Quenya 

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. 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).

Quenya [MR/205; MR/350; MRI/Mandos; PMI/Mandos; S/028; SA/band; SA/os(t); SI/Mandos; UTI/Mandos; VT39/06; WJI/Mandos] Group: Eldamo. Published by

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.

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)

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".

Quenya [Tolkien Gateway] Published by

Ar Fanturion

day of the fanturi (mandos and lorien)

Ar Fanturion noun *"Day of the Fanturi (Mandos and Lorien)" _(LEP/LEPEN/LEPEK). _Also Arë Fanturion (VT45:27).

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)

mornië

darkness

mornië noun "darkness" (Nam, RGEO:67), "dark, blackness" (PE17:73). Early "Qenya" also has Mornië "Black Grief", "the black ship that plies between Mandos and Erumáni" (LT1:261). This is probably a compound of mor- "black" and nië "tear".

fatanyu

hell

fatanyu noun "hell" (GL:51)

ham-

verb. 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.)

lúmë

darkness

lúmë (2) noun "darkness" (one wonders if Tolkien confused lúmë "time, hour" and lómë "night") (Markirya)

lúmë

noun. darkness

A noun in the 1960s versions of the Markirya glossed “darkness” (MC/222), perhaps derived from a root √DU as suggested by David Salo in a post to the Elfling mailing list in 2012 (Elfling/362.96).

Neo-Quenya: I’d generally use Q. huinë for “darkness” in Neo-Quenya, but that word is more for total darkness, whereas lúmë might be a less severe form of darkness, a variant of Q. lómë “night, dusk”.

mor

darkness

mor noun "darkness" (Letters:308; probably just an Elvish "element" rather than a complete word; Namárië has mornië for "darkness")

nam-

verb. judge

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

nav-

verb. 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-

verb. 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.]

námo

noun. judge

Noldorin 

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).

Noldorin [Ety/MBAD; EtyAC/MBAD] Group: Eldamo. Published by

badhor

noun. judge

Noldorin [Ety/350] Group: SINDICT. Published by

badhor

noun. judge

Noldorin [Ety/BAD; EtyAC/MBAD] Group: Eldamo. Published by

badhron

noun. judge

Noldorin [Ety/350] Group: SINDICT. Published by

badhron

noun. judge

Noldorin [Ety/BAD; EtyAC/MBAD] Group: Eldamo. Published by

dúath

noun. darkness, shadow

Noldorin [Ety/354, S/430] Either the collective plural of dû, or a compound dû+gwath "night shade" (hence dúwath). Group: SINDICT. Published by

dúath

noun. nightshade

Noldorin [Ety/354, S/430] Either the collective plural of dû, or a compound dû+gwath "night shade" (hence dúwath). Group: SINDICT. Published by

dúwath

noun. darkness, shadow

Noldorin [Ety/354, S/430] Either the collective plural of dû, or a compound dû+gwath "night shade" (hence dúwath). Group: SINDICT. Published by

dúwath

noun. nightshade

Noldorin [Ety/354, S/430] Either the collective plural of dû, or a compound dû+gwath "night shade" (hence dúwath). Group: SINDICT. Published by

môr

noun. darkness, dark, night

Noldorin [Ety/373, Letters/382] Group: SINDICT. Published by

Sindarin 

bannos

mandos

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

dúath

noun. darkness, shadow

Sindarin [Ety/354, S/430] Either the collective plural of dû, or a compound dû+gwath "night shade" (hence dúwath). Group: SINDICT. Published by

dúath

noun. nightshade

Sindarin [Ety/354, S/430] Either the collective plural of dû, or a compound dû+gwath "night shade" (hence dúwath). Group: SINDICT. Published by

môr

noun. darkness, dark, night

Sindarin [Ety/373, Letters/382] Group: SINDICT. Published by

badhron

judge

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

Sindarin [Parviphith] Published by

badhron

judge

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

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.

