Dorthonion

noun. land of pines

(n-)dôr (“land, dwelling-place”) + thôn (“pine-tree”) + ion ([HKF] Dor. plural gen. suffix)

Dorthonion

place name. 'Land of Pines'

topon. 'Land of Pines'. Noldorized S. form.

dorthonion

place name. Land of Pines

A forested region in northern Beleriand, meaning “Land of Pines”. After its corruption by the forces of Morgoth, the region was renamed to Taur-nu-Fuin.

Possibly Etymology: The name contains the elements S. dôr “land” and thôn “pine”, but its final element -ion is harder to explain. It could be the suffix -ion “-land” appearing in names like Eregion and Rhovanion, but then both the first and final elements of Dorthonion would mean “land”, which seems unlikely.

In one note (PE17/81), Tolkien said that this word was “Sindarin Noldorized”, so perhaps the final element is the Quenya genitive plural -ion, so that -thonion is Quenyarized Sindarin for “of Pines”. In the same note, Tolkien gives Dor i Thuin, apparently as the proper Sindarin name of the region. Since Dorthonion is where many Noldor settled after their arrival in Beleriand, this scenario is plausible.

Conceptual Development: In Silmarillion drafts from the early 1930s, this name first appeared as Taur Danin (SM/107), later revised to Taur-na-Danion “Forest of Pines” (SM/296, LR/145) with variants -Thanion, -Donion, -Thonion. It became Dorthanion >> Dorthonion in Silmarillion drafts from the mid-1930s (LR/145, 257), the last of these forms being used thereafter.

In The Etymologies, Tolkien specified that the name was from the Ilkorin language, Ilk. Dorthonion “Land of Pines”, while its Noldorin form was N. Dor-na-Thuin (Ety/THŌN). Since the Ilkorin language also used -(i)on for is genitive plural, this is an earlier parallel of the Quenyarized Dorthonion versus proper Sindarin Dor i Thuin discussed above.

Elements

Word	Gloss
dôr	“land, land, [N.] region where certain people live, [ᴱN.] country; [G.] people of the land”
thôn	“pine-tree”
-ion	“-region, -land”

Dor I thoen

place name. 'Land of Pines'

topon. 'Land of Pines'. . This gloss was rejected.

thôn

noun. pine-tree

Changes

• thaun → Thôn “pine” ✧ PE17/081

Cognates

• ᴺQ. sono “pine”
• Q. sánë “pine” ✧ PE17/081

Derivations

• ✶thŏno “pine” ✧ PE17/081; PE17/081; PE17/082

Element in

• S. Dor i Thuin ✧ PE17/081 (Dor i thoen); PE17/081
• S. Dorthonion “Land of Pines” ✧ PE17/081; PE17/081; RC/384; SA/thôn
• S. Orod-na-Thôn “Mount of the Pine Tree(s)” ✧ LotR/0469; PE17/082; RC/384
• S. Thonador

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶thānĭ- > thaun	[tʰāni] > [tʰāne] > [θāne] > [θǭne] > [θaune] > [θaun]	✧ PE17/081
✶thānĭ- > thoen	[tʰānī] > [tʰāni] > [θāni] > [θǭni] > [θoin] > [θoen]	✧ PE17/081
✶thŏno > Thôn	[θono] > [θon] > [θōn]	✧ PE17/081
✶thŏno > thuin	[θoni] > [θuni] > [θuin]	✧ PE17/081

Variations

• thaun ✧ PE17/081 (thaun)
• Thôn ✧ PE17/081; RC/384

Dorthonion

place name. Land of the Pine Trees

Dorthonion means "Land of the Pine Trees" in Sindarin (from dôr = "land, dwelling-place" and thôn = "pine tree").

thôn

pine-tree

thôn (pl. thŷn, coll. pl. ?thonath). In the linguistic scenario of the Etymologies, the ”Noldorin” word for ”pine-tree” was thaun pl. thuin, and thôn was rather ”Ilkorin”. However, when Tolkien revised his legendarium so that Sindarin replaced Ilkorin as the native Elven-tongue of Beleriand, names like Dorthonion ”Land of Pines” must be interpreted as containing a Sindarin word for pine. Adj. #thonion ”having pine trees” (isolated from the name Dorthonion), pl. thonyn

thôn

pine-tree

(pl. th**ŷn, coll. pl. ?thonath). In the linguistic scenario of the Etymologies, the ”Noldorin” word for ”pine-tree” was thaun pl. thuin, and thôn was rather ”Ilkorin”. However, when Tolkien revised his legendarium so that Sindarin replaced Ilkorin as the native Elven-tongue of Beleriand, names like Dorthonion ”Land of Pines” must be interpreted as containing a Sindarin word for pine. Adj. #thonion ”having pine trees” (isolated from the name Dorthonion), pl. thonyn**