Quenya 

lúrëa

dark, overcast

lúrëa adj. "dark, overcast" (LT1:259)

túrin

noun. lord

Derivations

  • TUR “dominate, master, conquer; power [over others], mastery (legitimate or illegitimate), control (of other wills); strong, mighty in power, dominate, master, conquer; power [over others], mastery (legitimate or illegitimate), control (of other wills); strong, mighty in power; [ᴹ√] victory; [ᴱ√] am strong”

Element in

Variations

  • Túrin ✧ Minor-Doc/1973-05-30
Quenya [Minor-Doc/1973-05-30] Group: Eldamo. Published by

lóna

dark

?lóna (4) adj. "dark" (DO3/DŌ). If this is to be the cognate of "Noldorin"/Sindarin dûr, as the context seems to indicate, lóna is likely a misreading for *lóra in Tolkien's manuscript.

lúna

dark

lúna adj. *"dark" in Lúnaturco and Taras Lúna, Quenya names of Barad-dûr (Dark Tower). (PE17:22). In the Etymologies, lúnë "blue" was changed by Tolkien from lúna (VT45:29).

morĭ

adjective. dark

PQ. dark

Quenya [PE 19:81] Group: Mellonath Daeron. Published by

móri

dark

móri adj. "dark" (MC:221; this is "Qenya"; in Tolkien's later Quenya mórë, morë)

ulca

adjective. dark

dark, gloomy, sinister

Quenya [PE 18:88] Group: Mellonath Daeron. Published by

núla

dark, occult, mysterious

núla ("ñ")adj. "dark, occult, mysterious" (PE17:125)

nulla

dark, dusky, obscure

nulla adj. "dark, dusky, obscure" (NDUL), "secret" (DUL). See also VT45:11.

Malantur

lord, ruler

Malantur, masc. name. Apparently includes -(n)tur "lord, ruler". The initial element is unlikely to connect with the early "Qenya" element mala- "hurt, pain", and may rather reflect the root MALAT "gold" (PM:366): Malat-ntur > Malantur "Gold-ruler"? (UT:210)

mori-

dark, black

mori- "dark, black" in a number of compounds (independent form morë, q.v.):Morimando "Dark Mando" = Mandos (MBAD, VT45:33), morimaitë "black-handed" (LotR3:VI ch. 6, VT49:42). Moriquendi "Dark Elves" (SA:mor, WJ:361, 373), Moringotto "Black Foe", Sindarin Morgoth, later name of Melkor. The oldest form is said to have been Moriñgotho (MR:194). In late material, Tolkien is seen to consider both Moringotto and Moricotto _("k") _as the Quenya form of the name Morgoth (VT49:24-25; Moricotto also appears in the ablative, Moricottollo). Morion "the dark one", a title of Morgoth (FS). Morifinwë "dark Finwë", masc. name; he was called Caranthir in Sindarin (short Quenya name Moryo). (PM:353) In the name Morinehtar, translated "Darkness-slayer", the initial element is defined would thus seem to signify "darkness" rather than "dark" as an adjective (see mórë). (PM:384, 385)

morna

dark, black

morna adj. "dark, black" (Letters:282, LT1:261; also used of black hair, PE17:154), or "gloomy, sombre" (MOR). Used as noun in the phrase mi…morna of someone clad "in…black" (PE17:71). In tumbalemorna (Letters:282), q.v. Pl. mornë in Markirya**(the first version of this poem had "green rocks", MC:215, changed to ondolisse mornë** "upon dark rocks" in the final version; see MC:220, note 8).

condo

noun. lord

heru

lord, master

heru (also hér) noun "lord, master" (PM:210, KHER, LT1:272, VT44:12); Letters:283 gives hér (heru); the form Héru with a long vowel refers to God in the source where it appears (i Héru "the Lord", VT43:29). In names like Herumor "Black Lord" and Herunúmen "Lord of the West" (SA:heru). The form heruion is evidently a gen.pl. of heru "lord": "of the lords" (SD:290); herunúmen "Lord-of-West" (LR:47), title of Manwë. Pl. númeheruvi "Lords-of-West" (*"West-lords") in SD:246, a title of the Valar; does this form suggest that #heruvi is the regular plural of heru?

