Quenya 

Endor

middle-earth

Endor place-name "Middle-earth" (SA:dôr, NDOR), "centre of the world" (EN); also long form Endórë "Middle-earth" (Appendix E); allative Endorenna "to Middle-earth" in EO. The form Endór in MR:121 may be seen as archaic, intermediate between Endórë and Endor (since long vowels in a final syllable are normally shortened: Endór > Endor). Endór functions as an uninflected genitive in the source: Aran Endór, "King of Middle-earth".

endor

noun. Middle-earth

Quenya [PE 22:125; 126] Group: Mellonath Daeron. Published by

endórë

place name. Middle-earth, (lit.) Middle Land

The Quenya word for “Middle-earth” (LotR/1115). It often appeared in its shorter form Endor (S/89), similar to Valinórë/Valinor and Númenórë/Númenor. Its initial element is endë “middle” and its final element is a blending of nórë and -ndor often seen in the names of lands (PE17/26).

Properly speaking, the word Endor applied only to the land mass containing Arnor and Gondor (and Beleriand before it was destroyed) where much of action of Tolkien’s tales took place. In his Nomenclature of the Lord of the Rings, Tolkien defined Middle-earth as “the inhabited lands of (Elves and) Men, envisaged as lying between the Western Sea and that of the Far East” (RC/774).

The informal use of the term “Middle-earth” for Tolkien’s entire fictional world came from the descriptions of his works by others rather than from Tolkien. Tolkien said that Middle-earth was “not a special land, or world, or ‘planet’ as too often supposed” (RC/774). Elsewhere, he said the Quenya word for the “World” (equivalent to “Earth”) was Ambar (LotR/967, WJ/402).

Conceptual Development: The term “Middle-earth” was inspired by Old English Middanġeard or Norse Midgard (RC/774). In Northern European mythology, Midgard referred to the Earth as the land of men between the Heaven(s) and Hell(s), but Heaven and Hell as realms above and below the world did not exist within Tolkien’s cosmology. The word Endor instead referred to the home of Elves and Men in the center of the world between the East and West.

The name ᴹQ. {Endon >>} Endor first appeared in maps and notes associated with Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s, where it was given as the name for the “midmost point of Middle-earth” (SM/241, 254). It later appeared in The Etymologies with the translation “Middle-earth” (Ety/NDOR), also described as “centre of the world” (Ety/ÉNED).

In Silmarillion revisions from the 1950s-60s, this name also appeared in the (ultimately rejected) forms Endon, Endór and Endar (MR/70, 121, 126).

Cognates

  • S. Ennorath “(All) the Middle-lands” ✧ Let/224
  • S. Ennor “Middle-earth” ✧ Let/384; LotR/1115; PE17/026; PE17/121; SA/dôr; MRI/Endor; SMI/Endor; VT41/16
  • T. Hendor “Middle-earth” ✧ VT41/16

Derivations

  • ENED “centre, middle; three” ✧ VT41/16

Element in

Elements

WordGloss
endë“centre, middle, centre, middle; [ᴹQ.] core”
nórë“land, country; †people, race, tribe, land, country, [ᴹQ.] region where certain people live, [ᴱQ.] nation; [Q.] †people, race, tribe, [ᴹQ.] folk, [ᴱQ.] family”

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
enet > endor[endor]✧ VT41/16

Variations

  • Endor ✧ Let/224; Let/384; MRI/Endor; PE17/026; PE17/121; SA/dôr; SI/Endor; WJI/Endar
  • Endóre ✧ Let/224; LotR/1115
  • Endór ✧ MR/121 (Endór)
  • Endar ✧ MR/126; MRI/Endar; WJI/Endar
  • Endon ✧ MRI/Endor
  • en(en)dor ✧ NM/282
  • endor ✧ VT41/16 (endor); VT41/16
Quenya [Let/224; Let/384; LotR/0967; LotR/1115; MR/121; MR/126; MRI/Endar; MRI/Endor; NM/282; PE17/026; PE17/103; PE17/121; RC/774; SA/dôr; SI/Endor; SMI/Endor; VT41/16; WJI/Endar] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Endamar

middle-earth

Endamar place-name "Middle-earth" (EN, MBAR, NDOR). However, Middle-earth is normally called Endor, Endórë.

