S. Deldúwath loc. “Deadly Nightshade, (lit.) Horror of Night-shadow”
Another name for Taur-nu-Fuin, the forest of Dorthonion corrupted by Morgoth (S/155). Tolkien generally glossed this name as “Deadly Nightshade” (WJ/282, LR/282), but it is a combination of del “horror”, dû “night” and the lenited form of gwath “shadow” (SA/del, dú, gwath), hence literally meaning “Horror of Night-shadow” (SI/Deldúwath).
Conceptual Development: In the earliest Lost Tales, this forest was referred to only by its other name, G. Taurfuin “Forest of Night” (LT2/47). Starting in the Lays of Beleriand from the 1920s, Tolkien sometimes referred to the forest in English as “Deadly Nightshade” (LB/34). An Elvish form of this second name first appeared in Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s, initially as N. Math-Fuin-delos (SM/299), later changed to N. Gwathfuin-Daidelos (SM/311). In the mid-30s he changed the name again to N. Deldúwath (LR/147), a name that also appeared in The Etymologies as Deldú(w)ath (Ety/DEL). He used the form Deldúwath thereafter.
References ✧ S/155; SA/del, dú, gwath; SI; WJ/282; WJI
Glosses
Related
Elements
| del | “horror” | ✧ SA/del | |
| dû | “night, dimness; dim, dark” | ✧ SA/dú (dú) | |
| gwath | “shadow, dim light” | soft-mutation | ✧ SA/gwath (wath) |
N. Deldúwath loc. “Deadly Nightshade”
References ✧ Ety/DYEL; LR/147, 282; LRI; TII/Deldúath
Glosses
Variations
Elements
| #del | “horror” | ✧ Ety/DYEL (#del) | |
| dû | “night, night-fall, late evening” | ✧ Ety/DYEL (#dú) | |
| gwath¹ | “shade” | soft-mutation | ✧ Ety/DYEL ((w)ath) |
Element In
N. Gwathfuin-Daidelos loc. “Deadly Nightshade”
An earlier name for S. Deldúwath appearing in Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s, glossed “Deadly Nightshade” (LR/133) or “Night of Dread’s Shadow” (LR/406). It is a combination of gwath¹ “shade”, fuin “night” and Daedhelos “Shadow of Fear”.
See S. Deldúwath for further discussion.
References ✧ LR/133, 147, 406; LRI/Fuin Daidelos, Gwathfuin-Daidelos; SM/311; SMI/Gwath-Fuin-daidelos, Math-Fuin-delos
Glosses
Variations
Related
Changes
Elements
| gwath¹ | “shade” |
| fuin | “night, dead of night” |
| Daedhelos | “Shadow of Fear” |
N. Math-Fuin-delos loc. “Deadly Nightshade”
Earliest name for S. Deldúwath appearing in Silmarillion drafts from the early 1930s, glossed “Deadly Nightshade” (SM/299). It is a combination of G. math “dusk”, N. fuin “night” and a variant form delos of deloth “abhorrence”.
See S. Deldúwath for further discussion.
References ✧ SM/299, 311; SMI/Gwath-Fuin-daidelos, Math-Fuin-delos
Glosses
Changes
Elements
| G. math | “dusk” |
| fuin | “night, dead of night” |
| deloth | “abhorrence, detestation, loathing” |