thoron

noun. eagle

The Sindarin word for “eagle”, derived from ✶thoronō̆ (Let/427, PE23/141). In notes from 1969 Tolkien gave its plural form as theryn (PE23/139).

Possible Etymology: The form of this word is difficult to explain if it is derived from primitive ✶thoron(ŏ). Since final nasals vanished after vowels, in the ordinary phonetic development of Sindarin it should have become thôr, a form that did appear as variant in The Etymologies of the 1930s (Ety/THOR, KIRIS). Tolkien himself suggested that the (Noldorin) word was a back-formation from the archaic genitive ON. thoronen (Ety/THOR). While this specific genitive form did not survive in (Old) Sindarin, there are plenty of other mechanisms that might result in such a back-formation in Sindarin. For example, David Salo suggested that it could be a back-formation from its plural theryn (GS/291), perhaps also influenced by ancient names where it still appeared, such as Thorondor “King of Eagles”.

A simpler explanation is that the primitive form is actual thoronō, as for example on PE23/141. But that would be inconsistent with Q. soron “eagle”.

Conceptual Development: In the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s this word appeared as G. thorn (GL/73), which was also the usual form in names of this period. In Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s it reappeared as ᴱN. thorn (PE13/154), but in The Etymologies of the 1930s it appeared as N. thoron beside the variant thôr as noted above (Ety/THOR, KIRIS). The names of this period also began to reflect this change, and names after the 1940s consistently show thoron, though the form þorn did appear at least once in later notes (PE22/159).

thorn

noun. eagle

thoron

noun. eagle

thôr

noun. eagle

thorondir

masculine name. *Eagle-man

22nd ruling steward of Gondor (LotR/1039), apparently of a combination of thoron “eagle” and dîr “man”.

thorongil

proper name. Eagle of the Star

A name adopted by Aragorn when he travelled secretly within Gondor (LotR/1055) translated “Eagle of the Star” (UTI/Thorongil), a combination of thoron “eagle” (Let/427) and gil “star”.

Arathorn

noun. royal eagle

aran (“king”) + thorn (“eagle”)

Thorondor

noun. eagle lord

thoron (“eagle”) + taur (“king”)

Thorongil

noun. eagle of star

thoron (“eagle”) + gîl (“star, bright spark”)

roval

noun/adjective. winged, winged; [N.] pinion, great wing (of an eagle)

An adjective appearing as an element in the name S. Landroval “Broad Winged” (PE17/63). In The Etymologies of the 1930s, however, its immediate precursor was a noun N. rhofal (with the Noldorin-style sound change of initial r to voiceless rh) glossed “pinion, great wing (of an eagle)” under the root ᴹ√RAM (Ety/RAM).

Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I would assume that roval can be either an adjective for “winged” or a noun for a “pinion” (feathered part of a wing), especially of great birds like eagles.

roval

noun. pinion, great wing (of eagle)

cirith thoronath

place name. Eagles’ Cleft

A pass through the mountains surrounding Gondolin, translated “Eagles’ Cleft” (S/243). This name is a combination of cirith “cleft, ravine” and the class plural of thoron “eagle” (SA/kir, thoron).

Conceptual Development: In the earliest Lost Tales, this pass was called G. Cristhorn (LT2/191), a combination of G. cris(s) “cleft” and G. thorn “eagle” (GL/27, 73). In Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s, the name generally appeared as N. Cristhorn (SM/308, LR/142), but in the period Tolkien also considered various alternatives such as N. Cristhoron with N. thoron “eagle” (Ety/KIRIS), Cilthoron(dor) with N. cîl “cleft” (Ety/KIL) and in one place an early appearance of its later name Kirith-thoronath (SM/146).

The name was revised to Cirith Thoronath in the texts used for the published version of The Silmarillion, but the earlier form (Cristhorn) appeared in a late essay on Glorfindel (PM/379), so perhaps Tolkien had ongoing uncertainty about this name.

thoronath

noun. eagles

thoron

eagle

thoron, pl. theryn, coll. pl. thoronath. The sg. may also appear as thôr (with stem thoron-); thôr is also an adjective ”swooping, leaping down”. In ”Noldorin”, the pl. was therein (LR:392 s.v. THOR).

thoron

eagle

pl. theryn, coll. pl. thoronath. The sg. may also appear as thôr (with stem thoron-); thôr is also an adjective ”swooping, leaping down”. In ”Noldorin”, the pl. was therein (LR:392 s.v. THOR).

thorombar

noun. eagle’s nest, eyrie

A neologism coined by Elaran, a combination of S. thoron “eagle” and S. bâr (mb-) “home”.

roval

pinion

roval (wing, great wing [of eagle]), pl. rovail (idh rovail). Suggested Sindarin form of ”Noldorin” rhoval_ _pl. rhovel.

roval

pinion

(wing, great wing [of eagle]), pl. rovail (idh rovail). – Suggested Sindarin form of ”Noldorin” *rhoval* pl. *rhovel*.

roval

great wing

(pinion, wing), pl. rovail (idh rovail). – Suggested Sindarin form of ”Noldorin” *rhoval* pl. *rhovel*.

soron

noun. eagle

The Quenya word for “eagle”, appearing in a number of compounds, derived from primitive ✶thorono and the root ᴹ√THOR(ON) “come swooping down” (PE22/159; Let/427; Ety/THOR; PE21/33). It had couple variants such as sorno (Let/427) and sorne (Ety/THOR), but consistently appeared as soron- in compounds. Its stem form isn’t entirely clear: its most common plural form was sorni (Ety/THOR; SD/290), which is the expected result from the Quenya syncope, but in one place it had the plural soroni and the presence of the variant sorne muddies the waters.

