agan

noun. death

A noun for “death” attested both as an independent word (SD/426) and in the compound agannâlô “death-shadow” (SD/247).

agân

masculine name. Death

The masculine personification of agan “death” (SD/426). This could be the Adûnaic name for Mandos.

agannâlô burôda nênud

[the] death-shadow [is] heavy on us

The 9th phrase of the Lament of Akallabêth (SD/247). The subject agannâlô “death-shadow” is a compound of agan “death” and nâlu “shadow” in the subjective case. The next word burôda “heavy” is simply an adjective, and nênud “on us” is a combination of the pronoun nê “us” and the prepositional suffix -nud “on”. Since there is no verb, the subjective here functions as the verb “to be” (SD/429), so that the English translation should be “the death-shadow is heavy on us”, though Tolkien did not include “is” in his translation.

In the previous (second draft) version of this sentence, the spelling of some words were slightly different: buruda (as it was in the first draft) instead of the final form burôda and nēnu instead of the final form nēnud (SD/312). The first draft of this sentence uses the same words but is grammatically different.

agannūlo burudan nēnum

death-shade heavy-is on-us

The first draft of the 9th phrase of the Lament of Akallabêth (SD/312), which was close to the final version but had minor differences in spelling and grammar. The subject agannūlo “death-shade” seems to be in the normal-case rather than the subjective, and nūlo “shade” is a variant spelling of later nâlu. The word burudan “heavy” seems to buruda (so spelled in the second draft but burôda in the final version) with the predicate suffix -n “is”. The final word nēnum “on us” is a combination of the pronoun nê “us” and the prepositional suffix -num “on” (nēnu in the second draft and nēnud in the final version).

nâlu

noun. shadow

A noun attested only in the compound agannâlô “death-shadow [is]” (SD/247, VT24/12). The first element of the compound, agan “death”, as identified elsewhere (SD/426), so the remaining element must mean “shadow”. The compound is the subject of the sentence agannâlô burôda nênud “death-shadow [is] heavy on us” and is therefore in the subjective case. According the grammatical rules of Lowdham’s Report, the only possibly normal form producing this subjective is nâlu: compare nîlu “moon” to its subjective form nîlô (SD/431).

Conceptual Development: In early writings, the compound was (non-subjective) agannūlo, so that the apparent draft form of this noun was nūlo. A similar form nūlu appears on SD/306, described only as “a word with the evil sense of ‘night’ or ‘dark’”. It could be a separate word or another variation of this word, with the development nūlo >> nūlu >> nālu. Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne suggested (AAD/21) that the earlier forms may be related to ᴹQ. nulla “dark, dusky, obscure”.

ugru

noun. shadow

A noun translated “shadow” (SD/247), also described as “a word with the evil sense of ‘night’ or ‘dark’” (SD/306). It appears in the preprositional phrase ugru-dalad “under shadow” (SD/247) and in the draft-dative form ugrus “‽horror‽shadow” (SD/311).

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, 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.

Nûrnen

place name. Death

_ topon. _Death, dead water. >> guru

guru

noun. death

_ n. _death. guru << gûru.

gurth

noun. death

belegurth

masculine name. Great Death

A Sindarin name for Q. Melkor, a modification of his proper name S. Belegûr “He who arises in Might” which the Grey Elves refused to use (SI/Melkor, PM/358). This name is a combination of beleg “great” and gurth “death”.

gurthang

proper name. Iron of Death

The sword of Túrin translated “Iron of Death” (S/210), a compound of gurth “death” and ang “iron” (SA/anga, gurth).

Conceptual Development: In the earliest Lost Tales, this name appeared as G. Gurtholfin “Wand of Death” (LT2/83), where its final element was G. olf(in) “branch, wand, stick” (LT2A/Gurtholfin). In Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s, it developed into N. Gurtholf of the same meaning, where its final element was N. golf “branch” (LR/406, Ety/ÑGUR). It only adopted its final form and meaning in Silmarillion revisions from the 1950s-60s (WJ/83, 138).

guruthos

noun. dread of death, death-horror, shadow of death, dread of death, death-horror, shadow of death, [N.] fear of death

A word for the fear of death in the phrase le nallon sí di’nguruthos, translated in The Road Goes Ever On published from 1967 as “here overwhelmed in dread of Death I cry” or more literally “to thee I cry here beneath-death-horror” (RGEO/64), also translated in a 1958 letter to Rhona Beare as “to thee I cry now in the shadow of (the fear of) death” (Let/278). In notes from the late 1950s or early 1960s, Tolkien identified the elements as guru “death” and thoss “fear” (PE17/87), based on the roots √ÑGUR and √THOS (PE17/95).