Ambarenya

middle-earth

Ambarenya, older [MET] Ambarendya place-name "Middle-earth" (but the more usual word is Endor, Endórë) (MBAR)

Sindarin 

ennor

place name. Middle-earth

Sindarin equivalent of Endórë “Middle-earth”, derived from the same primitive form because in Sindarin [[s|[mb], [nd] became [mm], [nn]]] (LotR/1115).

Conceptual Development: In The Etymologies from the 1930s, the form N. Emerin appeared with the same translation but a completely different derivation (Ety/MBAR). In later writings, Tolkien generally derived S. Ennor from the root √ENED “centre, middle” (Let/384, PE17/26). He considered several alternate derivations, from √ENET or √HEN(ET) (VT41/16), but these reflected his uncertainty of the proper form of the root √ENED, not of S. Ennor itself.

Cognates

  • Q. Endórë “Middle-earth, (lit.) Middle Land” ✧ Let/384; LotR/1115; PE17/026; PE17/121; SA/dôr; MRI/Endor; SMI/Endor; VT41/16
  • T. Hendor “Middle-earth” ✧ VT41/16

Derivations

  • ENED “centre, middle; three” ✧ VT41/16

Element in

  • S. Ennorath “(All) the Middle-lands” ✧ Let/384; PE17/026; SA/dôr

Variations

  • ennor ✧ VT41/16 (ennor); VT41/16
Sindarin [Let/384; LotR/1115; MRI/Endor; PE17/026; PE17/121; SA/dôr; SMI/Endor; VT41/16] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ennor

middle-earth

Ennor, also in coll. pl. ennorath = lands of Middle-earth (RGEO, Letters:384). Apparently less usual is the term Emerain.

ennor

middle-earth

also in coll. pl. ennorath = lands of Middle-earth (RGEO, Letters:384). Apparently less usual is the term Emerain.

Telerin 

hendor

place name. Middle-earth

Cognates

  • Q. Endórë “Middle-earth, (lit.) Middle Land” ✧ VT41/16
  • S. Ennor “Middle-earth” ✧ VT41/16

Noldorin 

emerin

place name. Middle-earth

A Noldorin name for “Middle-earth” appearing in The Etymologies as a cognate of ᴹQ. Ambarenya (Ety/MBAR), apparently derived from the same primitive form ✱✶ambarenyā.

Cognates

  • ᴹQ. Ambarenya “Middle-earth” ✧ Ety/MBAR

Derivations

  • ᴹ√MBAR “dwell, inhabit” ✧ Ety/MBAR
    • ᴹ√BAR “raise; uplift, save, rescue(?)” ✧ Ety/BAR

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ√MBAR > Emmerein > Emerin[ambarenjā] > [ambarenja] > [ambarenia] > [emberenia] > [embereni] > [emberein] > [emberein] > [emmerein] > [emerein] > [emerin]✧ Ety/MBAR
Noldorin [Ety/MBAR] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Beware, older languages below! The languages below were invented during Tolkien's earlier period and should be used with caution. Remember to never, ever mix words from different languages!

Qenya 

endor

place name. Middle-earth

Changes

  • EndorEndórë ✧ SMI/Endor

Element in

Elements

WordGloss
ende“centre, middle, core”
-ndor“-land”

Variations

  • Endon ✧ SMI/Endor
Qenya [Ety/ÉNED; Ety/NDOR; PE22/125; PE22/126; SD/056; SM/241; SMI/Endor] Group: Eldamo. Published by

endamar

place name. Middle-earth

Another name for “Middle-earth” appearing in The Etymologies from the 1930s as a compound of ende “middle” and mar “earth” (Ety/ÉNED, MBAR, NDOR).

Elements

WordGloss
ende“centre, middle, core”
mar“home, dwelling, house, habitation; earth”
Qenya [Ety/ÉNED; Ety/MBAR; Ety/NDOR] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ambarenya

place name. Middle-earth

Name for Middle-earth appearing as ambar-endya in notes for Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s (SM/241), and also appearing as Ambarenya in The Etymologies, apparently a compound of Ambar “Earth” and enya “middle” (Ety/MBAR).

Cognates

  • N. Emerin “Middle-earth” ✧ Ety/MBAR

Elements

WordGloss
Ambar“Earth, World”
enya“middle, *central, middle”

Variations

  • ambar-endya ✧ SM/241
  • Ambar-endya ✧ SMI/Ambar-endya
Qenya [Ety/MBAR; SM/241; SMI/Ambar-endya] Group: Eldamo. Published by