S. Tumladen loc. “Wide Valley, flat valley with steep sides”
The hidden valley within the Echoriath where Gondolin was built (S/115), translated “Wide Valley” (SI/Tumladen). It was also the name of a valley in Gondor (LotR/764) glossed as a “flat valley with steep sides” (RC/521). This name is a combination of tum “valley” (SA/tum) and laden “open, cleared”.
Conceptual Development: In the earliest Lost Tales, this valley was named G. Tumladin with an i and the gloss “Valley of Smoothness” (LT2/163), a form that continued to appear in Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s (SM/148, LR/142). In The Etymologies from the 1930s, it appeared as N. Tumladen with an e and the gloss “Level Vale”, with essentially the same derivation given above (Ety/LAT, TUB). This later form was adopted in Silmarillion revisions from the 1950s-60s (WJ/57). In one late note from around 1968, Tolkien gave the name as Tumlaðen (NM/351).
References ✧ LotRI; NM/351; RC/521; SA/tum; SI; WJI
Glosses
Variations
Elements
| tum | “valley, vale” | ✧ NM/351; SA/tum |
| #laden | “flat, wide” | ✧ NM/351 (laðen); RC/521 (#laden) |
N. Tumladen loc. “Level Vale”
References ✧ Ety/LAT, TUB; LBI/Tumladin; LR/142; LRI/Tumladin; SM/148; SMI/Tumladin; WRI
Glosses
Variations
Elements
| tum | “(deep) valley” | ✧ Ety/TUB | |
| lhaden | “flat (and wide); open, cleared” | soft-mutation | ✧ Ety/LAT |
| ᴹ√LAT | “lie open; be extended, stretch, be situated (of an area)” | ✧ Ety/TUB | |
Cognates
ᴱN. Tumladin loc. “Smooth Valley”
References ✧ LBI; MC/217; SM/148; SMI
Glosses
Variations
Changes
Elements
| tum(b) | “flat vale” |
| lhaden | “flat, smooth” |
Element In
G. Tumladin loc. “Valley of Smoothness”
References ✧ LT2/163; LT2A/Tumladin
Glosses
Elements
| tûm | “valley” | ✧ LT1A/Tombo |
| ladin | “level, smooth; fair, equitable” | ✧ LT2A/Ladwen-na-Dhaideloth |