Sindarin
crissaegrim
place name. *Cleft Mountain Peaks
Elements
Word Gloss criss “cleft, cleft, [N.] cut, slash, [G.] gash; [N.] pass, [G.] gully, ravine” aeg “sharp, sharp, [N.] pointed, piercing” -rim “collective or group plural” Variations
- Crisaegrim ✧ WJ/239; WJI/Crisaegrim
Mountains south of Gondolin (S/121). The meaning of this name is unclear, but it may be a combination of criss “cleft” and aeg “point” with the class-plural suffix -rim. The second half of the word aegrim may have the same meaning as aeglir “range of mountain peaks”.
Conceptual Development: In Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s, this name first appeared as Dan. Gochressiel (LR/285). This name was designated Danian in The Etymologies, containing Dan. hrassa “precipice” and described as “a sheer mountain wall” (Ety/KHARÁS). The name was later changed to N. Crisaegrim with one s (LR/301). A second s was added in Silmarillion revisions from the 1950s-60s (WJ/193-4).