Gwath was a common Sindarin word for ‘shadow' or dim light—not for the shadows of actual objects or persons cast by sun or moon or other lights: these were called morchaint 'dark-shapes'.{18} It was derived from a Common Eldarin base WATH, and appeared also in S. gwathra- ‘overshadow, dim, veil, obscure'; gwathren (pl. gwethrin) ‘shadowy, dim'. Also related was auth ‘a dim shape, spectral or vague apparition, from *aw'tha. This was also found in Quenya auþa, ausa of similar sense; but the stem was otherwise only represented in Quenya by the extension waþar, vasar ‘a veil’, vasarya- ‘to veil'.
Lô was derived from Common Eldarin base LOG ‘wet (and soft), soaked, swampy, etc.' The form *loga produced S. lô and T. loga; and also, from *logna, S. loen, T. logna ‘soaking wet, swamped'. But the stem in Quenya, owing to sound-changes which caused its derivatives to clash with other words, was little represented except in the intensive formation oloiya- ‘to inundate, flood'; oloire a great flood'.
Against the words "owing to sound-changes which caused its derivatives to clash with other words" Tolkien added this note:
Thus the Quenya form of S. lô would have been *loa, identical with Q. loa < *lawa ‘year'; the form of S. loen, T. logna would have been *lóna identical with lóna ‘pool, mere' (from base LON seen also in londe ‘haven, S. land, lonn).
Though this was the first of the Rivers of Gondor it cannot be used for ‘first'. In Eldarin er was not used in counting in series: it meant ‘one, single, alone. erui is not the usual Sindarin for ‘single, alone: that was ereb (< erikwa; cf. Q. erinqua); but it has the very common adjectival ending -ui of Sindarin. The name must have been given because of the Rivers of Gondor it was the shortest and swiftest and was the only one without a tributary.
Against the words "the very common adjectival ending -ui of Sindarin" Tolkien added this note:
This was used as a general adjectival ending without specialized significance (as e.g. in lithui ‘of ash', or ‘ashen, ash-coloured, ashy, dusty'). It is of uncertain origin, but was probably derived from the Common Eldarin adjectival -ya, which when added to noun-stems ending in C.E. -o, -u would produce in Sindarin -ui. This being more distinctive was then transferred to other stems. The products of āya > oe, and of ăya, ĕya, ĭya > ei; ŏya, ŭya > æ, e were not preserved in Sindarin.{19} But -i, which could come from ēya, and from īya, remained also in (more limited) use; cf. Semi below. The transference is exemplified in the ordinals, which in Sindarin were formed with -ui from ‘fourth' onwards, though -ui was only historically correct in othui ‘seventh' and tolhui 'eighth'. ‘First' was in older and more literary Sindarin mein (Q. minya); later minui was substituted [deleted: in the colloquial language; ‘second' tadeg; ‘third' neleg]; but ‘fourth' cantui (canhui), ‘sixth' encui, enchui,{20} ‘ninth' nerthui [deleted: ‘tenth' caenui],{21} etc. On ‘fifth' see below under the name Lefnui.
Christopher Tolkien writes: "The statement about this name is given in the Index to Unfinished Tales, but with a misprint that has never been corrected: the Sindarin word meaning ‘pebble' is sarn, not sern." The opening sentence reads: "An adjectival formation from S. sarn ‘small stone, pebble (as described above), or a collective, the equivalent of Q. sarnie (sarniye) ‘shingle, pebble-bank." An unused sentence, occurring before "Its mouth was blocked with shingles" reads: "It was the only one of the five to fall into the delta of the Anduin."
This means simply ‘a flowing': cf. tirith ‘watching, guarding’ from the stem tir- ‘to watch'.
Christopher Tolkien writes: "The statement about this name is given in the Index to Unfinished Tales. On the erroneous marking of Celos on my redrawn map of The Lord of the Rings, see VII:322 n. 9."
Gilrain
A significant portion of the remarks on this river name was given in UT:242-45; but the discussion begins with a passage omitted from Unfinished Tales:
This resembles the name of Aragorn's mother. Gilraen; but unless it is misspelt must have had a different meaning. (Originally the difference between correct Sindarin ae and ai was neglected, ai more usual in English being used for both in the general narrative. So Dairon, now corrected, for Daeron a derivative of S. daer 'large, great': C.E. *daira < base DAY; not found in Quenya. So Hithaiglir on map for Hithaeglir and Aiglos [for Aeglos].){22} The element gil- in both is no doubt S. gil ‘spark, twinkle of light, star’, often used of the stars of heaven in place of the older and more elevated el-, elen- stem. (Similarly tinwe ‘spark’ was also used in Quenya). The meaning of Gilraen as a woman's name is not in doubt. It meant ‘one adorned with a tressure set with small gems in its network', such as the tressure of Arwen described in L.R. I 239.{23} It may have been a second name given to her after she had come to womanhood, which as often happened in legends had replaced her true name, no longer recorded. More likely, it was her true name, since it had become a name given to women of her people, the remnants of the Númenóreans of the North Kingdom of unmingled blood. The women of the Eldar were accustomed to wear such treasures; but among other peoples they were used only by women of high rank among the "Rangers", descendants of Elros, as they claimed. Names such as Gilraen, and others of similar meaning, would thus be likely to become first names given to maid-children of the kindred of the "Lords of the Dúnedain". The element raen was the Sindarin form of Q. raina ‘netted, enlaced'.
18
Cf. 8:359 s.v.
19
The figure in this sentence was altered on the typescript from "
21
A difficult note appears in the margin here, seemingly against and made at the same time as these deletions; it appears to read: "purely
22
The map of Middle-earth actually read