The name of a tree in Fangorn beloved of the Ent Bregalad (LotR/483). It is a compound of the prefix oro- “mountain” and the word farnë “rowan”, thus meaning “mountain ash” (PE17/83). Elsewhere, Tolkien indicated the name meant “mountain-dwelling” (Let/224), but there is no attested Quenya word far- with a sense like “dwell”.
Quenya
orofarnë
mountain-dwelling
orofarnë
proper name. Mountain Ash; Mountain-dwelling
Elements
Word Gloss oro “mount, mountain, hill” farnë “ash, rowan, ️ash, rowan; [ᴹQ.] foliage” Variations
- Orofarne ✧ Let/224
farnë
dwelling
#farnë (2) noun "dwelling", in orofarnë (as translated in Letters:224, but in other notes of Tolkiens the word was interpreted "any growing thing or plant", PE17:83)
oro
mount, mountain
oro (1) noun "mount, mountain" (PE17:64), cf. Qenya oro noun "hill" (LT1:256; rather ambo in LotR-style Quenya, though #oro "mountain, hill" appears in Orocarni and orofarnë, q.v. [PE17:83], also with the meaning "high" in oromar, q.v.) Cf. oro- element "up, aloft" (PE17:64).
marda
dwelling
marda noun "dwelling" (PE17:107)
orofarnë
Orofarnë
In a letter, Tolkien explained that orofarne means "mountain-dwelling" in High-elven (Quenya). In another manuscript he glossed Orofarnë as "mountain ash", consisting of the Quenya elements oro- ("hill") + farnë?/pharne ("any growing thing or plant"). Editors Carl F. Hostetter and Patrick H. Wynne have made a connection between the Qenya word farne ("foliage"; a derivative of the root PHAS-, also appearing under the rejected root PHARAN-) and the name Orofarnë.
orofarnë noun occurring in LotR2:III ch. 4, variously translated "mountain-dwelling" (Letters:224) and "mountain ash" (PE17:83)