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.)

ëaron

ocean

ëaron noun "ocean" (PE17:27), also airon. Cf. ëar.

airen

noun. sea

Quenya [PE 22:23n] Group: Mellonath Daeron. Published by

ëar

sea

ëar noun "sea" (AYAR/AIR [gives also dat. sg. ëaren],WJ:413; see Letters:386 for etymology). Not to be confused with the pl. form of the verb ëa "be, exist". Pl. ëari "seas" (FS, LR:47); Eär "the Great Sea" (cf. ëaron "ocean"), ablative Eärello "from the Great Sea", et Eärello "out of the Great Sea" (EO). Eärë noun "the open sea" (SD:305). Compound ëaruilë noun "seaweed" (UY). Found in proper names like Eärendil "Sea-friend", Eärendur masc. name, *"Sea-servant"; in effect a variant of Eärendil(Appendix A). Eärendur was also used ="(professional) mariner" (Letters:386).Fem. name Eärwen "Sea-maiden" (Silm); Eärrámë "Sea-wing", "Wings of the Sea", name of Tuor's ship (RAM, AYAR/AIR, SA)

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)

airon

ocean

airon noun "ocean" (PE17:27). Also ëaron, q.v.

airë

sea

airë (2) noun "sea" (the form airen is given, intended as a genitive singular when Tolkien wrote this; in LotR-style Quenya it would rather be a dative sg.) (AYAR/AIR; cf. airon)

sor

eagle

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

sornion

eyrie

sornion noun "eyrie" (LT1:266)

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)

váya

sea

váya noun "sea" (considered as "waters, motion"). The wording of the source indicates that Tolkien only tentatively considered such a word (PE17:33)

vëa

sea

vëa (3) noun "sea" (MC:213, 214, 216; possibly obsoleted by #1 and #2 above, though some argue that the initial element of the late names Vëantur and Vëandur [q.v.] could be vëa #3 rather than #2 (it can hardly be #1) . In any case, the normal word for "sea" in LotR-style Quenya seems to be ëar.) Inflected vëan "sea" (MC:220), vëar "in sea" (a "Qenya" locative in -r, MC:213), vëassë "on sea" (MC:220). Cf. also vëaciryo.

ëa

eagle

ëa (3) "eagle" (LT1:251, LT2:338), a "Qenya" word apparently superseded by soron, sornë in Tolkien's later forms of Quenya.

airon

noun. ocean

An (archaic) word for “ocean”, an augmentative form of airë mentioned in a couple of later notes (PE17/27, 149). A more modern form is ëaron.

Conceptual Development: The form ᴹQ. airen appeared in parenthesis beside ᴹQ. aire “sea” in The Etymologies of the 1930s (Ety/AY). Helge Fauskanger suggested that it might be a genitive form (QQ/airë), but in notes on The Feanorian Alphabet from the 1930s, aire “sea” >> airen (PE22/23 note #70), suggesting it is an alternate (augmentative?) form. If so, it is probably a precursor to airon.

Quenya [PE17/027; PE17/149] Group: Eldamo. Published by

airë

noun. sea

An archaic word for “sea” which fell out of use to due conflict with “holy” words like aira or airë; it was a noun form of primitive ✶gaı̯ră (PE17/27). The more common modern word for “sea” is ëar.

Conceptual Development: ᴹQ. aire “sea” appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s as a derivative of ᴹ√AYAR (Ety/AY); it appeared beside a form ᴹQ. airen that might be a genitive form, or might be a longer form; see the entry on ᴹQ. airon for discussion.

sorno

noun. eagle

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.

