felco

cave, mine, underground dwelling

felco noun "cave, mine, underground dwelling" (PE17:118); also felca, felehta

felya

cave

felya noun "cave" (PHÉLEG), "mine, boring, tunnel, underground dwel[ling]" (PE17:118)

tereva

fine, acute

tereva adj. "fine, acute" (TER/TERES), "piercing"_ (LT1:255; though glossed "fine, acute" in the Etymologies, the stem _TER is defined as "pierce")

rotelë

cave

rotelë noun "cave" (LT2:347)

rotto

cave, tunnel

rotto noun "cave, tunnel" (VT46:12), "a small grot or tunnel" (PM:365)

fela

noun. mine, boring, tunnel, underground dwelling; minor excavations, den, mine, boring, tunnel, underground dwelling; minor excavations, den; [N.] cave

A word for “mine, boring, tunnel, underground dwelling” in Notes on Names (NN) from 1957, but also explained in notes from 1969 as “minor excavations made by wild animals as dens or lairs” (NM/304). It was derived from primitive ✶phelgā (NM/304; PE17/118; Ety/PHÉLEG), and the final a in this word is the result of ancient ʒ (from g) become a when word-final after another consonant.

Abnormal Plural: This word has an abnormal plural form fili (NM/304; Ety/PHÉLEG): see the section on “Final a from ancient g” in the discussion of unusual plurals for more details.

Conceptual Development: This word was tied to the name of Felagund since its introduction in The Etymologies of the 1930s, where N. fela “cave” was derived from ON. phelga under the root ᴹ√PHELEG of the same meaning, already with the abnormal plural fili noted above (Ety/PHÉLEG). In Notes on Names (NN) from 1957, Tolkien again had S. fela from ✶phelgā, but there the gloss was “mine, boring, tunnel, underground dwel[ling]” (PE17/118). In this note Tolkien considered instead S. feleg “cave, mine, underground dwelling” as the basis for the name Felagund, derived instead from √PHELEK (PE17/118).

In a note from 1959, Tolkien gave a completely different etymology of Felagund as a loan word from Khuzdul Felakgundu “Cave Hewer” (PM/352), and this was the etymology Christopher Tolkien gave in The Silmarillion index (SI/Felagund). In a note from 1969, however, Tolkien said instead that Felagund was a nickname meaning “den-dweller” (also used for badgers), and its initial element fela was again derived from ✶phelga or philga (NM/304), with a meaning as follows:

> It was used of minor excavations made by wild animals as dens or lairs, and also as temporary dwellings by wandering folk, Dwarvish or Elvish; it was usually distinguished from the larger caves of geological formation used and extended by stone-workers. It was thus naturally used of the “setts” of badgers (which seem to have existed in great numbers in parts of Beleriand).

In this 1969 note Tolkien again mentioned its abnormal plural fili < ✶phelgai.

Neo-Sindarin: Of the various meanings for this name, I prefer its 1957 sense “mine, boring, tunnel, underground dwelling”; its 1969 use for “den” (and felagund = “badger”) conflicts with the etymology of Felagund’s published in The Silmarillion. For “cave” I would use groth as in Menegroth “Thousand Caves” or feleg as a loan word from Khuzdul, and for “den” I would use torech as in Torech Ungol “Shelob’s Lair”.

Cognates

• Q. felya “mine, boring, tunnel, underground dwel[ling], mine, boring, tunnel, underground dwelling; [ᴹQ.] cave” ✧ PE17/118

Derivations

• ✶phelgā “mine, boring, tunnel, underground dwel[ling]; minor excavations, temporary dwellings” ✧ NM/304; NM/304; PE17/118
  • √PHELEG “excavation, excavation; [ᴹ√] cave” ✧ NM/304; PE17/118

Element in

• S. felagund “den-dweller; brock, badger” ✧ NM/304
• S. Felagund “Lord of Caves; Hewer of Caves; Den Dweller” ✧ NM/304

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶phelga > fela	[pʰelga] > [ɸelga] > [ɸelɣa] > [felɣa] > [felɣ] > [fela]	✧ NM/304
✶phelgai > felʒi > fili	[pʰelgai] > [pʰelgī] > [pʰelgi] > [ɸelgi] > [ɸelɣi] > [felɣi] > [filɣi] > [filī] > [fili]	✧ NM/304
✶phelgā > fela	[pʰelgā] > [pʰelga] > [ɸelga] > [ɸelɣa] > [felɣa] > [felɣ] > [fela]	✧ PE17/118

feleg

noun. cave

n. cave, mine, underground dwelling. Q. felco. Q.