darkness

  1. (i dhû) (night, nightfall, late evening, dusk), pl. dui (i nui) (SD:302), 2) fuin (gloom, night, dead of night, nightshade). No distinct pl. form. 3) môr (i vôr, construct mor), pl. mŷr (i mŷr) if there is a pl. (Letters:382); 4 morn (i vorn) (night), pl. myrn (i myrn). Note: the word môr, morn is also used as an adjective ”dark, black”. (Letters:386)

darkness

(i dhû) (night, nightfall, late evening, dusk), pl. dui (i nui) (SD:302)

fuin

darkness

(gloom, night, dead of night, nightshade). No distinct pl. form.

môr

darkness

(i vôr, construct mor), pl. m**ŷr (i m**ŷr) if there is a pl. (Letters:382); 4 morn (i vorn) (night), pl. myrn (i myrn). Note: the word môr, morn is also used as an adjective ”dark, black”. (Letters:386)

udûn

hell

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

Primitive elvish

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).

Black Speech

burzum

noun. darkness

Black Speech [LotR/0254; PE17/011; PE17/012] Group: Eldamo. Published by

burzum

noun. darkness

Black Speech [PE17/11] 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!

Early Quenya

mandos

place name. Hell

Early Quenya [GL/18; GL/21; GL/45; LBI/Mandos; LT1A/Mandos; LT1I/Mandos; LT2I/Mandos; PE14/012; PE15/73; PME/058; PME/099; QL/037; QL/058; QL/099] Group: Eldamo. Published by

mandor

place name. Hell

fatanyu

place name. Hell

Qenya name for G. Inthanfog “Hell” (GL/51). In might be a compound of “Lowest Air” and some form of tan(y)a “fire”, since its Gnomish equivalent contains G. Tanfa “hot air of the deep places”.

Early Quenya [GL/51] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Qenya 

mandos

masculine name. (Dread) Imprisoner

Qenya [Ety/GOS; Ety/MANAD; Ety/MBAD; EtyAC/MAN; EtyAC/MBAD; LRI/Mandos; RSI/Mandos; SDI2/Mandos; SMI/Mandos] Group: Eldamo. Published by

mandos

noun. doomsman, judge

morimando

masculine name. Dark Mando

A name for Mandos appearing in The Etymologies from the 1930s (Ety/MBAD, MOR), a compound of more “dark” and Mandos.

Qenya [Ety/MBAD; Ety/MOR; EtyAC/MBAD] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Middle Primitive Elvish

mbandō

noun. doomsman, judge

Middle Primitive Elvish [EtyAC/MBAD] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Gnomish

bannoth

place name. Mandos

Gnomish [GG/08; GL/18; GL/21; GL/34; GL/45; LT1A/Mandos; PE14/012] Group: Eldamo. Published by

band

noun. hell

inthanfog

place name. Hell

Gnomish [GL/51; GL/69] Group: Eldamo. Published by

morth

noun. darkness

Gnomish [GL/58; LT1A/Mornië] Group: Eldamo. Published by

pridwir

noun. judge

Early Noldorin

band

noun. hell

Early Noldorin [PE13/138] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Doriathrin

ungol

noun. darkness

A noun for “darkness” developed from the root ᴹ√UÑG (Ety/UÑG), perhaps from a primitive form ✱✶uñglē̆ [uŋglē̆] as suggested by Helge Fauskanger (AL-Ilkorin/ungol): after the [[ilk|primitive final [e] was lost]], the resulting [[ilk|final [l] would become syllabic and develop into [-ol]]].

Doriathrin [Ety/UÑG] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Early Primitive Elvish

pṛtṛ Reconstructed

root. judge

A hypothetical root explaining words in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s such G. pridu- “decide” and G. pridwir “judge” (GL/64). There are no signs of this root in Tolkien’s later writing.

Early Primitive Elvish Group: Eldamo. Published by