hér

lord

hér noun "lord" (VT41:9), also heru, q.v.

hér

noun. lord

hróva

dark, dark brown

hróva adj. "dark, dark brown", used to refer to hair (PE17:154)

herunauco

9V7J5.DaH noun. dwarf-lord, dwarven lord

Quenya [Compound of heru and nauco] Group: Neologism. Published by

Sindarin 

dûr

adjective. dark, sombre

Sindarin [Ety/354, S/430, UT/434] Group: SINDICT. Published by

dûr

dark

_ adj. _dark, gloomy, 'hellish'.

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:152] < _(n)dūrā_. Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

dûr

dark (with evil implications

_adj. _dark (with evil implications, e.g. Barad-dûr). >> Barad-dûr

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:31:85] -. Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

dûr

adjective. dark (with evil implications), gloomy, hellish

The basic Sindarin adjective for “dark” derived from primitive ✶(n)dūrā from the root √NDU “under, down” (PE17/152), but it acquired an “evil” sense by association with names like Barad-dûr and words like guldur “sorcery” (PE17/31), hence also “gloomy, hellish”. A more neutral word is morn, but strictly speaking that is the colour “black” rather than “dark”.

Conceptual Development: The earliest precursor of this word seems to be ᴱN. drú “dark” from Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s (PE13/142). N. dûr appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s, but as a derivative of ᴹ√DOƷ “night” rather than ᴹ√NDŪ “go down” (Ety/DOƷ). Later on, S. dûr was only influenced by “night” rather than being directly related to it (PE17/152).

Cognates

  • Q. lúna “*dark” ✧ PE17/022

Derivations

  • (n)dūrā ✧ PE17/152
    • NDU “down, under, below; sink, descend, go down, down, under, below; sink, descend, go down, [ᴹ√] set (of Sun)” ✧ PE17/152

Element in

  • S. Barad-dûr “Dark Tower” ✧ PE17/022; PE17/031; PE17/085; RC/274; SA/dûr
  • S. Mengas Dûr “?Dark Gap in the Way”
  • S. Caragdûr “*Dark-spike” ✧ SA/dûr
  • S. Dol Guldur “Hill of Sorcery” ✧ SA/dûr
  • S. Durthang “Dark Oppression” ✧ SA/dûr
  • S. Emyn Duir “Dark Mountains” ✧ UT/280
  • S. Glindûr “*Dark Glance”
  • S. guldur “black arts, sorcery” ✧ PE17/125

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
(n)dūrā > Dûr[ndūrā] > [ndūra] > [dūra] > [dūr]✧ PE17/152

Variations

  • Dûr ✧ PE17/152
Sindarin [PE17/022; PE17/031; PE17/085; PE17/125; PE17/152; RC/274; SA/dûr; UT/280] Group: Eldamo. Published by

dúath

adjective. dark

_ adj. _dark, black shadow.

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:87] < _du-wath_. Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

dûr

dark

dûr (sombre), lenited dhûr, pl. duir

dûr

dark

(sombre), lenited dhûr, pl. duir

dûr

sombre

dûr (dark), lenited dhûr, pl. duir

dûr

sombre

(dark), lenited dhûr, pl. duir

tûr

lord

(i** dûr, o thûr, construct tur) (mastery, power, control; master, victor), pl. tuir (i** thuir), coll. pl. túrath.

dúath

dark shadow

(i dhúath) (nightshade), pl. dúaith (i núaith);

guldur

dark sorcery

(i nguldur = i ñuldur), pl. gyldyr (in gyldyr = i ñgyldyr)

doll

dark

doll (dusky, misty, obscure), lenited noll, pl. dyll. Note: In ”Noldorin”, this word appeared as dolt as well as doll, but the latter seems the best form in S.

