nan elmoth

place name. *Valley of Starry Dusk

The forest where Thingol and Melian met (S/55), a combination of nan(d) “valley”, êl “star” and moth “dusk” (SA/nan(d), moth).

Conceptual Development: In “The Lay of Leithian Recommenced” from the 1950s, Tolkien considered some variant names for this forest: S. Glad-uial >> Glath-uail >> Gilammoth (LB/349). The first of these also appeared on the Silmarillion map from the 1950s (WJ/183, 188 note #48).

Nan Elmoth

Nan Elmoth

Nan means "valley" in Sindarin. Robert Foster translates the whole name as "Valley of star-dusk" (el + moth "stardusk").