ungol

noun. spider

The Sindarin word for “spider” (Let/180; RC/490, 767), derived from √ungu- that was the basis for spider words (PE22/160).

Conceptual Development: The Gnomish word for “spider” was initially G. gung in both the Qenya Lexicon and Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s as a derivative of the early root ᴱ√GUŊU (QL/98; GL/43), also appearing an element in G. Gungliont, the earliest name of Ungoliant (LT1/160). In the Gnomish Lexicon the word gung was crossed through, but may have become ging in G. gwidh-a-ging “cobweb” (GL/46). Regardless, Tolkien added G. ungwi “spider” in pencil to the Gnomish Lexicon (GL/75), which seems to indicate a change of the root from ᴱ√GUŊU to ᴱ√UŊU, consistent with the replacement name G. Ungoliont from the contemporaneous narratives (LT1/152).

In The Etymologies of the 1930s, “spider” words were derived from the root ᴹ√SLIG (Ety/SLIG); see N. thling for discussion. Tolkien soon restored Ung-, however, since N. ungol was translated as “spider” in Lord of the Rings drafts of the 1940s (WR/202).

ungol

noun. spider

ungoliant

feminine name. Ungoliant

Sindarin name of the great spider-demon (LotR/723, S/73). The initial element of her name is probably ungol “spider” but the meaning of the second element is unclear. It may simply be an adaptation of her Quenya name Q. Ungoliantë (Ety/UÑG).

Conceptual Development: In the Gnomish Lexicon from the 1910s, this name first appeared as G. Gungliont “The Spider of Night” (GL/43), but this was rejected and replaced by Ungweliont or Ungoliont (GL/75), a change that was also made in the earliest Lost Tales (LT1/156). At this stage, the initial element ungwi meant “spider” (GL/75). In the Lays of Beleriand from the 1920s and Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s, the name was changed to Ungoliant (LB/132; SM/16, 91), though later in the drafts her name was generally replaced with its Quenya equivalent ᴹQ. Ungoliante (LR/230, 299).

At this stage, the name was frequently translated “Gloomweaver” (SM/16, 91), and in The Etymologies, N. Ungoliant was an adaption of her Quenya name with the same meaning, as noted above (Ety/UÑG). Here, the initial element Ungo- was related the root ᴹ√UÑG having to do with darkness and the final element -liant was related the root ᴹ√SLIG from which ᴹQ. liante “spider” was derived (Ety/SLIG). In Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s, Ungoliant was also briefly considered as a name for Shelob (WR/196).

Given Tolkien’s later use of S. ungol as the Sindarin word for “spider”, it seems that he reversed the meaning of the two elements of this name again, but there is no indication of what the second element of the Sindarin name might mean in any of the published materials.

ungol

spider

1) ungol (pl. yngyl); coll. pl. ?unglath or ungolath; 2) *lhingril (?i thlingril or ?i lingril the lenition product of lh is uncertain); no distinct pl. form except possibly with article (?i lingril). Coll. pl. lhingrillath. (Suggested Sindarin form of ”Noldorin” thlingril.) 3) or

ungol

spider

(pl. yngyl); coll. pl. ?unglath or ungolath

Ungoliant

Ungoliant

The name is pronounced [uŋˈɡoljant]. In the form Ungoliant the name is technically Sindarin, but is a direct loan from Quenya Ungweliantë (ungwë + liantë: "dark spider"; pron. [uŋʷˌɡʷeliˈante]); the strictly Sindarin form being Delduthling "dark terror spider." She is also called "gloomweaver," Virilomë [ˌviriˈlome]) (Wirilomë in Vanyarin) which becomes Gwerlum ([ɡʷerlum]) in Sindarin.

dúath

noun. darkness, shadow

dúath

noun. nightshade

lhing

noun. spider, spider's web, cobweb

lhingril

noun. spider

môr

noun. darkness, dark, night

dû

darkness

1) dû (i dhû) (night, nightfall, late evening, dusk), pl. dui (i nui) (SD:302), 2) fuin (gloom, night, dead of night, nightshade). No distinct pl. form. 3) môr (i vôr, construct mor), pl. mŷr (i mŷr) if there is a pl. (Letters:382); 4 morn (i vorn) (night), pl. myrn (i myrn). Note: the word môr, morn is also used as an adjective ”dark, black”. (Letters:386)

dû

darkness

(i dhû) (night, nightfall, late evening, dusk), pl. dui (i nui) (SD:302)

fuin

darkness

(gloom, night, dead of night, nightshade). No distinct pl. form.

