The name of Lake Town (LotR/30), its language and meaning are unclear.

Conceptual Development: This name was first published in The Hobbit, and Tolkien seems to have considered several interpretations of the name. In The Etymologies from the 1930s, the name Ilk. Esgaroth was marked Ilkorin and translated “Reedlake” (Ety/ESEK), but in another earlier entry it was translated “?strand-burg” (Tolkien’s writing is unclear) with no designated language (EtyAC/SKAR²). In his Words, Phrases and Passages from the Lord of the Rings from the late 1950s or early 1960s, Tolkien said that the name was “not Sindarin (though perhaps ‘Sindarized’ in shape)” (PE17/54). This could mean the name was Nandorin or was perhaps adapted from the language of the North Men.