tawar

noun. forest, forest; [N.] wood (material)

A word for “forest” in a few Sindarin names, notably Tawar-in-Drúedain “Drúadan Forest” (UT/319) and Tawarwaith “Forest People” (UT/256).

Conceptual Development: In The Etymologies of the 1930s N. tawar meant “wood (material)” but was often used with the same sense as N. taur “forest”; it was derived from the root ᴹ√TÁWAR (Ety/TÁWAR). In Sindarin, awa often became au (and then > o), and cases where it was preserved seem to have to do with patterns of stress; see the entry on that phonetic rule for further details.

Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, it is probably better to stick with the better known S. taur for “forest”.

eryn

forest

_n. _forest, wood of trees.

taur

noun. forest

_ n. _forest. Q. taure. >> taw

Forest of Region

Forest of Region

Region is given as Doriathrin. The base is the word reg "holly tree", with perhaps the toponymical ending -ion "holly-land" or a plural genitive ending -ion (as in Quenya), having the meaning "(Land) of Hollies". Note that the name is unrelated to the English word "region (of land)", and thus is to be pronounced with a hard g. Compare Eregion.

taur

noun. forest, wood, forest, wood, [N.] great wood, [G.] dense wood

The most common Sindarin word for “forest”, derived from √TAW “wood” (PE17/115) or its extended form ᴹ√TAWAR (Ety/TÁWAR). In one place Tolkien said it was “only used of huge forests” due to the influence of N. taur “mighty” (Ety/TÁWAR), but in practice this was not the case.

Conceptual Development: The word G. taur appeared all the way back in Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s with the gloss “a dense wood or forest” (GL/69), almost certainly a derivative of the early root ᴱ√TAVA “beam” as suggested by Christopher Tolkien (LT1A/Tavari). ᴱN. taur “forest” appeared in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s (PE13/153), and N. taur “great wood, forest” appeared in The Etymologies as a derivative of the root ᴹ√TAWAR which is also where Tolkien said it was “only used of huge forests” as noted above (Ety/TÁWAR). This word appeared frequently in Sindarin names in Tolkien’s later writings.

taur-en-faroth

place name. *Forest of the Hunting

Highlands near Nargothrond, described as the “Hills of the Hunters” in the Lays of Beleriand from the 1920s (SA/faroth, LB/214). This earlier description does not seem to be a proper translation, since the initial element of this name is clearly taur “forest”, followed by en “of the” and faroth. The last word is untranslated, but it probably has something to do with hunting, as suggested by Christopher Tolkien (SA/faroth).

Conceptual Development: In Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s, the first Elvish name for this region was N. Duil Rewinion (SM/225), later revised to N. Taur-na-Faroth (LR/262). A similar form Taur-na-Faras appeared in The Etymologies under the root ᴹ√SPAR “hunt, pursue”, where faras is glossed “hunting” (Ety/SPAR). This is the best evidence for the meaning of Faroth.

taur-im-duinath

place name. Forest between the Rivers

The forest between the rivers Sirion and Gelion, translated “Forest between the Rivers” (S/123), a combination of taur “forest”, im “between” and the class-plural of duin “river” (RC/625).

taur-nu-fuin

place name. Forest under Night(shade)

A forest in northern Dorthonion corrupted by Morgoth and turned to darkness (S/155). Its name is a compound of taur “forest”, nu “under” and fuin “night” (SA/taur, fuin). The final element was often translated “nightshade” (S/155, WJ/56), but this is an allusion to the other name of this forest: Deldúwath “Deadly Nightshade”.

Conceptual Development: This name dates back to the earliest Lost Tales, and always had the elements taur and fuin. Its development was G. Taurfuin “Forest of Night” (LT2/47) >> N. Taur-na-Fuin “Forest of Night, Deadly Nightshade” (LB/34, SM/26, LR/133) >> S. Taur-nu-Fuin “Forest under Night(shade)” (S/155), with the middle preposition changing from na “of” to nu “under”.

