The Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor Read online

  The Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor

  John Ronald Ruel Tolkien

  John Ronald Ruel Tolkien

  The Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor

  Introduction

  This historical and etymological essay titled only "Nomenclature" by its author, belongs with other, similar writings that Christopher Tolkien has dated to c. 1967-69 (XII.293-94), including Of Dwarves and Men, The Shibboleth of Feanor, and The History of Galadriel and Celeborn, and that were published, in whole or in part, in Unfinished Tales and The Peoples of Middle-earth. Indeed, Christopher Tolkien gave numerous excerpts from this essay in Unfinished Tales. He prepared a fuller presentation of the text for The Peoples of Middle-earth, but it was omitted from that volume on consideration of length.

  Christopher Tolkien has kindly provided me with both the full text of the essay and of his own edited version intended for The Peoples of Middle-earth. That edition, being intended for a more general audience and made under constraints of space, naturally omits a number of more technical and/or discursive philological passages and notes. In editing the text for the more specialized audience of Vinyar Tengwar, I have of course restored all such philological matter. I have also retained, with his gracious consent, as much of Christopher Tolkien's own commentary on the essay as practicable (clearly identified as such throughout), while providing some additional commentary and notes of my own, primarily on linguistic matters. In addition to Christopher Tolkien, I would like to extend my gratitude to john Garth, Christopher Gilson, Wayne Hammond, Christina Scull, Arden Smith, and Patrick Wynne, all of whom read this work in draft and provided encouragement along with many helpful comments and corrections.

  The essay consists of thirteen typescript pages, numbered i to 13 by Tolkien. A torn, unnumbered half-sheet bearing a manuscript note headed "Far too complicated" (amidst and referring to a lengthy, discursive discussion of the Eldarin number system, in particular the explanation of the number 5) was placed between pages 8 and 9 of the typescript. Another unnumbered sheet follows the last page of the typescript, bearing a manuscript note on the name Belfalas (which is paraphrased at UT:247). All of these sheets are various forms of George Allen & Unwin stationery, with Tolkien’s writing confined to the blank sides, except in the case of the last sheet. Here, the printed side was used for manuscript drafting of Cirion's Oath in Quenya (already very near to the published version; cf. UT:3O5), which was continued on the top (relative to the printing) of the blank side. The note on Belfalas is written upside-down beginning at the bottom of the sheet (with respect to this drafting and the printing).

  Concerning the origin and date of this essay, Christopher Tolkien writes: "On 30 June 1969 my father wrote a letter to Mr Paul Bibire, who had written to him a week before, telling him that he had passed the Bachelor of Philosophy examination in Old English at Oxford; he referred a little disparagingly to his success, achieved despite neglect of certain parts of the course which he found less appealing, and notably the works of the Old English poet Cynewulf (see Sauron Defeated, p. 285 note 36). At the end of his letter Mr Bibire said: ‘Incidentally, there's something that I've been wondering about since I saw the relevant addition to the second edition [of The Lord of the Rings]: whether the River Glanduin is the same as the Swanfleet' (for the reference see Sauron Defeated, p. 70 and note 15)." Christopher Tolkien has provided the relevant portions of his father's reply (which was not included in the collection of letters edited with Humphrey Carpenter):{1}

  It was kind of you to write to me again. I was very interested in your news of yourself, and very sympathetic. I found and find dear Cynewulf a lamentable bore—lamentable, because it is a matter for tears that a man (or men) with talent in word-spinning, who must have heard (or read) so much now lost, should spend their time composing such uninspired stuff.{2} Also at more than one point in my life I have endangered my prospects by neglecting things that I did not at that time find amusing!...

  I am grateful to you for pointing out the use of Glanduin in the Appendix A, III, p. 319.{3} I have no index of the Appendices and must get one made. The Glanduin is the same river as the Swanfleet, but the names are not related. I find on the map with corrections that are to be made for the new edition to appear at the end of this year that this river is marked by me as both Glanduin and various compounds with alph ‘swan'.{4} The name Glanduin was meant to be ‘border-river', a name given as far back as the Second Age when it was the southern border of Eregion, beyond which were the unfriendly people of Dunland. In the earlier centuries of the Two Kingdoms Enedwaith (Middle-folk) was a region between the realm of Gondor and the slowly receding realm of Arnor (it originally included Minhiriath (Mesopotamia)). Both kingdoms shared an interest in the region, but were mainly concerned with the upkeep of the great road that was their main way of communication except by sea, and the bridge at Tharbad. People of Númenórean origin did not live there, except at Tharbad, where a large garrison of soldiers and river-wardens was once maintained. In those days there were drainage works, and the banks of the Hoarwell and Greyflood were strengthened. But in the days of The Lord of the Rings the region had long become ruinous and lapsed into its primitive state: a slow wide river running through a network of swamps, pools and eyots: the haunt of hosts of swans and other water-birds.

