mor ‘dark’ in Mordor, Morgoth, Moria, Moriquendi, Mormegil, Morwen, etc.
moth ‘dusk’ in Nan Elmoth.
nan(d) ‘valley’ in Nan Dungortheb, Nan Elmoth, Nan Tathren.
nár ‘fire’ in Narsil, Narya; present also in the original forms of Aegnor (Aikanáro ‘Sharp Flame’ or ‘Fell Fire’) and Fëanor (Fëanáro ‘Spirit of Fire’). The Sindarin form was naur, as in Sammath Naur, the Chambers of Fire in Orodruin. Derived from the same ancient root (a)nar was the name of the Sun, Quenya Anar (also in Anárion), Sindarin Anor (cf. Minas Anor, Anórien).
naug ‘dwarf’ in Naugrim; see also Nogrod in entry groth. Related is another Sindarin word for ‘dwarf’, nogoth, plural noegyth (Noegyth Nibin ‘Petty-dwarves’) and nogothrim.
-(n)dil is a very frequent ending of personal names, Amandil, Eärendil (shortened Eärnil), Elendil, Mardil, etc.; it implies ‘devotion’, ‘disinterested love’ (see Mardil in entry bar).
-(n)dur in names such as Eärendur (shortened Eärnur) is similar in meaning to -(n)dil.
neldor ‘beech’ in Neldoreth; but it seems that this was properly the name of Hírilorn, the great beech-tree with three trunks (neldë ‘three’ and orn).
nen ‘water’, used of lakes, pools, and lesser rivers, in Nen Girith, Nenning, Nenuial, Nenya; Cuiviénen, Uinen; also in many names in The Lord of the Rings,as Nen Hithoel, Bruinen, Emyn Arnen, Núrnen. Nîn ‘wet’ in Loeg Ningloron; also in Nindalf.
nim ‘white’ (from earlier nimf, nimp) in Nimbrethil, Nimloth, Nimphelos, niphredil (niphred ‘pallor’), Barad Nimras, Ered Nimrais. The Quenya form was ninquë; thus Ninquelótë = Nimloth. Cf. also Taniquetil.
orn ‘tree’ in Celeborn, Hírilorn; cf. Fangorn ‘Treebeard’, and mallorn, plural mellyrn, the trees of Lothlórien.
orod ‘mountain’ in Orodruin, Thangorodrim; Orocarni, Oromet. Plural ered in Ered Engrin, Ered Lindon, etc.
os(t) ‘fortress’ in Angrenost, Belegost, Formenos, Fornost, Mandos, Nargothrond (from Narog-ost-rond), Os(t)giliath, Ost-in-Edhil.
palan (Quenya) ‘far and wide’ in palantíri, Tar-Palantir.
pel- ‘go round, encircle’ in Pelargir, Pelóri, and in the Pelennor, the ‘fenced land’ of Minas Tirith; also in Ephel Brandir, Ephel Dúath (ephel from et-pel ‘outer fence’).
quen- (quet-) ‘say, speak’ in Quendi (Calaquendi, Laiquendi, Moriquendi), Quenya, Valaquenta, Quenta Silmarillion. The Sindarin forms have p (or b) for qu; e.g. pedo ‘speak’ in the inscription on the West-gate of Moria, corresponding to the Quenya stem quet-, and Gandalf’s words before the gate, lasto beth lammen ‘listen to the words of my tongue’, where beth ‘word’ corresponds to Quenya quetta.
ram ‘wall’ (Quenya ramba)in Andram, Ramdal; also in Rammas Echor, the wall about the Pelennor Fields at Minas Tirith.
ran- ‘wander, stray’ in Rána, the Moon, and in Mithrandir, Aerandir; also in the river Gilraen in Gondor.
rant ‘course’ in the river-names Adurant (with adu ‘double’) and Celebrant (‘Silverlode’).
ras ‘horn’ in Barad Nimras, also in Caradhras (‘Redhorn’) and Methedras (‘Last Peak’) in the Misty Mountains; plural rais in Ered Nimrais.
rauko ‘demon’ in Valaraukar; Sindarin raug, rog in Balrog.
ril ‘brilliance’ in Idril, Silmaril; also in Andúril (the sword of Aragorn) and in mithril (Moria-silver). Idril’s name in Quenya form was Itarillë (or Itarildë), from a stem ita-‘sparkle’.
