An adjective from etymological notes written around 1964 (DD) with the glosses “hidden, secret” derived from √TOR “secrete, hide”, appearing in an explanation of the name Torech Ungol “Shelob’s Lair” (PE17/188).
Sindarin
torn
noun. burial mound
torn
adjective. hidden, secret
torn
burial mound
pl1. tyrn n. burial mound. >> Tyrn Gorthad
torn
hidden
adj. hidden, secret. >> terech
torn
down
(noun) *torn (i dorn, o thorn), pl. tyrn (i thyrn). Only the pl. tyrn is attested, as part of the name Tyrn Gorthad ”Barrow-downs”.
torn
down
(i dorn, o thorn), pl. tyrn (i thyrn). Only the pl. tyrn is attested, as part of the name Tyrn Gorthad ”Barrow-downs”.
thoren
hidden
(guarded, fenced), pl. thorin
dolen
adjective. hidden, hidden, [N.] secret
A word meaning “hidden”, often interpreted as element in the name Gondolin “Hidden Rock”, whose actual meaning was “Singing Stone” (SA/gond). In The Etymologies of the 1930s, N. dolen “hidden, secret” appeared as the passive participle of N. doltha- “conceal” under the root ᴹ√DUL “hide, conceal” (Ety/DUL).
Conceptual Development: The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had G. dôlin “a song” (GL/29).
dad
downward
;
dadbenn
downhill, sloping down
(inclined, prone [to do]), lenited dhadbenn, pl. dedbinn;
dolen
hidden
- dolen (secret), lenited dholen, pl. dolin. Archaic daulen. 2) hall (veiled, shadowed, shady); lenited chall; pl. hail. Note: a homophone means ”high, exalted”, 3) thoren (guarded, fenced), pl. thorin, 4) thurin (secret); no distinct pl. form_.
dolen
hidden
(secret), lenited dholen, pl. dolin. Archaic daulen.
hall
hidden
(veiled, shadowed, shady); lenited chall; pl. hail. Note: a homophone means ”high, exalted”
haudh
burial mound
haudh (i chaudh, o chaudh) (barrow, grave, tomb), pl. hoedh (i choedh), coll. pl. hodhath
haudh
burial mound
haudh (i chaudh, o chaudh) (barrow, grave, tomb), pl. hoedh (i choedh), coll. pl. hodhath.
penna
slant down
(i benna, i phennar)
thurin
hidden
(secret); no distinct pl. form
A word appearing in its plural form in Tyrn Gorthad “Barrow-downs” in The Lord of the Rings (LotR/1040). In notes on Words, Phrases and Passages from the Lord of the Rings (WPP) from the late 1950s or early 1960s, Tolkien translated torn as “burial mound” and the second element gorthad as “wraith, spirit of Dead” (PE17/116).
In notes on Sindarin genitives from around 1967 Tolkien had a nasal-mutated form Thor in the phrase i·m(b)air en Thor “the houses of the Dead” with unmutated Tor or Taur in the margin, but Tolkien revised this to i·m(b)air en N(d)engin “the houses of the Slain” (PE17/116). Christopher Gilson pointed out that this Tor/Taur might be connected to torn “burial mound”. It may be that Tolkien was uncertain which element of Tyrn Gorthad referred to the mounds, and which referred to the dead inside the mounds. He may also have felt constrained by the fact that tyrn was likely plural but gorthad was clearly singular.
Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, it is probably easiest to assume torn means “burial mound” and gorthad means “wraith”.