Conceptual Development: The form N. {gurthos >>} guruthos “fear of death” appeared in the margin of The Etymologies next to the entry for the root ᴹ√GOS “dread” where the word’s final element was probably N. gost “dread, terror” (EtyAC/GOS). As such, its initial element when the word was first introduced was probably N. guruth “death” (Ety/ÑGUR).

Belegurth

noun. great death (Melkor)

beleg (“great, mighty”) + gurth (“death”)

Gurthang

noun. death sword

gurth (“death”) + ang (“iron”)

Nan Dongoroth

noun. valley of dreadful death

nan (“vally, grassland”), don (“swart, swarthy”) + goroth (“death”); Dor. Dungorthin - dunn (Dor. “black”) + (n-)gorthin (Dor. “horrible”); Dor. Dungortheb - dunn (Dor. “black”) + ngorth (Dor. “horror”) + eb (adjective suffix); the suffix -in in Dungorthin Ardalambion interprets as Dor. plural ending.

guruthos

noun. shadow of death

_ n. _shadow of death. >> nguruthos

nan dungortheb

place name. Valley of Dreadful Death

The valley in Beleriand where the spider-children of Ungoliant dwelled, translated “Valley of Dreadful Death” (S/81). The initial word of the name is nan(d) “valley” (SA/nan(d)), but the second word is difficult to analyze. Its second element gortheb could be a variant of gorthob “horrible” or it could contain a variant of gurth “death”. The first element Dun- is hard to reconcile, however, as there are no attested Sindarin words of this form meaning anything like “dread” or “death”. Based on its earlier definitions, it might be a variant of [N.] donn “shadowy”; see below.

Conceptual Development: In the earliest Lost Tales, this name was G. Nan Dumgorthin “Land of the Dark Idols” (LT2/35). In the Lays of Beleriand from the 1920s, the form Dungorthin emerged (LB/148), and in the Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s, this valled was named Ilk. Nan Dungorthin (LR/261), which was designated an Ilkorin name in The Etymologies and translated “Vale of Black Horror” (Ety/DUN, NAD, ÑGOROTH). At this stage its initial element was dunn “black” (Ety/DUN), whose Noldorin form was N. donn “shady, shadowy” (EtyAC/DUN).

In Silmarillion revisions from the 1950s-60s, the name was revised to Nan Dungortheb (MR/127) and given its new translation “Valley of Dreadful Death” (MR/297, footnote), but none of the published material explains how the new name and translation correspond. Absent further evidence, N. donn is my best guess for the element Dun- in this name.

nguruthos

noun. shadow of death

_ n. _shadow of death. >> guruthos

gurth an glamhoth

Death to the din-horde

le nallon sí di’nguruthos

here overwhelmed in dread of Death I cry

guruthos

noun. the shadow of death, death-horror

gwanu

noun. death (act of dying, not death as a state or abstract)

dúath

dark shadow

(i dhúath) (nightshade), pl. dúaith (i núaith). Compare the Ephel Dúath or ”Mountains of Shadow” forming th outer fence of Mordor, perhaps suggesting that Dúath is also the word used of Sauron as ”the Shadow”.

gwanath

death

1. (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)

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):

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

(i ’wanath), pl. gwenaith (in gwenaith)

gûr

death

(i ngûr = i ñûr, o n’gûr = o ñgûr, construct gur), pl. guir (in guir = i ñguir)

guruthos

dread of death

(i nguruthos = i ñuruthos, o n’guruthos = o ñguruthos) (death-horror), pl. (if there is a pl.) either guruthys (in guruthys = i ñguruthys) or gyrythys (in gyrythys = i ñgyrythys) with umlaut throughtout the word. Coll. pl. guruthossath.

ammal

noun. (death) agony

guruthos

death-horror, dread of death

guruthos (i nguruthos, o n**guruthos), pl. (if there is a pl.) either guruthys (in guruthys = i ñguruthys) or gyrythys (in gyrythys = i ñgyrythys) with umlaut throughtout the word. Coll. pl. guruthossath**.

