n. Bot. tree. Also in compound -(o)rŏnō. >> orn
Sindarin
orn
noun. (any large) tree
orn
noun. (tall straight) tree
Cognates
- Q. ornë “(tall) tree, (tall) tree, [ᴹQ.] high isolated tree” ✧ Let/426; PE17/025; PE17/050; PE17/112; PE17/153; PE17/153
Derivations
Element in
- S. Belegorn “*Great-tree”
- S. Celeborn “Tree of Silver” ✧ PE17/112; SA/orn
- ᴺS. collorn “laburnum, *(lit.) orange-tree”
- ᴺS. ecthelorn “spruce, fir-tree”
- S. eryn “wood, forest (of trees)” ✧ PE17/153
- S. Fangorn “Treebeard” ✧ PE17/084; SA/orn
- S. Hírilorn “Tree of the Lady” ✧ SA/orn
- S. huorn “?spirit tree” ✧ RC/425; UTI/Huorns
- S. lebethron “Gondorian hardwood, *(lit.) finger tree”
- S. mallorn “gold tree, yellow tree” ✧ SA/orn
- S. Melthinorn “Tree of Gold”
- S. neldor “beech” ✧ SA/neldor
- S. Ornil
- S. Taur-i-Melegyrn “Forest of the Great Trees” ✧ WJI/Taur-i-Melegyrn
- Os. malthorn “gold tree” ✧ PE17/050; VT42/27
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ✶ornē > orn [ornē] > [orne] > [orn] ✧ Let/426 ✶ornē > orn [ornē] > [orne] > [orn] ✧ NM/349 ✶ornē > orn [ornē] > [orne] > [orn] ✧ UT/266 Variations
- oron ✧ PE17/153 (oron)
oron
noun. tree
malhorn
noun. golden tree of Lothlórien
mallorn
noun. golden tree of Lothlórien
malthorn
noun. golden tree of Lothlórien
lebethron
noun. a tree - its black wood was used by the woodwrights of Gondor
In the original manuscript, one of the earlier (rejected) form of this name was lebendron. Didier Willis proposed the etymology lebed+doron "finger-oak", actually a real tree name (Finger Oak or Quercus digitata)
galadh
noun. tree
galadh
tree
_n. Bot._tree, like oak (nordh) and beech. A galadh was more thick, dense and branching than a orn. In Sindarin, there was no much distinction in size between galað and orn. A galað was more thick, dense and branching than a orn. Birch, ash and oak are of the orn kind. Q. alda. >> orn
galadh
tree
{ð} n. tree. In Sindarin, there was no much distinction in size between galað and orn. A galað was more thick, dense and branching than a orn. Birch, ash and oak are of the orn kind. Q. alda. >> orn
galadh
noun. tree
The basic Sindarin word for “tree” (LotR/1113), derived from primitive ✶galadā and very well attested. This word dates back at least to The Etymologies of the 1930s, where N. galadh “tree” appeared under the root ᴹ√GALAD (Ety/GALAD). See also orn “(tall) tree” of similar meaning.
Conceptual Development: Gnomish of the 1910s had some earlier version of this “tree” word: G. galdon >> alwen “tree” in the Name-list to the Fall of Gondolin (PE15/24) and archaic/poetic G. †alwen “tree” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/19), the latter probably from the early root ᴱ√ALA “spread” that was the basis for ᴱQ. alda “tree” (QL/29).