rim ‘great number, host’ (Quenya rimbë) was commonly used to form collective plurals, as Golodhrim, Mithrim (see the Index), Naugrim, Thangorodrim, etc.
ring ‘cold, chill’ in Ringil, Ringwil, Himring; also in the river Ringló in Gondor, and in Ringarë, Quenya name of the last month of the year (The Lord of the Rings Appendix D).
ris ‘cleave’ appears to have blended with the stem kris- of similar meaning (a derivative of the root kir- ‘cleave, cut’, q.v.); hence Angrist (also Orcrist ‘Orc-cleaver’, the sword of Thorin Oakenshield), Crissaegrim, Imladris.
roch ‘horse’ (Quenya rokko)in Rochallor, Rohan (from Rochand ‘land of horses’), Rohirrim; also in Roheryn ‘horse of the lady’ (cf. heru), Aragorn’s horse, which was so called because given to him by Arwen (The Return of the King V 2).
rom- A stem used of the sound of trumpets and horns which appears in Oromë and Valaróma; cf. Béma, the name of this Vala in the language of Rohan as translated into Anglo-Saxon in The Lord of the Rings Appendix A (II): Anglo-Saxon beme ‘trumpet’.
rómen ‘uprising, sunrise, east’ (Quenya) in Rómenna. The Sindarin words for ‘east’, rhûn (in Talath Rhúnen) and amrûn, were of the same origin.
rond meant a vaulted or arched roof, or a large hall or chamber so roofed; so Nargothrond (see ost), Hadhodrond, Aglarond. It could be applied to the heavens, hence the name Elrond ‘star-dome’.
ros ‘foam, spindrift, spray’ in Celebros, Elros, Rauros; also in Cair Andros, an island in the river Anduin.
ruin ‘red flame’ (Quenya rúnya) in Orodruin.
rûth ‘anger’ in Aranrúth.
sarn ‘(small) stone’ in Sarn Athrad (Sarn Ford on the Brandywine is a half-translation of this); also in Sarn Gebir (‘stone-spikes’: ceber, plural cebir ‘stakes’), rapids in the river Anduin. A derivative is Serni, a river in Gondor.
sereg ‘blood’ (Quenya serkë) in seregon.
sil- (and variant thil-) ‘shine (with white or silver light)’ in Belthil, Galathilion, Silpion, and in Quenya Isil, Sindarin Ithil, the Moon (whence Isildur, Narsil; Minas Ithil, Ithilien). The Quenya word Silmarilli is said to derive from the name silima that Fëanor gave to the substance from which they were made.
sîr ‘river’, from root sir- ‘flow’, in Ossiriand (the first element is from the stem of the numeral ‘seven’, Quenya otso, Sindarin odo), Sirion; also in Sirannon (the ‘Gate-stream’ of Moria) and Sirith (‘a flowing’, as tirith ‘watching’ from tir), a river in Gondor. With change of s to h in the middle of words it is present in Minhiriath ‘between the rivers’, the region between the Brandywine and the Greyflood; in Nanduhirion ‘vale of dim streams’, the Dimrill Dale (see nan(d) and dú); and in Ethir Anduin, the outflow or delta of Anduin (from et-sîr).
sûl ‘wind’ in Amon Sûl, Súlimo; cf. Súlimë, Quenya name of the third month of the year (The Lord of the Rings Appendix D).
tal (dal) ‘foot’ in Celebrindal, and with the meaning ‘end’ in Ramdal.
talath ‘flat lands, plain’ in Talath Dirnen, Talath Rhúnen.
tar- ‘high’ (Quenya tára ‘lofty’), prefix of the Quenya names of the Númenórean Kings; also in Annatar. Feminine tári ‘she that is high, Queen’ in Elentári, Kementári. Cf. tarma ‘pillar’ in Meneltarma.
tathar ‘willow’; adjective tathren in Nan-tathren; Quenya tasarë in Tasarinan, Nan-tasarion (see Nan-tathren in the Index).
taur ‘wood, forest’ (Quenya taurë) in Tauron, Taur-im-Duinath, Taur-nu-Fuin.
tel- ‘finish, end, be last’ in Teleri.
thalion ‘strong, dauntless’ in Cúthalion, Thalion.
