Noldorin equivalent of ᴹQ. Túna appearing in Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s with the gloss “Hill City” (LR/222). It also appeared in The Etymologies derived from the same primitive form as its Quenya equivalent (Ety/TUN).
Conceptual Development: G. Tûn appeared towards the end of notes associated with the earliest Lost Tales (LT2/202), where it was most likely inspired by Old English “tún”, as suggested by Christopher Tolkien (LT2/292). It also appeared in the Lays of Beleriand from the 1920s (LB/17, 217). Its development parallels that of its Quenya name; see Q. Tirion for a fuller discussion on the evolution of the name of this city and the hill it stood upon.
A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “muscle, sinew; vigour, physical strength” derived from primitive ᴹ✶tūgu under the root ᴹ√TUG (Ety/TUG). This root also had an adjective N. tong “taut, tight; resonant (of strings)”, clearly referring to the use of sinew in making stringed instruments. Thus I think tû likely refers mainly to “muscle, sinew”, and only metaphorically to “vigour, physical strength”, as in: i-Edhel han sâv dû “that Elf has muscle (tû) = has physical strength”.
Conceptual Development: Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s had ᴱN. núr “muscle” from primitive ᴱ✶snóra (PE13/151).