S. Lórien loc. “*Golden Lands”
The forest ruled by Galadriel, originally named in Nandorin Lórinand “Valley of Gold(en Light)” (UT/253) but adapted into Sindarin (LotR/1127) in imitation of Q. Lórien (UT/253), the realm of Irmo in Aman.
Possible Etymology: In English, it was often called the “Golden Wood” (LotR/337), so its initial element is likely a variant of the prefixal form glor- of glaur “gold” (without the “g” due to its Nandorin origin), while its final element could be the plural -ien “lands” of the suffix -ian(d), hence: “*Golden Lands”.
Conceptual Development: In the Gnomish Lexicon from the 1910s, the Gnomish equivalent of ᴱQ. Lórien was G. Luriel >> Lûrien (GL/55) while in The Etymologies from the 1930s, its Noldorin equivalent was N. Lhuien (Ety/LOS). When the forest was first named in Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s it was Lórien (TI/234), which Tolkien indicated was a Lemberin name in drafts of the Lord of the Rings appendices (PM/36). The derivation given above was described in Tolkien’s later writings on the history of Galadriel (UT/253).
References ✧ LotR/1127; LotRI; MR/201; NM/350; PMI; SI/Lórien²; UT/253; UTI/Lórien², Lothlórien
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Elements
| glaur | “gold [light or colour]” | |
| -ian(d) | “-land, country” | plural |
Element In
Derivations
Lem. Lórien loc.
References ✧ PM/36; SDI1/Lórien; TII; WRI
Variations
Element In
N. Lhuien loc.
Noldorin equivalent of ᴹQ. Lórien appearing in The Etymologies from the 1930s (Ety/LOS). It perhaps developed from a primitive form *✶Lōsien, where the intervocalic [s] became [h] and then this [h] vanished after vowels, as opposed to Quenya where the [s] became [r].
See S. Lórien for further discussion.
References ✧ Ety/LOS; EtyAC/LOS
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Cognates
Derivations
Phonetic Developments
| ᴹ√LOS > Lhuien | [lōsien] > [lūsien] > [lūhien] > [l̥ūhien] > [l̥uien] | ✧ Ety/LOS |
G. Lûrien loc.
References ✧ GL/18, 34, 55, 58, 62; LT1A/Lórien; PE14/12
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Changes
Elements
| lûr | “slumber” | ✧ GL/55 |
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