arn

adjective. royal

argonath

place name. Pillars of the Kings, (lit.) Royal Stones

Two statues of Gondorian kings just north of Nen Hithoel, translated “Pillars of the Kings” (LotR/392), more literally “(Pair of) Royal Stones” (RC/347, RGEO/67, Let/427). It is combination of the prefix ar(a)- “noble”, the noun gond “stone”, and the class-plural suffix -ath (RC/347).

It is not clear why this noun uses the class-plural. However, in one place Tolkien describes a dual variant argonad using the archaic dual suffix †-ad (Let/427). Perhaps this was the original form of the name, altered to Argonath after the Sindarin dual form was forgotten.

Conceptual Development: In Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s, this name first appeared as N. Sern Aran(ath) “King Stones” along with an alternate name N. Sern Ubed “[Stones of] Denial” (WR/98, 132). Later in these drafts it was revised to N. Argonath (TI/366).

arnor

place name. Royal Land

The northern kingdom of the Dúnedain (LotR/242), variously translated as “Royal Land” (Let/428), “Noble Land” (PE17/28) or “King(ly) Land” (PE17/28, PE17/118). In ordinary Sindarin, this name would have been ✱✱Ardor, a combination of the prefix ar(a)- “noble, royal” and the noun dôr “land” (Let/428, PE17/118). It was, however, blended with or adapted from its Quenya name Aran(d)órë (Let/428, PE17/28).

pelargir

place name. Garth of Royal Ships

A Gondorian city at the mouth of the Anduin (LotR/789), translated “Garth of Royal Ships” (RC/535), a combination of pêl “fenced field”, the prefix ar(a)- “royal” and the lenited form of the plural cîr of cair “ship” (RC/625).

Conceptual Development: In Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s, this name first appeared as N. Pelargir (WR/268).

Arador

noun. royal lord

ara (prefix “high, noble, royal”) + taur (“king, lord”)

Aravir

noun. royal jewel

ara (prefix “high, noble, royal”) + mîr (“jewel, treasure”)

Argeleb

noun. royal silver

ar (prefix “high, noble, royal”) + #celeb (“silver”)

Argonath

noun. royal stones

arn (prefix “royal”) + gond (“great stone, rock”) + ath (collective plural suffix). Triconsonantal cluster rgn produces rg; in this case original nd doesn’t produce nn before the collective plural suffix ath. #It might be a dialectal form or a mistake on the part of Gondorians who didn't always use Elvish languages correctly (VT42 “Rivers and Beacon-hills”).

Argonui

noun. royal valour

ar (prefix “high, noble, royal”) + caun (“valor”) + ui (adjectival suffix)

Arvegil

noun. royal sword

ar (prefix “high, noble, royal”) + megil (“sword”)

Lonnath Ernin

noun. royal havens

lond (“haven”) + ath (collective plural suffix), ernin (pl. of arnen “royal”) For possible interpretations see [His.] entry arnen.

Pelargir

noun. harbour of royal ships

pel (from stem pel- “go round, revolve”) + ar(a) (“royal, noble”) + cîr (pl. of cair “ship”)

arnen

adjective. (?) royal

Originally, Lonnath-Ernin might have been intended to mean 'royal havens', assuming the second element to be a regular adjective. However, the second element in Emyn Arnen 'hills of Arnen' is singular, and Tolkien later decided that it should mean 'Hill beside the water', see VT/42:17 and HL/119-124. Nevertheless, this meaning cannot apply to Lonnath-Ernin (havens are near water by definition), so unless we entirely reject this earlier form, we may assume that an adjective 'royal' is still possible.

arwen

noun. royal, noble maiden

ar (prefix “high, noble, royal”) + gwend (“maiden, woman”)

ar(a)-

prefix. noble, royal, high

araglas

masculine name. *Royal-joy

The 6th chieftain of the Dúnedain (LotR/1038). The initial element of his name is the prefix ar(a)- “noble” and its final element might be [N.] glass “joy” (as suggested by David Salo, GS/341).

Conceptual Development: In the draft of Appendix A of the Lord of the Rings, his name was first given as Arallas, revised to Araglas (PM/211).

Ara-

prefix. high, noble, royal

Araglas

noun. royal joy

aran (“king”) + glass (“joy”)

Aragost

noun. royal dread

aran (“king”) + gost (“dread”)

Aranrúth

noun. royal anger

aran (“king”) + rûth (“anger”) The archaic origin of the name can probably explain why assimilation nr > dhr doesn't take place.

