mordo

shadow, obscurity, stain

mordo (1) noun "shadow, obscurity, stain" (MOR)

Ephel Dúath

noun. fence of shadow

ephel (“outer fence, encircling fence”) < ed (“outer”) + pel (“fenced field”), dû (“nightfall, dimness”) + gwath (“shade”)

ephel dúath

place name. Mountains of Shadow; (lit.) Fence of Shadow

The “Mountains of Shadow” west of Mordor (LotR/636), or more literally the “Fence of Shadow” (RC/457). This name is combination of ephel “fence” and dúath “night shadow” (SA/pel, dú, gwath; PE17/152).

Conceptual Development: In Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s, the earliest Elvish name these mountains was simply N. Duath (TI/309, TI/343), later revised to N. Hebel Dúath (WR/122) and finally Ephel Dúath (WR/180).

Elements

Word	Gloss
ephel	“outer fence, surrounding ring”
dúath	“night shadow, dark/black shadow, night shadow, dark/black shadow, [N.] night-shade”

Variations

• Ephel Duath ✧ PE17/152

guruthos

noun. the shadow of death, death-horror

morchant

noun. shadow (of objects, cast by light), dark shape

dae

noun. shadow

dae

noun. shadow, shadow (cast by an object or form), [N.] shade

Element in

• S. Daeron ✧ SA/dae
• S. Dor Daedeloth “Land of Great Dread; Land of Shadow of Horror” ✧ SA/dae

dúath

dark shadow

(i dhúath) (nightshade), pl. dúaith (i núaith). Compare the Ephel Dúath or ”Mountains of Shadow” forming th outer fence of Mordor, perhaps suggesting that Dúath is also the word used of Sauron as ”the Shadow”.

gwâth

shadow

(i ’wâth; construct gwath) (shade, dim light), pl. gwaith (in gwaith) (UT:261)

morchant

shadow

1) morchant (i vorchant), pl. morchaint (i morchaint). The literal meaning is ”dark shape”, referring to shadows with a recognizable form. 2) dae (i dhae) (shade), no distinct pl. form except with article (i nae). 3) daew (i dhaew), no distinct pl. form except with article (i ndaew) (VT45:8). 4) gwâth (i **wâth; construct gwath) (shade, dim light), pl. gwaith (in gwaith) (UT:261) 5) muil (i vuil) (twilight, dreariness, vagueness), no distinct pl. except with article (i muil**),

morchant

shadow

(i vorchant), pl. morchaint (i morchaint). The literal meaning is ”dark shape”, referring to shadows with a recognizable form.

dae

shadow

(i dhae) (shade), no distinct pl. form except with article (i nae).

daew

shadow

(i dhaew), no distinct pl. form except with article (i ndaew) (VT45:8).

muil

shadow

(i vuil) (twilight, dreariness, vagueness), no distinct pl. except with article (i muil)

ugru

noun. shadow

A noun translated “shadow” (SD/247), also described as “a word with the evil sense of ‘night’ or ‘dark’” (SD/306). It appears in the preprositional phrase ugru-dalad “under shadow” (SD/247) and in the draft-dative form ugrus “‽horror‽shadow” (SD/311).

Element in

• Ad. Êruhînim dubdam ugru-dalad “[the Children of Eru] fell under shadow” ✧ SD/247; SD/247
• Ad. ēruhīn udūbanim dalad ugrus “‽ fell under ‽horror‽shadow” ✧ SD/311
• Ad. ugrudâ- “to overshadow”

nâlu

noun. shadow

A noun attested only in the compound agannâlô “death-shadow [is]” (SD/247, VT24/12). The first element of the compound, agan “death”, as identified elsewhere (SD/426), so the remaining element must mean “shadow”. The compound is the subject of the sentence agannâlô burôda nênud “death-shadow [is] heavy on us” and is therefore in the subjective case. According the grammatical rules of Lowdham’s Report, the only possibly normal form producing this subjective is nâlu: compare nîlu “moon” to its subjective form nîlô (SD/431).

Conceptual Development: In early writings, the compound was (non-subjective) agannūlo, so that the apparent draft form of this noun was nūlo. A similar form nūlu appears on SD/306, described only as “a word with the evil sense of ‘night’ or ‘dark’”. It could be a separate word or another variation of this word, with the development nūlo >> nūlu >> nālu. Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne suggested (AAD/21) that the earlier forms may be related to ᴹQ. nulla “dark, dusky, obscure”.

Element in

• Ad. agannâlô burôda nênud “[the] death-shadow [is] heavy on us” ✧ SD/247; SD/247
• Ad. agannūlo burudan nēnum “death-shade heavy-is on-us” ✧ SD/312

Variations

• nūlu ✧ SD/306
• nūlo ✧ SD/312

wath

noun. shadow

Derivations

• √WATH “*shade, [ᴹ√] shade”

Derivatives

• S. gwath “shadow, dim light, shadow, dim light, [N.] shade” ✧ PE17/041

hebel dúath

place name. Mountains of Shadow

Earlier name of the Mountains of Shadow in Morder in Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s (WR/122, 180), a combination of hebel (“?fence”) and dú(w)ath “night-shade”.

Changes

• Hebel Dúath → Ephel Dúath “Mountains of Shadow” ✧ WR/122
• Hebel Dúath → Ephel Dúath ✧ WR/180

Elements

Word	Gloss
hebel	“?fence”
dú(w)ath	“night-shade”

dae

noun. shadow

daew

noun. shadow

eryd-lómin

place name. Mountains of Shadow

Changes

• Eryd-Lómin → Eredwethion ✧ SM/140
• Eryd Lómin → Eredwethion ✧ SM/221
• Eredlómin → Eredwethion ✧ SMI/Eredlómin
• Eredlómin → Eredwethion ✧ SMI/Eredwethion

Elements

Word	Gloss
orod	“mountain”
lómin	“shady, shadowy, gloomy; gloom(iness)”

Variations

• Eredlúmin ✧ LR/405; LRI/Eredlómin
• Eryd Lómin ✧ SM/221
• Erydlómin ✧ SM/296; SMI/Eredlómin
• Eredlómin ✧ SMI/Eredlómin; SMI/Eredwethion
• Eredlómen ✧ SMI/Eredlómin