_ n. _death. guru << gûru.
Sindarin
gurth
noun. death
gurth
noun. death
Cognates
- Q. urtu “death”
Derivations
- √ÑGUR “death; to die”
Element in
- S. Belegurth “Great Death”
- S. Gurthang “Iron of Death” ✧ SA/gurth
- S. gurth an Glamhoth “Death to the din-horde” ✧ UT/039
Variations
- Gurth ✧ UT/039
guru
noun. death
guru
noun. death, death (abstract)
A Sindarin word for “death” derived from primitive ✶ñgurū (PE17/87), unusual in that its primitive ancient vowel u did not vanish. In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien had variant forms [N.] gûr and gurw “death” marked with a “?”, both derived from Old Noldorin nguru and indicating some uncertainty on the exact phonetic developments (EtyAC/ÑGUR). Elsewhere in The Etymologies Tolkien said that [N.] guru was “Death as state or abstract”, as opposed to [N.] gwanw or gwanath for the “act of dying” (Ety/GWAN).
Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I would assume guru was for death as an abstraction or principle, and for the death of individuals I would use either gurth or gwanu/gwanath; see those entries for discussion.
Changes
gûru→ guru ✧ PE17/087Cognates
- ᴹQ. nuru “death, death [abstract]”
Derivations
Element in
- S. guruthos “dread of death, death-horror, shadow of death, dread of death, death-horror, shadow of death, [N.] fear of death” ✧ PE17/087
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ✶ngurū > guru [ŋgurū] > [ŋguru] > [guru] > [guru] > [guru] ✧ PE17/087 Variations
- gûru ✧ PE17/087 (
gûru)
Nûrnen
place name. Death
_ topon. _Death, dead water. >> guru
gwanu
noun. death (act of dying, not death as a state or abstract)
gurth
death
(i ngurth = i ñurth, o n’gurth = o ñgurth), pl. gyrth (in gyrth = i ñgyrth)
guruth
death
(i nguruth = i ñuruth, o n’guruth = o ñguruth), pl. gyryth (in gyryth = i ñgyryth)
gûr
death
(i ngûr = i ñûr, o n’gûr = o ñgûr, construct gur), pl. guir (in guir = i ñguir)
gwanath
death
1) (act of dying) gwanath (i **wanath), pl. gwenaith (in gwenaith), 2) (act of dying, especially the ”death” of Elves by fading or weariness) gwanu (i **wanu), analogical pl. gweny (in gweny). Archaic gwanw (LR:397 s.v. WAN), hence coll. pl. ?gwanwath. Other words (rather referring to Death as a state or abstract): 3) gûr (i ngûr = i ñûr, o n**gûr = o ñgûr, construct gur), pl. guir (in guir = i ñguir), 4) gurth (i ngurth = i ñurth, o n**gurth = o ñgurth), pl. gyrth (in gyrth = i ñgyrth), 5) guruth (i nguruth = i ñuruth, o n**guruth = o ñguruth), pl. gyryth (in gyryth** = i ñgyryth)
gwanath
death
(i ’wanath), pl. gwenaith (in gwenaith)
gwanu
death
(i ’wanu), analogical pl. gweny (in gweny). Archaic gwanw (LR:397 s.v. WAN), hence coll. pl. ?gwanwath. Other words (rather referring to Death as a state or abstract):
The usual Sindarin word for “death”, derived from the root √ÑGUR of similar meaning (UT/39; Ety/ÑGUR).
Conceptual Development: This word dates all the way back to the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/43), anchored by well established names like Gurthang or Gurtholf(in), the name of Túrin’s sword. Tolkien experimented with various alternate forms over the years, such as G. urthu (GG/14), G. gurthu (GL/43), ᴱN. gurdh (PE13/146) and N. guruth (Ety/ÑGUR), but kept coming back to gurth as the basic form.
Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I would use this word for death in general and especially violent death, as opposed to the more euphemistic [N.] gwanath or gwanu “death”, more literally “departure”.