Hiro hyn hîdh ab 'wanath

May they find peace after death.

This is a phrase that Legolas, Aragorn, And Gimli think that the hobbits are dead.

guruthos

death-horror, dread of death

(i nguruthos, o n’guruthos), pl. (if there is a pl.) either guruthys (in guruthys = i ñguruthys) or gyrythys (in gyrythys = i ñgyrythys) with umlaut throughtout the word. Coll. pl. guruthossath.

gwanu

noun. death (act of dying)

Gurthang

Gurthang

Gurthang is a Sindarin name, consisting of the elements gurth ("death") + ang ("iron").

Nan Dungortheb

Nan Dungortheb

The name Nan Dungortheb is translated as "Valley of Dreadful Death", containing the word nan ("valley").

dagor

battle

(noun) 1) dagor (i nagor, o ndagor), analogical pl. degyr (i ndegyr), coll. pl. dagorath. Archaic dagr, so we might have expected dagrath as the coll. pl.; dagorath would be an analogical formation. 2) (battle of two or a few, not a general host) maeth (i vaeth) (fight), no distinct pl. except with article (i maeth). 3) auth (war), pl. oeth, coll. pl. othath. Note: a homophone means "dim shape, apparition".

dagra

battle

(verb, "do battle, make war") dagra- (i nagra, i ndagrar), also dagrada- (i nagrada, i ndagradar)

morchant

shadow

1. morchant (i vorchant), pl. morchaint (i morchaint). The literal meaning is ”dark shape”, referring to shadows with a recognizable form. 2) dae (i dhae) (shade), no distinct pl. form except with article (i nae). 3) daew (i dhaew), no distinct pl. form except with article (i ndaew) (VT45:8). 4) gwâth (i **wâth; construct gwath) (shade, dim light), pl. gwaith (in gwaith) (UT:261) 5) muil (i vuil) (twilight, dreariness, vagueness), no distinct pl. except with article (i muil**),

naeg

pain

(noun) naeg (no distinct pl. form)

naegra

pain

(verb) *naegra- (i naegra, in naegrar). Suggested Sindarin form of a word that actually appears with e instead of ae in the source (LR:375 s.v. NÁYAK), but cf. the noun naeg ”pain”.

dae

noun. shadow

dae

noun. shadow, shadow (cast by an object or form), [N.] shade

dagor

noun. battle

dagor

noun. battle

imlad morgul

place name. Morgul Vale

Sindarin name of Morgul Vale (LotR/694), a combination of imlad “valley” and morgul “sorcery” (RC/482).

Conceptual Development: In Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s, this name first appeared as N. Imlad Morghul (WR/223, note #25).

morchant

noun. shadow (of objects, cast by light), dark shape

naegra-

verb. to pain

achas

dread

(fear), pl. echais. It is possible that the word is lenited in the source, and that it should have an initial g-; if so read gachas (i ’achas), pl. gechais (i ngechais = i ñechais), coll. pl. achassath.

auth

battle

(war), pl. oeth, coll. pl. othath. Note: a homophone means "dim shape, apparition".

dae

shadow

(i dhae) (shade), no distinct pl. form except with article (i nae).

daedhelos

great dread

(i naedhelos, o ndaedhelos), pl. daedhelys (i ndaedhelys). Coll. pl. daedhelossath. A side-form ends in -oth instead of -os. The word appears in the mutated form "ndaedelos" in LotR Appendix F, but since the second element must be delos "abhorrence" and it would surely be lenited following a vowel, this would seem to be one of the cases where Tolkien wrote d even though dh would be technically correct.

daew

shadow

(i dhaew), no distinct pl. form except with article (i ndaew) (VT45:8).

dagor

battle

(i nagor, o ndagor), analogical pl. degyr (i ndegyr), coll. pl. dagorath. Archaic dagr, so we might have expected dagrath as the coll. pl.; dagorath would be an analogical formation.

dagra

battle

(i nagra, i ndagrar), also dagrada- (i nagrada, i ndagradar)

delos

dread

(i dhelos) (fear, horror, abhorrence, detestation, loathing), pl. delys (i nelys), coll. pl. delossath. A side-form ends in -oth (pl. -yth) instead of -os (-ys).

