Quenya 

lëo

shade, shadow cast by any object

lëo noun "shade, shadow cast by any object" (DAY)

mordo

shadow, obscurity, stain

mordo (1) noun "shadow, obscurity, stain" (MOR)

laimë

shade

laimë noun "shade" (DAY; in an earlier version the gloss was "shadow (cast by an object or form)"; see VT45:8-9. Perhaps Tolkien transferred this meaning to lëo when giving laimë the more general meaning "shade".)

lómin

shade, shadow

lómin noun "shade, shadow" (LT1:255)

Sindarin 

dae

noun. shadow, shadow (cast by an object or form), [N.] shade

Element in

  • S. Daeron ✧ SA/dae
  • S. Dor Daedeloth “Land of Great Dread; Land of Shadow of Horror” ✧ SA/dae

morchant

noun. shadow (of objects, cast by light), dark shape

Sindarin [S/432, VT/42:9] morn+cant "dark shape". Group: SINDICT. Published by

guruthos

noun. the shadow of death, death-horror

Sindarin [di-nguruthos LotR/IV:X, RGEO/72, Letters/278] Group: SINDICT. Published by

dae

noun. shadow

Sindarin [Ety/354, S/430] Group: SINDICT. Published by

gwath

noun. shade, shadow, dim light

Sindarin [Ety/397, S/432] Group: SINDICT. Published by

lum

noun. shade

Sindarin [Ety/370, X/LH] Group: SINDICT. Published by

gwath

noun. stain

Sindarin [Ety/397, S/432] Group: SINDICT. Published by

dae

shadow

(i dhae) (shade), no distinct pl. form except with article (i nae).

daew

shadow

(i dhaew), no distinct pl. form except with article (i ndaew) (VT45:8).

gwâth

shadow

(i ’wâth; construct gwath) (shade, dim light), pl. gwaith (in gwaith) (UT:261)

morchant

shadow

1) morchant (i vorchant), pl. morchaint (i morchaint). The literal meaning is ”dark shape”, referring to shadows with a recognizable form. 2) dae (i dhae) (shade), no distinct pl. form except with article (i nae). 3) daew (i dhaew), no distinct pl. form except with article (i ndaew) (VT45:8). 4) gwâth (i **wâth; construct gwath) (shade, dim light), pl. gwaith (in gwaith) (UT:261) 5) muil (i vuil) (twilight, dreariness, vagueness), no distinct pl. except with article (i muil**),

morchant

shadow

(i vorchant), pl. morchaint (i morchaint). The literal meaning is ”dark shape”, referring to shadows with a recognizable form.

muil

shadow

(i vuil) (twilight, dreariness, vagueness), no distinct pl. except with article (i muil)

dúath

dark shadow

(i dhúath) (nightshade), pl. dúaith (i núaith). Compare the Ephel Dúath or ”Mountains of Shadow” forming th outer fence of Mordor, perhaps suggesting that Dúath is also the word used of Sauron as ”the Shadow”.

dae

shade

(i dhae) (shadow), no distinct pl. form except with article (i nae)

gwâth

shade

(noun) 1) gwâth (i **wâth; construct gwath) (shadow, dim light), pl. gwaith (in gwaith) (UT:261), 2) dae (i dhae) (shadow), no distinct pl. form except with article (i nae), 3) lûm (pl. luim**).

gwâth

shade

(i ’wâth; construct gwath) (shadow, dim light), pl. gwaith (in gwaith) (UT:261)

lûm

shade

(pl. luim).

fuin

nightshade

(gloom, darkness, night, dead of night); no distinct pl. form.

Nandorin 

scella

noun. shade, screen

Probably noun. Primitive form given as skalnâ, derived from the stem SKAL1 "screen, hide (from light)" (LR:386). Since -nâ is an adjectival ending, often taking on the meaning of a kind of past participle, skalnâ must mean "screened, hidden (from light)"; this has become a noun "shade, screen" in Nandorin.

