S. ninglor n. “golden water-flower” (Category: Flower (other))
Name for a flower appearing as an element in the names Sîr Ninglor “Gladden River” (UT/280) and Loeg Ningloron “Gladden Fields” (S/295). According to Christopher Tolkien, a fuller translation of Loeg Ningloron would be “Pools of the golden water-flowers” (SI/Loeg Ningloron), so that ninglor likely means “golden water-flower”, perhaps a type of “*yellow iris” (see below). The elements of this word are likely nîn “wet” and glaur “gold (colour)”.
Conceptual Development: An earlier name for “Gladden Fields” was N. Palath-ledin in Lord of the Rings drafts of the 1940s, where Tolkien specified that N. palath meant “iris” (TI/114). Earlier still, in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s Tolkien had G. nalairin “iris”, an elaboration of G. nâla “yellow-lily” (GL/59).
Reference ✧ UT/280 ✧ Ninglor
Elements
nîn¹ | “wet, *watery” |
glaur | “gold [light or colour]” |
Element In
Cognates
N. palath² n. “iris” (Category: Flower (other))
References ✧ RS/432; TI/114
Glosses
Element In
G. nalairin n. “iris” (Category: Flower (other))
Reference ✧ GL/59 ✧ “iris”
Elements
nâla | “yellow-lily” | ✧ GL/59 |