Eldamo : Quenya : soron

Q. soron (sorn-) [þ] n. “eagle” (Category: Eagle, Hawk)

Q. soron (sorn-) [þ], n. “eagle” (Category: Eagle, Hawk): ᴱQ. ëa(r) “(young) eagle”; ᴱQ. ëaren “eyrie, (young) eagle”

The Quenya word for “eagle”, appearing in a number of compounds, derived from primitive ✶thorono and the root ᴹ√THOR(ON) “come swooping down” (PE22/159; Let/427; Ety/THOR; PE21/33). It had couple variants such as sorno (Let/427) and sorne (Ety/THOR), but consistently appeared as soron- in compounds. Its stem form isn’t entirely clear: its most common plural form was sorni (Ety/THOR; SD/290), which is the expected result from the Quenya syncope, but in one place it had the plural soroni and the presence of the variant sorne muddies the waters.

Conceptual Development: This word appeared as ᴱQ. sorne or sor (sorn-) “eagle” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s derived from the early root ᴱ√ŠORO² [ÞORO] (QL/86). The form sorn- “eagle” also appeared in the Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa where Tolkien indicated the primitive form was sorni- (PME/86). The form ᴱQ. soron appeared in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s as a cognate of ᴱN. thorn “eagle” (PE13/154), and Tolkien mostly stuck with that form thereafter, though he occasionally used variants like sorne and sorno as noted above.

In the Declension of Nouns from the early 1930s, Tolkien listed a large number of declined forms for ᴹQ. soron “eagle”, and those declensions used soron- (or sorun-) as their base. In The Etymologies of the 1930s, however, Tolkien gave plural sorni and genitive sornen indicating a stem form sorn-, but that document also gave sorne as an alternate form of soron “eagle”. Nevertheless, I think from the 1930s forward, it is more likely that Quenya syncope would have come into play in the declension of this word, so it would have plural sorni, dative sornen, ablative sornello, etc. The only noun case where the primitive stem would be preserved would be possessive soronwa.

References ✧ Let/427; PE22/159; SA/thoron

Glosses

“eagle” ✧ Let/427 (sorno); PE22/159

Variations

soron ✧ PE22/159
sorno ✧ Let/427

Soronildi “Eorlingas” assoc[iated with] soron “eagle” ✧ PE22/159

Inflections

soron

prefix

“eagle”

✧ SA/thoron

Element In

ᴺQ. sornion “eyrie”
ᴺQ. !soroncë “kite, (lit.) little eagle”
Q. Soronildi “Eorlingas”
Q. Sorontar “King of Eagles” ✧ SA/thoron
Q. Sorontil “Eagle-horn”
Q. Soronto
Q. Soronúmë “*Eagle of the West” ✧ SA/thoron

Cognates

S. thoron “eagle” ✧ Let/427; PE22/159 (þorn); SA/thoron

Derivations

< ✶thorono “eagle” ✧ Let/427 (þorono)
- < þorno < þorono ✧ Let/427
- < ᴹ√THOR(ON) “come swooping down”

Phonetic Developments

✶þorono > þorno > sorno

[tʰorono] > [tʰorno] > [θorno] > [sorno]

✧ Let/427

ᴹQ. soron (sorn-) [þ] n. “eagle” (Category: Eagle, Hawk)

