Sindarin 

Mordor

Mordor

topon. >> mor

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:73] < MOR black + ?. Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

Mordor

Mordor

topon.

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:118] < _morn-ndor_. Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

Mordor

noun. black land

morn (“dark, black”) + (n-)dor (“land, dwelling place”)

Sindarin [Tolkiendil] Group: Tolkiendil Compound Sindarin Names. Published by

mordor

place name. Black Land

The home of Sauron, usually translated “Black Land” (Let/178, RC/75) but sometimes “Black Country” (RC/766, RS/216) or “Land of Darkness” (WJ/370). This name is a combination of morn “black” and dôr “land” (Let/427; SA/mor, dôr).

Conceptual Development: The name Mordor “Black Country” first appeared in the tale of the Fall of Númenor (LR/29), and appeared consistently in this form in Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s.

Elements

WordGloss
morn“black, dark; night”
dôr“land, land, [N.] region where certain people live, [ᴱN.] country; [G.] people of the land”

Variations

  • morñdor ✧ Let/427
  • mordor ✧ PE17/073
Sindarin [Let/178; Let/382; Let/427; LotRI/Black Country; LotRI/Black Land; LotRI/Mordor; MRI/Mordor; PE17/073; PMI/Mordor; RC/075; RC/766; SA/dôr; SA/mor; SI/Black Land; SI/Land of Shadow; SI/Mordor; UTI/Mordor; WJ/370; WJI/Mordor] Group: Eldamo. Published by

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

Mordor

Mordor

The term Mordor translates to "The Black Land" or "The Dark Land" in Sindarin. mor = "dark, black", dôr = "land" (The Silmarillion, Appendix - Elements in Quenya and Sindarin Names). Mordor is also coincidentally Quenya for "shadows" (plural), though the direct calque of Sindarin Mordor was Morinórë or Morinor, a name also used for the Dark Land.

Sindarin [Tolkien Gateway] Published by