thang ‘oppression’ in Thangorodrim, also in Durthang (a castle in Mordor). Quenya sanga meant ‘press, throng’, whence Sangahyando ‘Throng-cleaver’, name of a man in Gondor (The Lord of the Rings Appendix A (I, iv)).
thar- ‘athwart, across’ in Sarn Athrad, Thargelion; also in Tharbad (from thara-pata ‘crossway’) where the ancient road from Arnor and Gondor crossed the Greyflood.
thaur ‘abominable, abhorrent’ in Sauron (from Thauron), Gorthaur.
thin(d) ‘grey’ in Thingol; Quenya sinda in Sindar, Singollo (Sindacollo: collo ‘cloak’).
thôl ‘helm’ in Dor Cúarthol, Gorthol.
thôn ‘pine-tree’ in Dorthonion.
thoron ‘eagle’ in Thorondor (Quenya Sorontar), CirithThoronath. The Quenya form is perhaps present in the constellation-name Soronúmë.
til ‘point, horn’ in Taniquetil, Tilion (‘the Horned’); also in Celebdil ‘Silvertine’, one o
f the Mountains of Moria.
tin- ‘sparkle’ (Quenya tinta ‘cause to sparkle’, tinwë ‘spark’) in Tintallë; also in tindómë ‘starry twilight’ (The Lord of the Rings Appendix D), whence tindómerel ‘daughter of the twilight’, a poetic name for the nightingale (Sindarin Tinúviel). It appears also in Sindarin ithildin ‘starmoon’, the substance of which the devices on the West-gate of Moria were made.
tir ‘watch, watch over’ in Minas Tirith, palantíri, Tar-Palantir, Tirion.
tol ‘isle’ (rising with sheer sides from the sea or from a river) in Tol Eressëa, Tol Galen, etc.
tum ‘valley’ in Tumhalad, Tumladen; Quenya tumbo (cf. Tree-beard’s tumbalemorna ‘black deep valley’, The Two Towers III 4). Cf. Utumno, Sindarin Udûn (Gandalf in Moria named the Balrog ‘Flame of Udûn’), a name afterwards used of the deep dale in Mordor between the Morannon and the Isenmouthe.
tur ‘power, mastery’ in Turambar, Turgon, Túrin, Fëanturi, Tar-Minyatur.
uial ‘twilight’ in Aelin-uial, Nenuial.
ur- ‘heat, be hot’ in Urolóki; cf. Urimë and Urui, Quenya and Sindarin names of the eighth month of the year (The Lord of the Rings Appendix D). Related is the Quenya word aurë ‘sunlight, day’ (cf. Fingon’s cry before the Nirnaeth Arnoediad), Sindarin aur, which in the form Or- is prefixed to the names of the days of the week.
val- ‘power’ in Valar, Valacirca, Valaquenta, Valaraukar, Val(i)-mar, Valinor. The original stem was bal-, preserved in Sindarin Balan, plural Belain, the Valar, and in Balrog.
wen ‘maiden’ is a frequent ending, as in Eärwen, Morwen.
wing ‘foam, spray’ in Elwing, Vingelot (and only in these two names).
yávë ‘fruit’ (Quenya) in Yavanna; cf. Yavannië, Quenya name of the ninth month of the year, and yávië ‘autumn’ (The Lord of the Rings Appendix D).
MAPS
WORKS BY J.R.R. TOLKIEN
The Hobbit
Leaf by Niggle
On Fairy-Stories
Farmer Giles of Ham
The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth
The Lord of the Rings
The Adventures of Tom Bombadil
The Road Goes Ever On (with Donald Swann)
Smith of Wootton Major
WORKS PUBLISHED POSTHUMOUSLY
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl and Sir Orfeo
The Father Christmas Letters
The Silmarillion
Pictures by J.R.R. Tolkien
Unfinished Tales
The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
Finn and Hengest
Mr Bliss
The Monsters and the Critics & Other Essays
Roverandom
The Children of Húrin
The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún
THE HISTORY OF MIDDLE-EARTH – BY CHRISTOPHER TOLKIEN
I The Book of Lost Tales, Part One
II The Book of Lost Tales, Part Two
III The Lays of Beleriand
IV The Shaping of Middle-earth
V The Lost Road and Other Writings
VI The Return of the Shadow
VII The Treason of Isengard
VIII The War of the Ring
IX Sauron Defeated
X Morgoth’s Ring
XI The War of the Jewels
XII The Peoples of Middle-earth
COPYRIGHT
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This paperback edition 1999
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First paperback edition 1979
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* Though I have thought about them a good deal.
