Adûnaic

narak

noun. eagle

A noun attested only in the plural subjective form Narīka “eagles” (SD/251). This formation is peculiar, because it seems to be a neuter subjective form, but the names of animals are generally common-nouns, as pointed out by Andreas Moehn (EotAL/NAR’K). If it were declined as a common noun, the subjective plural should be ✱narkim: compare Nimir “Elf” whose subjective plural form is nimrim (SD/436). Perhaps when Narīka was written, Tolkien had not finished working out the Adûnaic gender and case system.

Quenya 

naraca

harsh, rending, violent

naraca ("k")adj. "harsh, rending, violent" (NÁRAK; according to VT45:37, Tolkien added a qualification that is not certainly legible: "of [?sounds]")

Niélë

tear

Niélë fem. name (meaning unclear, cf. nië "tear"?), diminutive Nieliccilis ("k") noun "little Niéle" (MC:215; PE16:96). This may suggest that Niélë has the stem-form *Niéli-.

Soronto

eagle

Soronto (þ?), masc. name, seems to incorporate soron "eagle"; the ending -to is rare (occurs in suhto, q.v.), here apparently used to derive a masculine name.

Soronúmë

eagle

Soronúmë (prob. þ) (name of a constellation, apparently incorporating soron "eagle") (SA:thoron)

nië

tear

nië noun "tear" (NEI, VT45:38, LT1:262, LT2:346); apparently níe in MC:221

nírë

tear

nírë noun "tear" (NEI)

rimpa

rushing, flying

rimpa adj.? noun? "rushing, flying" (RIP; the word is more likely an adjective)

sor

eagle

sor, sornë noun "eagle" (LT1:266); rather soron in LotR-style Quenya

sorno

eagle

sorno (þ) noun "eagle" (archaic thorno) _(Letters:427). Also soron. Early "Qenya" has sor, sornë (LT1:266)_

sorno

noun. eagle

soron

eagle

soron (or sornë) (þ) noun "eagle", before an ending sorn- as in pl. sorni, "gen.sg....sornen"; in LotR-style Quenya this would be the dative singular instead (THOR/THORON). SD:290 has the pl.soroni "eagles", changed to sorni as in the Etymologies. Early "Qenya" has the forms sor, sornë (LT1:266)

soron

noun. eagle

The Quenya word for “eagle”, appearing in a number of compounds, derived from primitive ✶thorono and the root ᴹ√THOR(ON) “come swooping down” (PE22/159; Let/427; Ety/THOR; PE21/33). It had couple variants such as sorno (Let/427) and sorne (Ety/THOR), but consistently appeared as soron- in compounds. Its stem form isn’t entirely clear: its most common plural form was sorni (Ety/THOR; SD/290), which is the expected result from the Quenya syncope, but in one place it had the plural soroni and the presence of the variant sorne muddies the waters.

Conceptual Development: This word appeared as ᴱQ. sorne or sor (sorn-) “eagle” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s derived from the early root ᴱ√ŠORO [ÞORO] (QL/86). The form sorn- “eagle” also appeared in the Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa where Tolkien indicated the primitive form was sorni- (PME/86). The form ᴱQ. soron appeared in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s as a cognate of ᴱN. thorn “eagle” (PE13/154), and Tolkien mostly stuck with that form thereafter, though he occasionally used variants like sorne and sorno as noted above.

In the Declension of Nouns from the early 1930s, Tolkien listed a large number of declined forms for ᴹQ. soron “eagle”, and those declensions used soron- (or sorun-) as their base. In The Etymologies of the 1930s, however, Tolkien gave plural sorni and genitive sornen indicating a stem form sorn-, but that document also gave sorne as an alternate form of soron “eagle”. Nevertheless, I think from the 1930s forward, it is more likely that Quenya syncope would have come into play in the declension of this word, so it would have plural sorni, dative sornen, ablative sornello, etc. The only noun case where the primitive stem would be preserved would be possessive soronwa.

Quenya [Let/427; PE22/159; SA/thoron] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ëa

eagle

ëa (3) "eagle" (LT1:251, LT2:338), a "Qenya" word apparently superseded by soron, sornë in Tolkien's later forms of Quenya.