  If the name Glanduin was still remembered it would apply only to the upper course where the river ran down swiftly, but was soon lost in the plains and disappeared into the fens. I think I may keep Glanduin on the map for the upper part, and mark the lower part as fenlands with the name Nîn-in-Eilph (water-lands of the Swans), which will adequately explain Swanfleet river, III.263.{5}

  alph ‘swan' occurs as far as I remember only on III, p. 392.{6} It could not be Quenya, as ph is not used in my transcription of Quenya, and Quenya does not tolerate final consonants other than the dentals, t. n, l, r after a vowel.{7} Quenya for ‘swan' was alqua (alkwā). The "Celtic" branch of Eldarin (Telerin and Sindarin) turned kw > p, but did not, as Celtic did, alter original p.{8} The much changed Sindarin of Middle-earth turned the stops to spirants after l, r, as did Welsh: so *alkwā > alpa (Telerin) > S. alf (spelt alph in my transcription).

  At the end of the letter Tolkien added a postscript:

  I am myself much recovered—though it has taken a year, which I could ill afford.{9} I can walk about fairly normally now, up to two miles or so (occasionally), and have some energy. But not enough to cope with both continued composition and the endless "escalation" of my business.

  At the head of the present essay. Tolkien wrote "Nomenclature", followed by: "Swanfleet river (L.R. rev. edition, III 263) and Glanduin, III App. A. 319"; and then by: "Queried by P. Bibire (letter June 23,1969; ans. June 30). As more briefly stated in my reply: Glanduin means ‘border-river'." The essay is thus seen to have arisen as an expansion and elaboration of the remarks in his reply.

  The names of the Rivers

  The essay begins with the lengthy excerpt and author's note given in UT:264-65 (and so not reproduced here). A few variances between the published text and the typescript are noteworthy: where the published text has Enedwaith the typescript reads Enedhwaith (this was an editorial change made in all excerpts from this essay containing the name in Unfinished Tales; cf. XII:328-29 n. 66); and where the published text has Ethraid Engrin, the typescript has Ethraid Engren (but note (Ered) Engrin, V.348 s.v. ANGĀ-, V.379 s.v. ÓROT-, and many other places beside). In addition, a sentence referring to the ancient port called Lond Daer Enedh was omitted before the last sentence of the author's note on UT:264; it reads: "It was the main entry for the Númenóreans in the War against Sauron (Second Age 1693-1701)" (cf.
LR:1058; and UT:239, 261-65). Also, against the discussion of the approach to Tharbad that closes the first paragraph on UT:264, Tolkien provided the cross-reference"I 287,390".{10}

  Following the passage ending at the top of UT:264, the essay continues with this etymological discussion, in reference to the name Glanduin:

  glan: base (G)LAN, ‘rim, edge, border, boundary, limit'. This is seen in Q. lanya verb ‘bound, enclose, separate from, mark the limit of; lanwa ‘within bounds, limited, finite, (well-)defined'; landa ‘a boundary'; lane (lani-) ‘hem'; lantalka ‘boundary post or mark'; cf. also lanka ‘sharp edge (not of tools), sudden end', as e.g. a cliff-edge, or the clean edge of things made by hand or built, also used in transferred senses, as in kuivie-lankasse, literally ‘on the brink of life', of a perilous situation in which one is likely to fall into death.

  It is debated whether gl- was an initial group in Common Eldarin or was a Telerin-Sindarin innovation (much extended in Sindarin). In this case, at any rate, the initial gl- is shared by Telerin and Sindarin and is found in all the derivatives in those languages (except in T. lanca, S. lane, the equivalents of Q. lanka): T. glana 'edge, rim';{11} glania- ‘to bound, limit'; glanna ‘limited, bounded'; glanda ‘a boundary': S. glân, ‘hem, border' (of textiles and other hand-made things), gland > glann ‘boundary'; glandagol ‘boundary mark';{12} gleina- ‘bound, enclose, limit'.{13}

  Tolkien then comments: "The names of the Rivers give some trouble; they were made up in a hurry without sufficient consideration," before embarking upon a consideration of each name in turn. Significant portions of this section of the essay have been given in Unfinished Tales. Extended passages are not repeated here, but their places in the essay are indicated.

