_ n. fire. naur an edraith ammen! _'fire [be] for rescue/saving for us'. Q. nár. >> Sammath Naur
Sindarin
narthan
noun. beacon, signal fire to notify of the approach of an enemy
narthan
noun. beacon
Element in
- S. Fornarthan “North Beacon” ✧ VT42/30
Elements
Word Gloss NAR “fire, fire, [ᴹ√] flame” THAN “kindle, set light to, fire, light”
naur
fire
naur
noun. fire, fire, [N.] flame
The basic Sindarin word for “fire”, derived from the root √NAR of the same meaning (LotR/942; PE17/38) and very well attested. It is derived from primitive ✱nār- since primitive long ā became au in Sindarin. It appeared as N. naur “flame” in The Etymologies of the 1930s with the same derivation (Ety/NAR). As a suffix it usually reduces to -nor, since au usually becomes o in polysyllables. As a prefix, though, it is often Nar- before consonant clusters, no doubt because the ancient long ā was shortened before it could become au.
Conceptual Development: In the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, the word for “fire” was G. sâ with archaic form †sai (GL/66) clearly based on the early root ᴱ√SAH(Y)A “be hot” as suggested by Christopher Tolkien (LT1A/Sári; QL/81). In Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s, the word for “fire” was ᴱN. byr or buir from primitive ᴱ✶ [mburyē] (PE13/139). Tolkien introduced naur in The Etymologies of the 1930s and stuck with it thereafter.
Cognates
- Q. nár “fire (as an element), fire (as an element); [ᴹQ.] flame” ✧ PE17/038; SA/nár
Derivations
- √NAR “fire, fire, [ᴹ√] flame” ✧ PE17/038
Element in
- S. Aegnor “Fell Fire, Sharp Flame” ✧ SA/nár
- S. Baranor “?Eager Fire”
- S. Faenor “Spirit of Fire”
- S. Fëanor “Spirit of Fire” ✧ SA/nár
- S. Goenor “Fell Fire” ✧ PM/363
- S. Narbeleth “October, Sun-fading, Sun-waning”
- S. Nardol “Fire-hilltop”
- ᴺS. narvaenas “firework”
- S. Narwain “January, *(lit.) New Fire”
- S. naur an edraith ammen “fire [be] for saving of us” ✧ LotR/0290; LotR/0299; PE17/038
- S. naur dan i ngaurhoth “*fire against the wolf-horde” ✧ LotR/0299; PE17/038
- S. Nórui “June, *Fiery”
- S. Rodnor
- S. Sammath Naur “Chambers of Fire” ✧ LotR/0942; PE17/038; PE17/101; SA/nár
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √(A)NAR > naur [nār] > [nǭr] > [naur] ✧ PE17/038 Variations
- Naur ✧ LotR/0299; LotR/0942
-ruin
suffix. fire
suff. #fire. Q. ruine. >> Angruin
narthan
fire-sign
pl. **nerthain** (VT45:20)
narthan
beacon
narthan (”fire-sign”), pl. nerthain (VT45:20)
narthan
beacon
(”fire-sign”), pl. nerthain (VT45:20)
narthan
fire-sign
(= beacon) narthan, pl. nerthain (VT45:20)
narthan
fire-sign
(= beacon) narthan, pl. nerthain (VT45:20).
naur
fire
1) naur (in compounds nar-, -nor) (flame, sun), pl. noer, coll. pl. norath; 2) ûr (heat), pl. uir. Notice the homophone ûr ”wide”.
naur
fire
(in compounds nar-, -nor) (flame, sun), pl. noer, coll. pl. norath
ûr Reconstructed
noun. fire, fire; [ᴱN.] sun
A word for “fire” attested in later writings only as an element in names, such as S. Urui “August, ✱Hot-one” (LotR/1110). It appeared as N. ûr “fire” in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√UR “be hot”, but this and related words were deleted when Tolkien changed the sense of the root to “wide, large, great” (Ety/UR). However, √UR “heat” was restored in later writings (PE17/148; PE22/160), and primitive ✶ūr “a fire (on hearth)” appeared in Common Eldarin: Noun Structure from the early 1950s, though Tolkien did mark it with a “?” (PE21/71 and note #8).
Conceptual Development: Perhaps the first precursor to this word was G. †Uril, an archaic word for the Sun in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s appearing beside its modern form G. Aur (GL/75) and clearly a derivative of the early root ᴱ√URU as suggested by Christopher Tolkien (LT1A/Ûr; QL/098). In Gnomish Lexicon Slips revising this document, it became {ŷr >>} hŷr “sun” (PE13/114), and in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s it became ᴱN. {húr >>} úr “sun”, derived from primitive ᴱ✶ourū̆ (PE13/155).
This in turn became N. ûr “fire” in The Etymologies of the 1930s under ᴹ√UR “be hot”, but as noted above the meaning of this root was changed in that document (Ety/UR). Although the root √UR “heat” was later restored, it isn’t clear whether Tolkien also restored ûr “fire”, though there is some secondary evidence of it: primitive ✶ūr “a fire (on hearth)” appeared in notes from the early 1950s, as also noted above (PE21/71).
Neo-Sindarin: If S. naur is (like its Quenya cognate Q. nár) more representative of an elemental or abstract notion of fire, then ûr might be used for an individual physical fire such as one in a fireplace.
Cognates
- Q. úrë “heat”
Derivations
Element in
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ✶ūr > ūr [ūr] ✧ PE21/71 Variations
- ūr ✧ PE21/71 (ūr)
ûr
fire
(heat), pl. uir. Notice the homophone ûr ”wide”.
bregedúr
wildfire
(i vregedúr), pl. bregedýr (i mregedýr)
An element in the name Fornarthan “North Beacon” from notes on The Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor of the late 1960s (VT42/20). Since the initial element of this name is clearly “north”, the element narthan must be “beacon”, perhaps a combination of √NAR “fire” and √THAN “kindle, set light to”, as suggested by Carl Hostetter (VT42/30 note #47).