ëaren

eagle

ëaren noun "eagle" or "eyrie" (LT1:251; this early "Qenya" word is evidently no more valid than ëa "eagle" in LotR-style Quenya.)

Noldorin 

alag

adjective. rushing, impetuous

Noldorin [Ety/348, VT/45:5] Group: SINDICT. Published by

nîn

noun. tear

Noldorin [Ety/376] Group: SINDICT. Published by

nîn

noun. tear

Noldorin [Ety/NEI; EtyAC/NEI] Group: Eldamo. Published by

nîr

noun. tear, weeping

Noldorin [Ety/376] Group: SINDICT. Published by

thoron

noun. eagle

Noldorin [Ety/392, S/438, X/Z] Back-formed from the plural, see thôr. Group: SINDICT. Published by

thoron

noun. eagle

Noldorin [Ety/KIRIS; Ety/THOR] Group: Eldamo. Published by

thôr

noun. eagle

Noldorin [Belecthor S/322,365, LotR/A(ii), Ety/392] Group: SINDICT. Published by

thôr

noun. eagle

Primitive elvish

alak

root. rushing, rushing, [ᴹ√] swift

A root whose most notable derivatives are Q. alqua, S. alph “swan”. The earliest iteration of this root was ᴱ√ḶKḶ from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s (QL/30); the other derivatives of this root from this period have to do with “appearance” such as ᴱQ. ilk- “to seem” (QL/42). By The Etymologies of the 1930s this root took on its later form, ᴹ√ALAK and had the gloss “rushing” with other derivatives like ᴹQ. alako “rush, rushing flight, wild wind”, N. alag “rushing, impetuous” and N. alagos “storm (of wind)” (Ety/ÁLAK). It was also an element in the name of S./N. Ancalagon “Biting Storm”. Given the continued appearance of this name of The Silmarillion (S/252), the 1930s meaning of this root may have survived, but it is hard to be certain since the name was only properly translated in the 1930s.

The 1930s root also had an unaugmented variant ᴹ√LAK with derivatives ᴹQ. (a)larka, N. lhagr “swift, rapid” (Ety/LAK²). Whether this unaugmented variant remained valid is unclear, but there is nothing in Tolkien’s later writing contradicting it either.

Primitive elvish [PE18/100; SA/alqua] Group: Eldamo. Published by

thorono

noun. eagle

Primitive elvish [Let/427; PE23/141] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Sindarin 

nîn

noun. tear, tear; [ᴱN.] weeping

thorn

noun. eagle

thoron

noun. eagle

Sindarin [Ety/392, S/438, X/Z] Back-formed from the plural, see thôr. Group: SINDICT. Published by

thoron

noun. eagle

The Sindarin word for “eagle”, derived from ✶thoronō̆ (Let/427, PE23/141). In notes from 1969 Tolkien gave its plural form as theryn (PE23/139).

Possible Etymology: The form of this word is difficult to explain if it is derived from primitive ✶thoron(ŏ). Since final nasals vanished after vowels, in the ordinary phonetic development of Sindarin it should have become thôr, a form that did appear as variant in The Etymologies of the 1930s (Ety/THOR, KIRIS). Tolkien himself suggested that the (Noldorin) word was a back-formation from the archaic genitive ON. thoronen (Ety/THOR). While this specific genitive form did not survive in (Old) Sindarin, there are plenty of other mechanisms that might result in such a back-formation in Sindarin. For example, David Salo suggested that it could be a back-formation from its plural theryn (GS/291), perhaps also influenced by ancient names where it still appeared, such as Thorondor “King of Eagles”.

A simpler explanation is that the primitive form is actual thoronō, as for example on PE23/141.

Conceptual Development: In the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s this word appeared as G. thorn (GL/73), which was also the usual form in names of this period. In Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s it reappeared as ᴱN. thorn (PE13/154), but in The Etymologies of the 1930s it appeared as N. thoron beside the variant thôr as noted above (Ety/THOR, KIRIS). The names of this period also began to reflect this change, and names after the 1940s consistently show thoron, though the form þorn did appear at least once in later notes (PE22/159).