In some older writings, this forest’s name was translated “Mirkwood” (LR/282, WJ/239) and in at least one place Tolkien decided that Taur-nu-Fuin was the proper Elvish name of Mirkwood (UT/281). However, the canonical Elvish name of Mirkwood was Taur e-Ndaedelos “Forest of the Great Fear” (LotR/1134).

tawarwaith

place name. Forest People

A term for the Silvan Elves (UT/256), a combination of tawar “forest” and the lenited form of gwaith “people”.

Neldoreth

place name. a forest of beeches

_ topon. _a forest of beeches.

Taur-e-Ndaedelos

noun. forest of the great (shadow of) fear (Mirkwood)

taur (“great wood, forest”) + en (sing. gen. article) + #daer (“great”) or #dae (“shadow”) + delos (“abhorrence, loathing, detestation”) [Etym. DYEL-] probably del (“fear”) + gos, goth (#gost? “dread”); #dae is not found in Etym, but the stem is probably NDAY.

Taur-en-Faroth

noun. forest of a hunter, hunters

taur (“great wood, forest”) + en (pl. gen. article) + faroth (hunter, hunters ? [His.]) #The last element in Faroth could be suffix (-h)oth also found in Lossoth, Esgaroth and Lammoth.

Taur-im-Duinath

noun. forest between rivers

taur (“great wood, forest”) + im (prefix “between”) + duin (“long and large river”) + ath (collective plural suffix)

Taur-nu-Fuin

noun. forest under night (Mirkwood)

taur (“great wood, forest”) + nu (“under”) + fuin (“night, gloom, darkness”)

eryn

noun. wood, forest (of trees)

A word for a wood or forest of trees, most notably in the name Eryn Lasgalen “Wood of Greenleaves”, the name of Mirkwood when it was restored after the War of the Ring (LotR/1094, Let/382).

Possible Etymology: Tolkien gave a couple different explanations for this word. Sometimes he explained it as derived from ✶oronī, an ancient variant plural of S. orn reinterpreted a collective word, much like English “woods” (PE17/33, 153). But elsewhere he said it was derived from an ancient abstract noun ✶oronyē “of trees” (PE17/119). Of the two, I prefer the first explanation as a nice parallel to English.

taur-i-melegyrn

place name. Forest of the Great Trees

Another name for Taur-im-Duinath appearing in revisions to the Silmarillion maps from the 1950s-1960s, translated “Forest of the Great Trees” (WJ/185). This name a combination of taur “forest”, the definite article i “the” and the nasal mutation of beleg “great” and the plural of orn “tree”.

taur-na-chardhîn

place name. Forest of Southern Silence

Another name for Taur-im-Duinath appearing in revisions to the Silmarillion maps from the 1950s-1960s, translated “Forest of Southern Silence” (WJ/185). This name a combination of taur “forest”, na(n) “of”, the soft mutation char- of harn “southern” and the soft mutation dhîn of dîn “silence”.

taur-na-foen

place name. Forest of the Foen

Another name for Dorthonion translated “Forest of the Foen” in a philological fragment of uncertain date, a combination of taur “forest”, na(n) “of” and the mountain name Foen (WJ/187 note #32). It also appeared in another note from the early 1950s where the name was said to be “Beleriandric” (PE21/79).

taur e-ndaedelos

place name. Forest of the Great Fear

The Sindarin name of Mirkwood, translated “Forest of the Great Fear” (LotR/1134), a combination of taur “forest”, en “of the” and the mutated form of daedelos “horrible fear”.

tawarwaith

noun. forest people

tawar (“great wood, forest”) + gwaith (“people, folk”)

taur

noun. great wood, forest

tawar

noun. great wood, forest

tauron

noun. forester

A word for “forester”, based on the name Tauron of the same meaning (PM/358). It is simply taur “forest” with the agental suffix S. -on.

tauron

noun. forester

glâd

forest

(i ’lâd, construct glad) (wood), pl. glaid (in glaid)

taur

forest

1) taur (i daur, o thaur) (great wood), pl. toer (i thoer), coll. pl. torath. Note: homophones mean ”king (of a people)” and also (as adj.) ”lofty, high, sublime, noble” etc. 2) tawar (i dawar, o thawar) (wood [as material]), pl. tewair (i thewair). (

taur

forest

(i daur, o thaur) (great wood), pl. toer (i thoer), coll. pl. torath. Note: homophones mean ”king (of a people)” and also (as adj.) ”lofty, high, sublime, noble” etc.

