Orfalch Echor: Difference between revisions

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To decipher ''Orfalch Echor'', it can be compared to the similar but early ([[Gnomish]]) name ''Glorfalc'' "Golden Cleft" (in later writings called [[Cirith Ninniach]])<ref>{{LT2|Appendix}}, p. 341</ref>. The element ''falc'' in that name meant "cleft", and it seems probable that later [[Sindarin]] ''falch'' has a similar meaning.
To decipher ''Orfalch Echor'', it can be compared to the similar but early ([[Gnomish]]) name ''Glorfalc'' "Golden Cleft" (in later writings called [[Cirith Ninniach]])<ref>{{LT2|Appendix}}, p. 341</ref>. The element ''falc'' in that name meant "cleft", and it seems probable that later [[Sindarin]] ''falch'' has a similar meaning.


The initial element of ''Orfalch'' is probably derived from the root ''[[ORO]]'' "up, rise"<ref>{{LR|Etymologies}}, '''ORO'''</ref>, while the element ''[[echor]]'' "outer circle" is also attested in the name ''[[Rammas Echor]]'' "Great Wall of the Outer Circle"<ref>{{HM|RC}}, p. 512</ref>.
The initial element of ''Orfalch'' is probably derived from the root ''[[ORO]]'' "up, rise"<ref>{{LR|Etymologies}}, '''ORO'''</ref>, while the word ''[[echor]]'' "outer circle" is also attested in the name ''[[Rammas Echor]]'' "Great Wall of the Outer Circle"<ref>{{HM|RC}}, p. 512</ref>.


Thus, the meaning of ''Orfalch Echor'' might be something like "Upper Cleft of the Outer Circle".
Thus, the meaning of ''Orfalch Echor'' might be something like "Upper Cleft of the Outer Circle".

Revision as of 18:06, 1 February 2014

The Orfalch Echor was the ravine of the Dry River in the Encircling Mountains, the route by which the hidden city of Gondolin was approached. At its lower end was the First Gate, the Gate of Wood. The Orfalch continued through the remainder of the Seven Gates of Gondolin, reaching the Seventh Gate, the Gate of Steel. At the upper end was a high sward that offered a view of Tumladen and the city in its center.[1]

Etymology

To decipher Orfalch Echor, it can be compared to the similar but early (Gnomish) name Glorfalc "Golden Cleft" (in later writings called Cirith Ninniach)[2]. The element falc in that name meant "cleft", and it seems probable that later Sindarin falch has a similar meaning.

The initial element of Orfalch is probably derived from the root ORO "up, rise"[3], while the word echor "outer circle" is also attested in the name Rammas Echor "Great Wall of the Outer Circle"[4].

Thus, the meaning of Orfalch Echor might be something like "Upper Cleft of the Outer Circle".

References