anga noun "iron", also name of tengwa #7 (ANGĀ, Appendix E, SA, PM:347, LT1:249, 268). In the pre-classical Tengwar system presupposed in the Etymologies, anga was the name of letter #19, which tengwa Tolkien would later call noldo instead (VT45:6). Masc. names Angamaitë "Iron-handed" (Letters:347), Angaráto "Iron-champion", Sindarin Angrod(SA:ar(a) ). See also Angamando, tornanga and cf. Angainor as the name of the chain with which Melkor was bound (Silm)
Quenya
angainor
proper name. Angainor
anga
iron
anga
noun. iron
This was the Quenya word for “iron” for much of Tolkien’s life, derived from primitive ✶angā of the same meaning (PM/347).
Conceptual Development: ᴱQ. anga “iron” dates back to the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s (QL/31). In this document it had some competing alternatives: ᴱQ. yere(n) “pig iron” under the early root ᴱ√DYEÐE (QL/105) and {ᴱQ. tongo “iron”} under the early root ᴱ√TOŊO “to hammer” (QL/94), though this second form was deleted. Neither of these alternatives survived in Tolkien’s later writings, and The Etymologies of the 1930s had only ᴹQ. anga “iron” under the root ᴹ√ANGĀ (Ety/ANGĀ). Tolkien stuck with this form thereafter.
erë
iron
erë, eren noun "iron" or "steel"; Eremandu variant of Angamandu (Angband) (LT1:252; "iron" should be anga in LotR-style Quenya, but erë, eren may still be used for "steel". See also yaisa.)
The great chain that bound Melkor after his defeat by the Valar (S/252).
Conceptual Development: This name had a long history in Tolkien’s legendarium, appearing in the earliest Lost Tales in various forms, most commonly ᴱQ. Angaino (LT1/103). In the Qenya Lexicon from the 1910s, it was glossed “Tormentor” and given as a derivative of the root ᴱ√ŊAHYA “hurt, grieve” (QL/34). The form Engainor >> ᴹQ. Angainor emerged in The Lays of Beleriand (LB/205, 208) and remained the same thereafter.
Possible Etymology: The later meaning of this name is unclear. Christopher Tolkien connected it with Q. anga “iron” in The Silmarillion appendix (SA/anga). However, the earlier name ᴱQ. Angaino was glossed “Oppressor” or “Tormentor”, and J.R.R. Tolkien was quite emphatic that it was not etymologically related to “iron” (GL/37, G. Gainu). He derived it instead from the root ᴱ√ŊAHYA (or NAẎA) “hurt, grieve” (QL/34).
This early root survived into Tolkien’s later writings as √NAY “cause pain, lament” (Ety/NAY, PE17/166). An intriguing possibility is that the older etymology of Angainor and its resulting glosses could have remained valid as well. The initial element of Angainor might have developed from a strengthened etymological variant of this root, perhaps √NAY > √ÑAY > ✶ṇ̃gay- > Q. Angai-.
As enticing as this idea is, it does not fit the phonology of later Quenya very well. A syllabic initial nasal ✶ṇ̃g- ordinarily developed into Q. ing- (PE19/77), such as ✶ñgōlē > ingolë “lore, science” (PM/360). Furthermore, N/Ñ is not a standard etymological-variation, since these variations did not usually cross homorganic grades (PE18/90). There is no evidence that Tolkien considered such a scenario in any of his later writings.