lhind

adjective. fine, slender

groth

noun. delving, underground dwelling

rond

noun. cave roof

groth

noun. cave, tunnel, large excavation

rond

noun. vaulted or arched roof, as seen from below (and usually not visible from outside), or a (large) hall of chamber so roofed

groth

cave

(i ’roth) (delving, large excavation), pl. gryth (in gryth) (VT46:12)

grôd

cave

1) grôd (i **rôd, construct grod) (delving, excavation, underground dwelling), pl. grŷd (in grŷd) (WJ:414), 2) groth (i **roth) (delving, large excavation), pl. gryth (in gryth) (VT46:12), 3) rond (construct ron) (cavern, vault, vaulted ceiling, hall with vaulted roof), pl. rynd (idh rynd), coll. pl. ronnath, 4) roth (delving, large excavation), pl. ryth, 4) gathrod (i **athrod), pl. gethryd (i ngethryd = i ñethryd), 5) fela (pl. fili). In the Etymologies (LR:381 s.v. PHÉLEG) the name Felagund is said to include this word, but since Tolkien later re-explained this name as a borrowing from Dwarvish, some would consider fela** as a word for ”cave” conceptually obsolete.

grôd

cave

(i ’rôd, construct grod) (delving, excavation, underground dwelling), pl. grŷd (in grŷd) (WJ:414)

rond

cave

(construct ron) (cavern, vault, vaulted ceiling, hall with vaulted roof), pl. rynd (idh rynd), coll. pl. ronnath

roth

noun. cave

n. cave. Q. rondo.

roth

cave

(delving, large excavation), pl. ryth, 4) gathrod (i ’athrod), pl. gethryd (i ngethryd = i ñethryd)

brand

fine

1) brand (high, lofty, noble), lenited vrand, pl. braind, 2) trîw (lenited drîw; no distinct pl. form) (slender) , 3) *lhind (slender), lenited ?thlind or ?lind (the lenition product of lh is uncertain); no distinct pl. form. Sugggested Sindarin form of ”Noldorin” thlind.

brand

fine

(high, lofty, noble), lenited vrand, pl. braind

fela

cave

(pl. fili). In the Etymologies (LR:381 s.v. PHÉLEG) the name Felagund is said to include this word, but since Tolkien later re-explained this name as a borrowing from Dwarvish, some would consider fela as a word for ”cave” conceptually obsolete.

lhind

fine

(slender), lenited ?thlind or ?lind (the lenition product of lh is uncertain); no distinct pl. form. Sugggested Sindarin form of ”Noldorin” thlind.

trîw

fine

(lenited drîw; no distinct pl. form) (slender)

rhûd

artificial cave

(construct rhud, with article ?i thrûd or ?i rûd – *the lenition product of rh- is uncertain) (dwelling underground, rockhewn hall, mine), pl. rhuid (?idh ruid). (PM:365)*

tess

fine pierced hole

(i dess, construct tes), pl. tiss (i thiss). Older ters (VT46:18).

lhê

fine thread

(?i thlê or ?i lê – the lenition product of lh is uncertain) (spider filament), pl. lhî (?i lî). Suggested Sindarin form of ”Noldorin” thlê.

othronn

fortress in a cave/caves

(pl. ethrynn for archaic öthrynn) (underground stronghold). Cited in archaic form othrond in the source (WJ:414).

fíli

masculine name. Fíli

Variations

• Fili ✧ PMI/Fili; UTI/Fili

fela

noun. cave

fela

noun. cave

Cognates

• ᴹQ. felya “cave” ✧ Ety/PHÉLEG

Derivations

• On. phelga “cave” ✧ Ety/PHÉLEG
  • ᴹ√PHELEG “cave” ✧ Ety/PHÉLEG

Element in

• N. Felagund “Lord of Caves” ✧ Ety/PHÉLEG

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
On. phelga > fela	[pʰelga] > [ɸelga] > [ɸelɣa] > [felɣa] > [felɣ] > [fela]	✧ Ety/PHÉLEG
On. phelga > fili	[pʰelgi] > [ɸelgi] > [ɸelɣi] > [felɣi] > [filɣi] > [filī] > [fili]	✧ Ety/PHÉLEG

thlind

adjective. fine, slender

thlinn

adjective. fine, slender

trîw

adjective. fine, slender

rhond

noun. cave roof

rhonn

noun. cave roof

rhond

noun. vaulted or arched roof, as seen from below (and usually not visible from outside), or a (large) hall of chamber so roofed

rhonn

noun. vaulted or arched roof, as seen from below (and usually not visible from outside), or a (large) hall of chamber so roofed

gathrod

noun. cave

gathrod

noun. cave

A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “cave”, apparently a combination of N. gath “cavern” and ᴹ√ROT “tunnel” (Ety/GAT(H)). Its initial element also appeared in the name N. Doriath “Land of the Cave”, but in later writings S. Doriath was redefined as “Land of the Fence” with final element S. iath “fence” (WJ/370), so N. gathrod “cave” was probably abandoned.

Elements

Word	Gloss
gath	“cavern”
ROT	“bore, tunnel”

rond

noun. cave