Beware, older languages below! The languages below were invented during Tolkien's earlier period and should be used with caution. Remember to never, ever mix words from different languages!

Doriathrin

durgul

noun. sorcery

A Doriathrin noun for “sorcery” (Ety/ÑGOL). The elements of this word seem to be a combination of derivatives of the roots ᴹ√DOƷ and ᴹ√ÑGOL. If it were derived from such a primitive form, it would imply that in its phonological history the [o] because [u] in both syllables. This does not seem to be a general rule in Ilkorin, however: compare Ilk. dorn and (n)golo. A simpler explanation would be that it was a loan word from Noldorin: N. durgul seen in a marginal note (EtyAC/ÑGOL).

Conceptual Development: There is a rejected form dûghol in this entry of The Etymologies that may represent Tolkien’s first attempt to formulate a native Ilkorin word for “sorcery” (EtyAC/ÑGOL). Similar forms appear among the precursors to S. Dol Guldur in Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s: Dol Dúgol or Dol Dúghol (TI/178; WR/122). The entry also has a deleted variant form of gûl of Ilk. (n)gôl, so it may be Tolkien originally envisioned a different phonological history of [o] in Ilkorin allowing the production of words like durgul. Perhaps he added the Noldorin form durgul in the margin because he abandoned [o] > [u] in Ilkorin.

Changes

  • dûgholdurgul ✧ Ety/ÑGOL

Cognates

  • N. durgul “sorcery”
  • N. gûl “magic” ✧ Ety/ÑGOL

Element in

Elements

WordGloss
DOƷ“night”
ÑGOL“wise, wisdom, be wise”

Variations

  • dûghol ✧ EtyAC/ÑGOL (Dor. dûghol)
Doriathrin [Ety/ÑGOL; EtyAC/ÑGOL] Group: Eldamo. Published by

morgul

noun. sorcery

A Doriathrin noun for “sorcery”, written as mor(n)gul indicating the loss of an earlier n (Ety/ÑGOL). The elements of this word seem to be a combination of derivatives of the roots ᴹ√MOR and ᴹ√ÑGOL. The u in the final element -gul is problematic phonetically, as it is in the similar word durgul. Tolkien first wrote this word as morgol (EtyAC/ÑGOL), probably reflecting this phonetic uncertainty. As with durgul, Tolkien may have resolved this uncertainty by deciding this word was Noldorin, since N. morgul appears in a marginal note in The Etymologies (EtyAC/ÑGOL).

Changes

  • morgolmor(n)gul ✧ Ety/ÑGOL

Cognates

  • N. morgul “sorcery”
  • N. gûl “magic” ✧ Ety/ÑGOL

Variations

  • mor(n)gul ✧ Ety/ÑGOL (Dor. mor(n)gul)
  • morgol ✧ EtyAC/ÑGOL (Dor. morgol)
Doriathrin [Ety/ÑGOL; EtyAC/ÑGOL] Group: Eldamo. Published by