Sindarin 

barad-dûr

place name. Dark Tower

Sauron’s fortress in Mordor, translated “Dark Tower” (LotR/555). It is a combination of barad “tower” and dûr “dark” (PE17/22, 85; RC/274; SA/barad, dûr).

Conceptual Development: In Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s, this name was already N. Barad-dûr when it first appeared (TI/178).

Cognates

  • Q. Lúnaturco “?Dark Stronghold” ✧ PE17/022
  • Q. Taras Lúna “*Dark Tower” ✧ PE17/022
  • Bs. Lugbúrz “Dark Tower” ✧ LotR/0564; LotRI/Barad-dûr; PE17/012

Elements

WordGloss
barad“tower, great towering building, tower, great towering building, [N.] fort, fortress”
dûr“dark (with evil implications), gloomy, hellish”

Variations

  • barad-dûr ✧ PE17/086
Sindarin [LotR/0555; LotR/0564; LotRI/Barad-dûr; LotRI/Dark Tower; LT2I/Barad-dûr; MRI/Barad-dûr; PE17/012; PE17/022; PE17/031; PE17/085; PE17/086; PMI/Barad-dûr; RC/274; S/292; SA/barad; SA/dûr; SDI2/Barad-dûr; SI/Barad-dûr; UTI/Barad-dûr] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Black Speech

lugbúrz

place name. Dark Tower

Cognates

  • N. Barad-dûr “Dark Tower” ✧ SD/024
  • S. Barad-dûr “Dark Tower” ✧ LotR/0564; LotRI/Barad-dûr; PE17/012

Elements

WordGloss
lûg“fortress, lock-up, prison”
búrz“dark”

Variations

  • Lugbûrz ✧ PE17/012
  • Lugburz ✧ SD/024; SDI1/Lugburz; WR/049; WRI/Lugburz
Black Speech [LotR/0564; LotRI/Barad-dûr; LotRI/Lugbúrz; PE17/012; PE17/079; SD/024; SDI1/Lugburz; TII/Lugbúrz; WR/049; WRI/Lugburz] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Noldorin 

barad-dûr

place name. Dark Tower

Cognates

  • Bs. Lugbúrz “Dark Tower” ✧ SD/024

Elements

WordGloss
barad“fort, tower, fortress”
dûr“dark”

Variations

  • Baraddur ✧ SD/024; WRI/Barad-dûr
Noldorin [SD/024; SDI1/Barad-dûr; TI/178; TII/Barad-dûr; WRI/Barad-dûr] Group: Eldamo. Published by