tawar

forest

(i dawar, o thawar) (wood [as material]), pl. tewair (i thewair). (SMALL)

tawarwaith

forest-people

(Silvan Elves) Tawarwaith (UT.256)

tawarwaith

forest-people

(Silvan Elves) Tawarwaith (UT.256);

tawarwaith

forest-people

(UT.256)

tauron

forester

tauron (i dauron, o thauron), pl. tauryn (i thauryn)

tauron

forester

(i dauron, o thauron), pl. tauryn (i thauryn)

eryn

wood

1) (forest) eryn. No distinct pl. form. 2) glâd (i **lâd, construct glad) (small forest), pl. glaid (in glaid**) See FOREST. 2)

glâd

wood

(i ’lâd, construct glad) (small forest), pl. glaid (in glaid) See FOREST. 2)

taur

great wood

taur (i daur, o thaur) (forest), pl. toer (i thoer), coll. pl. torath. Note: homophones mean ”king (of a people)” and also ”lofty, high, sublime, noble” etc.

tawar

wood

(as material) tawar (i dawar, o thawar) (forest), pl. tewair (i thewair).

tawar

wood

(i dawar, o thawar) (forest), pl. tewair (i thewair).

eryn

noun. wood

glad

noun. wood

glad

noun. wood

A word for a “wood” in the name Methed-en-Glad “End of the Wood” (UT/153) and possibly also Gladuial “✱Twilight Wood” (WJ/183, 188 note #48). It resembles galadh “tree” and is probably related to it, but it cannot be derived directly from the same root ᴹ√GALAD as that would produce ✱✱gladh. It was either derived from a variant root ✱√GALAT, or was a loan word from Nandorin where the word for “tree” was Nan. galad (MR/182; PE17/50, 60).

tawar

noun. wood (as a material)

eryn

wood

. No distinct pl. form.

tawaren

wooden

tawaren (lenited dawaren; pl. tewerin).

tawaren

wooden

(lenited dawaren; pl. tewerin).

thafn

wooden pillar

(post), pl. ?thefn, coll. pl. thavnath

málos

forest

málos noun "forest" (LT2:342 rather taurë in Tolkien's later Quenya)

tauno

forest

tauno noun "forest" (LT1:267; in Tolkien's later Quenya taurë)

taure

noun. forest

tauremornalómë

place name. *Forest (of) Black Night

A name of Fangorn forest, longer form of Tauremorna (LotR/469). This name is a compound of taurë “forest”, morna “black” and lómë “night”.

taurë

noun. forest, (great) wood

The common Quenya word for “forest”, derived from the root √TAW “wood” (PE17/115; VT39/7).

Conceptual Development: In the Qenya Lexicon Tolkien had ᴱQ. tauno “great forest” derived from the root ᴱ√TAVA “beam” (QL/90). It seems to have had the form taur- in the early name ᴱQ. Rúsitaurion “Son of the Weary Forest” (LT2/89), and the form was ᴱQ. taure in the Oilima Markirya and its various drafts (MC/213, 220; PE16/62 ff.). In Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s it briefly had the form taurie (PE16/138). In The Etymologies of the 1930s it had the form ᴹQ. taure “great wood, forest” as a derivative of the root ᴹ√TAWAR of similar meaning (Ety/TÁWAR). It was mentioned regularly in Tolkien’s later writings, generally with the gloss “forest”.

Tauremorna

black forest

Tauremorna place-name, "black forest" (LotR2:III ch. 4, translated in PE17:82). Tauremornalómë place-name, *"Forest (of) Black Night" (LotR2:III ch. 4)

Taurë Huinéva

forest of shadow

Taurë Huinéva place-name "Forest of Shadow", Sindarin Taur na Fuin(PHUY, VT46:10)

tauremorna

place name. Black Forest

A name of Fangorn forest, shorter form of Tauremornalómë (LotR/469), translated “Black Forest” (PE17/82). This name is a compound of taurë “forest” and morna “black” (RC/385, PE17/82).

