On the name Limlight

Limlight is the enigmatic name of a tributary of the Anduin, that marks Rohan’s northern border. There are three primary published texts about it:

• L1.- The corresponding entry in the Guide to the Names in The Lord of the Rings (TC:188), in which Tolkien says to translators: The spelling ‑light indicates that this is a Common Speech name; but [the translator should] leave the obscured element lim‑ unchanged and translate ‑light: the adjective light here means bright, clear. The editor (Jared Lobdell) noted that these notes on nomenclature were composed when only the Swedish and Dutch translations [of LR] had appeared (TC:153). This provides a narrow span of time for the date of the text, around 1960, since the Swedish translation was published in 1959, and the Polish in 1961.
• L2.- Some notes quoted by Christopher Tolkien in Unfinished Tales. One occurs in the chapter The Disaster of the Gladden Fields (UT:281 n.14), where the — probably Sindarin — original form Limlaith is given as an apparent gloss on the English name Limlight. In another note to Cirion and Eorl and the Friendship of Gondor and Rohan (UT:318 n.46), he quotes further alternative forms of the Sindarin name: Limlich, which was emended to Limliht, and Limlint, which is translated as swift-light. In this latter note we are told that the river was named anew by the Éothéod, being alterations of the older names to fit their own tongue. Except Limlint, all these names were written by Tolkien in the drafts of the texts about the history of Gondor and Rohan, published in those chapters; and Christopher Tolkien dates those texts to about 1969 (XII:293). About Limlint, however, he only says that it belongs to a note written much earlier than any of the foregoing (UT:318 n.46).
• L3.- Christopher Tolkien’s comment on the geographical notes inserted in the late (c. 1970) typescript of Maeglin. In one of these he quotes a comment by Tolkien on a river in Beleriand: Limhîr (the clear / sparkling river) — repeated in LR, as were not unnaturally other names from Beleriand — is more suitable for the river … a clear slender stream coming down from the Hill of Himring. And then Christopher Tolkien comments: The name Limhîr does not occur in LR, unless my father was referring to the Limlight. (XI:337).

Each text provides different, and in some points contrasting, information about the name of the river. L1, that is not very detailed, but just gives some guidelines for the translation into other languages, could be considered as a general commentary on the name; L2 and L3 provide an extended analysis of it.

L1 seems to partially contradict L2, since L1 states that light is Common Speech (represented by Modern English), but from the notes in L2 we can deduce that it is a form in the tongue of Rohan (represented by Old English, which therefore should have been líht), although in the representation of the Common Speech the modernized form light was used. But though conceptually this may seem a dilemma, actually both ideas are compatible (L2 just being more precise), and anyway in an analysis of the original name we may get around this problem: the Old and Modern English words (líht and light, respectively) are close enough in shape and meaning, so that the conclusions do not change if we consider one hypothesis or the other. It could also be that the true Common Speech and Rohanese words (not their translations) were likewise similar, although we have no hint of what their actual forms were.

L3 does not provide more data on the matter of the adaptation to Rohanese or Common Speech, since it only deals with the Elvish form of the name. Actually it is not even explictly referred to the Limlight, save for Christopher Tolkien’s comment.1

Considering now the Sindarin form of the name, the only certain fact is that it starts with lim‑, as the Common Speech/Rohanese name does. L1 does not specify what the second element is; in L2 we have distinct forms (‑lint, ‑laith, ‑lich and ‑liht), and a further one in L3, ‑hîr. It is not possible to consider any of these forms as definitive in Tolkien’s mind. L1, probably the oldest text, has the value of having been carefully prepared for the translators carrying out the delicate task of translating LR, but it is not of more help for learning the Sindarin name than L2 and L3. And these other texts are so close in time and so fluid that they appear to show that Tolkien was experimenting with various etymologies even in those late years, without committing himself to any of them. Taking this into account, let us analyze how each of these variant Sindarin names may be interpreted.

On the first element, lim‑

Only L3 gives an explicit meaning of lim‑: clear, sparkling, specifically applied to a slender stream. With regard to this, it is interesting to note the occurrence of glim gleam, glint (usually of fine slender but bright shafts of light) in the same bundle of papers as L3 (XI:337). It is strongly probable that in fact lim‑ and glim were variants with the same etymological origin.

