sar

(small) stone

sar (sard-, as in pl. sardi) noun "(small) stone" (SAR). In Elessar, q.v. Since Tolkien let this name have a stem in -sarn- (genitive Ele[s]sarno, VT49:28), he may seem to have changed the stem-form of sar from sard- to sarn-.

on

stone

on, ondo noun "stone" (LT2:342, LT1:254 probably only ondo in LotR-style Quenya, see below). Various "Qenya" forms: ondoli "rocks" (MC:213; this would be a partitive plural in LotR-style Quenya), ondolin "rocks" (MC:220), ondoisen "upon rocks" (MC:221), ondolissen "rocks-on" (MC:214; the latter form, partitive plural locative, is still valid in LotR-style Quenya).

ondo

stone

ondo noun "stone" as a material, also "rock" (UT:459, GOND). Pl. ondor in an earlier variant of Markirya; partitive pl. locative ondolissë "on rocks" in the final version. Compounded in ondomaitar "sculptor in stone" (PE17:163), Ondoher masc.name, *"Stone-lord" (ondo alluding to Ondonórë = Sindarin Gondor, "stone-land") (Appendix A), #ondolunca ("k") "stonewain", possessive form in the place-name Nand Ondoluncava "Stonewain Valley" (PE17:28, also Ondoluncanan(do) as a compound). Ondolindë place-name "Gondolin" (SA:gond, J.R.R. Tolkien: Artist & Illustrator p. 193); see Ondo. Earlier "Qenya" has Ondolinda _(changed from Ondolin) "singing stone, Gondolin" (LT1:254)_

ʼondō

noun. stone

PQ. stone

sarn

noun. stone (as a material)

Sern in UT/463 is a misprint, see VT/42:11

sarn

noun. small stone

Sern in UT/463 is a misprint, see VT/42:11

sarn

noun/adjective. (small) stone, pebble; stony (place), (small) stone, pebble; stony (place); [N.] stone as a material

A Sindarin noun for a small individual stone or pebble (RC/327; VT42/11) in contrast to S. gond for large blocks of stone or rock (Ety/GOND) or stone as a material (PE17/28). However, sarn also functioned as an adjective “stony”, and when used unqualified could also refer to a “stony place” (RC/163). It was a derivative of the root ᴹ√SAR (Ety/SAR).

Conceptual Development: This word dates all the way back to the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s where Tolkien had G. sarn “a stone” (GL/67), and it was also an element in the negative word ᴱN. orsarn “stoneless” in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s (PE13/156). It appeared as N. sarn, a derivative of ᴹ√SAR, in The Etymologies of the 1930s, but in this document it was glossed “stone as a material”, and also functioned as an adjective, apparently a blending of ✱sarnē and ᴹ✶sarnā (Ety/SAR), in contrast to N. gonn which in this document was only “a great stone or rock” (Ety/GOND). In later writings sarn could still function as an adjective “stony” (RC/163) but as a noun generally referred to an individual (small) stone, as in the name S. Edhelharn “Elfstone” (SD/128).

Cognates

• Q. sar “stone (small)”

Element in

• S. Edhelharn “Elfstone”
• ᴺS. gaessarn “pearl, (lit.) sea-pebble”
• S. Sarn Athrad “Ford of Stones” ✧ RC/163; RC/775; SA/sarn
• ᴺS. sarneg “pebble”
• S. Sarn Gebir “Stone-spikes” ✧ RC/327; RC/775; SA/sarn
• S. Serni “Pebble Bank” ✧ SA/sarn
• S. serni “shingle, pebble bank” ✧ UTI/Serni; VT42/11

Variations

• Sarn ✧ RC/775
• sern ✧ VT42/11

gond

stone

_n. _stone, rock. Archaic S. gond > gonn. Q. ondo. >> Gondor

gond

noun. great stone, rock

gondren

adjective. (made) of stone

sarn

stone

1) (small stone, or stone as material) sarn (i harn, o sarn), pl. sern (i sern); also used as adj. ”stony, made of stone”. 2) gôn (i **ôn, construct gon); pl. gŷn, coll. pl. #**gonath as in Argonath. 3) (larger stone) gond (i **ond, construct gon) (great stone or rock), pl. gynd (i ngynd = i ñynd), coll. pl. gonnath** (Letters:410).

sarn

stone

(i harn, o sarn), pl. sern (i sern); also used as adj. ”stony, made of stone”.

sarn

made of stone, stony

(lenited harn; pl. sern); also used as noun ”small stone, pebble, stone [as material]”; as adj. also = ”stony”.

gond

stone

(i ’ond, construct gon) (great stone or rock), pl. gynd (i ngynd = i ñynd), coll. pl. gonnath (Letters:410).

gondren

made of stone, stony

(stony), lenited ’ondren, pl. gendrin. Archaic pl. göndrin (TI:270).

gôn

stone

(i ’ôn, construct gon); pl. gŷn, coll. pl. #gonath as in Argonath.

gondrath

street of stone

(i ’ondrath) (causeway, raised stone highway), pl. gendraith (i ngendraith = i ñendraith). Archaic pl. göndreith. (WJ:340)

gonhir

master of stone

(i ’Onhir), no distinct pl. form except with article (i Ngonhir = i Ñonhir), maybe primarily used as a coll. pl. Gonhirrim  (WJ:205, there spelt ”Gonnhirrim”)

gon-

noun. a stone

Derivatives

• S. gond “stone, rock, stone, rock, [N.] stone (as a material), [G.] great stone” ✧ PE17/028

Element in

• S. Gondor “Stone-land” ✧ Let/410

Variations

• gon(o) ✧ Let/410
• gōn/gon- ✧ PE17/028

sarn

noun. stone (as a material)

Sern in UT/463 is a misprint, see VT/42:11

sarn

noun. small stone

Sern in UT/463 is a misprint, see VT/42:11

sarn

noun/adjective. stone as a material

Cognates

• ᴹQ. sar “stone (small)” ✧ Ety/SAR

Derivations

• ᴹ√SAR “*stone” ✧ Ety/SAR

Element in

• N. Sern Aranath “King Stones” ✧ WR/098
• N. Sern Ubed “[Stones of] Denial” ✧ WR/132; WR/132
• N. sarnas “cairn”
• N. Sarn Athrad “Stony Ford, Ford of Stones” ✧ Ety/SAR
• N. Sarn Gebir “?lone stone, Stand[?ing stones], [?Lime]stones”
• N. Sarn Ruin
• N. Pensarn
• N. Tolharn “Stoneait” ✧ TI/345

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ√SAR > sarn	[sarna] > [sarn]	✧ Ety/SAR

gonn

noun. great stone, rock

gondram

noun. hewn stone

gondrafn

noun. hewn stone