lhing

spider’s web

(?i thling or ?i ling – the lenition product of lh is uncertain)  (cobweb), no distinct pl. form except possibly with article (?i ling). Suggested Sindarin form of ”Noldorin” thling.

lhingril

noun. spider

lhingril

spider

(?i thlingril or ?i lingril – the lenition product of lh is uncertain); no distinct pl. form except possibly with article (?i lingril). Coll. pl. lhingrillath. (Suggested Sindarin form of ”Noldorin” *thlingril**.*)

lhê

spider filament

(?i thlê or ?i lê – the lenition product of lh is uncertain) (fine thread), pl. lhî (?i lî). Suggested Sindarin form of ”Noldorin” thlê.

môr

darkness

(i vôr, construct mor), pl. m**ŷr (i m**ŷr) if there is a pl. (Letters:382); 4 morn (i vorn) (night), pl. myrn (i myrn). Note: the word môr, morn is also used as an adjective ”dark, black”. (Letters:386)

ungol

noun. spider

ungol

noun. spider

ungoliant

feminine name. Gloomweaver

delduthling

feminine name. Ungoliant, *(lit.) Horror Night Spider

Another name for Ungoliant appearing on in The Etymologies from the 1930s, a combination of del “horror”, dû “night” and thling “spider” (Ety/DYEL, DOƷ, SLIG).

thlingril

noun. spider

A noun appearing as N. thlingril “spider” in The Etymologies, probably a feminine form of N. thling “spider, spider’s web, cobweb” (Ety/SLIG). Christopher Tolkien said the r was uncertain.

Neo-Sindarin: Since initial sl- became lh- in Sindarin, most Neo-Sindarin writers adapt this word as ᴺS. lhingril, as suggested in HSD (HSD). This word is somewhat questionable, since in later writings √ungu- was the basis for spider words (PE22/160). I think ᴹ√SLIG may be reinterpreted as having to do with threads, and as such I think ᴺS. lhingril can be retained as originally meaning “(female) web spinner”. However, I recommend later S. ungol as the more common Sindarin word for “spider”.

dúath

noun. darkness, shadow

dúath

noun. nightshade

dúwath

noun. darkness, shadow

dúwath

noun. nightshade

môr

noun. darkness, dark, night

thling

noun. spider, spider's web, cobweb

thlingril

noun. spider

Ungoliantë

ungoliant

Ungoliantë fem. name "Ungoliant" (the Spider, ally of Morgoth); also Ungweliantë (UÑG, DYEL, SLIG)

ungoliantë

feminine name. Gloomweaver, *Shadow Spider

Quenya form of the name of Ungoliant (WJ/14), a compound of [ᴹQ.] ungo “cloud, dark shadow” and [ᴹQ.] liante “spider” (Ety/UÑG, SLIG). Christopher Tolkien confessed that the Quenya form Ungoliantë was used in Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s forward, but he changed it to Ungoliant in the published version of The Silmarillion for compatibility with The Lord of the Rings (LR/299).

Conceptual Development: In the earliest Lost Tales her name was ᴱQ. Ungwe Lianti or Ungweliante, translated “great spider who enmeshes” (LT1/152). At this stage, this name was likely a combination of ᴱQ. ungwe “spider” and a derivative of the root ᴱ√LIYA, perhaps ᴱQ. liante “tendril” (LT1A/Ungwë Lianti). Her Gnomish name G. Gwerlum “Gloomweaver” (ᴱQ. Wirilóme) was of a different origin (LT1A/Gwerlum).

The name ᴹQ. Ungweliante appeared in The Etymologies from the 1930s (Ety/UÑG), but at this stage Tolkien reversed the meaning of its elements, with its initial element ᴹQ. ungwe “gloom” and the final element ᴹQ. liante “spider” (Ety/UÑG). Furthermore, in the contemporaneous narratives the earlier name was replaced by ᴹQ. Ungoliante, which appeared in The Etymologies beside Ungweliante, but with an initial element of ᴹQ. ungo “cloud, dark shadow” (Ety/UÑG, SLIG).