We also see that one of the suggested forms in L2, Limlint, is translated as swift-light, but this leaves us with plenty of doubts, since we cannot ascertain whether lim‑ would be swift or light, and in the latter case, whether it is a noun or has any of the adjectival meanings of light (bright, clear, unweighty, nimble …).

The first possibility is that lim‑ corresponds to the first element of the English name, i.e. swift. This may be supported with another well-known occurrence of that element, the cry of Glorfindel to Asfaloth: noro lim (LR:208). There noro is obviously some imperative (probably *run, *go…, cp. nor‑ run, roll in GL:61), and lim must have an adverbial meaning, that might be similar to swift.2

But the alternative could be also true, that swift is the gloss of ‑lint (see below), and therefore lim‑ corresponded to light. In which of the meanings of that word remains uncertain, though two possibilites are favoured: It could be an adjective with the sense of clear, sparkling, just as in L3; or perhaps it had the sense of moving with ease and nimbleness, which in fact is similar to that of swift, and would keep the possible relation with noro lim. However, the fact that the Common-Speech form of the name contained the word ‑light with the meaning bright, clear, most probably noting a marked feature of the river, makes the former possibility more appealing.

An interesting thing in the explicit gloss of L3 is the relation of lim‑ to streams. A similar relation with streams or another kind of waterflow (either for its brightness or its light movement) may also be present in the alternative meanings of lim‑ that have been suggested, and it may give us a hint of the possible etymology of that element. There are various possible origins of it, that would be related to some extent with water:

• *limb‑ (with reduction of mb, cf. LR:1089), from the root LIB1‑ drip with nasal infixion. Cp. Q limba a drop in the Etymologies, q.v.
• *lingw‑ (with the change ngw > mb, cf. Etym. s.v. ING‑, and eventually > m), cp. N lhimb, lhim < *liñwi fish in Etym. s.v. LIW‑.
• Some bare root *LIM‑, that could share with many other roots beginning with LI‑ their relation to water.3

Finally, it can be noted that the other forms of L1 and L2 provide no information about the meaning of lim‑, except that it was forgotten in the Common Speech, and remained obscured (as Tolkien describes it). If a possible relation of this obscured element to light is accepted, it could be noted, beyond the possible pun, that the repetition of its sense in the second element of the Common-Speech name would be comparable to other cases of Middle-earth place-names, as Bree-hill or Chetwood, where the meaning of the native element (in these cases bree hill, chet wood, cf. LR:1109) had become forgotten, and then repeated in later forms.

On the second element

We have four variant forms to consider as the second element, two of which are of uncertain meaning:

In L3 it is ‑hîr, which undoubtedly means river.4

In L2 various alternative forms are suggested:

L2A, ‑lint, is the earliest form, occuring already in the Gnomish Lexicon, where it is glossed as quick, agile, nimble, light (PE11:54). Indeed, the association between the sound lint and such a sense goes back even farther in Tolkien's linguistic invention; concerning the languages he invented in his youth, he wrote: I can also remember the word lint quick, clever, nimble, and it is interesting, because I know it was adopted because the relation between the sounds lint and the idea proposed for association with them gave pleasure (MC:205). As the gloss of Limlint in L2A is swift-light, the simplest explanation is that here ‑lint was light, in the sense of nimble. However, swift could be also a gloss with the same sense; cp. Q *linta swift in such a well-known text as the Namárië poem (in lintë yuldar, swift [pl.] draughts, cf. R:66). This latter possibility would leave the element ‑light of swift-light as the gloss of lim‑, perhaps with the sense of bright, clear mentioned in L1 (see above). Summarizing, there would be three possible analyses of the translation of Limlint as swiftlight:

• lim‑ = swift, ‑lint = light (nimble). The simplest explanation for both elements.
• lim‑ = light (nimble), ‑lint = swift. A reversal of the previous explanation, possible but not more probable.
• lim‑ = light (clear), ‑lint = swift. Another option, in which the elements in the Elvish and English names are likewise reversed, but that conveys the feature of bright, clear of the Common-Speech name as explained in L1.

