amun

hill

amun (amund-) noun "hill" (LT2:335; in Tolkien's later Quenya ambo)

ambona

noun. hill

Túna

hill, mound

Túna (also Tún) place-name, used of the hill on which Tirion was built (Silm, TUN, KOR), derived from a stem (TUN) apparently meaning simply *"hill, mound".

tundo

hill, mound

tundo noun "hill, mound" (TUN)

ambo

hill, rising ground

ambo noun "hill, rising ground" (Markirya, PE17:92), "mount" (PE17:157), allative pl. ambonnar "upon hills" in Markirya (ruxal' ambonnar "upon crumbling hills") According to VT45:5, ambo was added to the Etymologies as a marginal note.

umbo

hill, lump, clump, mass

umbo, umbon noun "hill, lump, clump, mass" (PE17:93)

amon

noun. hill, steep-sided mount

amon

hill

pl1. emyn n. hill, lump, clump, mass, often applied to (esp. isolated) mountains. Q. umbo(n). FAmon Amarth

amon

noun. hill, mountain with steep sides; lump, clump, mass, hill, (isolated) mountain; lump, clump, mass; [G.] steep slope

The basis Sindarin word for “hill”. In one set of notes from around 1967, Tolkien said it could be applied also to any “lump, clump, mass” (PE17/93). In this same note Tolkien said it was “often applied to (especially isolated) mountains”, the most notable example being S. Amon Amarth “Mount Doom”. Its plural form emyn “hills” also appears in many names.

Conceptual Development: This word had a long history in Tolkien’s Elvish languages. It first appeared as G. amon “hill, mount, steep slope” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/19), where it was probably a derivative of the early root ᴱ√AM(U) “up(wards)”. ᴱN. amon “hill” also appears in Early Noldorin Word-lists from the 1920s again connected to am- “up” (PE13/137, 159), and was given as N. amon “hill” in The Etymologies of the 1930s as a derivative of the root ᴹ√AM “up” (Ety/AM²).

Its Quenya cognate Q. ambo was given as derivative of √AM “go up” in notes from 1967, but in other 1967 notes on the comparative, Tolkien coined some different roots as the basis for this S. amon “hill”, first √MAB “lump, mass” (PE17/90) and then √MBON, the latter being the basis for the alternate meanings “lump, clump, mass” mentioned above (PE17/90-93). Tolkien’s motivation for this change was that he wanted √AMA to have a new meaning “addition, increase, plus” to serve as the basis for the intensive.

Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I would assume S. amon was derived from √AM “up”, since I prefer Q. an- for intensives, but it may have been influenced by √MBON and this was the reason for its alternate meanings “lump, clump, mass”.

Cognates

• Q. ambo “hill, rising ground, mount” ✧ PE17/093
• Q. umbo(n) “hill, lump, clump, mass, lump, clump, mass, hill” ✧ PE17/093

Derivations

• ✶ambu(na) “*hilly” ✧ PE17/092
  • √AM “go up, go up, [ᴹ√] up”
• ✶ṃbono “hill, lump, clump, mass” ✧ PE17/093
  • √MBON “*lump, mass” ✧ PE17/093