References ✧ Ety/THOR; PE21/33-34; SD/290

Glosses

“eagle” ✧ Ety/THOR (sorne); PE21/33

Variations

soron ✧ Ety/THOR; PE21/33
sorne ✧ Ety/THOR

soron also sorne “eagle” ✧ Ety/THOR

Changes

sorni >> Sorni ✧ SD/290
Soroni >> sorni “Eagles” ✧ SD/290

Inflections

†[sor]ullo	ablative; assimilated		✧ PE21/34
soronullo	ablative		✧ PE21/34
sorona	accusative		✧ PE21/34
†soronunta	allative		✧ PE21/34
sorunta	allative; assimilated		✧ PE21/34
soronar	dative		✧ PE21/34
soronen	dative		✧ PE21/34
sornen	genitive		✧ Ety/THOR
sorono	genitive		✧ PE21/34
sorunwen	instrumental		✧ PE21/34
soronesse	locative		✧ PE21/34
soron	nominative	“eagle”	✧ PE21/34
soronunt	nominative dual		✧ PE21/34
soronin	nominative plural		✧ PE21/34
†sorulli	nominative plural		✧ PE21/34
Sorni	plural	“Eagles”	✧ SD/290
Soroni	plural		✧ SD/290
sorni	plural		✧ Ety/THOR
sorni	plural	“Eagles”	✧ SD/290
sorunwa	possessive		✧ PE21/34
†soronundon	similative		✧ PE21/34
sorundon	similative		✧ PE21/34

Element In

ᴹQ. Sorontar “King of Eagles” ✧ Ety/THOR
ᴹQ. Es sorni heruion an “the Eagles of the Lords are at hand” ✧ SD/290
ᴹQ. Sorni Númevalion anner “the Eagles of the Powers of the West are at hand” ✧ SD/290
ᴹQ. Soroni númenheruen ettuler “*the Eagles of the Western Lords are coming forth” ✧ SD/290

Cognates

Ilk. thorn “eagle” ✧ Ety/THOR
N. thoron “eagle” ✧ Ety/THOR (thôr); Ety/THOR
ON. thoron “eagle” ✧ Ety/THOR (thoronen)

Derivations

< ᴹ√THOR(ON) “come swooping down” ✧ Ety/THOR (THÓRON)

Phonetic Developments

ᴹ√THÓRON > sorne

[tʰorone] > [tʰorne] > [θorne] > [sorne]

✧ Ety/THOR

ᴱQ. sor(ne) (sorn-) n. “eagle” (Category: Eagle, Hawk)

References ✧ LT1A/Sorontur; PME/86; QL/86

Glosses

“eagle” ✧ LT1A/Sorontur (sornë); QL/86 (sorne); QL/86 (sor)

Variations

sor ✧ LT1A/Sorontur; QL/86
sornë ✧ LT1A/Sorontur; QL/86

Inflections

sorn-	stem	“eagle”	✧ PME/86
sorn-	stem		✧ QL/86
sorni-	stem		✧ PME/86

Element In

ᴱQ. Sornekiris “Eagles’ Cleft” ✧ LT2A/Cristhorn
ᴱQ. sornion “eyrie” ✧ LT1A/Sorontur; QL/86
ᴱQ. Sorontur “King of Eagles” ✧ LT1A/Sorontur; QL/86

Cognates

G. thorn “eagle” ✧ LT1A/Sorontur

Derivations

< *ᴱ√ÞORO “eagle” ✧ LT1A/Sorontur (SORO); QL/86 (ŠORO²)

Phonetic Developments

ᴱ√ŠORO² > sorne

[θorni] > [θorne] > [sorne]

✧ QL/86

ᴱQ. soron² n. “pinnacle, high peak, crag” (Category: Peak, Summit)

A word in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s glossed “a high peak, a pinnacle or crag” given as a derivative of ᴱ√ŠORO² [ÞORO] “eagle” (QL/86). It was glossed “pinnacle” in the Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa (PME/86). In later writings, Q. soron was a word for “eagle” itself as opposed to a place where eagles roosted.

References ✧ PME/86; QL/86

Glosses

“a high peak, a pinnacle or crag” ✧ QL/86
“pinnacle” ✧ PME/86

soron “a high peak, a pinnacle or crag” may be from ᴱ√soro “sit” ✧ QL/86

Derivations

< *ᴱ√ÞORO “eagle” ✧ QL/86 (ŠORO²)

Phonetic Developments

ᴱ√ŠORO² > soron

[θoron] > [soron]

✧ QL/86