Mandos

castle of custody

Mandos (Mandost-) noun "Castle of Custody" (the approximate meaning, according to MR:350). Used as the name of a Vala, properly the place where he dwells (the Halls of Mandos), whereas his real name is Námo_ (WJ:402). _In Tolkiens mythology, the "Halls of Mandos" are the abode of the dead, where their spirits remain until they are released from this world (in the case of mortals) or rebodied (in the case of Elves except for those who are refused or themselves refuse further incarnate life, and so remain in Mandos indefinitely). In the Etymologies, Mandos (also Mandossë) is interpreted somewhat differently, "Dread Imprisoner" (MBAD (MANAD),VT45:32) or in a deleted version "Dread Doom" (VT45:33, where Mandos was asigned the stem Mandosse-). The interpretation "Dread Imprisoner" would suggest that Tolkien at the time thought of Mandos as being also properly the name of a person, the Vala Námo, not the name of a place. See also Mando.

mandos

place name. Castle of Custody

Properly the name of the halls of the Vala Námo, the dwelling place of departed Elvish spirits (S/28). It is often used as the name of the Vala himself, however. It is a compound of mando “custody” and the suffixal form -os for osto “stronghold”, so that its stem form is Mandost- (MR/350). In one place Tolkien translated the name as “Castle of Custody”, but said this was only an approximate meaning (MR/350).

Conceptual Development: This name dates back to the earliest Lost Tales. Even at this early stage, ᴱQ. Mandos was used to refer to the Vala but was said to be properly the name of his halls, though at this stage his true name was said to be ᴱQ. Vê instead of Námo (LT1/66, QL/58). At this early stage the name was glossed “Hell” and given as a derivative of the root ᴹ√M(B)ṆÐṆ “bind” (QL/58), and appeared sometimes in the variant form Mandor (PME/58, 99; PE15/73).

The name ᴹQ. Mandos appeared in The Etymologies from the 1930s with the gloss “Dread Imprisoner”, derived from a combination of the roots ᴹ√MBAD “prison” and ᴹ√GOS “dread” (Ety/GOS, MBAD).

His true name Námo did not emerge until Silmarillion revisions from the 1950s-60s (MR/150). Elsewhere in the Silmarillion revisions from the 1950s-60s, Tolkien briefly considered changing this name to Mandar, but this change was rejected (MR/205).

Derivations

• ✶Mandostŏ ✧ VT39/06

Elements

Word	Gloss
mando	“custody, safe keeping; prison, duress”
osto	“fortress, stronghold, strong place, fortress, stronghold, strong place; [ᴹQ.] city, town with wall round”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶Mandostŏ > Mandos	[mandosto] > [mandost] > [mandos]	✧ VT39/06

Variations

• Mandar ✧ MR/205 (Mandar); MRI/Mandos (Mandar)

mando

custody, safe keeping

mando noun "custody, safe keeping" (MR:350) or "prison, duress" (in Mandos, see below, also compare Angamando being translated 'Iron-Gaol') (SA:band). A variant #manda occurs in the place-name Angamanda (see Angamando). Personal name Mando "the Imprisoner or Binder", usually lengthened Mandos. In a deleted version of the entry MBAD of the Etymologies, Tolkien gave mando the meaning "doomsman, judge" instead of "custody" (MBAD (ÑGUR, GOS/GOTH, SPAN), VT45:33)

Armenelos

royal-heaven-city

Armenelos place-name, City of the Kings in Númenor (ar-menel-os(to) "royal-heaven-city"???) The stem should possibly be *Armenelost- (compare Mandos, Mandost-).

Námo

judge

Námo (1) noun "Judge", name of a Vala, normally called Mandos, properly the place where he dwells (WJ:402)

námo

noun. judge

Derivations

• √NAM “judge”

Element in

• Q. Námo “Judge, Ordainer”
• ᴺQ. námondur “court-attendant, (lit.) judge-servants”

Variations

• Námo ✧ WJ/402

fatanyu

hell

fatanyu noun "hell" (GL:51)

ham-

judge

#ham- (2) vb. "judge", attested in the aorist form hamil "you judge". (VT42:33; notice the pronominal ending -l "you". See nemë. The verb #ham- with the meaning "judge" may seem to be an ephemeral form in Tolkien's conception.)

nam-

judge

#nam- vb. "judge", attested in the 1st person aorist: namin "I judge" (VT41:13). Compare Námo.

nav-

judge

#nav- vb. "judge" (cited in the form navë, apparently the 3rd person aorist). Also given with pronominal suffixes: navin *"I judge" (Tolkien's free translation: "I think"), navilwë "we judge" (VT42:33, 4, VT48:11)

nem-

judge

[#nem- vb. "judge", attested as endingless aorist nemë, changed by Tolkien to hamë and finally to navë "in all but one case" (Bill Welden). Forms like námo "judge" and namna "statute" point rather to #nam- (q.v.) as a verb "to judge" (VT42:34); the verb namin "I judge" is even listed in Etym.]