Sindarin [Let/427; PE22/159; PE23/139; PE23/141; SA/thoron] Group: Eldamo. Published by

thoronath

noun. eagles

Sindarin [S/387, S/438] Group: SINDICT. Published by

thôr

noun. eagle

Sindarin [Belecthor S/322,365, LotR/A(ii), Ety/392] Group: SINDICT. Published by

alag

rushing

(impetuous), pl. elaig; also alagon (pl. elegyn)

ascar

rushing

(impetuous, violent), pl. escair. Also spelt asgar (pl. esgair).

nínui

5~B5hJ adjective. tearful

Nîn (tear) + -ui (full, having that quality).

Sindarin [Elfdict.com] Published by

nírnaeth

tear-gnashing

; no distinct pl. form. 2) nîn; no distinct pl. form; pl. níniath. Note: nîn is also used as a noun ”tear” and as the pl. form of nên ”water”; there is also the possessive pronoun nín ”my”.

nîr

tear

_(noun) _1) nîr (construct nir) (weeping). No distinct pl. form; coll. pl. níriath. Noun ”

nîr

tear

(construct nir) (weeping). No distinct pl. form; coll. pl. níriath. Noun ”

rimp

rushing

(adj.) 1) rimp (flying), no distinct pl. form; 2) alag (impetuous), pl. elaig; also alagon (pl. elegyn); 3) ascar (impetuous, violent), pl. escair. Also spelt asgar (pl. esgair).

rimp

rushing

(flying), no distinct pl. form

roval

great wing

(pinion, wing), pl. rovail (idh rovail). – Suggested Sindarin form of ”Noldorin” *rhoval* pl. *rhovel*.

thoron

eagle

thoron, pl. theryn, coll. pl. thoronath. The sg. may also appear as thôr (with stem thoron-); thôr is also an adjective ”swooping, leaping down”. In ”Noldorin”, the pl. was therein (LR:392 s.v. THOR).

thoron

eagle

pl. theryn, coll. pl. thoronath. The sg. may also appear as thôr (with stem thoron-); thôr is also an adjective ”swooping, leaping down”. In ”Noldorin”, the pl. was therein (LR:392 s.v. THOR).


Beware, older languages below! The languages below were invented during Tolkien's earlier period and should be used with caution. Remember to never, ever mix words from different languages!

Middle Primitive Elvish

narak

root. tear, rend (tr. and intr.)

A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “tear, rend (tr. and intr.)”, with derivatives like ᴹQ. naraka “harsh, rending, violent” and N. narcha- “to rend” (Ety/NÁRAK). The element S. narch “bitter-biting” in S. Narchost from The Lord of the Rings is probably related (LotR/900; RC/601). This in turn hints that the early root ᴱ√NARA “(properly) bite at” from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s was a likely precursor, though a parenthetical comment indicates the actual form of this root was ᴱ√ŊARA or ᴱ√ŊAŘA [ŊAÐA] (QL/64).

Middle Primitive Elvish [Ety/NÁRAK] Group: Eldamo. Published by

narāka

adjective. rushing, rapid, violent

Middle Primitive Elvish [Ety/NÁRAK] Group: Eldamo. Published by

neinē

noun. tear

Middle Primitive Elvish [Ety/NEI; EtyAC/NEI] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ney

root. tear

Tolkien used similar forms throughout his life for Elvish words connected to “tears”, the most enduring being Q. Nienna “Lady of Pity and Mourning” and S. nirnaeth as in Nirnaeth Arnoediad “[Battle of] Tears Unnumbered”. The first manifestation of this root was as ᴱ√NYE(NE) “bleat” and ᴱ√NYEHE “weep” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, though Tolkien considered moving all the derivatives of ᴱ√NYE(NE) to ᴱ√NYEHE (QL/68). Nonetheless it seems the distinction survived in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon which had both nı̯e and nı̯eχe as primitive forms (GL/59-60). Early derivatives include ᴱQ. nyé “bleat” and ᴱQ. nyéni “she-goat” along with ᴱQ. nyére/G. nîr “grief” and ᴱQ. nie/G. nîn “tear”, the last of these appearing in G. Nínin-Udathriol, the earliest name of S. Nirnaeth Arnoediad.

