Primitive elvish
dor
root. hard, tough, dried up, unyielding
Derivatives
- ✶dorno “oak”
- Q. norno “oak” ✧ PE19/080
- √NDOR “land; hard, firm; [ᴹ√] dwell, stay, rest, abide”
- ✶ndorē “land” ✧ PE17/106; PE17/107
- Q. -ndor “land, country” ✧ SA/dôr
- Q. nór “land” ✧ PE17/106; PE17/107
- Q. nórë “land, country; †people, race, tribe, land, country, [ᴹQ.] region where certain people live, [ᴱQ.] nation; [Q.] †people, race, tribe, [ᴹQ.] folk, [ᴱQ.] family” ✧ PE19/076
- S. dôr “land, land, [N.] region where certain people live, [ᴱN.] country; [G.] people of the land” ✧ PE17/164; SA/dôr; WJ/413
- Q. nórë “land, country; †people, race, tribe, land, country, [ᴹQ.] region where certain people live, [ᴱQ.] nation; [Q.] †people, race, tribe, [ᴹQ.] folk, [ᴱQ.] family” ✧ PE17/072; PE17/181
- Q. norna “tough, stiff; hard, firm, resistant; thrawn, obdurate” ✧ PE17/106
- ✶ndorē “land” ✧ WJ/413
- Q. -ndor “land, country” ✧ SA/dôr
- Q. nór “land” ✧ PE17/106; PE17/107
- Q. nórë “land, country; †people, race, tribe, land, country, [ᴹQ.] region where certain people live, [ᴱQ.] nation; [Q.] †people, race, tribe, [ᴹQ.] folk, [ᴱQ.] family” ✧ PE19/076
- S. dôr “land, land, [N.] region where certain people live, [ᴱN.] country; [G.] people of the land” ✧ PE17/164; SA/dôr; WJ/413
- ✶ndōro “land” ✧ WJ/413
- Q. nór “land” ✧ WJ/413
- Q. norna “tough, stiff; hard, firm, resistant; thrawn, obdurate” ✧ PE17/181; WJ/413
- S. dorn “tough, stiff, thrawn, obdurate” ✧ PE17/181; WJ/413
Element in
Variations
- DORO ✧ WJ/413
ndorē
noun. land
Derivations
Derivatives
- Q. -ndor “land, country” ✧ SA/dôr
- Q. nór “land” ✧ PE17/106; PE17/107
- Q. nórë “land, country; †people, race, tribe, land, country, [ᴹQ.] region where certain people live, [ᴱQ.] nation; [Q.] †people, race, tribe, [ᴹQ.] folk, [ᴱQ.] family” ✧ PE19/076
- S. dôr “land, land, [N.] region where certain people live, [ᴱN.] country; [G.] people of the land” ✧ PE17/164; SA/dôr; WJ/413
Element in
Variations
- (n)dor ✧ Let/384
- ndōr ✧ PE17/106
- NDŌR/NDŎR- ✧ PE17/107
- ndor ✧ PE17/164; SA/dôr
- ndōrē ✧ PE19/076; VT42/04
ndōro
noun. land
Derivations
- √DOR “hard, tough, dried up, unyielding” ✧ WJ/413
Derivatives
- Q. nór “land” ✧ WJ/413
gardā
noun. region
Derivations
- ᴹ√GAR “keep, hold, possess; maintain, defend”
Derivatives
The Elvish words for “oak” had very similar forms throughout Tolkien’s life. In the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, it was ᴱQ. nor(ne) from the root ᴱ√NOŘO, which Tolkien marked with a “?” (QL/67). Its Gnomish cognate G. dorna (GL/30) hints that the true form of this early root might have been ✱ᴱ√NDOÐO or something similar. In the 1930s the root became ᴹ√DORON with derivatives ᴹQ. norno/N. doron “oak” (Ety/DÓRON). This somewhat surprising derivation was explained in the Outline of Phonology from the early 1950s, where Tolkien said:
> n ... also appears occasionally as product of [initial] d, instead of l, by assimilation to succeeding nasals, as in dorno > norno (PE19/80).
In etymological notes from the later 1950s or early 1960s, Tolkien gave the root √DOR “hard, tough”, that in Quenya was preserved only in the word “oak” and in ndŏr > nŏr “land” (PE17/181). Its connection to “oak” indicates this is a later iteration of ᴹ√DORON, though the connection to √NDOR “land” was new. A similar root √DORO “dried up, hard, unyielding” appeared in the contemporaneous Quendi and Eldar essay from around 1959-1960, again connected to √NDOR but without mention of “oak” (WJ/413). In both sets of notes, √DOR has the Sindarin derivative dorn “tough, stiff, thrawn, obdurate”, also used as another name for the dwarves.