doll

dark

(dusky, misty, obscure), lenited noll, pl. dyll. Note: In ”Noldorin”, this word appeared as dolt as well as doll, but the latter seems the best form in S.

graw

dark

graw (swart), lenited raw, pl. groe. (VT45:16)

graw

dark

(swart), lenited ’raw, pl. groe. (VT45:16)

morn

dark

morn (black), pl. myrn, lenited vorn. Note: the latter word is also used as a noun ”darkness, night”. (Letters:386)

morn

dark

(black), pl. myrn, lenited vorn. Note: the latter word is also used as a noun ”darkness, night”. (Letters:386)

môr

dark

môr (black), lenited vôr, pl. mŷr (Letters:382), also

môr

dark

(black), lenited vôr, pl. m**ŷr* (Letters:382)*, also

graurim

dark people

(VT45:16);

brannon

lord

(i** vrannon), pl. brennyn (i** mrennyn), coll. pl. brannonnath

heron

lord

(i cheron, o cheron) (master), pl. heryn (i cheryn), coll. pl. heronnath** (VT45:22). Since the pl. heryn clashes with the fem. sg. heryn** ”lady”, other words for ”lord” may be preferred.

hîr

lord

1) hîr (i chîr, o chîr; also hir-, her- at the beginning of compounds) (master), no distinct pl. form, not even with article (i chîr), coll. pl. híriath (Letters:282, 386; VT41:9); 2) heron (i cheron, o cheron) (master), pl. heryn (i cheryn), coll. pl. heronnath (VT45:22)._ _Since the pl. heryn clashes with the fem. sg. heryn ”lady”, other words for ”lord” may be preferred. 3) brannon (i vrannon), pl. brennyn (i mrennyn), coll. pl. brannonnath; 4) tûr (i dûr, o thûr, construct tur) (mastery, power, control; master, victor), pl. tuir (i thuir), coll. pl. túrath.

hîr

lord

(i chîr, o chîr; also hir-, her- at the beginning of compounds) (master), no distinct pl. form, not even with article (i chîr), coll. pl. híriath (Letters:282, 386; VT41:9)

Black Speech

búrz

adjective. dark

Element in

  • Bs. burzum “darkness” ✧ PE17/011; PE17/012
  • Bs. Lugbúrz “Dark Tower” ✧ PE17/012; PE17/079

Variations

  • burz ✧ PE17/012
Black Speech [PE17/011; PE17/012; PE17/079] Group: Eldamo. Published by

búrz

adjective. dark

Black Speech [PE17/11] Published by

Adûnaic

arûn

masculine name. Lord

An Adûnaic name for Morgoth, perhaps coined by Sauron when he introduced the worship of the dark god to the Númenóreans, translated as “Lord” (SD/376). It is derived from the word ârû “king” and was sometimes used in a compound together with Morgoth’s true Adûnaic name: Arûn-Mulkhêr (SD/367). In other writings (SD/357) it was the original Adûnaic name of Morgoth before he fell to evil, but that hardly makes sense in the conceptual scenario of the later Silmarillion, in which Morgoth had already become evil before men awoke.

Elements

WordGloss
ârû“king”
Adûnaic [SD/357; SD/376; SDI2/Arûn] Group: Eldamo. Published by

kherû

masculine name. Lord

A rejected draft version of the Adûnaic name for Morgoth translated “Lord”, replaced by Arûn of the same meaning (SD/376). It is transparently a derivative of the Elvish root ᴹ√KHER, as suggested by Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynn (AAD/18). A later form of this word, ✱khôr “lord”, may appears as an element in the name Adûnakhôr “Lord of the West”.