Cognates
Derivations
- ✶galadā “great plant, tree” ✧ Let/426; NM/349; NM/352; PE17/025; PE17/050; PE17/063; PE17/135; PE17/153; PE17/153; UT/266
Element in
- S. Bregalad “Quickbeam; (lit.) Quick (Lively) Tree”
- S. Caras Galadhon “City of the Trees” ✧ Let/426; NM/352; SA/alda; UT/267
- S. Caras i-Ngelaidh “City of the Trees” ✧ PE17/060
- S. Galadhon
- S. galadhremmen “tree-meshed” ✧ PE17/136
- S. Galadhrim “Tree-people” ✧ Let/426; PE17/050; SA/alda; UT/267
- S. Galadlóriel “Golden Rain, (lit.) Golden Tree”
- S. Galador
- S. Galadriel “Glittering-garland” ✧ SA/kal; UT/267
- S. Galadwen
- S. Galathilion “White Tree”
- S. Gelennil “Lover of Trees”
- S. lais geledhion “leaves of trees” ✧ PE17/097
- S. o galadhremmin ennorath “from tree-tangled middle-lands” ✧ PE17/025
- S. Orgaladh “Day of the Tree, *Tuesday”
- S. Orgaladhad “Day of the Two Trees, *Tuesday”
- S. si loth a galadh lasto dîn “*here flower and tree listen [in] silence” ✧ LB/354
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ✶galadā > galadh [galadā] > [galada] > [galaða] > [galað] ✧ Let/426 ✶galada > galað [galada] > [galaða] > [galað] ✧ NM/352 ✶galadā > galadh [galadā] > [galada] > [galaða] > [galað] ✧ PE17/025 ✶galadā > galadh [galadā] > [galada] > [galaða] > [galað] ✧ PE17/050 ✶galadā > galadh [galadā] > [galada] > [galaða] > [galað] ✧ PE17/063 ✶galadā > galaða > galað > galadh [galadā] > [galada] > [galaða] > [galað] ✧ PE17/135 ✶galadā́ > galað [galadā] > [galada] > [galaða] > [galað] ✧ PE17/153 ✶galadā > galað [galadā] > [galada] > [galaða] > [galað] ✧ PE17/153 ✶galadā > galadh [galadā] > [galada] > [galaða] > [galað] ✧ UT/266 Variations
- galað ✧ MR/182; MR/470; NM/349; NM/352; PE17/060; PE17/153; PE17/153
orn
tree
(pl. yrn). Note: a homophone means ”tall”.
huorn
walking tree of fangorn
(i chuorn, o chuorn), pl. huyrn (i chuyrn).
lebethron
oak tree
.
galadh
tree
1) galadh (i **aladh), pl. gelaid (i ngelaidh = i ñelaidh) (Letters:426, SD:302). 2) orn (pl. yrn**). Note: a homophone means ”tall”.
galadh
tree
(i ’aladh), pl. gelaid (i ngelaidh = i ñelaidh) (Letters:426, SD:302).
nothlir
family tree
(family line); no distinct pl. form; coll. pl. nothliriath.
toss
low-growing tree
(i** doss, o thoss, construct tos), pl. tyss (i** thyss). Tolkien mentioned ”maple, hawthorn, blackthorn, holly, etc.” as examples of the low-growing trees covered by this word. Specific trees, see
galadhon
of or related to trees
(lenited ‘aladhon, pl. galadhoen). Archaic ✱galadhaun. The latter is based on David Salo’s analysis of the name Caras Galadhon; others have interpreted the last word as some kind of genitive plural, maybe influenced by Silvan Elvish.
galadhrim
people of the trees
(Elves of Lórien). Adj.
A “tree” word in Sindarin, derived from primitive ✶ornē (Let/426; NM/349; UT/266). This word can be compared to the more general galadh “tree”. Of these Tolkien said:
> There was not in Sindarin much distinction in size between galað and orn. But oak (norð, Q nordo) and beech were galað for instance and birch and ash orn. A galað was more thick, dense & branching (PE17/25).
And:
> ... ✱ornē “tree” originally and usually applied to the taller, straighter, and more slender trees, such as birches [as opposed to] ... stouter and more spreading trees, such as oaks and beeches, were called in C.E. galadā “great growth” (NM/349 and note #1).
In this second set of notes Tolkien also said “In S. orn < ✱ornē fell out of common use and was used only in verse and songs, though it survived in many names, of trees and persons. All trees were called galað < ✱galadā” (NM/349 note #1). I can find no evidence that S. orn was archaic this outside of this note. As such, I would use orn in Sindarin for tall straight trees, and galadh either for trees in generally, or where applicable for broad and spreading trees.
Conceptual Development: This word was very well established in Tolkien’s mind. In the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, G. orn was the ordinary word for “tree”, as opposed to archaic/poetic G. †alwen (GL/19, 62). ᴱN. orn “tree” appeared in Early Noldorin word-lists of the 1920s where it was derived from ᴱ✶orne- (PE13/151, 164), and N. orn “tree” reappeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s derived from ᴹ✶ÓR-NI “high tree”, though in this document Tolkien said this Noldorin word was “used of any large tree” (Ety/ÓR-NI).