The word scella, sciella alone tells us that ln is assimilated to ll in Nandorin, and as in dunna, spenna a primitive final , usually lost, seems to persist as -a following a double consonant. The shift of a to e in skalnâ > scella is parallelled by the similar shift in spannâ > spenna, q.v. However, such a shift does not occur in what might seem to be similar environments (before a double consonant?); cf. hrassa, not hressa, from khrassê. It would seem that e might further break up into ie, scella having the alternative form sciella.

Nandorin [H. Fauskanger (LR:386)] < SKAL. Published by

sciella

noun. shade, screen

Nandorin [H. Fauskanger] < SKAL. Published by

Adûnaic

nâlu

noun. shadow

A noun attested only in the compound agannâlô “death-shadow [is]” (SD/247, VT24/12). The first element of the compound, agan “death”, as identified elsewhere (SD/426), so the remaining element must mean “shadow”. The compound is the subject of the sentence agannâlô burôda nênud “death-shadow [is] heavy on us” and is therefore in the subjective case. According the grammatical rules of Lowdham’s Report, the only possibly normal form producing this subjective is nâlu: compare nîlu “moon” to its subjective form nîlô (SD/431).

Conceptual Development: In early writings, the compound was (non-subjective) agannūlo, so that the apparent draft form of this noun was nūlo. A similar form nūlu appears on SD/306, described only as “a word with the evil sense of ‘night’ or ‘dark’”. It could be a separate word or another variation of this word, with the development nūlo >> nūlu >> nālu. Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynne suggested (AAD/21) that the earlier forms may be related to ᴹQ. nulla “dark, dusky, obscure”.

Element in

Variations

  • nūlu ✧ SD/306
  • nūlo ✧ SD/312
Adûnaic [SD/247; SD/306; SD/312] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ugru

noun. shadow

A noun translated “shadow” (SD/247), also described as “a word with the evil sense of ‘night’ or ‘dark’” (SD/306). It appears in the preprositional phrase ugru-dalad “under shadow” (SD/247) and in the draft-dative form ugrus “‽horror‽shadow” (SD/311).

Element in

Adûnaic [SD/247; SD/306; SD/311] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Primitive elvish

wath

noun. shadow

Derivations

  • WATH “*shade, [ᴹ√] shade”

Derivatives

  • S. gwath “shadow, dim light, shadow, dim light, [N.] shade” ✧ PE17/041
Primitive elvish [PE17/041] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Noldorin 

dae

noun. shadow (cast by an object or form), shade

A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “shadow” derived from the root ᴹ√DAY of the same meaning (Ety/DAY). The original penciled version had {daer >>} dae, while the inked version had daew “shadow (cast by an object or form)” and Dae “shade” (EtyAC/DAY). It was most notably an element in the name N. Dor-Daedeloth “Land of the Shadow of Dread” (LR/120, 405). Christopher Tolkien had S. dae “shadow” in The Silmarillion appendix (SA/dae), but I suspect that was copied from The Etymologies. In later writings, Tolkien seems to have changed the initial element of Daedeloth to a variant of S. daer “great”, and its meaning from “Shadow of Dread” to “Great Dread” (WJ/183).

Cognates

  • ᴹQ. laime “shadow (cast by an object or form), shade” ✧ EtyAC/DAY
  • ᴹQ. leo “shade, shadow cast by any object” ✧ Ety/DAY

Derivations

  • ᴹ√DAY “shadow” ✧ Ety/DAY; EtyAC/DAY
  • ᴹ✶daiō “shade, shadow cast by any object” ✧ EtyAC/DAY; EtyAC/DAY
    • ᴹ√DAY “shadow” ✧ Ety/DAY; EtyAC/DAY

Element in

  • N. Daedhelos “Shadow of Fear” ✧ Ety/DAY; EtyAC/DAY
  • N. daedelu “canopy” ✧ EtyAC/DAY
  • N. Dor-Daideloth “Land of (the Shadow of) Dread, Loathly Land”

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ✶daiā > Dae[daiā] > [daia] > [dai] > [dae]✧ EtyAC/DAY