gae

dread

(i ’ae), no distinct pl. form except with article (i ngae = i ñae)

goroth

dread

(i ngoroth = i ñoroth, o n’goroth = o ñgoroth) (horror), pl. geryg (in geryg = i ñgeryg) (WJ:415). Archaic pl. ✱göryth.

gorth

dread

(i ngorth = i ñorth, o n’gorth = o ñgorth) (horror), pl. gyrth (in gyrth = i ñgyrth). (WJ:415) Note: a homophone means ”dead; dead person”.

goss

dread

(i ’oss, constuct gos) (horror), pl. gyss (i ngyss = i ñyss).

gost

dread

(i ngost = i ñost, o n’gost = o ñgost) (terror), pl. gyst (in gyst = i ñgyst).

gwâth

shadow

(i ’wâth; construct gwath) (shade, dim light), pl. gwaith (in gwaith) (UT:261)

gôr

dread

(i ngôr = i ñôr, o n’gôr = o ñgôr, construct gor) (fear, horror), pl. gŷr (in gŷr = i ñgŷr). Note: a homophone means ”vigour”, but has different mutations.

hûl

cry of encouragement in battle

(i chûl, o chûl, construct hul), pl. huil (i chuil)

maeth

battle

(i vaeth) (fight), no distinct pl. except with article (i maeth).

morchant

shadow

(i vorchant), pl. morchaint (i morchaint). The literal meaning is ”dark shape”, referring to shadows with a recognizable form.

muil

shadow

(i vuil) (twilight, dreariness, vagueness), no distinct pl. except with article (i muil)

naeg

pain

(no distinct pl. form)

naegra

pain

(i naegra, in naegrar). – Suggested Sindarin form of a word that actually appears with e instead of ae in the source (LR:375 s.v. NÁYAK), but cf. the noun naeg ”pain”.

effírië

death

#effírië noun "death" (isolated from effíriemmo "of our death"). A verbal stem *effir- "expire, die" seems to be implied. (VT43:34)

urdu

death

urdu noun "death" (LT2:342; rather nuru in Tolkien's later Quenya)

urtu

noun. death

effírië

noun. death

Nurufantur

lord of death-cloud

Nurufantur noun "lord of Death-cloud", surname of Mandos (SPAN, ÑGUR)

anqualë

agony, death

anqualë noun "agony, death" (form Tolkien seems to have intended as a replacement for unqualë of similar meaning, VT45:24, 36)

fairë

natural death

fairë (2) noun "natural death" (as act) (PHIR)

firië

dying, death

firië noun "dying, death" (gerund of fir-) (VT43:34)

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.

nuruhuinë

death-shadow

nuruhuinë noun "death-shadow" (LR:47, 56, SD:310)

qualme

noun. death process

death process, death agony

qualmë

agony, death

qualmë ("q")noun "agony, death" (KWAL, LT1:264)

sí ar lúmessë ya firuvammë: násië

now and at the hour of our death: Amen

The seventh line of Aia María, Tolkien’s translation of the Ave Maria prayer. The first few words are sí ar lúmessë “now and at [the] hour”, the last being a combination of the noun lúmë “time” (“hour”) and the locative suffix -ssë “at, in, on”. The next two words are a subordinate clause: ya firuvammë “✱when we will die”, the latter being future 1st-person-plural-exclusive form of the verb fir- “to die”. The last word, násië “Amen”, is also used by Tolkien in the Quenya prayer Átaremma.

Decomposition: Broken into its constituent elements, this phrase would be:

> sí ar lúme-ssë ya fir-uva-mmë: násië = “✱now and time-at when die-(future)-we: amen”

Less literally: “✱now and at the time when we will die”.

Conceptual Development: The first few words sí ar lúmesse are the nearly same in all versions of the prayer, except (a) the accents are omitted from si and lumesse in version I and (b) Tolkien considered and rejected a variant form are for ar “and” (as he did in line four).

In the first two versions of the prayer Tolkien used a Quenya word for “of our death”: fíriemmo (I) and effíriemmo (II). In both cases, the noun is (ef)fírie “death” with the first person plural exclusive possessive suffix -mma “our” and the genitive suffix -o “of”. In the version I, these forms were preceded by some incomplete and difficult-to-decipher forms; for details see VT43/27, 34-35.