  Adorn

  This is not on the map, but is given as the name of the short river flowing into the Isen from the west of Ered Nimrais in App. A, III 346.{14} It is, as would be expected in any name in the region not of Rohanese origin, of a form suitable to Sindarin; but it is not interpretable in Sindarin. It must be supposed to be of pre-Númenórean origin adapted to Sindarin.{15}

  Of this entry, Christopher Tolkien notes: "On the absence of the name on the map—referring of course to my original map to The Lord of the Rings, which was replaced long after by the redrawing made to accompany Unfinished Tales—see UT:261-62, footnote."

  Gwathló

  Of the next entry, headed "Gwathlo (-ló)", Christopher Tolkien writes: "The long discussion arising from this name is found in UT:261-63, with the passage concerning the Púkel-men removed and cited in the section on the Drúedain, UT.383-84. In the latter passage the sentence ‘Maybe even in the days of the War of the Ring some of the Drú-folk lingered in the mountains of Andrast, the western outlier of the White Mountains' contains an editorial change: the original text has ‘the mountains of Angast (Long Cape)’,{16} and the form Angast occurs again more than once in the essay. This change was based on the form

  Andrast communicated by my father to Pauline Baynes for inclusion, with other new names, on her decorated map of Middle-earth; see UT:261, footnote." A further editorial change may be noted: where the published text has Lefnui (UT:263, repeated in the extracted note on Púkel-men, UT.383) the typescript reads Levnui; cf. the entry for Levnui below.

  An unused note against "the great promontory ... that formed the north arm of the Bay of Belfalas" (ibid.) reads: "Afterwards called still Drúwaith (Iaur) ‘(Old) Pukel-land', and its dark woods were little visited, nor considered as part of the realm of Gondor" Also, a sentence struck through by Tolkien, following "huge trees ... under which the boats of the adventurers crept silently up into the unknown land", reads: "It is said that some even on this first expedition came as far as the great fenlands before they returned, fearing to become bewildered in their mazes."

  The discussion originally continued with the following etymological note, struck through at the same time as the deleted sentence:

  So it was that the river was called in Sindarin Gwathlo (in Adunaic Agathurush) ‘the flood under shadow'. Gwath was a Sindarin word from a Common Eldarin base Wath or extended Wathar. It was much used; though the Quenya relative waþar, later vasar, was not in daily use.{17} The element -lo was also of Common Eldarin origin, derived from a base (s)log: in Common Eldarin sloga had been a word used for streams of a kind that were variable and liable to overflow their banks at seasons and cause floods when swollen by rains or melting snow; especially such as the Glanduin (described above) that had their sources in mountains and fell at first swiftly, but were halted in the lower lands and flats, *sloga became in Sindarin lhô; but was not in later times much used except in river or marsh names. The Quenya form would have been hloä.

  This passage contains a note, also struck through, on the name Ringló, occurring after "Sindarin lhô", given in the discussion of that entry below.

  The deleted passage was replaced with that given at UT:263 starting at "So the first name they gave to it was ‘River of Shadow', Gwath-hîr, Gwathir". It may be noted that the word lo in this passage was corrected on the typescript from lhô. A note on the name Ringló, omitted from the passage in Unfinished Tales, occurs after the words "Gwathlo, the shadowy river from the fens" For this note, and its development, see the entry for Ringló below. After this note, an etymological statement intervenes before the last full paragraph of the excerpt published in Unfinished Tales:

  Gwath was a common Sindarin word for ‘shadow' or dim light—not for the shadows of actual objects or persons cast by sun or moon or other lights: these were called morchaint 'dark-shapes'.{18} It was derived from a Common Eldarin base WATH, and appeared also in S. gwathra- ‘overshadow, dim, veil, obscure'; gwathren (pl. gwethrin) ‘shadowy, dim'. Also related was auth ‘a dim shape, spectral or vague apparition, from *aw'tha. This was also found in Quenya auþa, ausa of similar sense; but the stem was otherwise only represented in Quenya by the extension waþar, vasar ‘a veil’, vasarya- ‘to veil'.

  Lô was derived from Common Eldarin base LOG ‘wet (and soft), soaked, swampy, etc.' The form *loga produced S. lô and T. loga; and also, from *logna, S. loen, T. logna ‘soaking wet, swamped'. But the stem in Quenya, owing to sound-changes which caused its derivatives to clash with other words, was little represented except in the intensive formation oloiya- ‘to inundate, flood'; oloire a great flood'.