taurë

(great) wood, forest

taurë noun "(great) wood, forest" (SA:taur, Letters:308, TÁWAR. VT39:7), pl. tauri in Markirya

taurosso

masculine name. Forest-warden

Apparently a Quenya cognate of S. Tauron appearing in linguistic notes from the 1950s (PE21/85).

taurelilómëa

place name. Forestmanyshadowed

A descriptive name of Fangorn appearing in the even longer Entish description of that land: Taurelilómëa-tumbalemorna Tumbaletaurëa Lómëanor (LotR/467). The name is a combination of the partitive plural taureli “forest-many” of taurë “forest” and lómëa “shadowed” (LotR/1131, Let/308).

taurëa

adjective. forested

A word for “forested” appearing in the Entish phrase Tumbaletaurëa “Deepvalleyforested” (LotR/1131), it is simply the adjective form of taurë “forest”.

Taurelilómëa-tumbalemorna Tumbaletaurëa Lómëanor

forestmanyshadowed-deepvalleyblack deepvalleyforested gloomyland

Taurelilómëa-tumbalemorna Tumbaletaurëa Lómëanor "Forestmanyshadowed-deepvalleyblack Deepvalleyforested Gloomyland", Quenya elements agglutinated in Entish fashion; this supposedly means something like "there is a black shadow in the deep dales of the forest" (LotR2:III ch. 4; translated in Appendix F under "Ents"; cf. also Letters:308) Earlier (TLT) version in TI:415: Tauretavárëa Tumbalemorna Tumbaletaurëa landatavárë, perhaps *"forest-wooden deepvalleyblack deepvalleyforested wide-wood."

taurëa

forested

#taurëa adj. "forested" in Tumbaletaurëa, see Taurelilómëa-tumbalemorna...

ve tauri lillassië

like leaves of forests

The fifteenth line of the Markirya poem (MC/222). The first word is ve “like”, followed the plural of taurë “forest” and the plural of the adjective lillassëa “having many leaves”, in agreement with the noun.

Decomposition: Broken into its constituent elements, this phrase would be:

> ve taur-i lillass-ië = “✱like forest-(plural) manyleaved-(plural)”

taurelasselindon

like leaves of forests

taurelasselindon "like leaves of forests" (MC:213, 220; this is a "Qenya" similative form: taure-lasseli-ndon "forest-leaves-like")

ornendur

noun. tree-keep, forester, woodsman

A word in 1959 notes Tolkien described as “a tree-keep, a forester, a ‘woodsman’, a man concerned with trees as we might say ‘professionally’ (NM/20)”. It was given as an example of the use of the suffix -(n)dur, and its initial element is ornë “tree”.

tavárëa

wooden

#tavárëa ?adj. "wooden" (tauretavárëa = "forest-wooden"?) (TI:415). If so perhaps a near-synonym of taurina.

tauron

noun. forester

A neologism for “forester” created by Boris Shapiro in PPQ (PPQ) from the early 2000s, equivalent to S. Tauron. I think it is preferable to use the now-attested word Q. ornendur, published in 2021.

tavar

wood

tavar (1) noun "wood" (TÁWAR)

toina

adjective. wood, wood, *wooden, made of wood

A word glossed “wood” appearing in a list of “large & small” roots from around 1968 derived from primitive ✶tawĭnā (PE17/115) and hence probably an adjective “✱wooden, (made) of wood” as suggested by Helge Fauskanger (QQ/toina).

Conceptual Development: In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien instead had ᴹQ. taurina “of wood”, an adjectival form of ᴹQ. tavar “wood (material)” (Ety/TÁWAR). The word ᴹQ. toina appeared in notes on The Feanorian Alphabet from the 1940s, but was unglossed, so whether it meant “✱wooden” is unclear.

turu

wood

turu (3) noun "wood" (properly firewood, but used of wood in general) (LT1:270)

turúva

wooden

turúva adj. "wooden" (LT1:270); cf. turu #3.

taurē

noun. forest

taw

root. wood

Tolkien used a similar set of words for “forest” starting with the earliest versions of Elvish, but their derivation evolved somewhat over time. The earliest related root was ᴱ√TAVA “beam” with variant ᴱ√TAFA (the latter marked by Tolkien with a “?” and with no obvious derivatives) from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s as the basis for words like ᴱQ. taule “great tree”, ᴱQ. tauno “forest” and ᴱQ. tavar “dale-sprite” (QL/90). It also had derivatives in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon such as G. tavros/G. taur “forest” and G. tavor “wood fay” (GL/69).