Quenya [Let/427; PE22/159; SA/thoron] Group: Eldamo. Published by

waya

noun. ocean

sornion

noun. eyrie

Sindarin 

aearon

noun. great sea, ocean

Tolkien changed this word several times, see gaearon

Sindarin Group: SINDICT. Published by

aearon

ocean

_n. _ocean. Augmentative form of _aear _Sea. Q. earon, airon. nef aear, sí nef aearon lit. 'beyond the Sea, here beyond the Great Sea'. >> aear

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:20-1:27] -. Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

aear

noun. sea

Tolkien changed this word several times, see gaear

Sindarin Group: SINDICT. Published by

aear

Sea

_n. _Sea, especially the Great (Western) Sea. Q. ear. nef aear, sí nef aearon lit. 'beyond the Sea, here beyond the Great Sea'. >> gaear, gaer

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:20-1:27] -. Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

aear

noun. sea

aer

noun. sea

Tolkien changed this word several times, see aear , gaear

Sindarin Group: SINDICT. Published by

belegaer

noun. ocean

_ n. _ocean.

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:149] < ? + GAYA Sea. Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

gaear

noun. sea

Sindarin [Ety/349, PM/363, RGEO/73] Group: SINDICT. Published by

gaear

Sea

_n. _Sea, especially the Great (Western) Sea. Shorter form gaer. Q. ear. >> aear, gaer

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:27] < GAY(AR). Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

gaear

noun. sea

A word for “sea” variously attested as gaear (PE17/027; PM/363; WJ/400), gaer (PE17/27; PE17/149), and aear (Let/386; RGEO/65) in later writings. Of these, I prefer gaear for purposes of Neo-Sindarin, reduced to gaer in compounds.

Possible Etymology: The presence or absence of the initial g- depends on whether the word’s root is √AY(AR) (as it appears in The Etymologies and some later writings) or √GAY(AR) (as it appears in other later writings). See the entry of the root √GAY(AR) for a discussion of this vacillation. Similarly, the form gaer appears primarily as an element in compounds, and can be explained as a reduced form of gaear in that context. For these reasons, this entry uses gaear as the ordinary Sindarin word for “sea”. This has the additional advantage of disambiguating it from the adjective gaer “dreadful”.

Conceptual Development: This word appeared as N. oer or oear “sea” in The Etymologies of the 1930s, reflecting the Noldorin sound change of ai to oe (Ety/AY). However name for the “Great Sea” was N. {Belegar >>} Belegaer in the narratives of this period (LR/19), and the name N. Rhûnaer “Eastern Sea” appeared in draft Lord of the Rings maps from 1943 (TI/307). The element N. oer did appear in the day-of-the-week name N. Aroeren “✱Sea-day” in drafts of The Lord of the Rings appendices, but this was revised to S. Oraeron (PM/130, 138).

Sindarin [Let/386; LotR/0238; PE17/027; PE17/149; PM/363; RGEO/63; RGEO/64; RGEO/65; SA/ëar; SA/gaer; WJ/400] Group: Eldamo. Published by

gaearon

noun. great sea, ocean

Sindarin [PM/363, PM/348, RGEO/72-73] Group: SINDICT. Published by

gaearon

ocean

_n. _ocean. Augmentative form of _gaear _Sea. Q. earon, airon. >> gaear

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:27] -. Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

gaer

noun. sea

Sindarin [Ety/349, S/431, PM/363] Group: SINDICT. Published by

gaer

Sea

_n._Sea, especially the Great (Western) Sea. Shorter form of gaear.Q. aire (obsolete). >> aear, gaear

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:27] < _gaı_9_ră _< GAY(AR). Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

gaer

noun. sea

gaer

ocean

_ n. _ocean.

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:149] < GAYA Sea. Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

gaeron

noun. great sea, ocean

Sindarin [PM/363, PM/348, RGEO/72-73] Group: SINDICT. Published by

gaeron

noun. ocean

_ n. _ocean.

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:149] < GAYA Sea. Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

thorn

noun. eagle

thoron

noun. eagle

Sindarin [Ety/392, S/438, X/Z] Back-formed from the plural, see thôr. Group: SINDICT. Published by

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).