* It is, I suppose, fundamentally concerned with the problem of the relation of Art (and Sub-creation) and Primary Reality.
* Not in the Beginner of Evil: his was a sub-creative Fall, and hence the Elves (the representatives of sub-creation par excellence) were peculiarly his enemies, and the special object of his desire and hate – and open to his deceits. Their Fall is into possessiveness and (to a less degree) into perversion of their art to power.
* As far as all this has symbolical or allegorical significance, Light is such a primeval symbol in the nature of the Universe, that it can hardly be analysed. The Light of Valinor (derived from light before any fall) is the light of art undivorced from reason, that sees things both scientifically (or philosophically) and imaginatively (or sub-creatively) and says that they are good – as beautiful. The Light of Sun (or Moon) is derived from the Trees only after they were sullied by Evil.
* Of course in reality this only means that my ‘elves’ are only a representation or an apprehension of a part of human nature, but that is not the legendary mode of talking.
* [Some words of the original manuscript were omitted by the typist in this sentence.]
* Elrond symbolises throughout the ancient wisdom, and his House represents Lore – the preservation in reverent memory of all tradition concerning the good, wise, and beautiful. It is not a scene of action but of reflection. Thus it is a place visited on the way to all deeds, or ‘adventures’. It may prove to be on the direct road (as in The Hobbit); but it may be necessary to go from there in a totally unexpected course. So necessarily in The Lord of the Rings, having escaped to Elrond from the imminent pursuit of present evil, the hero departs in a wholly new direction: to go and face it at its source.
* The view is taken (as clearly reappears later in the case of the Hobbits that have the Ring for a while) that each ‘Kind’ has a natural span, integral to its biological and spiritual nature. This cannot really be increased qualitatively or quantitatively; so that prolongation in time is like stretching a wire out ever tauter, or ‘spreading butter ever thinner’ it becomes an intolerable torment.
† [When this letter was written the original history of the rulers of Númenor, whereby Tar-Calion (Ar-Pharazôn) was the thirteenth and not as afterwards the twenty-fifth, was still present.]
The Silmarillion is an account of the Elder Days, or the First Age of Tolkien’s World. It is the ancient dra
ma to which the characters in The Lord of the Rings look back, and in whose events some of them, such as Elrond and Galadriel, took part. The tales of The Silmarillion are set in an age when Morgoth, the first Dark Lord, dwelt in Middle-earth, and the High Elves made war upon him for the recovery of the Silmarils.
The three Silmarils were jewels created by Fëanor, most gifted of the Elves. Within them were imprisoned the Light of the Two Trees of Valinor before the Trees themselves were destroyed by Morgoth. Thereafter the unsullied Light of Valinor lived on only in the Silmarils; but they were seized by Morgoth and set in his crown, guarded in the fortress of Angband in the north of Middle-earth.
The Silmarillion is the history of the rebellion of Fëanor and his kindred against the gods, their exile from Valinor and return to Middle-earth and their war, hopeless despite their heroism, against the great Enemy. Included in the book are several shorter works. The Ainulindalë is a myth of the Creation and in the Valaquenta the nature and powers of each of the gods is described. The Akallabêth recounts the downfall of the great island kingdom of Númenor at the end of the Second Age and Of the Rings of Power tells of the great events at the end of the Third Age, which are narrated in The Lord of the Rings.
Table of Contents
J.R.R. TOLKIEN
TITLE PAGE
FOREWORD
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION
FROM A LETTER BY J.R.R. TOLKIEN TO MILTON WALDMAN, 1951
AINULINDALË
VALAQUENTA
QUENTA SILMARILLION
CHAPTER 1: OF THE BEGINNING OF DAYS
CHAPTER 2: OF AULË AND YAVANNA
CHAPTER 3: OF THE COMING OF THE ELVES AND THE CAPTIVITY OF MELKOR
CHAPTER 4: OF THINGOL AND MELIAN
CHAPTER 5: OF ELDAMAR AND THE PRINCES OF THE ELDALIË
CHAPTER 6: OF FËANOR AND THE UNCHAINING OF MELKOR
CHAPTER 7: OF THE SILMARILS AND THE UNREST OF THE NOLDOR
The Silmarillion Illustrated Page 46