Mountains south of Gondolin (S/121). The meaning of this name is unclear, but it may be a combination of criss “cleft” and aeg “point” with the class-plural suffix -rim. The second half of the word aegrim may have the same meaning as aeglir “range of mountain peaks”.

Conceptual Development: In Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s, this name first appeared as Dan. Gochressiel (LR/285). This name was designated Danian in The Etymologies, containing Dan. hrassa “precipice” and described as “a sheer mountain wall” (Ety/KHARÁS). The name was later changed to N. Crisaegrim with one s (LR/301). A second s was added in Silmarillion revisions from the 1950s-60s (WJ/193-4).

Earliest name of S. Crissaegrim from Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s (LR/285, 301). In The Etymologies, it was marked as Danian and contained the element Dan. hrassa “precipice” (Ety/KHARÁS), where the older “ch” [x] did not become [h] because it was not an initial consonant, and the [a] was mutated to [e] by the following [i] in the suffix -iel. The [a] also appeared unmutated in the shorter form Gochrass. The meanings of the prefix go- and suffix -iel are unclear.