S. ruin n. and adj. “red flame; fiery red” (Category: Flame)
An element in the names Orodruin “Mountain of Fire” (LotR/899). In the Silmarillion appendix Christopher Tolkien translated it as “red flame”, cognate to Q. rúnya (SA/ruin). However, in The Shibboleth of Fëanor from 1968 Tolkien gave it the gloss “fiery red” and a Quenya cognate Q. runya, both derived from the root √RUN¹ “red, glowing”. Finally in notes from 1964, Tolkien suggested it might be an element in Angruin “Iron Fire”, a possible replacement for the name Glaurung, and gave it the Quenya cognate ruinë “blaze, fire” based on the root √RUY “blaze (red)” (PE17/183).
Conceptual Development: The word N. rhuin was mentioned in The Feanorian Alphabet of the 1930s, but without translation. N. Orodruin “Fire-Mountain” appeared in Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s (TI/28, 39).
Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I think both the noun and adjective senses of this word can be retained.
References ✧ PM/366; SA/ruin
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| √RUN > ruin | [rūnja] > [rūnia] > [rūni] > [ruin] | ✧ PM/366 |