Variations

  • dae ✧ Ety/DAY; EtyAC/DAY; PE22/034
  • daew ✧ EtyAC/DAY
  • Dae ✧ EtyAC/DAY
  • daer ✧ EtyAC/DAY (daer)
Noldorin [Ety/DAY; EtyAC/DAY; PE22/034] Group: Eldamo. Published by

dae

noun. shadow

Noldorin [Ety/354, S/430] Group: SINDICT. Published by

daew

noun. shadow

gwath

noun. shade, shadow, dim light

Noldorin [Ety/397, S/432] Group: SINDICT. Published by

gwath

noun. shade

Cognates

  • Ilk. gwath “shade” ✧ Ety/WATH

Derivations

  • On. watha “shade” ✧ Ety/WATH
    • ᴹ√WATH “shade” ✧ Ety/WATH

Element in

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
On. watha > gwath[waθa] > [gwaθa] > [gwaθ]✧ Ety/WATH

Variations

  • gwath ✧ Ety/WATH
Noldorin [Ety/DYEL; Ety/WATH] Group: Eldamo. Published by

lhum

noun. shade

Noldorin [Ety/370, X/LH] Group: SINDICT. Published by

lhum

noun. shade

A word appearing as N. lhum “shade” in The Etymologies of the 1930s, derived from the root ᴹ√LUM, most notably an element in the name N. Hithlum (Ety/LUM). It was the cognate of ᴹQ. lumbe, and thus derived from primitive ✱lumbē, which explains why the final m survived as a reduction of mb.

Conceptual Development: The earliest iteration of this word was G. lôm {“pool, sl...” >>} “gloom, shade” from the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, based on primitive ᴱ✶lou̯me (GL/54) and probably derived from the early root ᴱ√LOMO as suggested by Christopher Tolkien (LT1A/Hisilómë). In this early document, G. lum or glum was “a cloud” (GL/55), likely a derivative of ᴱ√LUVU for “✱dark weather” as also suggested by Christopher Tolkien (LT1A/Luvier). In Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s Tolkien had ᴱN. {lom >>} lhom “shadow” (PE13/149). This became N. lhum “shade” in The Etymologies, as noted above.

Neo-Sindarin: In later writings, Hithlum was designated North Sindarin and its final element was based on a loan from Q. lómë “dusk”, with the m surviving only because it was from the North dialect (PE17/133; WJ/400). However, the root √LUM “shadow, darkness” also survived in later writings (PE17/168), so I think N. lhum “shade” can be salvaged, though if adapted to Neo-Sindarin it would need to become ᴺS. lum as suggested in HSD (HSD). Given the later use of Q. lumbo for “(dark) cloud”, I think the Gnomish sense G. lum “[dark] cloud” can be salvaged as well.

Cognates

  • ᴹQ. lumbe “gloom, shadow” ✧ Ety/LUM

Derivations

  • ᴹ√LUM “*shadow” ✧ Ety/LUM

Element in

  • N. Hithlum “Land of Mist, (lit.) Mist-and-Dusk” ✧ Ety/LUM
  • N. lhumren “shady” ✧ Ety/LUM

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ√LUM > lhum[lumbe] > [lumbe] > [lumb] > [l̥umb] > [l̥umb] > [l̥umm] > [l̥um]✧ Ety/LUM

gwath

noun. stain

Noldorin [Ety/397, S/432] Group: SINDICT. Published by

Beware, older languages below! The languages below were invented during Tolkien's earlier period and should be used with caution. Remember to never, ever mix words from different languages!

Qenya 

laime

noun. shadow (cast by an object or form), shade

A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s variously glossed “shade”, “shadow (cast by an object or form)”, and “shadow cast by a thing” under different iterations of the root ᴹ√DAY “shadow” (Ety/DAY; EtyAC/DAY). This root was primarily used for N. dae “shadow” in N. Dor-Daedeloth “Land of the Shadow of Dread”; in later writings the Dae- element in that name seems to have become dae(r) “great” (WJ/183), so I suspect ᴹ√DAY “shadow” and its derivatives were abandoned.

