Name of the Golden Tree of Valinor, the one of the Two Trees which shone with golden light (S/38). It is a compound of laurë “gold” and lin(dë) “singing, song” (SA/laurë, lin²), variously translated as “Song of Gold” (MR/155) or “Singing Gold (PE17/80)”.
Conceptual Development: In the earliest Lost Tales, the tree was first named ᴱQ. Lindelokte “Singing Cluster” with numerous variations (LT1/22, LTA/Lindelos). Towards the end of Tolkien’s work on the Lost Tales, he introduced the name ᴱQ. {Lindelaure >>} Laurelin “Singing-gold” (LT2/216), and used this as the name thereafter.
The name ᴹQ. Laurelin was translated “Song of Gold” in Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s (LR/210). This translation also appeared in The Etymologies (Laurelind-, Ety/LIN²), but there Tolkien considered a variant, co-existing translation “Hanging Flame” (Laureling-, EtyAC/LING). This variant was retained in the later Sindarin name of the tree: S. Glingal.
Laurelin ("g.sg. Laurelinden" or Laurelingen; in LotR-style Quenya this is dat.sg.) Name of the Golden Tree of Valinor, interpreted both *"singing-gold" (stem Laurelind-) and "hanging-gold" (stem Laureling-) (LIN2, VT45:27, LÁWAR/GLÁWAR, [GLAW(-R)], SA, Letters:308)