Sindarin [Let/427; PE22/159; PE23/139; PE23/141; SA/thoron] Group: Eldamo. Published by

thoronath

noun. eagles

Sindarin [S/387, S/438] Group: SINDICT. Published by

thôr

noun. eagle

Sindarin [Belecthor S/322,365, LotR/A(ii), Ety/392] Group: SINDICT. Published by

aear

sea

aear (ocean); pl. aeair. The shorter form aer (for N oer) is maybe best avoided since it can be confused with aer "holy", unless the latter is actually a lenited form of gaer. Forms with g-, representing an alternative concept of the word for ”sea”: gaear (i **aear) (ocean), pl. gaeair (i ngaeair = i ñaeair) (PM:363), also gaer (i **aer, no distinct pl. form except with article: i ngaer = i ñaer), but homophones of the latter mean "reddish, copper-coloured, ruddy" and also "dreadful, awful, fearful; holy".

aear

sea

(ocean); pl. aeair. The shorter form aer (for N oer) is maybe best avoided since it can be confused with aer "holy", unless the latter is actually a lenited form of gaer. Forms with g-, representing an alternative concept of the word for ”sea”: gaear (i ’aear) (ocean), pl. gaeair (i ngaeair = i ñaeair) (PM:363), also gaer (i ’aer, no distinct pl. form except with article: i ngaer = i ñaer), but homophones of the latter mean "reddish, copper-coloured, ruddy" and also "dreadful, awful, fearful; holy".

aear

ocean

aear (sea), pl. aeair.

aear

ocean

(sea), pl. aeair.

gaear

ocean

gaear (i **aear) (sea), pl. gaeair (i ngaeair** = i ñaeair).

gaear

ocean

(i ’aear) (sea), pl. gaeair (i ngaeair = i ñaeair).

gaearon

great ocean

(i ‘Aearon), pl. Gaearyn (i Ngaearyn = i Ñaearyn) if there is a pl.

roval

great wing

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

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).

Primitive elvish

ay(ar)

root. sea

Primitive elvish [Let/386; PE17/027; PE17/149; PE17/160; PE18/097] Group: Eldamo. Published by

airō

noun. ocean

Primitive elvish [PE17/149; PE18/097] Group: Eldamo. Published by

thorono

noun. eagle

Primitive elvish [Let/427; PE23/141] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Noldorin 

aer

noun. sea

oear

noun. sea

Noldorin [Ety/349, PM/363, RGEO/73] Group: SINDICT. Published by

oear

noun. sea

oer

noun. sea

Noldorin [Ety/349, S/431, PM/363] Group: SINDICT. Published by

oer

noun. sea

Noldorin [Ety/AY; Ety/UY; TI/307] Group: Eldamo. Published by

thoron

noun. eagle

Noldorin [Ety/392, S/438, X/Z] Back-formed from the plural, see thôr. Group: SINDICT. Published by

thoron

noun. eagle

Noldorin [Ety/KIRIS; Ety/THOR] Group: Eldamo. Published by

thôr

noun. eagle

Noldorin [Belecthor S/322,365, LotR/A(ii), Ety/392] Group: SINDICT. Published by

thôr

noun. eagle

Adûnaic

azra

noun. sea

The Adûnaic word for “sea” (SD/429), appearing as azar in some early texts (SD/305). It is fully declined on SD/431.

Adûnaic [PM/373; SD/247; SD/305; SD/311; SD/429; SD/431; SD/435] Group: Eldamo. Published by

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.

pharaz

noun. sea

A draft word for “sea”, deleted and replaced with azar (SD/305), which later become azra. This word reappeared later with a different meaning: pharaz “gold”.


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 

earen

noun. sea

eare

noun. (open) sea

airen

noun. sea

Qenya [Ety/AY; PE22/023] Group: Eldamo. Published by

aire

noun. sea

Qenya [Ety/AY; PE22/023] Group: Eldamo. Published by

sorne

noun. eagle

soron

noun. eagle

Qenya [Ety/THOR; PE21/33; PE21/34; SD/290] Group: Eldamo. Published by

vea

noun. sea

Qenya [PE21/08; PE21/17] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Gnomish

ioroth

noun. eagle

A word for “eagle” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, an elaboration of archaic G. †ior “eagle” of the same meaning (GL/51).

