S. Turgon m. “Ruling Lord, Victory Prince, (lit.) Master Shout”
Second son of Fingolfin and the lord of Gondolin (S/60). His name seems to be a combination of tûr “mastery, victory” (SA/tur) and the suffix -gon (PM/345). His name was variously translated “Master Shout” (PM/345), “Ruling Lord” or “Victory Prince” (PE17/113).
Conceptual Development: In the earliest Lost Tales, his name was already G. Turgon (LT1/115), and it remained so throughout Tolkien’s writings. At the earliest stage it seems to have been derived from the root ᴱ√TURU “be strong”, as suggested by Christopher Tolkien (LT1A/Tuor). In Early Noldorin word lists from the 1920s, the name was glossed “fierce k[ing]”, but this entry was replaced with an unglossed form marked “ON”. In The Etymologies from the 1930s, Tolkien specified that the final element of N. Turgon was -gon, the suffixal form of caun¹ “valour” (Ety/KAN).
In later writings, Tolkien considered several origins for this name, based on a variety of Quenya equivalents. In Notes on Names (NN) from 1957, he considered and rejected Q. Turondo “Lord of Stone” (PE17/112), briefly considered Q. Turucáno “Ruling Lord” (PE17/117) and also Q. Turukondo “Victory Prince” (PE17/113).
In his “Shibboleth of Fëanor” from 1968, Tolkien said his Quenya name was Turucáno (PM/345), untranslated but likely meaning something like “Victory Commander”. Tolkien said that his Sindarin name Turgon was a phonetic adaptation with no real meaning, but that it could be interpreted as “Master Shout” (PM/345). This seems to have been Tolkien’s last word on the subject, but it is possible that the final element could also be interpreted as a suffixal form -gon of caun¹ “prince”; see those entries for discussion.
References ✧ LotRI; MRI; PE17/112-113, 117; PM/345, 352; PMI; SA/káno, tur; SI; UT/400; UTI; WJI
Glosses
Variations
Related
Elements
| #tûr | “master” | ||
| -gon | “lord, prince” | ✧ PM/345 | |
| gorn¹ | “revered” | ✧ PE17/113 | |
| ✶kānō | “leader, ruler; crier, herald” | ✧ PM/352 | |
| √TUR | “dominate, master, conquer; power [over others], mastery (legitimate or illegitimate), control (of other wills); strong, mighty in power” | ✧ SA/tur | |
Cognates
Derivations
Phonetic Developments
| ✶Turukundā > Turgond- | [turukundā] > [turukunda] > [turukonda] > [turukond] > [turugond] > [turgond] | ✧ PE17/112 |
| ✶Turukāno > Tur(u)gon | [turukāno] > [turukǭno] > [turukauno] > [turukaun] > [turugaun] > [turgaun] > [turgon] | ✧ PE17/113 |
| ✶Turukondō > Turgond | [turukondō] > [turukondo] > [turukond] > [turugond] > [turgond] | ✧ PE17/113 |
N. Turgon m.
References ✧ Ety/KAN; LRI; SDI1/Turgon; SDI2/Turgon; SMI; WRI
Elements
| tûr | “mastery, victory” | |
| -gon | “valour” | ✧ Ety/KAN |
ᴱN. Turgon m.
References ✧ LBI; PE13/154; PE15/63
Glosses
Variations
Changes
Cognates
Derivations
G. Turgon m.
References ✧ LT1/115; LT1A/Turgon; LT1I/Turgon, Turondo; LT2/70; LT2I/Turgon, Turondo; PE13/99, 103
Elements
| ᴱ√TURU | “am strong” | ✧ LT1A/Tuor |
Cognates