_ topon. _Death, dead water. >> guru
Sindarin
nûr
adjective. sad
Nûrnen
place name. Death
nûr
race
(group of related people) nûr (construct nur, pl. nuir). Note: homophones mean ”sad” and ”deep”.
nûr
race
(construct nur, pl. nuir). Note: homophones mean ”sad” and ”deep”.**
nûr
sad
(pl. nuir). Note: homophones mean ”deep” and ”race”.
gûr
death
(i ngûr = i ñûr, o n’gûr = o ñgûr, construct gur), pl. guir (in guir = i ñguir)
núrnen
place name. Sad Water, Dead Water
The inland sea in the middle of Mordor. Its final element is clearly nen “water, lake” (SA/nen). The meaning of its initial element is less clear, though it may simply incorporate the name of the region containing the sea: Nurn.
Possible Etymology: In The Lord of the Rings, this sea was described as “the dark sad waters” (LotR/923) and its name was glossed “Sad Water” in Tolkien’s “Unfinished Index” of The Lord of the Rings (RC/457). However, there is no attested Sindarin word nûr with a meaning similar to “sad”.
In Words, Phrases and Passages from the Lord of the Rings from the late 1950s or early 1960s, Tolkien translated the name as “Death/dead water” (PE17/87), with its first element derived from √ÑGUR “death”. Elsewhere the Sindarin word for “death” is guru, so maybe Tolkien intended the first element to be from its Quenya cognate [ᴹQ.] nuru. Perhaps the poisoned waters of Mordor made life within Núrnen difficult, like the Dead Sea of Earth.
Hammond and Scull suggested the two concepts could be related, with “sad” being used in the sense “bitter” or “unpalatable”, referring to its poisoned waters (RC/457).
Conceptual Development: This name first appeared on the first draft map of The Lord of the Rings as N. Nurnen with a short u (TI/309). It later appeared with a long u, as N. Nûrnen (WR/127) and N/S. Núrnen (SD/56).
dem
sad
1) dem (gloomy), lenited dhem, pl. dhim; 2) naer (dreadful, lamentable, woeful); no distinct pl. form. 3) nûr (pl. nuir). Note: homophones mean ”deep” and ”race”.
tofn
deep
tofn (lenited dofn; pl. tyfn) (low, low-lying), also nûr (pl. nuir). Note: homophones of the latter mean ”sad” and ”race”.
tofn
deep
(lenited dofn; pl. tyfn) (low, low-lying), also nûr (pl. nuir). Note: homophones of the latter mean ”sad” and ”race”.
guru
noun. death, death (abstract)
A Sindarin word for “death” derived from primitive ✶ñgurū (PE17/87), unusual in that its primitive ancient vowel u did not vanish. In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien had variant forms [N.] gûr and gurw “death” marked with a “?”, both derived from Old Noldorin nguru and indicating some uncertainty on the exact phonetic developments (EtyAC/ÑGUR). Elsewhere in The Etymologies Tolkien said that [N.] guru was “Death as state or abstract”, as opposed to [N.] gwanw or gwanath for the “act of dying” (Ety/GWAN).
Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I would assume guru was for death as an abstraction or principle, and for the death of individuals I would use either gurth or gwanu/gwanath; see those entries for discussion.
aphadon
noun. follower
aphadon
noun. man (elvish name for men)
aphadon
noun. follower
aphadrim
noun. followers, men (elvish name for men)
bŷr
noun. follower, vassal
echil
noun. follower
echil
noun. human being
echil
noun. follower
gurth
noun. death
gurth
noun. death
The usual Sindarin word for “death”, derived from the root √ÑGUR of similar meaning (UT/39; Ety/ÑGUR).
Conceptual Development: This word dates all the way back to the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/43), anchored by well established names like Gurthang or Gurtholf(in), the name of Túrin’s sword. Tolkien experimented with various alternate forms over the years, such as G. urthu (GG/14), G. gurthu (GL/43), ᴱN. gurdh (PE13/146) and N. guruth (Ety/ÑGUR), but kept coming back to gurth as the basic form.
Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I would use this word for death in general and especially violent death, as opposed to the more euphemistic [N.] gwanath or gwanu “death”, more literally “departure”.
guru
noun. death
_ n. _death. guru << gûru.
gwanu
noun. death (act of dying, not death as a state or abstract)
naer
adjective. sad, lamentable
nos(s)
noun. race
_ n. _race, tribe, people. Q. nóre.
paran
adjective. smooth, shaven (often applied to hills without trees)
angol
deep lore
(magic), pl. engyl. Note: a homophone means "stench".
bŷr
follower
*bŷr (vassal; construct byr). No distinct pl. form except with article (i mŷr). Suggested Sindarin form of ”Noldorin” bior, beor. FOLLOWER (used as a term for Mortal Man, the "follower" of the Elves): Aphadon (pl. Ephedyn, coll. pl. Aphadrim) (WJ:387). Also echil (no distinct pl. form); coll. pl. ?echillath
dem
sad
(gloomy), lenited dhem, pl. dhim
falch
deep cleft
(ravine[?]), pl. felch;
gurth
death
(i ngurth = i ñurth, o n’gurth = o ñgurth), pl. gyrth (in gyrth = i ñgyrth)
guruth
death
(i nguruth = i ñuruth, o n’guruth = o ñguruth), pl. gyryth (in gyryth = i ñgyryth)
gwanath
death
1) (act of dying) gwanath (i **wanath), pl. gwenaith (in gwenaith), 2) (act of dying, especially the ”death” of Elves by fading or weariness) gwanu (i **wanu), analogical pl. gweny (in gweny). Archaic gwanw (LR:397 s.v. WAN), hence coll. pl. ?gwanwath. Other words (rather referring to Death as a state or abstract): 3) gûr (i ngûr = i ñûr, o n**gûr = o ñgûr, construct gur), pl. guir (in guir = i ñguir), 4) gurth (i ngurth = i ñurth, o n**gurth = o ñgurth), pl. gyrth (in gyrth = i ñgyrth), 5) guruth (i nguruth = i ñuruth, o n**guruth = o ñguruth), pl. gyryth (in gyryth** = i ñgyryth)
gwanath
death
(i ’wanath), pl. gwenaith (in gwenaith)
gwanu
death
(i ’wanu), analogical pl. gweny (in gweny). Archaic gwanw (LR:397 s.v. WAN), hence coll. pl. ?gwanwath. Other words (rather referring to Death as a state or abstract):
im
deep vale
(dell), no distinct pl. form (though the pl. article in will mark the word as pl. when definite). The word typically occurs, not by itself, but in compounds like imlad, imloth, imrath, imrad (VT45:18, VT47:19)
imlad
deep valley, narrow valley with steep sides
(glen), pl. imlaid;
maeg
going deep in
(lenited vaeg; no distinct pl. form) (sharp, penetrating). (WJ:337);
naer
sad
(dreadful, lamentable, woeful); no distinct pl. form.
paran
smooth
1) paran (lenited baran; pl. perain) (shaven). Often applied to hills wihtout trees. (RC:433) 2)
path
smooth
path (lenited bath; pl. paith)
tû
muscle
tû (i dû, o thû) (sinew; vigour, physical strength), pl. tui (i thui), coll. pl. túath
tû
muscle
(i dû, o thû) (sinew; vigour, physical strength), pl. t**ui (i thui), coll. pl. túath**
tûm
deep valley
tum- (i** dûm, o thûm, construct tum), pl. t**uim (i** thuim**)
ulu
ulmo
but ”usually” this Vala was called Guiar or **Uiar **(LR:392 s.v.
For an earlier discussion, see Klockzo, 4th volume, p. 160 §147: The meaning of Núrnen long remained highly hypothetical. The current definition is based on Christopher Tolkien's index to UT and on the unfinished index of names published in RC. The Gnomish Lexicon listed nur- (nauri) "growl, grumble", nurn "plaint, lament, a complaint" and nurna- "bewail, lament, complain of" (PE/11:61). Likewise, the Qenyaqetsa included a root NURU- with several derivatives with similar meanings (PE/12:68). See also Q. nurrula "mumbling" (from nurru- "murmur, grumble") in the final version of the poem The Last Ark (MC/222-23). Patrick Wynne therefore noted: S. *nûr in Núrnen "Sad Water" is apparently "sad" in the sense "bewailing, lamenting, complaining, grumbling", no doubt a reference to the general mood of the hapless laborers in "the great slave-worked fields" beside the lake. (See Lambengolmor/856-860)