Sern in UT/463 is a misprint, see VT/42:11
Sindarin
sarn
noun/adjective. (small) stone, pebble; stony (place), (small) stone, pebble; stony (place); [N.] stone as a material
sarn
noun. stone (as a material)
sarn
noun. small stone
Sern in UT/463 is a misprint, see VT/42:11
sarn athrad
place name. Ford of Stones
A ford across the river Gelion translated “Ford of Stones” (S/92), its name is a combination of sarn “stone” and athrad “ford” (SA/sarn, thar).
Conceptual Development: The name dates back to the earliest Lost Tales and developed as follows: G. Sarnathrod “Stony Ford” (LT2/236) >> N. Sarn-athra/Athrasarn (SM/133, 244) >> N. Sarn Athrad “Stone of Crossing” (LR/406) >> S. Sarn Athrad “Ford of Stones” (S/92).
sarn gebir
place name. Stone-spikes
A series of rapids on the river Anduin described as “sharp shelves and stony teeth” (LotR/391) and translated “Stone-spikes” (RC/327). This name is a combination of sarn “stone” and the plural of the lenited plural of ceber “spike” (SA/sarn, RC/327). This formation is somewhat odd, since nouns in this position are not usually lenited in Sindarin, though they were in earlier Noldorin. The form Gebir may be a hold-over of its early Noldorin name.
Conceptual Development: In Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s, these rapids were first named N. Pensarn, quickly revised to N. Ruinel >> Sarn Ruin (TI/366), and a bit later to (plural) Sern Gebir >> Sarn Gebir (TI/283). These last two forms also appeared in The Etymologies with an unclear gloss, perhaps “?lonestone” or “?limestone”, but they were struck out (Ety/KEPER, EtyAC/KEPER).
Sarn Athrad
noun. stone ford
sarn (“stone as a material”), athrad (ger. of athra- “river-crossing, ford, way”); #The second element could be interpreted as: ath (prefix “on both sides, across”) + râd (“path, track”)
Sarn Gebir
noun. stone spikes
sarn (“stone as a material”) cebir (pl. of ceber “stake, spike”)
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”.
Sarn Athrad
Sarn Athrad
Sarn Athrad means "Ford of Stones" or "stony ford" in Sindarin (sarn + athrad).
Sarn Ford
Sarn Ford
Sarn Ford was so named by the Númenóreans, after Sarn Athrad in Beleriand. The name is a half-translation of the Elvish (Sindarin) name Sarn-athrad, meaning "stony-ford" (sarn + athrad).
Sarn Gebir
Sarn Gebir
Sarn Gebir is a Sindarin name meaning "stone-spiked".
sarnas
cairn
sarnas (i harnas, o sarnas) (pile of stones), pl. sernais (i sernais)
sarnas
cairn
(i harnas, o sarnas) (pile of stones), pl. sernais (i sernais)
sarneg
noun. pebble
A neologism for “pebble” coined by Paul Strack in 2021 specifically for Eldamo, a diminutive form of S. sarn “stone”.
sarnas
pile of stones
sarnas (i harnas, o sarnas) (cairn), pl. sernais (i sernais)
sarnas
pile of stones
sarnas (i harnas, o sarnas) (cairn), pl. sernais (i sernais).
sarnas
pile of stones
(i harnas, o sarnas) (cairn), pl. sernais (i sernais)
serni
noun. shingle, pebble bank
A noun for a “shingle, pebble bank” in The Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor from the late 1960s from primitive ✶sarniye, the basis for the river name S. Serni (VT42/11). Here the gloss “shingle” is used in the sense of a mass of smell pebbles rather than as a roofing tile. This word is an unusual example of a final -i in Sindarin, because the i was protected by the final e that was itself lost. Tolkien indicated it might instead be an adjective formation (“pebbly”?) from the (rare) adjective suffix -i derived from primitive ✶-īya, -ēya (VT42/10-11).
ceber
stone ridge
(i geber, o cheber) (spike, stake), pl. cebir (i chebir). A lenited pl. form occurs in the name Sarn Gebir.
ceber
stake
ceber (i geber, o cheber) (spike, stone ridge), pl. cebir (i chebir). A lenited pl. form occurs in the name Sarn Gebir. Cf. also
ceber
stake
(i geber, o cheber) (spike, stone ridge), pl. cebir (i chebir). A lenited pl. form occurs in the name Sarn Gebir. Cf. also
ceber
noun. stake, spike, stone ridge
gond
noun. great stone, rock
gond
stone
_n. _stone, rock. Archaic S. gond > gonn. Q. ondo. >> Gondor
gondren
adjective. (made) of stone
penneth
noun. ridges, group of downs
pinnath
noun. ridges, group of downs
gond
stone
(i ’ond, construct gon) (great stone or rock), pl. gynd (i ngynd = i ñynd), coll. pl. gonnath (Letters:410).
gondrath
street of stone
(i ’ondrath) (causeway, raised stone highway), pl. gendraith (i ngendraith = i ñendraith). Archaic pl. göndreith. (WJ:340)
gondren
made of stone, stony
(stony), lenited ’ondren, pl. gendrin. Archaic pl. göndrin (TI:270).
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”)
gôn
stone
(i ’ôn, construct gon); pl. gŷn, coll. pl. #gonath as in Argonath.
pind
ridge
pind (i bind, o phind, construct pin), no distinct pl. form except with article (i phind), coll. pl. pinnath.
pind
ridge
(i bind, o phind, construct pin), no distinct pl. form except with article (i phind), coll. pl. pinnath.
sardh
noun. table
serni
shingle
serni (i herni, o serni) (pebble-bank), no distinct pl. form except with article (i serni)
serni
shingle
(i herni, o serni) (pebble-bank), no distinct pl. form except with article (i serni)
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).