Tolkien used Ungoliantë for her Quenya name in all later writings, but he did not revisit its etymology. In Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s, Ungoliantë was glossed “Gloomweaver” (LR/230), but Tolkien did not translate the name in later works. The later words Q. ungwë “spider’s web” (LotR/1122) and S. ungol “spider” (Let/180) indicates that Tolkien reversed himself again and decided that the initial element Ungo- meant “spider”: the root √ungu- for “spider words” appears in later writings (PE22/160). This entry uses “Gloomweaver” as the best available translation, but it is most likely a holdover from earlier G. Gwerlum. Using the derivation from The Etymologies, a more literal translation would be “✱Shadow Spider”, but even that is questionable given Tolkien’s later rearrangement of the roots.

ungol Reconstructed

noun. (monstrous) spider

A “neologism” extracted from the name Q. Ungoliantë, which was untranslated in Tolkien’s later writings. Given that S. ungol meant “spider” (Let/180; RC/490, 767) and √ungu- was the basis for spider words (PE22/160), it is very likely that ungol in the Quenya also meant “spider” in Tolkien’s later conception of the languages. However, the latest Quenya word for “spider” in currently published material is ᴹQ. liante. To retain that word I assume that [ᴺQ.] ungol was limited to monstrous spiders, the descendents of Ungoliantë, while liante was used for ordinary spiders; see ᴹQ. liante for further discussion.

liantë

spider

liantë (1) noun "spider" (SLIG), in earlier sources ascribed other meanings:(2)liantë "tendril" (LT1:271) and (3) "vine" (PE14:55, cf. liantassë elsewhere)

lúmë

darkness

lúmë (2) noun "darkness" (one wonders if Tolkien confused lúmë "time, hour" and lómë "night") (Markirya)

lúmë

noun. darkness

A noun in the 1960s versions of the Markirya glossed “darkness” (MC/222), perhaps derived from a root √DU as suggested by David Salo in a post to the Elfling mailing list in 2012 (Elfling/362.96).

Neo-Quenya: I’d generally use Q. huinë for “darkness” in Neo-Quenya, but that word is more for total darkness, whereas lúmë might be a less severe form of darkness, a variant of Q. lómë “night, dusk”.

mor

darkness

mor noun "darkness" (Letters:308; probably just an Elvish "element" rather than a complete word; Namárië has mornië for "darkness")

mornië

darkness

mornië noun "darkness" (Nam, RGEO:67), "dark, blackness" (PE17:73). Early "Qenya" also has Mornië "Black Grief", "the black ship that plies between Mandos and Erumáni" (LT1:261). This is probably a compound of mor- "black" and nië "tear".

uñg

root. spider

This root and ones like it were tied to spider words for much of Tolkien’s life, most notably in the name S. Ungoliant and its precursors. The earliest iteration of this root was unglossed ᴱ√GUŊU in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. ungwe/G. gung “spider” (QL/98); Tolkien marked the root with a “?” and given that the Qenya forms had no initial consonant, the actual root may have been ✱ᴱ√ƷUŊU. In The Lost Tales of the 1910s, Tolkien changed G. Gungliont to G. Ungoliont (LT1/156), and in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon the word for “spider” was G. ungwi (GL/75), so it seems Tolkien revised {✱ᴱ√ƷUŊU >>} ✱ᴱ√UŊU.

In The Etymologies of the 1930s, unglossed ᴹ√UÑG had derivatives like ᴹQ. ungwe “gloom” and ᴹQ. ungo “cloud, dark shadow” (Ety/UÑG), and it was the second element ᴹQ. liante in ᴹQ. Ungoliante that meant “spider” (Ety/SLIG). However, in notes from 1969 Tolkien gave ✱ungu- as the basis for “spider” words (PE22/160), as reflected in Q. ungwë “spider’s web” (LotR/1122) and S. ungol “spider” in his later writings (Let/180; RC/490, 767).

burzum

noun. darkness

burzum

noun. darkness