i dawar, o thawar) (forest), pl. tewair (i thewair).

thalion

dauntless man

(hero), pl. thelyn. Also used as an adj. ”dauntless, steadfast, strong”. 

firion

mortal man

(pl. firyn).

rhavan

wild man

(?i thravan or ?i ravan – the lenition product of rh is uncertain), pl. rhevain (?idh revain) (WJ:219). – The following terms apparently apply to ”men” of any speaking race: