delos (i dhelos) (fear, horror, dread, detestation, loathing), pl. delys (i nelys), coll. pl. delossath. Notice that a side-form ends in -oth (pl. -yth) instead of -os (-ys).
Sindarin
deloth
noun. abhorrence, abhorrence, [N.] detestation, loathing
dor daedeloth
place name. Land of Great Dread; Land of Shadow of Horror
delos
abhorrence
delos
abhorrence
(i dhelos) (fear, horror, dread, detestation, loathing), pl. delys (i nelys), coll. pl. delossath. Notice that a side-form ends in -oth (pl. -yth) instead of -os (-ys).
dor-na-daerachas
place name. Land of Great Dread
A proposed replacement name for Dor Daedeloth in very late notes from 1971 that Tolkien made to The Lord of the Rings maps (WJ/187), translated “Land of Great Dread” (WJ/183). The first few elements seem to be dôr “land”, na(n) “of” and daer “great”. This means the final element achas (perhaps lented from ✱gachas) must mean “dread”, but there are no other clear equivalents to this word in Tolkien’s writing. In a Discord chat from 2022-10-17, Röandil proposed the first element might instead by dae (still meaning “great”), and that the second element rachas might be related to Q. raxë “danger”.
lad
noun. plain, valley
laden
plain
(adjective) laden (flat, wide, open, cleared), pl. ledin (suggested Sindarin forms for ”Noldorin” lhaden pl. lhedin, LR:368 s.v. LAT)
laden
plain
(flat, wide, open, cleared), pl. ledin (suggested Sindarin forms for ”Noldorin” lhaden pl. lhedin, LR:368 s.v. LAT)
lâd
plain
(valley, lowland), construct lad, pl. laid
talath
plain
(noun) 1) talath (i dalath, o thalath) (flat surface, plane, flatlands, [wide] valley), pl. telaith (i thelaith). Tolkien changed this word from ”Noldorin” dalath_, LR:353 s.v.
talath
plain
(i dalath, o thalath) (flat surface, plane, flatlands, [wide] valley), pl. telaith (i thelaith). *Tolkien changed this word from ”Noldorin” dalath, LR:353 s.v. DAL. Compare the Talath Dirnen or ”Guarded Plain” mentioned in the *Silmarillion.
The land of Morgoth (S/127), translated “Land of Great Dread” (WJ/183), a combination of dôr “land”, a form of daer “great” and deloth “abhorrence, detestation, loathing” (SA/del, WJ/187).
Conceptual Development: In the earliest Lost Tales, this name first appeared as G. Ladwen-na-Dhaideloth “Heath of the Sky-roof” (LT2/287), revised to G. Dor-na-Dhaideloth of similar meaning (LT2A/Dor-na-Dhaideloth, LT2/287). In the Lays of Beleriand from the 1920s, Tolkien revised the meaning of last element of ᴱN. Dor-na-Dhaideloth to “[Land of the] High Plain” (LB/49).
In Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s, it generally appeared as N. Dor-Daideloth (SM/269, LR/250) or Dor-Daedeloth (LR/120, LR/256). At this time the name was usually glossed “Land of Dread”, but this was only accurate as a translation of its shorter variant Dor-Deloth (LR/405, WJ/183), which was also translated as “Loathly Land” in The Etymologies (Ety/DYEL). In one place in this period the name appeared as Dor-na-Daideloth “Land of the Shadow of Dread” (LR/405), a better indication of its full meaning. In The Etymologies from the 1930s, there was a word N. dae “shadow”, which appeared as an element in the variant name N. Daedhelos “Shadow of Fear” (Ety/DAY). These factors are probably the source of Christopher Tolkien’s translation in the Silmarillion Index: “Land of Shadow of Horror” (SI/Dor Daedeloth, SA/dae).
However, in revisions to the Silmarillion map from 1950s, J.R.R. Tolkien translated S. Dor Dae-deloth as “Land of Great Dread” (WJ/183), and later still considered changing the name to S. Dor-na-Daerachas of the same meaning (WJ/187). This indicates that he altered the sense of the element dae from “shadow” to “great”, though exactly when he did so is difficult to pin down.