Sindarin 

flood

n. flood.

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:96] -. Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

noun. flood, fenland

l(h)ô

noun. flood, fenland, flood, fenland; [G.] pool, lake

A noun that served as the final element in various river names. Tolkien was uncertain whether the primitive form of this word began with simple l- or s-prefixed sl-, hence the variation between and lhô. In notes on Words, Phrases and Passages from the Lord of the Rings from the late 1950s or early 1960s, Tolkien said the non-suffixal form of this word was hlô “flood” (PE17/96). In notes from 1966-67 he gave a bewildering variety of derivations for this word, but mostly represented it as lhô or hlô in various attempts to connect it to the river name S. Lhûn (PE17/136-137; VT48/27-28).

In notes on The Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor from the late 1960s, while discussing the river name S. Gwathló Tolkien said:

> The element -ló was also of Common Eldarin origin, derived from a base (s)log: in Common Eldarin sloga had been a word used for streams of a kind that were variable and liable to overflow their banks at seasons and cause floods when swollen by rains or melting snow; especially such as the Glanduin (described above) that had their sources in mountains and fell at first swiftly, but were halted in the lower lands and flats. ✱sloga became in Sindarin lhô; but was not in later times much used except in river or marsh names. The Quenya form would have been hloä (VT42/9).

Tolkien rejected this etymology, however, replacing it with the following:

> was derived from Common Eldarin base LOG “wet (and soft), soaked, swampy, etc.” The form ✱loga produced S. and T. loga; and also, from ✱logna, S. loen, T. logna “soaking wet, swamped”. But the stem in Quenya, owing to sound-changes which caused its derivatives to clash with other words, was little represented ... the Quenya form of S. would have been ✱✱loa, identical with Q. loa < ✱lawa “year”; the form of S. loen, T. logna would have been ✱✱lóna identical with [Q.] lóna “pool, mere” (VT42/10).

This final etymology appears to be the last one Tolkien wrote on the topic; later in the same document he used the form in discussions of the river name S. Ringló (VT42/13-14). As for the meaning of the word, it seems it applied both to wide rivers with a tendency to flood their banks, as well as fenlands or wetlands in general.

Conceptual Development: As an element in river names, -lo first appeared in the river names N. Gwathlo and N. Ringlo in Lord of the Rings drafts (TI/304; WR/287). G. “pool, lake” from the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s is possible precursor (GL/54).

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I prefer the pre-1968 form of the word lhô, as this is both more distinctive and also allows us to salvage Q. hloä of similar meaning.

Changes

  • lhô ✧ VT42/09

Cognates

  • Q. hlöa “flood, fenland” ✧ VT42/09
  • T. loga “*flood, fenland” ✧ VT42/10

Derivations

  • SLOUN “*descend” ✧ PE17/136; VT48/27
  • LOW “flow freely (fully)” ✧ PE17/136; PE17/137; PE17/137; VT48/27; VT48/28
  • slowā ✧ PE17/137; VT48/28
    • LOW “flow freely (fully)” ✧ PE17/137; VT48/28
  • (s)loga “fenland” ✧ UT/263; VT42/09; VT42/10
    • LOG “wet (and soft), soaked, swampy” ✧ UT/263; VT42/09; VT42/10

Element in

  • S. Gwathló “Greyflood” ✧ PE17/136; PE17/136; PE17/137; UT/263; VT42/09; VT48/27; VT48/27; VT48/28
  • S. Lô Dhaer “Great Fen” ✧ VT42/14
  • S. Onodló “Entwash”
  • S. Ringló “Chillflood” ✧ PE17/096; PE17/136; PE17/136; PE17/137; VT42/13; VT42/14; VT48/27; VT48/27; VT48/28

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
slowā > slŏw̯ > slaw > hlaw[slowā] > [slowa] > [l̥owa] > [l̥ou] > [l̥aw]✧ PE17/137
LOWO > lawa > law[lowā] > [lowa] > [lou] > [law]✧ PE17/137
sloga > lhô[sloga] > [l̥oga] > [l̥oɣa] > [l̥oɣ] > [l̥ōɣ] > [l̥ō]✧ VT42/09
loga > [loga] > [loɣa] > [loɣ] > [lōɣ] > [lō]✧ VT42/10

Variations

  • hlô ✧ PE17/096; PE17/137; VT48/28
  • -lō ✧ PE17/096
  • slō-/(s)lō ✧ PE17/136 (slō-/(s)lō); VT48/27 (slō-/(s)lō)
  • slô ✧ PE17/136 (slô); VT48/27 (slô)
  • hlaw ✧ PE17/137; VT48/28
  • law ✧ PE17/137; PE17/137; VT48/28
  • ✧ UT/263; VT42/09; VT42/10
  • lhô ✧ VT42/09 (lhô); VT42/09 (lhô)
  • -ló ✧ VT42/13
  • ✧ VT42/14 ()
Sindarin [PE17/096; PE17/136; PE17/137; UT/263; VT42/09; VT42/10; VT42/13; VT42/14; VT48/27; VT48/28] Group: Eldamo. Published by

hlô

noun. flood

n. flood.

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:96] -. Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

(h)law

noun. flood

duinen

noun. flood, high tide

Sindarin [VT/48:26] Group: SINDICT. Published by