A noun for “death” attested both as an independent word (SD/426) and in the compound agannâlô “death-shadow” (SD/247).
Adûnaic
agân
masculine name. Death
agan
noun. death
Noldorin
guruth
noun. death
guruth
noun. death
gwanath
noun. death (act of dying, not death as a state or abstract)
gwanw
noun. death (act of dying, not death as a state or abstract)
gûr
noun. death
Primitive elvish
ñgurū
noun. death
Sindarin
Nûrnen
place name. Death
_ topon. _Death, dead water. >> guru
gurth
noun. death
gurth
noun. death
The usual Sindarin word for “death”, derived from the root √ÑGUR of similar meaning (UT/39; Ety/ÑGUR).
Conceptual Development: This word dates all the way back to the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/43), anchored by well established names like Gurthang or Gurtholf(in), the name of Túrin’s sword. Tolkien experimented with various alternate forms over the years, such as G. urthu (GG/14), G. gurthu (GL/43), ᴱN. gurdh (PE13/146) and N. guruth (Ety/ÑGUR), but kept coming back to gurth as the basic form.
Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I would use this word for death in general and especially violent death, as opposed to the more euphemistic [N.] gwanath or gwanu “death”, more literally “departure”.
guru
noun. death
_ n. _death. guru << gûru.
guru
noun. death, death (abstract)
A Sindarin word for “death” derived from primitive ✶ñgurū (PE17/87), unusual in that its primitive ancient vowel *u* did not vanish. In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien had variant forms [N.] gûr and gurw “death” marked with a “?”, both derived from Old Noldorin nguru and indicating some uncertainty on the exact phonetic developments (EtyAC/ÑGUR). Elsewhere in The Etymologies Tolkien said that [N.] guru was “Death as state or abstract”, as opposed to [N.] gwanw or gwanath for the “act of dying” (Ety/GWAN).
Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I would assume guru was for death as an abstraction or principle, and for the death of individuals I would use either gurth or gwanu/gwanath; see those entries for discussion.
gwanu
noun. death (act of dying, not death as a state or abstract)
gurth
death
(i ngurth = i ñurth, o n’gurth = o ñgurth), pl. gyrth (in gyrth = i ñgyrth)
guruth
death
(i nguruth = i ñuruth, o n’guruth = o ñguruth), pl. gyryth (in gyryth = i ñgyryth)
gwanath
death
- (act of dying) gwanath (i **wanath), pl. gwenaith (in gwenaith), 2) (act of dying, especially the ”death” of Elves by fading or weariness) gwanu (i **wanu), analogical pl. gweny (in gweny). Archaic gwanw (LR:397 s.v. WAN), hence coll. pl. ?gwanwath. Other words (rather referring to Death as a state or abstract): 3) gûr (i ngûr = i ñûr, o n**gûr = o ñgûr, construct gur), pl. guir (in guir = i ñguir), 4) gurth (i ngurth = i ñurth, o n**gurth = o ñgurth), pl. gyrth (in gyrth = i ñgyrth), 5) guruth (i nguruth = i ñuruth, o n**guruth = o ñguruth), pl. gyryth (in gyryth** = i ñgyryth)
gwanath
death
(i ’wanath), pl. gwenaith (in gwenaith)
gwanu
death
(i ’wanu), analogical pl. gweny (in gweny). Archaic gwanw (LR:397 s.v. WAN), hence coll. pl. ?gwanwath. Other words (rather referring to Death as a state or abstract):
gûr
death
(i ngûr = i ñûr, o n’gûr = o ñgûr, construct gur), pl. guir (in guir = i ñguir)
Quenya
effírië
death
#effírië noun "death" (isolated from effíriemmo "of our death"). A verbal stem *effir- "expire, die" seems to be implied. (VT43:34)
effírië
noun. death
nuru
death, death
nuru, Nuru noun "death, Death" _(ÑGUR). This represents earlier ñuru (VT46:4) _and should be spelt accordingly in Tengwar writing. When personalized, Nuru refers to Mandos. Cf. Nurufantur.
urdu
death
urdu noun "death" (LT2:342; rather nuru in Tolkien's later Quenya)
urtu Speculative
noun. death
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!
Gnomish
gurth(u)
noun. death
Early Noldorin
gurdh
noun. death
Early Quenya
qalume Archaic
noun. death
urdu
noun. death
Qenya
nuru
noun. death, death [abstract]
A word for “death” in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√ÑGUR, where Tolkien said its personification was Mandos (Ety/ÑGUR). Tolkien also use this word as “death” in the phrase ᴹQ. núruhuine méne lumna “death-shadow on-us is-heavy” (LR/47, 56; SD/310).
Conceptual Development: A possible precursor to this word is ᴱQ. urdu “death” from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√GWṚÐṚ “die” (QL/104), given as a cognate to G. gurthu in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon (GL/43). A variant of this form seems to have been briefly restored in Quenya prayers from the 1950s as incomplete urtulm..., probably Q. urtu with a possessive suffix, but this was quickly replaced by Q. fírië “death” (VT43/27, 34).
Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would use the word nuru for death as an abstract force or concept (Death), as opposed to the death of individuals which would be fírie (if natural or peaceful) or [ᴹQ.] qualme (if undesired or painful). This is the way its cognate [N.] guru was used (Ety/WAN).
Old Noldorin
ngurtu
noun. death
nguru
noun. death
Middle Primitive Elvish
wanwē
noun. death
The masculine personification of agan “death” (SD/426). This could be the Adûnaic name for Mandos.