Element in

• S. Amon Amarth “Mount Doom, (lit.) Hill of Doom” ✧ PE17/093
• S. Amon Anwar “Hill of Awe” ✧ UT/301
• S. Amon Darthir
• S. Amon Dîn “Silent Hill”
• S. Amon Ereb “Lonely Hill” ✧ SA/er
• S. Amon Ethir “Hill of Spies” ✧ S/217
• S. Amon Gwareth
• S. Amon Hen “Hill of Sight, (lit.) Hill of the Eye”
• S. Amon Lanc “Naked Hill” ✧ UT/280
• S. Amon Lhaw “Hill of Hearing, *(lit.) Hill of Ears”
• S. Amon Obel
• S. Amon Rûdh “Bald Hill” ✧ S/204
• N. Amon Carab “Hill of the Hat” ✧ WJ/187
• S. Amon Sûl “Weathertop, (lit.) Hill of the Wind”
• S. Amon Tirith “Hill of Guard” ✧ RC/772
• S. Amon Uilos “Hill of Ever-snow”
• S. Emyn Arnen “Hills of Arnen” ✧ VT42/17
• S. Emyn Beraid “Tower Hills” ✧ LotR/1097
• S. Emyn Hen Dúnadan “Hills of the Eye of the Dúnadan” ✧ PM/186 (Emyn Hen Dúnadan*)
• S. Emyn Gwahaedir “*Hills of the Palantír”
• S. Emyn Duir “Dark Mountains” ✧ UT/280
• S. Emyn Muil “Drear Hills” ✧ RC/334
• S. Emyn-nu-Fuin “Mountains of Mirkwood, (lit.) Mountains under Night” ✧ UTI/Emyn-nu-Fuin
• S. Emyn Uial “Hills of Evendim” ✧ LotRI/Emyn Uial

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶ambuna > amon	[ambuna] > [ambona] > [ambon] > [ammon] > [amon]	✧ PE17/092
✶ṃbono > amon	[ṃbono] > [ambono] > [ambon] > [ammon] > [amon]	✧ PE17/093

Variations

• Amon ✧ PE17/033; RC/772; S/204; S/217; SA/er; UT/280; UT/301; VT42/17; WJ/187

dôl

hill

(i** dhôl, construct **dol) (head), pl. dŷl (i** nŷl). Note: In the Etymologies, this word was derived from a root with initial nd- (NDOL), which would make the mutations different (i** nôl, pl. i** ndŷl). However, the later name Fanuidhol "Cloudyhead" apparently indicates that the lenited form of this d was later to be dh (whereas it would be n** if the former derivation had been maintained).

amon

hill

1) amon (pl. emyn) (steep-sided mount), 2) dôl (i dhôl, construct dol) (head), pl. dŷl (i nŷl). Note: In the Etymologies, this word was derived from a root with initial nd- (NDOL), which would make the mutations different (i nôl, pl. i ndŷl). However, the later name Fanuidhol "Cloudyhead" apparently indicates that the lenited form of this d was later to be dh (whereas it would be n if the former derivation had been maintained). 3) tund (i dund, o thund, construct tun) (mound), pl. tynd (i thynd), coll. pl. tunnath.

amon

hill

(pl. emyn) (steep-sided mount)

tund

hill

(i** dund, o thund, construct tun) (mound), pl. tynd (i** thynd), coll. pl. tunnath.

cîl

pass between hills

(i gîl, o chîl) (cleft, gorge), no distinct pl. form except with article (i chîl), coll. pl. cíliath. . A homophone means ”renewal”.

ambō

noun. hill

Derivations

• √AM “go up, go up, [ᴹ√] up”

Derivatives

• Q. ambo “hill, rising ground, mount” ✧ PE17/092

amon

noun. hill, steep-sided mount

amon

noun. hill

Cognates

• ᴹQ. ambo “hill” ✧ Ety/AM²

Derivations

• ᴹ√AM “up” ✧ Ety/AM²

Element in

• N. Amon Thorn
• N. Amon Ereb “Lonely Hill”
• N. Amon Gwareth “Hill of Watch”
• N. Amon Hen
• N. Amon Lhaw
• N. Amon Uilos
• N. Emyn Arnen
• N. Haramon
• N. Emyn Rhain “Border Hills” ✧ TI/313
• N. Amon Dengin “Hill of Slain”
• N. Methen Amon

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ√AM² > amon	[ambon] > [ambon] > [ammon] > [amon]	✧ Ety/AM²
ᴹ√AM² > emuin > emyn	[amboni] > [ambuni] > [embyni] > [embyn] > [embyn] > [emmyn] > [emyn]	✧ Ety/AM²

mindon

noun. isolated hill, especially a hill with a watch tower

mindon

noun. tower

tund

noun. hill, mound

tunn

noun. hill, mound