S. Iarwain m. “Old-young”
A title of Tom Bombadil (LotR/1114), translated “Old-young” in an unpublished letter from 1968 (RC/128). This name is a combination of iaur “old” (SA/iant) and the lenited form of gwain¹ “young”.
Conceptual Development: In Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s, this name first appeared as N. Iaur (the adjective iaur “old” as a name) alongside N. Erion, both translated “Eldest” (TI/125).
References ✧ LotR/1114; RC/128; SA/iaur
Glosses
Elements
| iaur | “old” | ✧ SA/iaur | |
| #gwain¹ | “young, *new” | soft-mutation | ✧ SA/iaur (#wain) |
Element In
N. Erion m. “Eldest”
Earlier form of S. Iarwain appearing in Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s, translated “Eldest” and appearing beside N. Iaur (TI/125). It might be a superlative form of iaur “old”; in the Early Noldorin Grammar, the similar suffix -iant was used for the superlative (PE13/125). If the suffix -ion was a Noldorin superlative suffix, perhaps the initial [e] developed due to Noldorin i-affection.
References ✧ TI/125, 158; TII/Tom Bombadil
Glosses
Elements
| iaur | “ancient, old(en)” | superlative | |
| Iaur | “Eldest” | ✧ TI/125 | |