The land where Men first awoke (S/103). It clearly contains the Quenya word for Men: Hildor “Followers” (SA/khil). Its final element -ien² is seen in the names of other lands, such as Arvernien and Lórien.

Conceptual Development: In the earliest Lost Tales, the name for the land where Men awoke was ᴱQ. Murmenalda (LT1/233). In Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s, the name changed to ᴹQ. Hildórien (LR/245). This name also appeared in The Etymologies as a derivative of ᴹ√KHIL (Ety/KHIL), and kept the form Hildórien in all later versions of the tales.

The valley where Men first awoke in the earliest Lost Tales, glossed “Vale of Sleep” (LT1/233). It is a combination of murme “sleep” and nalda “valley” as suggested by Christopher Tolkien (LT1A/Murmenalda).

See Q. Hildórien for further discussion.