S. Dor Daedeloth loc. “Land of Great Dread; Land of Shadow of Horror”
The land of Morgoth (S/127), translated “Land of Great Dread” (WJ/183), a combination of dôr “land”, a form of daer¹ “great” and deloth “abhorrence, detestation, loathing” (SA/del, WJ/187).
Conceptual Development: In the earliest Lost Tales, this name first appeared as G. Ladwen-na-Dhaideloth “Heath of the Sky-roof” (LT2/287), revised to G. Dor-na-Dhaideloth of similar meaning (LT2A/Dor-na-Dhaideloth, LT2/287). In the Lays of Beleriand from the 1920s, Tolkien revised the meaning of last element of ᴱN. Dor-na-Dhaideloth to “[Land of the] High Plain” (LB/49).
In Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s, it generally appeared as N. Dor-Daideloth (SM/269, LR/250) or Dor-Daedeloth (LR/120, LR/256). At this time the name was usually glossed “Land of Dread”, but this was only accurate as a translation of its shorter variant Dor-Deloth (LR/405, WJ/183), which was also translated as “Loathly Land” in The Etymologies (Ety/DYEL). In one place in this period the name appeared as Dor-na-Daideloth “Land of the Shadow of Dread” (LR/405), a better indication of its full meaning. In The Etymologies from the 1930s, there was a word N. dae¹ “shadow”, which appeared as an element in the variant name N. Daedhelos “Shadow of Fear” (Ety/DAY). These factors are probably the source of Christopher Tolkien’s translation in the Silmarillion Index: “Land of Shadow of Horror” (SI/Dor Daedeloth, SA/dae).
However, in revisions to the Silmarillion map from 1950s, J.R.R. Tolkien translated S. Dor Dae-deloth as “Land of Great Dread” (WJ/183), and later still considered changing the name to S. Dor-na-Daerachas of the same meaning (WJ/187). This indicates that he altered the sense of the element dae from “shadow” to “great”, though exactly when he did so is difficult to pin down.
References ✧ LT2I/Dor Daedeloth; PMI/Dor-Daedeloth; SA/dae, del; SI/Dor Daedeloth; SMI/Dor Daideloth; WJ/183; WJI/Dor-Daedeloth, Dor-na-Daerachas
Glosses
Variations
Related
Changes
Elements
| dôr | “land” | ||
| daer¹ | “great, large” | ||
| deloth | “abhorrence” | ✧ SA/del | |
| dae | “shadow” | ✧ SA/dae | |
N. Dor-Daideloth loc. “Land of (the Shadow of) Dread, Loathly Land”
References ✧ Ety/DYEL; EtyAC/DYEL; LR/118, 120, 250, 256, 405; LRI/Dor-Daideloth, Dor-deloth; SM/269, 272; SMI/Dor Daideloth
Glosses
Variations
Related
Changes
Elements
| dôr | “land, dwelling-place, region where certain people live” | |
| dae¹ | “shadow (cast by an object or form), shade” | |
| deloth | “abhorrence, detestation, loathing” | ✧ Ety/DYEL |
ᴱN. Dor-na-Dhaideloth loc. “[Land of the] Vault of Heaven”
References ✧ LB/49; LBI/Daideloth, Dor-na-Dhaideloth; PE13/141
Glosses
Variations
Changes
Elements
| dai | “sky; high” | ✧ LB/49; PE13/141 | |
| #teloth | “plain” | soft-mutation | ✧ LB/49 (Deloth) |
Cognates
G. Dor-na-Dhaideloth loc. “[Land of] Heaven Roof”
References ✧ LT2/287; LT2A/Dor-na-Dhaideloth; LT2I
Glosses
Elements
| dôr | “land, country (inhabited), people of the land” | ✧ LT2A/Dor-na-Dhaideloth (Dor) | |
| na | “of (the)” | ✧ LT2A/Dor-na-Dhaideloth | |
| dai¹ | “sky” | soft-mutation | ✧ LT1A/Telimektar |
| teloth | “roofing, canopy, shelter” | soft-mutation | ✧ LT1A/Teleri |
G. Ladwen-na-Dhaideloth loc. “Heath of the Sky-roof”
References ✧ LT2/287; LT2A/Ladwen-na-Dhaideloth; LT2I; SMI
Glosses
Variations
Elements
| ladwen | “levelness, flatness; plain, heath; plane; surface” | ✧ LT2A/Ladwen-na-Dhaideloth | |
| na | “of (the)” | ✧ LT2A/Dor-na-Dhaideloth | |
| dai¹ | “sky” | soft-mutation | ✧ LT1A/Telimektar |
| teloth | “roofing, canopy, shelter” | soft-mutation | ✧ LT1A/Teleri |