Changes

  • KherūArûn “Lord” ✧ SD/376
  • KherūArûn ✧ SDI2/Arûn

Derivations

  • ᴹ√KHER “rule, govern, possess”

Variations

  • Kherū ✧ SD/376 (Kherū); SDI2/Arûn (Kherū)
Adûnaic [SD/376; SDI2/Arûn] Group: Eldamo. Published by

bâr

noun. lord

A noun translated as “lord” (SD/311, 428). This nouns wins the prize for “most inflected Adûnaic noun”, since we have declensions for this noun in both the draft Adûnaic grammar and the later grammar of Lowdham’s Report. As such, it is very helpful for comparing how the noun declensions changed as Tolkien developed Adûnaic grammar. For example, comparing its draft plurals bāri/bārim to its later plural bârî/bârîm indicate the draft plural was originally formed with a short rather than long i. There are a few lingering examples of this short-i plural in later writings (SD/247, 251).

Conceptual Development: In earlier writings the rejected name Kherû “Lord” (SD/376) indicates a possible earlier form of this noun; Kherû itself was changed to Arûn. A similar form reappears in later writings in the name Adûnakhôr “Lord of the West”: either akhôr or khôr “lord”. Whether or not this later word replaced bâr is unknown.

Element in

Variations

  • Bār ✧ SD/428
  • bār ✧ SD/429; SD/437; SD/438; SD/438
Adûnaic [SD/247; SD/251; SD/311; SD/312; SD/428; SD/429; SD/437; SD/438; SD/439] Group: Eldamo. Published by

khôr Reconstructed

noun. lord

An element meaning “lord” appearing only in the name Adûnakhôr “Lord of the West”, though a similar form appears in the earlier names Kherû “Lord” and Mulkhêr “Lord of Darkness”. It isn’t clear whether this element is ✱akhôr or ✱khôr, but khôr resembles the Primitive Elvish root √KHER “rule, govern, possess”, to which it may be related.

This possible relationship has been suggested by various authors (AL/Adûnaic, EotAL/KHUR). Andreas Moehn rejected the relationship, pointing out that Primitive Elvish ✶khēru “lord” would have developed phonetically into Ad. ✱✱khîru (EotAL). However, khôr may be derived from some more ancient Avari loan word, which underwent different phonetic developments than those of the Eldarin languages, perhaps ✶kher- > khar > khaur > Ad. khôr.

Cognates

  • Q. heru “lord, master”

Derivations

  • KHER “possess, possess, [ᴹ√] rule, govern, [ᴱ√] have power”

Element in

Primitive elvish

dom

root. dark, dark, [ᴹ√] faint, dim

This root was the basis for the main Elvish words for “dusk, night”, which was established as Q. lómë in Quenya for most of Tolkien’s life. The earliest form of this root was ᴱ√LOMO in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, unglossed but with various derivatives having to do with “dusk” and “shadow” (QL/55). One notable derivative was ᴱQ. lóme “dusk, gloom, darkness”, which survived in Tolkien’s later writings as “night” and in the 1910s was the basis for ᴱQ. Hisilóme/G. Hithlum “Shadowy Twilights”. Another notable derivative was G. lómin “shady, shadowy, gloomy; gloom(iness)” (GL/45) used in the name G. Dor Lómin, which in the 1910s was translated as “Land of Shadow” (LT1/112).

The “shadow” meaning of this early root seems to have transferred to ᴹ√LUM from The Etymologies of the 1930s, which served as the new basis for N. Hithlum (Ety/LUM), as opposed contemporaneous N. Dor-lómen which was redefined as “Land of Echoes (< ᴹ√LAM via Ilkorin or in later writings, via North Sindarin). The “dusk” sense was transferred to a new root ᴹ√DOM “faint, dim”, which (along with ᴹ√DOƷ) was the basis for the pair words ᴹQ. lóme/N. “night” (Ety/DOMO).