Araphor

noun. royal fist

aran (“king”) + paur (“fist”)

Arathorn

noun. royal eagle

aran (“king”) + thorn (“eagle”)

ar-

prefix. high, noble, royal

ar

royal

(adj. prefix) ar- (noble, high). In the form ar(a)- this is an element in the names of the kings of Arnor and Arthedain.

ar

royal

(noble, high). In the form ar(a)- this is an element in the names of the kings of Arnor and Arthedain.

arn

royal

arn (noble), pl. ern

arn

royal

(noble), pl. ern

ruindol

noun. flame tree, peacock flower, royal poinciana, phoenix flower, flame of the forest, Delonix regia, (lit.) blazing-head

A neologism coined by Echuidor posted on 2025-03-25 in the Vinyë Lambengolmor Discord Server (VLDS) as a combination of ruin “blaze” and dol(l) “head”.

aranya

adjective. *royal

Arciryas

royal ship

Arciryas masc. name (evidently derived from *arcirya "royal ship") (Appendix A)

Armenelos

royal-heaven-city

Armenelos place-name, City of the Kings in Númenor (ar-menel-os(to) "royal-heaven-city"???) The stem should possibly be *Armenelost- (compare Mandos, Mandost-).

atar aranya

*royal father

tar calimos

place name. *Royal Bright City

An earlier name for Armenelos (PM/145), apparently a combination of tar- “king and queen (in compounds)”, calima “bright” and osto “city”.

tarolwen

noun. sceptre, (lit.) royal branch

A neologism coined by Tamas Ferencz as a combination of tar- “high, ✱royal” and [ᴱQ.] olwen “branch”.

ruinalda

noun. flame tree, peacock flower, royal poinciana, phoenix flower, flame of the forest, Delonix regia

A neologism coined by Luinyelle posted on 2025-03-25 in the Vinyë Lambengolmor Discord Server (VLDS) as a combination of ruinë “flame” and alda “tree”.

turvandil

 noun. royal mace, scepter, sceptre

lit. "ruler-staff." Compound of túr (turu-) "master" and Qenya vandl (adapted vandil in Quenya) "staff".

rā/ara

root. noble, high, royal

An invertible root meaning “noble”, itself an extension of √AR (PE17/147). Given its widespread use, Tolkien did not define this root until quite late. Its first clear mention was in Notes on Names (NN) and Quenya Notes (QN), both from 1957. In NN, Tolkien introduced invertible √ARA/RĀ to give an explanation of the element rod in names like S. Rodon “Vala” and S. Finrod, where Tolkien said:

> S raud “tall, high, lofty, eminent”. √ARA, RĀ. Cf. Q aran “king”. Q arta “high” < árată. S raud < form (a)rā́tă (PE17/118).

Earlier in The Etymologies of the 1930s, the second element of N. Finrod was N. rhaud “metal” (Ety/RAUTĀ), whereas ᴹQ. haran/N. aran “king” was derived from ᴹ√ƷAR “have, hold” (Ety/ƷAR). As for the later root √ARA/RĀ, Tolkien gave a lengthier explanation in QN:

> √AR. ARI-, ARA/RĀ, ARAT/ARAN. Original sense probably seen in adverb/preposition ✱ara/ar/ra, beyond, further than. The stems ARI/ARAN/ARAT mean “good, excellent, noble” - differing from √MAN in stating that any one specimen is “good of its kind”, excels, without necessarily implying that others are bad or marred. Hence ari-, good as prefix, ar/ara/aran as prefixes of excellence especially in royal names, aran king. Q arta noble, arato a “noble”, ráta- excel, surpass. S aran, arod (arāta); or raud excellent, noble, eminent (PE17/147).

Thus all these roots, including the extensions √ARAN and √ARAT, were elaborations on the sense “beyond” from base root √AR. The simple root √AR itself had a lengthy conceptual history; see that entry for details. As for ARA/RĀ, the connection between these forms and nobility seems to be firmly established by the late 1950s and afterwards, with primitive element Ara- “noble” mentioned in The Shibboleth of Fëanor from 1968 (PM/344, 363 note #43), and numerous other mentions of derived forms in documents from this period.

arn(a)-

prefix. noble, royal

arminalêth

proper name. *Royal Heaven (City)

The Adûnaic name for the capital of Númenor, whose Quenya name is Armenelos (SD/363, PM/145). The final element -êth seems to be a feminizing suffix, also seen in Ad. Akallabêth. The initial element Ar- is the same as that used in the name of kings and queens, and the middle element minal means “heaven”, so perhaps the literal meaning is something like ✱“Royal Heaven (City)”, similar in the sense to the Quenya name.

ar(a)-

prefix. noble, royal

arnen

noun. ?royal