The root reappeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s as ᴹ√NEI̯ “tear” (Ety/NEI), though Tolkien considered and rejected alternate roots ᴹ√NEÑ (EtyAC/NEI) and ᴹ√NEI̯(ET) “moist” (NEI̯(ET)), the latter becoming the primitive word ᴹ✶neiti > ᴹQ. níte “moist, dewy” and N. nîd “damp, wet; tearful”. Other derivatives include ᴹQ. nie “tear”/N. nîn “tear” (same as the forms from the 1910s) as well as N. nírnaeth “lamentation” (Ety/NEI). Tolkien’s continued use of Q. Nienna (S/28) and S. nirnaeth (S/192) in later versions of the Silmarillion indicate this root’s ongoing validity.

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I think some of the Quenya nye- forms from the 1910s might be salvaged as abnormal vocalization from n(e)ye- < √NEY.

Middle Primitive Elvish [Ety/NEI; Ety/NIK-W; EtyAC/NEI; EtyAC/NEI̯(ET)] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Qenya 

naraka

adjective. harsh, rending, violent of (?sounds)

An adjective in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “harsh, rending, violent”, with the last of these followed by a difficult-to-read qualifier “of (?sounds)” according to Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne (Ety/NÁRAK; EtyAC/NÁRAK). It was derived from primitive ᴹ✶narāka under the root ᴹ√NARAK “tear, rend (tr. and intr.)”.

Qenya [Ety/NÁRAK; EtyAC/NÁRAK] Group: Eldamo. Published by

nie

noun. tear

Qenya [Ety/NEI; EtyAC/NEI; PE21/06; PE21/07] Group: Eldamo. Published by

sorne

noun. eagle

soron

noun. eagle

Qenya [Ety/THOR; PE21/33; PE21/34; SD/290] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Gnomish

ior

noun. eagle

An archaic word for “eagle” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, related to ᴱQ. ea(r) of the same meaning (GL/51), though the exact correspondence (and sound changes) are not clear.

Gnomish [GL/51; LT1A/Eärendel] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ioroth

noun. eagle

A word for “eagle” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, an elaboration of archaic G. †ior “eagle” of the same meaning (GL/51).

Gnomish [GL/51; LT1A/Eärendel] Group: Eldamo. Published by

nien(n)

noun. tear

nîn

noun. tear

Gnomish [GL/60; LT1A/Nienna; LT2A/Níniel] Group: Eldamo. Published by

thorn

noun. eagle

Gnomish [GL/73; LT1A/Sorontur] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Early Noldorin

nîr

noun. tear

Early Noldorin [PE13/151] Group: Eldamo. Published by

thorn

noun. eagle

Early Noldorin [PE13/154] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Early Primitive Elvish

nyeχie

noun. tear

Early Primitive Elvish [GL/60; QL/068] Group: Eldamo. Published by

þoro Reconstructed

root. eagle

Early Primitive Elvish [LT1A/Sorontur; QL/086] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Early Quenya

nie

noun. tear

Early Quenya [GL/60; LT1A/Nienna; LT2A/Nínin-Udathriol; MC/221; PE16/062; PE16/072; PE16/074; PE16/075; PE16/077; PE16/143; PME/069; QL/068] Group: Eldamo. Published by

sor(ne)

noun. eagle

Early Quenya [LT1A/Sorontur; PME/086; QL/086] Group: Eldamo. Published by

soron

noun. eagle

Early Quenya [PE13/154] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Doriathrin

thorn

noun. eagle

A noun for “eagle” derived from the root ᴹ√THÓRON (Ety/THOR). Its cognates ᴹQ. soron and N. thoron suggest a primitive form ✱✶thoronē, where the middle [o] was lost due to the Ilkorin syncope. Its plural form is not thurin as printed in The Lost Road, but is actually thurnin matching its singular (EtyAC/THOR), as predicted by Helge Fauskanger (AL-Ilkorin/thorn).

Doriathrin [Ety/THOR; EtyAC/THOR] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Old Noldorin 

thoron

noun. eagle

Old Noldorin [Ety/THOR] Group: Eldamo. Published by