Quenya
lórien
proper name. *Dream Lands
Element in
- Q. Altariello nainië Lóriendesse “Galadriel’s lament in Lórien” ✧ RGEO/58
Elements
Word Gloss lórë “dream, [ᴹQ.] slumber, *sleep; [Q.] dream” -ien “-land” Variations
- Lorien ✧ MRI/Lórien
The gardens of Irmo in Valinor, often used as the name of that Vala as well (S/28). Its initial element is lórë “dream”. Its final element -ien is seen in the names of other lands, such as Arvernien and Hildórien. This name was also used as the Quenya name for the forest-kingdom of Galadriel, S. Lórien, which appeared in the Quenya subtitle of the Namárië poem: Altariello nainië Lóriendesse “Galadriel’s lament in Lórien” (RGEO/58). This example also indicates that the stem form of this name was Lóriend-.
Conceptual Development: This name dates back to the earliest Lost Tales, but in its earliest manifestation, ᴱQ. Lórien was only the name of the Vala (LT1/66), glossed “King of Dreams” (QL/56). In Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s, ᴹQ. Lórien was still only the name of the Vala (LR/205) and the name appeared in The Etymologies as a derivative of ᴹ√LOS “dream” (Ety/LOS). His true name Irmo did not emerge until Silmarillion revisions from the 1950s-60s (MR/150), at which point Lórien became the name of his lands.