Mandos

Mandos

Námo (pron. [ˈnaːmo]) in Quenya means "Judge" or "Ordainer", from root NAM. The Sindarin equivalent is Badhron ([ˈbaðron]).[source?] Mandos ([ˈmandos]) is a Quenya name meaning "Prison-fortress".[source?] It derived from the early Elvish Mandostŏ. The Sindarin name for Mandos is Bannoth ([ˈbanːoθ]).[source?] In Eriol's Old English translations, Mandos is referred as Nefrea "Corpse-ruler" and neoaerna hlaford "master of the houses of the dead".

bannos

mandos

(na Mannos, o Mbannos), also called Gurfannor (na Ngurfannor, o N’gurfannor)

band

hell

1) band (i mand, o mband; construct ban) (custody, prison, safekeeping, duress, doom), pl. baind (i mbaind), coll. pl. bannath. 2) Udûn (= Utumno, stronghold of Melkor), pl. Uduin if there is a pl. (which is unlikely if Udûn is a proper name)

band

hell

(i mand, o mband; construct ban) (custody, prison, safekeeping, duress, doom), pl. baind (i mbaind), coll. pl. bannath.

band

custody

band (i mand, o mband; construct ban) (prison, safekeeping, duress, doom, hell), pl. baind (i mbaind), coll. pl. bannath.

band

custody

(i mand, o mband; construct ban) (prison, safekeeping, duress, doom, hell), pl. baind (i mbaind), coll. pl. bannath.

badhron

judge

badhron (i vadhron), pl. bedhryn (i medhryn); also badhor (i vadhor), analogical pl. bedhyr (i medhyr)

badhron

judge

(i vadhron), pl. bedhryn (i medhryn); also badhor (i vadhor), analogical pl. bedhyr (i medhyr)

udûn

hell

(= Utumno, stronghold of Melkor), pl. Uduin if there is a pl. (which is unlikely if Udûn is a proper name)

nam Reconstructed

root. judge

A root implied by various Quenya words having to do with “judgement” from the 1950s and 60s, most notably Q. Námo “Ordainer, Judge” as the true name of Q. Mandos (S/28), a name that began to appear in documents starting in the early 1950s (PE21/85). The root is evident in other words from this period, such as Q. namna “statute” (MR/258), Q. námië “a single judgment or desire” (VT41/13) and the verb Q. nam- “judge” in the phrase: Q. ore nin karitas nō namin alasaila “I feel moved to do so but judge it unwise” (VT41/13). ✱√NAM might also be the basis for the second element of the name Q. Rithil-Anamo “Doom-ring”, the circle of thrones where the Valar sat in council (WJ/401).

In notes from 1969 Tolkien seems to have changed his mind of the root for “judge”, writing Q. nemin >> Q. hamin >> Q. navin for “I judge”, and giving a new root √NDAB “to judge” in a marginal note along with a revised name Návo to replace Námo (PE22/154, notes #53 and #55). This new root conflicts with √NDAB “endeavor, try” from earlier in the same bundle of documents (PE22/151).

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I would ignore the late change of ✱√NAM >> √NDAB “judge”, since ✱√NAM has more attested derivatives and Námo appears in the published Silmarillion. Also, all of the derivatives of this root are Quenya, and its possible use in the name Rithil-Anamo (coined in Valinor) imply that it might be a root invented after the Elves arrived in Aman. Thus I think it is best to treat it as Quenya-only root, and used ᴹ√BAD “judge” as the basis for (Neo) Sindarin words for judgement by retaining Noldorin words with these meanings from the 1930s (Ety/BAD).

Derivatives

• Q. nam- “to judge”
• Q. náma “judgment or desire”
• Q. namna “statute, statute, *law”
• Q. námo “judge”

bannos

masculine name. Mandos, Dread Imprisoner

Noldorin name of Mandos appearing in The Etymologies from the 1930s as a combination of the roots ᴹ√MBAD and ᴹ√GOS (Ety/MBAD). His name was glossed as “Dread Imprisoner” (Ety/MBAD) and as rejected “Dread Doom” (EtyAC/MBAD). It might be considered a combination of bann “prison” and the lenited form of gost “terror”.

Conceptual Development: In the Gnomish Lexicon from the 1910s, his name was G. Bannoth or Bandoth (GL/18, 21).

Cognates

• ᴹQ. Angamanda “Iron Prison, Hells of Iron” ✧ EtyAC/MBAD
• ᴹQ. Mandos “(Dread) Imprisoner” ✧ Ety/MBAD

Elements

Word	Gloss
bann	“duress, prison”
gost	“dread, terror”

badhor

noun. judge

badhor

noun. judge

Derivations

• ᴹ✶bad- “to judge” ✧ Ety/BAD
  • ᴹ√(M)BAD “duress, prison, doom, hell; *judge” ✧ Ety/BAD
• ᴹ✶mbād- “judgement, sentence” ✧ EtyAC/MBAD
  • ᴹ√(M)BAD “duress, prison, doom, hell; *judge” ✧ EtyAC/MBAD

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ✶bad- > badhor	[badro] > [baðro] > [baðr] > [baðor]	✧ Ety/BAD

Variations

• Badhor ✧ EtyAC/MBAD (Badhor)

badhron

noun. judge

badhron

noun. judge

Elements

Word	Gloss
badh-	“to judge”
-(r)on	“agental suffix”

Variations

• baðron ✧ Ety/BAD; EtyAC/MBAD (baðron)