These two words for “night” survived in Tolkien’s later writing in both Quenya and Sindarin (Let/308; SA/dú). In notes from the 1940s Tolkien clarified that it “has no evil connotations; it is a word of peace and beauty and has none of the associations of fear or groping that, say, ‘dark’ has for us” (SD/306). The Elves were quite comfortable being under the night sky, dating back to the time when the Elves lived under the stars before the rising of the Sun and the Moon. The root √DOM reappeared in etymologies for star-words from the late 1950s or early 1960s (PE17/152). It appeared again in some very late notes from 1969 where it was glossed “dark” and served as the basis for words meaning “blind” as well as “night”, though this paragraph was rejected (PE22/153, note #50).

Derivatives

  • dōmē “night, twilight” ✧ PE17/152
    • Q. lómë “night, dimness, twilight, dusk, darkness, night, dimness, twilight, dusk, darkness, [ᴹQ.] night-time, shades of night, gloom; [ᴱQ.] shadow, cloud” ✧ PE17/152; SA/dú
    • S. “night, dimness; dim, dark, night, dimness; [N.] night-fall, late evening; [S.] dim, dark” ✧ PE17/152; SA/dú
  • ᴺQ. lomba “blind”
  • Q. lomba “blind” ✧ PE22/153
  • Q. lómë “night, dimness, twilight, dusk, darkness, night, dimness, twilight, dusk, darkness, [ᴹQ.] night-time, shades of night, gloom; [ᴱQ.] shadow, cloud” ✧ PE22/153
  • ᴺS. dom “blind”
  • S. dom “blind” ✧ PE22/153
Primitive elvish [PE17/151; PE17/152; PE22/153] Group: Eldamo. Published by

mornā

adjective. dark

Derivations

  • MOR “black, dark, darkness” ✧ Let/382

Derivatives

  • Q. morna “black, dark; black of hair, black, dark; black of hair; [ᴹQ.] sombre, gloomy” ✧ Let/382
  • S. morn “black, dark; night” ✧ Let/382; WJ/362
Primitive elvish [Let/382; WJ/362] Group: Eldamo. Published by

árātō

noun. lord

Derivations

  • RĀ/ARA “noble, high, royal” ✧ PE17/118

Derivatives

  • Q. aráto “champion, eminent man, noble, lord, king” ✧ PE17/118
Primitive elvish [PE17/118] Group: Eldamo. Published by

du Reconstructed

root. dark

Derivatives

  • durnu “dark of hue”
    • ᴺQ. nurno “dark, deep (of hue)”
  • Q. lúmë “darkness”
  • Q. lúna “*dark”

Noldorin 

dûr

adjective. dark, sombre

Noldorin [Ety/354, S/430, UT/434] Group: SINDICT. Published by

dûr

adjective. dark

Cognates

  • ᴹQ. lóna “dark” ✧ Ety/DOƷ

Derivations

  • ᴹ√DOƷ “night” ✧ Ety/DOƷ

Element in

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ√DOƷ/DÔ > dûr[dōr] > [dūr]✧ Ety/DOƷ

Variations

  • Dûr ✧ WR/113
Noldorin [Ety/DOƷ; WR/113] Group: Eldamo. Published by

dûr

masculine name. Dûr

The pure Noldorin name for Ilk. Dior (EtyAC/NDEW), where the primitive diphthong [[on|[eu] became [ū]]], as opposed to Ilkorin where the [[ilk|[eu] became [io]]].

Cognates

  • Ilk. Dior “Successor” ✧ Ety/NDEW

Derivations

  • ᴹ✶ndeuro “follower, successor” ✧ Ety/NDEW
    • ᴹ√(N)DEW “follow, come behind” ✧ Ety/NDEW

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ✶ndeuro > Dûr[ndeuro] > [ndūro] > [dūro] > [dūr]✧ Ety/NDEW
Noldorin [EtyAC/NDEW] Group: Eldamo. Published by

doll

adjective. dark, dusky, obscure

Noldorin [Ety/355, Ety/376, Tengwestie/20031207] Group: SINDICT. Published by

dolt

adjective. dark, dusky, obscure

Noldorin [Ety/355, Ety/376, Tengwestie/20031207] Group: SINDICT. Published by

brannon

noun. lord

Noldorin [Ety/351] Group: SINDICT. Published by

brannon

noun. lord

Noldorin [Ety/BARÁD] Group: Eldamo. Published by

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!