Conceptual Development: This word appeared as ᴱQ. sorne or sor (sorn-) “eagle” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s derived from the early root ᴱ√ŠORO [ÞORO] (QL/86). The form sorn- “eagle” also appeared in the Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa where Tolkien indicated the primitive form was sorni- (PME/86). The form ᴱQ. soron appeared in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s as a cognate of ᴱN. thorn “eagle” (PE13/154), and Tolkien mostly stuck with that form thereafter, though he occasionally used variants like sorne and sorno as noted above.

In the Declension of Nouns from the early 1930s, Tolkien listed a large number of declined forms for ᴹQ. soron “eagle”, and those declensions used soron- (or sorun-) as their base. In The Etymologies of the 1930s, however, Tolkien gave plural sorni and genitive sornen indicating a stem form sorn-, but that document also gave sorne as an alternate form of soron “eagle”. Nevertheless, I think from the 1930s forward, it is more likely that Quenya syncope would have come into play in the declension of this word, so it would have plural sorni, dative sornen, ablative sornello, etc. The only noun case where the primitive stem would be preserved would be possessive soronwa.

Soronto

eagle

Soronto (þ?), masc. name, seems to incorporate soron "eagle"; the ending -to is rare (occurs in suhto, q.v.), here apparently used to derive a masculine name.

Soronúmë

eagle

Soronúmë (prob. þ) (name of a constellation, apparently incorporating soron "eagle") (SA:thoron)

sor

eagle

sor, sornë noun "eagle" (LT1:266); rather soron in LotR-style Quenya

sorno

eagle

sorno (þ) noun "eagle" (archaic thorno) _(Letters:427). Also soron. Early "Qenya" has sor, sornë (LT1:266)_

soron

eagle

soron (or sornë) (þ) noun "eagle", before an ending sorn- as in pl. sorni, "gen.sg....sornen"; in LotR-style Quenya this would be the dative singular instead (THOR/THORON). SD:290 has the pl.soroni "eagles", changed to sorni as in the Etymologies. Early "Qenya" has the forms sor, sornë (LT1:266)

ëa

eagle

ëa (3) "eagle" (LT1:251, LT2:338), a "Qenya" word apparently superseded by soron, sornë in Tolkien's later forms of Quenya.

ëaren

eagle

ëaren noun "eagle" or "eyrie" (LT1:251; this early "Qenya" word is evidently no more valid than ëa "eagle" in LotR-style Quenya.)

sorno

noun. eagle

sorontil

place name. Eagle-horn

A mountain by the sea in Númenor which was “the abode of many eagles” (UT/167). Christopher Tolkien translated the name as “Eagle-horn” (UTI/Sorontil), and it is likely a compound of the prefixal form soron- of soron “eagle” and the word tildë “point” also seen in Taniquetil. If so, the stem form of this name was probably Sorontild-.

soronúmë

proper name. *Eagle of the West

Name of a constellation (S/48). It seems to be a compound of the prefixal form soron- of soron “eagle” and a shorter form of númen “west”, perhaps meaning “✱Eagle of the West”.

soroncë

noun. kite, (lit.) little eagle

A neologism coined by Luinyelle posted on 2024-01-14 in the Vinyë Lambengolmor Discord Server (VLDS), a diminutive form of soron “eagle”.

sornion

noun. eyrie

sornion

eyrie

sornion noun "eyrie" (LT1:266)

narak

noun. eagle

A noun attested only in the plural subjective form Narīka “eagles” (SD/251). This formation is peculiar, because it seems to be a neuter subjective form, but the names of animals are generally common-nouns, as pointed out by Andreas Moehn (EotAL/NAR’K). If it were declined as a common noun, the subjective plural should be ✱narkim: compare Nimir “Elf” whose subjective plural form is nimrim (SD/436). Perhaps when Narīka was written, Tolkien had not finished working out the Adûnaic gender and case system.

thoron

noun. eagle

thoron

noun. eagle

thôr

noun. eagle

thôr

noun. eagle

cilthorondor

place name. *Eagle Cleft Land

Variant name of Cristhorn, also appearing as Cilthor(o)n (Ety/KIL, THOR; LR/405). It is a combination of cîl “cleft”, thoron “eagle” and (sometimes) dôr “land. Alternately, the longer form may contain the name Thorondor, the King of the Eagles who lived in the pass during the time of Gondolin; hat-tip to Vyacheslav Stepanov for this suggestion. In one place it appeared as Cristorondor (PE22/41).

elthoron

masculine name. Eagle of the Sky

A name appearing in The Etymologies from the 1930s, a combination of ell “sky” and thoron “eagle” (Ety/THOR).

cristhorn

place name. Eagle’s Cleft

rhofal

noun. pinion, great wing (of an eagle)

rhofal

noun. pinion, great wing (of eagle)

thorono

noun. eagle