  Against the words "owing to sound-changes which caused its derivatives to clash with other words" Tolkien added this note:

  Thus the Quenya form of S. lô would have been *loa, identical with Q. loa < *lawa ‘year'; the form of S. loen, T. logna would have been *lóna identical with lóna ‘pool, mere' (from base LON seen also in londe ‘haven, S. land, lonn).

  Erui

  Though this was the first of the Rivers of Gondor it cannot be used for ‘first'. In Eldarin er was not used in counting in series: it meant ‘one, single, alone. erui is not the usual Sindarin for ‘single, alone: that was ereb (< erikwa; cf. Q. erinqua); but it has the very common adjectival ending -ui of Sindarin. The name must have been given because of the Rivers of Gondor it was the shortest and swiftest and was the only one without a tributary.

  Against the words "the very common adjectival ending -ui of Sindarin" Tolkien added this note:

  This was used as a general adjectival ending without specialized significance (as e.g. in lithui ‘of ash', or ‘ashen, ash-coloured, ashy, dusty'). It is of uncertain origin, but was probably derived from the Common Eldarin adjectival -ya, which when added to noun-stems ending in C.E. -o, -u would produce in Sindarin -ui. This being more distinctive was then transferred to other stems. The products of āya > oe, and of ăya, ĕya, ĭya > ei; ŏya, ŭya > æ, e were not preserved in Sindarin.{19} But -i, which could come from ēya, and from īya, remained also in (more limited) use; cf. Semi below. The transference is exemplified in the ordinals, which in Sindarin were formed with -ui from ‘fourth' onwards, though -ui was only historically correct in othui ‘seventh' and tolhui 'eighth'. ‘First' was in older and more lite
rary Sindarin mein (Q. minya); later minui was substituted [deleted: in the colloquial language; ‘second' tadeg; ‘third' neleg]; but ‘fourth' cantui (canhui), ‘sixth' encui, enchui,{20} ‘ninth' nerthui [deleted: ‘tenth' caenui],{21} etc. On ‘fifth' see below under the name Lefnui.

  Serni

  Christopher Tolkien writes: "The statement about this name is given in the Index to Unfinished Tales, but with a misprint that has never been corrected: the Sindarin word meaning ‘pebble' is sarn, not sern." The opening sentence reads: "An adjectival formation from S. sarn ‘small stone, pebble (as described above), or a collective, the equivalent of Q. sarnie (sarniye) ‘shingle, pebble-bank." An unused sentence, occurring before "Its mouth was blocked with shingles" reads: "It was the only one of the five to fall into the delta of the Anduin."

  Sirith

  This means simply ‘a flowing': cf. tirith ‘watching, guarding’ from the stem tir- ‘to watch'.

  Celos

  Christopher Tolkien writes: "The statement about this name is given in the Index to Unfinished Tales. On the erroneous marking of Celos on my redrawn map of The Lord of the Rings, see VII:322 n. 9."

  Gilrain

  A significant portion of the remarks on this river name was given in UT:242-45; but the discussion begins with a passage omitted from Unfinished Tales:

  This resembles the name of Aragorn's mother. Gilraen; but unless it is misspelt must have had a different meaning. (Originally the difference between correct Sindarin ae and ai was neglected, ai more usual in English being used for both in the general narrative. So Dairon, now corrected, for Daeron a derivative of S. daer 'large, great': C.E. *daira < base DAY; not found in Quenya. So Hithaiglir on map for Hithaeglir and Aiglos [for Aeglos].){22} The element gil- in both is no doubt S. gil ‘spark, twinkle of light, star’, often used of the stars of heaven in place of the older and more elevated el-, elen- stem. (Similarly tinwe ‘spark’ was also used in Quenya). The meaning of Gilraen as a woman's name is not in doubt. It meant ‘one adorned with a tressure set with small gems in its network', such as the tressure of Arwen described in L.R. I 239.{23} It may have been a second name given to her after she had come to womanhood, which as often happened in legends had replaced her true name, no longer recorded. More likely, it was her true name, since it had become a name given to women of her people, the remnants of the Númenóreans of the North Kingdom of unmingled blood. The women of the Eldar were accustomed to wear such treasures; but among other peoples they were used only by women of high rank among the "Rangers", descendants of Elros, as they claimed. Names such as Gilraen, and others of similar meaning, would thus be likely to become first names given to maid-children of the kindred of the "Lords of the Dúnedain". The element raen was the Sindarin form of Q. raina ‘netted, enlaced'.