Gnomish [GL/51; LT1A/Eärendel] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ior

noun. eagle

An archaic word for “eagle” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, related to ᴱQ. ea(r) of the same meaning (GL/51), though the exact correspondence (and sound changes) are not clear.

Gnomish [GL/51; LT1A/Eärendel] Group: Eldamo. Published by

saroth

noun. sea

thorn

noun. eagle

Gnomish [GL/73; LT1A/Sorontur] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Early Quenya

vea

noun. sea

Early Quenya [MC/213; MC/214; MC/216; MC/220; PE16/056; PE16/057; PE16/060; PE16/062; PE16/072; PE16/074; PE16/077; PE16/100; PE16/104; PE16/138] Group: Eldamo. Published by

laivar

noun. ocean

A word glossed “ocean” in notes associated with drafts of the Oilima Markirya from around 1930 (PE16/77). This word did not appear in the final version of the poem. Its etymology is unclear, but Gilson, Welden and Hostetter suggest it might be connected to ᴱQ. laiqa “green”, a colour used to describe the ocean in some drafts of the poem (PE16/78).

Early Quenya [PE16/077] Group: Eldamo. Published by

sor(ne)

noun. eagle

Early Quenya [LT1A/Sorontur; PME/086; QL/086] Group: Eldamo. Published by

sornion

noun. eyrie

The word ᴱQ. sornion “eyrie” appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s as an elaboration of ᴱQ. sor(ne) “eagle” (QL/86). The word also appeared in the contemporaneous Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa (PME/86).

Neo-Quenya: Since Q. soron, sorno or sorne were words for “eagle” in Tolkien’s later writings, I think ᴺQ. sornion “eyrie” can be retained for purposes of Neo-Quenya, perhaps originally a genitive plural “of the eagles”.

Early Quenya [LT1A/Sorontur; PME/086; QL/086] Group: Eldamo. Published by

soron

noun. eagle

Early Quenya [PE13/154] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Early Noldorin

gwai

noun. sea

A word for “sea” in Early Noldorin Word-lists from the 1920s (PE13/146), probably a cognate of ᴱQ. vea “sea” from this same period. It is probably a later iteration of G. Bai “the Outer Seas” from the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, cognate of ᴱQ. Vai as suggested by Christopher Tolkien (GL/21; LT1A/Vai).

Early Noldorin [PE13/146] Group: Eldamo. Published by

thorn

noun. eagle

Early Noldorin [PE13/154] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Doriathrin

thorn

noun. eagle

A noun for “eagle” derived from the root ᴹ√THÓRON (Ety/THOR). Its cognates ᴹQ. soron and N. thoron suggest a primitive form ✱✶thoronē, where the middle [o] was lost due to the Ilkorin syncope. Its plural form is not thurin as printed in The Lost Road, but is actually thurnin matching its singular (EtyAC/THOR), as predicted by Helge Fauskanger (AL-Ilkorin/thorn).

Doriathrin [Ety/THOR; EtyAC/THOR] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Old Noldorin 

thoron

noun. eagle

Old Noldorin [Ety/THOR] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Middle Primitive Elvish

ay(ar)

root. sea

Middle Primitive Elvish [Ety/ÁLAT; Ety/AY; Ety/BEL; Ety/LIN¹; Ety/RAM; Ety/UY; EtyAC/AY] Group: Eldamo. Published by

vaiā

noun. sea

Middle Primitive Elvish [PE21/17] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Early Primitive Elvish

þoro Reconstructed

root. eagle

Early Primitive Elvish [LT1A/Sorontur; QL/086] Group: Eldamo. Published by