Cognates

  • N. dae “shadow (cast by an object or form), shade” ✧ EtyAC/DAY

Derivations

  • ᴹ√DAY “shadow” ✧ Ety/DAY; EtyAC/DAY

Element in

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ√DAY > laime[daime] > [laime]✧ Ety/DAY
ᴹ√DAY > laime[daime] > [laime]✧ Ety/DAY
ᴹ√DAY > laime[daime] > [laime]✧ EtyAC/DAY
Qenya [Ety/DAY; EtyAC/DAY] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Doriathrin

gwath

noun. shade

A noun glossed “shade” (shadow) derived from the root ᴹ√WATH (Ety/WATH). It is a clear example of how [[ilk|initial [w] became [gw]]] in Ilkorin, and it appears in several names: Thuringwethil “(Woman of) Secret Shadow” and Urthin Gwethion (unglossed but presumably “✱Mountains of Shadow”).

Cognates

  • N. gwath “shade” ✧ Ety/WATH

Derivations

  • ᴹ√WATH “shade” ✧ Ety/WATH

Element in

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ√WATH > gwath[watʰā] > [watʰa] > [waθa] > [gwaθa] > [gwaθ]✧ Ety/WATH
Doriathrin [Ety/WATH; EtyAC/WATH] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Old Noldorin 

watha

noun. shade

Derivations

  • ᴹ√WATH “shade” ✧ Ety/WATH

Derivatives

  • N. gwath “shade” ✧ Ety/WATH

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ√WATH > watha[watʰa] > [waθa]✧ Ety/WATH
Old Noldorin [Ety/WATH] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Middle Primitive Elvish

day

root. shadow

Changes

  • DAƷDAY ✧ EtyAC/DAY
  • DAGDAƷ ✧ EtyAC/DAY

Derivatives

  • Ilk. dair “shadow of trees” ✧ Ety/DAY
  • ᴹ✶daiō “shade, shadow cast by any object” ✧ Ety/DAY; EtyAC/DAY
    • ᴹQ. leo “shade, shadow cast by any object” ✧ Ety/DAY
    • N. dae “shadow (cast by an object or form), shade” ✧ EtyAC/DAY; EtyAC/DAY
  • ᴹQ. laime “shadow (cast by an object or form), shade” ✧ Ety/DAY; EtyAC/DAY
  • ᴹQ. laira “shady” ✧ Ety/DAY; EtyAC/DAY
  • N. dae “shadow (cast by an object or form), shade” ✧ Ety/DAY; EtyAC/DAY

Element in

  • N. Daedhelos “Shadow of Fear” ✧ Ety/DYEL
  • N. daedelu “canopy” ✧ Ety/TEL

Variations

  • DAƷ ✧ EtyAC/DAY (DAƷ)
  • DAG ✧ EtyAC/DAY (DAG)
Middle Primitive Elvish [Ety/DAY; Ety/DYEL; Ety/TEL; EtyAC/DAY] Group: Eldamo. Published by

wath

root. shade

Changes

  • GWATHWATH ✧ EtyAC/MBAT(H)

Derivatives

  • Ilk. gwath “shade” ✧ Ety/WATH
  • ᴹ✶wath ✧ Ety/WAƷ
  • On. watha “shade” ✧ Ety/WATH
    • N. gwath “shade” ✧ Ety/WATH

Element in

  • N. Dolwethil “(Woman of) Secret Shadow” ✧ Ety/THUR
  • Ilk. Thuringwethil “(Woman of) Secret Shadow” ✧ Ety/THUR

Variations

  • GWATH ✧ EtyAC/MBAT(H) (GWATH)
Middle Primitive Elvish [Ety/THUR; Ety/WAƷ; Ety/WATH; EtyAC/MBAT(H)] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Early Noldorin

lhom

noun. shadow

Changes

  • lomlhom ✧ PE13/149

Variations

  • lom ✧ PE13/149 (lom)
Early Noldorin [PE13/149] Group: Eldamo. Published by