The word násië “Amen” appears only in the last two versions of the prayer (III-IV).

| |  I  | II |III|IV| |si|sí| |ar|{are >>} ar|ar| |lumesse|lúmesse| |{urtulm >> urt >> menya >>}|i fíriemmo|effíriemmo|yá firuvamme|ya firuvamme| | |násie|

umaqualë

agony, death

[?umaqualë] ("q"), possibly a synonym of anqualë/unqualë, hence noun "agony, death" (VT45:24)

unquale

noun. death agony

death agony

unqualë

agony, death

unqualë ("q")noun "agony, death" (KWAL, VT45:36). See anqualë. In the pre-classical Tengwar system presupposed in the Etymologies, unqualë was the name of letter #8 (VT45:18), which tengwa Tolkien would later call ungwë instead changing its Quenya value from nqu to ngw.

unqualë

noun. death agony, death agony, torment, [ᴹQ.] agony, death

anqualë

noun. *death agony

itanqualë

noun. aconite, (lit.) sparkling death torment

A neologism for “aconite” coined by Fëastorno posted on 2025-03-22 in the Vinyë Lambengolmor Discord Server (VLDS), a combination of ita- “sparkle” and unqualë “death agony”, so more literally “sparkling death torment”. This name is based on its physiological symptoms, as opposed to rácumbar for its ancient use in poisoning wolves (it is unclear whether the the elves would have used it for this purpose).

nurunyel

noun. foxglove, (lit.) death-bell

A neologism coined by Luinyelle posted on 2024-05-09 in the Vinyë Lambengolmor Discord Server (VLDS), a combination of [ᴹQ.] nuru “death” and nyellë “bell”.

quelmë

noun. ruin, utter end, perdition, end, death

aista-

verb. to dread

aista- (3) vb. "to dread" (GÁYAS, VT45:14; possibly obsoleted by #2 above)

mordo

shadow, obscurity, stain

mordo (1) noun "shadow, obscurity, stain" (MOR)

nwalma

pain

nwalma noun "pain" _(VT46:4. In Tengwar writing, the initial NW would be represented by the letter nwalmë.)_

guruth

noun. death

guruth

noun. death

gûr

noun. death

gurth

noun. *death

gurfannor

masculine name. Lord of Death-cloud

A surname for Mandos appearing in The Etymologies from the 1930s, a combination of guru “death” and the name Fannor “Cloud-lord” that he shared with his brother Lórien (Ety/ÑGUR, SPAN).

Conceptual Development: This name appeared as G. Gwifanthor or Gwefanthor in the Gnomish Lexicon from the 1910s (GL/34, 45), a combination of his short name G. Gwî with G. Fanthor, precursor of N. Fannor.

amphala

noun. death agony

ON. death agony

gwanath

noun. death (act of dying)

There were a couple of words for “death” under the root ᴹ√WAN “depart” in The Etymologies of the 1930s: N. gwanath and gwanw, the latter from primitive ᴹ√wanwē (Ety/WAN). Tolkien specified that these words referred to the “act of dying”, as opposed to guru which was “Death as a state or abstract”. These death-words from ᴹ√WAN may originally have been euphemistic, or perhaps they refer to the departure of Elvish spirits to Valinor.

Neo-Sindarin: Most Neo-Sindarin writers adapted N. gwanw as ᴺS. gwanu to better fit Sindarin spelling conventions, as suggested in HSD (HSD). I would use the words gwanath and gwanu only for the death of individuals, and mainly for deaths that are natural or peaceful. For violent deaths I would use gurth instead, and for the state of death or Death as an abstraction I would use guru as noted above.

gurtholf

proper name. Wand of Death

guru

noun. death (abstract)

guruthos

noun. fear of death

gwanw

noun. death (act of dying)

gurth i morthu

*death (of) ?Sauron

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)

palw

noun. agony

dae

noun. shadow

daew

noun. shadow

dagor

noun. battle

dagor

noun. battle

dagr

noun. battle

dagra-

verb. to battle

gae

noun. dread

goe

noun. dread

maeth

noun. battle, fight (not of general host but of two or a few)

maeth

noun. battle, fight, fight, battle

naeg

noun. pain

naeg

noun. pain

negra-

verb. to pain

ñgurū

noun. death

wath

noun. shadow