ᴱQ. taure “forest” did not appear as an independent word until drafts of the Oilima Markirya from around 1930 (PE16/62; MC/213). Thereafter Tolkien mostly stuck with Q. taurë and N./S. taur for “forest”. In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien gave the root ᴹ√TAWAR “wood, forest” (Ety/TÁWAR), though in one place it was ᴹ√TAR (EtyAC/TUR). In notes associated with the Quendi and Eldar essay from 1959-60 Tolkien gave √TAWA “wood”, and in notes on “large & small” roots from 1968 Tolkien had √TAW “wood” (PE17/115).

tawinā

adjective. wood

taur-na-danion

place name. Forest of Pines

Earliest name of Dorthonion in Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s, first appearing as Taur Danin (SM/197) and later expanded to Taur-na-Danion (LR/127) with variants -Thanion, -Donion, -Thonion before ultimately being replaced by the Ilkorin name Dorthonion (LR/145). It is a combination of taur “forest”, na “of” and early variants of thaun “pine”, possibly as an earlier Gnomish-style genitive plural.

taur-na-delduath

place name. *Forest of Deadly Nightshade

A variant name of Taur-na-Fuin appearing in The Etymologies from the 1930s (Ety/ÑGOROTH), simply an expanded form of its other variant Deldúwath “Deadly Nightshade” with the addition of taur “forest” and na “of”.

taur-na-fuin

place name. Forest of Night

Earlier name of S. Taur-nu-Fuin, this form of the name first appeared in The Lays of Beleriand (LB/34). Early in this period, Tolkien often translated this name as “Deadly Nightshade” (LB/34, SM/103, SM/299), but he eventually decided that this translation was actually a second name for the forest, whose Elvish form was N. Deldúwath.

In The Etymologies, Tolkien also posited that this name was a punning alteration of N. Dor-na-Thuin, the proper Noldorin form of Ilk. Dorthonion, the name of the region before it was corrupted by Morgoth (Ety/THŌN). When the Noldorin language became Sindarin, this development no longer made sense.

taur-rimmon

place name. Forest of Rimmon

Name of the forest of Rimmon in Lord of the Rings drafts (WR/351), a combination of that region’s name with taur “forest”.

brethilian(d)

place name. Forest of Brethil

A variant name for the forest Brethil appearing in The Etymologies from the 1930s, a combination of brethil “beech” and the suffix -ian(d) “land” (Ety/BERÉTH).

brethorn

place name. Forest of Brethil

A variant name for the forest Brethil appearing in The Etymologies from the 1930s, a combination of breth “mast” and orn “tree” (EtyAC/NEL).

taur-nan-erig

place name. Forest of Region

A name appearing only in The Etymologies from the 1930s (Ety/ERÉK), a combination of taur “forest”, nan “of” and ereg “holly”.

tawar

noun. wood (material), *forest

taur

noun. forest, great wood

taur

noun. great wood, forest

taur-na-faroth

place name. *Forest of Hunting

tawar

noun. great wood, forest

deldúwath

place name. Deadly Nightshade

tawaren

adjective. wooden

gwathfuin-daidelos

place name. Deadly Nightshade

An earlier name for S. Deldúwath appearing in Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s, glossed “Deadly Nightshade” (LR/133) or “Night of Dread’s Shadow” (LR/406). It is a combination of gwath “shade”, fuin “night” and Daedhelos “Shadow of Fear”.

math-fuin-delos

place name. Deadly Nightshade

Earliest name for S. Deldúwath appearing in Silmarillion drafts from the early 1930s, glossed “Deadly Nightshade” (SM/299). It is a combination of G. math “dusk”, N. fuin “night” and a variant form delos of deloth “abhorrence”.

tawar

noun. wood (as a material)

tawaren

adjective. wooden