S. eryn n. “wood, forest (of trees)” (Category: Woods, Forest)
A word for a wood or forest of trees, most notably in the name Eryn Lasgalen “Wood of Greenleaves”, the name of Mirkwood when it was restored after the War of the Ring (LotR/1094, Let/382).
Possible Etymology: Tolkien gave a couple different explanations for this word. Sometimes he explained it as derived from ✶oronī, an ancient variant plural of S. orn reinterpreted a collective word, much like English “woods” (PE17/33, 153). But elsewhere he said it was derived from an ancient abstract noun ✶oronyē “of trees” (PE17/119). Of the two, I prefer the first explanation as a nice parallel to English.
References ✧ PE17/33, 119, 153; RC/lxv; UT/281; VT42/20
Glosses
Variations
Elements
| orn | “(tall straight) tree” | plural | ✧ PE17/153 (†oron) |
Element In
Derivations
Phonetic Developments
| ✶oronī > Eryn | [oronī] > [oroni] > [oruni] > [œryni] > [œryn] > [eryn] | ✧ PE17/33 |
| ✶oronyē > eryn | [oronjē] > [oronje] > [oronie] > [œrœnie] > [œrœni] > [œrœin] > [œryn] > [eryn] | ✧ PE17/119 |