Qenya 

lóna

adjective. dark

Cognates

  • N. dûr “dark” ✧ Ety/DOƷ

Derivations

  • ᴹ√DOƷ “night” ✧ Ety/DOƷ

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ√DOƷ/DÔ > lóna[doɣna] > [dōna] > [lōna]✧ Ety/DOƷ

Variations

  • lóna ✧ Ety/DOƷ

mandu

noun. lord

Derivations

  • ᴱ√MANA “*good (moral)”

Doriathrin

garon

noun. lord

A Doriathrin noun for “lord” derived from the root ᴹ√ƷAR or possibly ᴹ√GAR (Ety/ƷAR), perhaps from a primitive form ✱✶ɣarān-. If so, the [[ilk|initial [ɣ] became [g]]], while the long [[ilk|[ā] became [ō]]] and then [[ilk|shortened to [o] in the final syllable of a polysyllable]].

Conceptual Development: An earlier version of this entry had Dor. garan, which likely had a short [a] in the second syllable which was preserved. Since it did not undergo the Ilkorin Syncope, the primitive form likely either had no final vowel or ended in a short [a], so the second [a] was in the final syllable, which seems to have prevented the syncope; this theory is supported by its Quenya cognate ᴹQ. haran.

Cognates

  • ᴹQ. haran “king, chieftain, lord or king of a specified region” ✧ EtyAC/ƷARA

Derivations

  • ᴹ√ƷAR “have, hold” ✧ Ety/ƷAR; EtyAC/ƷARA

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ√ƷAR > garon[ɣarān] > [ɣarōn] > [garōn] > [garon]✧ Ety/ƷAR
ᴹ√ƷAR > garan[ɣarana] > [ɣaran] > [garan]✧ Ety/ƷAR

Variations

  • garan ✧ EtyAC/ƷAR (Dor. garan); EtyAC/ƷARA (Dor. garan)
Doriathrin [Ety/ƷAR; EtyAC/ƷAR; EtyAC/ƷARA] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Gnomish

túrin

masculine name. Lord

Gnomish [LT2I/Túrin; PE15/61] Group: Eldamo. Published by

hermon

noun. lord

Cognates

malc

noun. lord

Cognates

  • Eq. malko “lord, sir”

Derivations

Element in

  • G. malcos “lordship, power, a province or principality” ✧ GL/56
  • G. malcrin “lordly, noble, mighty” ✧ GL/56

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴱ✶malkŭ- > malc[malku] > [malk]✧ GL/56

Variations

  • malc ✧ GL/56

Early Noldorin

drú

adjective. dark

Early Noldorin [PE13/142] Group: Eldamo. Published by

hinar

adjective. dark

An adjective for “dark” from the Nebrachar poem written around 1930 (MC/217). Its etymology is unclear.

Element in

Early Noldorin [MC/217] Group: Eldamo. Published by

hîr

noun. lord

Derivations

  • ᴱ√HERE “rule, have power”

Variations

  • hír ✧ PE13/147
Early Noldorin [PE13/121; PE13/147] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Early Quenya

heru

noun. lord

Cognates

Derivations

  • ᴱ√HERE “rule, have power” ✧ LT1A/Valahíru; QL/040

Element in

  • Eq. heruni “lady” ✧ QL/040
  • Eq. heruvesto “husband, (lit.) lord husband” ✧ QL/040

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴱ√HERE > heru[xerū] > [xeru] > [heru]✧ QL/040

Variations

  • hēru ✧ GL/49
Early Quenya [GL/49; LT1A/Valahíru; PME/040; QL/040] Group: Eldamo. Published by