L2B, ‑laith, does not occur in any other name, and its meaning is unknown.5 However, it has quite a regular shape as a Sindarin word. According to the patterns observed in the evolution of the Elvish languages, a great deal of Sindarin and Noldorin words ending in ‑Dth (where D represents a diphthong) came from earlier forms ending in ‑Vktā (where V is some vowel) in Primitive Quendian or Eldarin, usually from roots ending in ‑k to which the common suffix ‑tā is added. So it is quite likely that this laith came from some primitive word with the form *lVktā. The following possibilities may be especially highlighted:

• *lektā.6 In the Etymologies we find the base LEK‑, with the meaning loose, let loose, release, and the Ilkorin derivative legol nimble, active, running free, connected to the river-name Legolin. This sense of running free could be partially due to the relation of that root with LED‑ go, fare, travel, explicitly noted in Etym. If ‑laith came from LEK‑, it could have a meaning similar to that of the mentioned Ilkorin word, itself similar to that of ‑lint discussed above. Therefore, the name Limlaith could be analyzed in the same manner as Limlint.
• *laktā.7 Phonologically this is the most dubious option, though the base LAK2‑ occurring in Etym. with the meaning swift is specially appealing. Note however that, opposite to the previous cases in which the term swift has been discussed, here fleetingness, promptness or nimbleness is not implied, but rather hurry, impetuosity, as may be judged by the cross-reference of LAK2‑ to ÁLAK‑ rushing.
• *liktā.8 LIK‑ occurs in Etym. as an alternative form of the base LAIK‑ keen, sharp, acute. The words under this base are chiefly general adjectives, though one has specific reference to keeness, acuteness of perception. On the other hand, by blending with LÁYAK‑, and with a metaphorical sense, it is also related to the Ilkorin word laig, glossed among other things as fresh, lively, and possibly as swift too (though this gloss is deleted in the manuscript, see V:368 and VT45:25). It might also be possible, according to the rationale suggested in note 3 below, that there was a base *LIK‑ related to water (for instance to running water, which would fit quite well again with a sense of swift). Especially interesting in this connection is the occurrence of the base LIQI‑ in the Qenya Lexicon with two glosses: (1) flow, water, etc. and (2) clear, transparent. According to the spelling used by Tolkien in later writings, this same base would likely have been written *LIKWI, which could indeed be a variant of this putative *LIK‑, since there are other attested Q(u)enya roots ending in ‑k that, even in the Common Eldarin stage, were suffixed with ‑w + the root-vowel, though it is not evident that this happened also in Sindarin.9 Supporting this idea, in the Etymologies we have the base LINKWI‑, with derivatives related to wet and moisten, that might well be a nasal-strengthened variant of *LIKWI‑ (and for which there actually are Noldorin derivatives, as lhimp < *linkwē, cp. Q linqe wet).

L2C, ‑lich, changed to ‑liht. The first form, ‑lich, has an unusual shape; there are few Sindarin words similar to it, chiefly *lach leaping flame, that occurs in Dagor Bragollach, Battle of the Sudden Flame,10 and roch, horse; and this last word is in several places related to Q rokko and primitive rokkō (Etym. s.v. ROK‑ and L:282, 382). This similarity would point again to the root *LIK‑ commented on before, from the primitive form with the final consonant fortified, *likkV, where V is some vowel. The second form, ‑liht, is even more difficult to explain, since the cluster ht is unfitting in a Sindarin word. However, it resembles the Quenya words derived from the primitive union of k + t. If we took that pattern, we would have the hypothetical *liktā (suggested above as a possible antecedent for ‑laith) again, but it would remain unexplained why the Sindarin form took such an odd shape as ‑liht, unless we regarded the evolution *liktā > S lith according to the pattern of the Etymologies, (see note 8), in which case the form liht could be an orthographical corruption under the influence of the Old English term, or just a slip by Tolkien.

And now that we have seen all the possible Sindarin forms of the second part of the name, there remain nearly as many doubts as at the beginning. Only the form in L3, based on a well-known Sindarin element, provides clear information. But it is distinct from the forms in L2, most of which were written one or two years earlier. Among these, the meaning remains obscure, apart from the fact that some possible etymological reconstructions could be interpreted as swift or (as with ‑hîr) related to running water. However, their forms do have something in common: ‑laith and, to a lesser extent, ‑lint have some resemblance to the corresponding element of the English name, ‑light; likewise, ‑lich and even more so its corrected form ‑liht resemble the form it would have had in the tongue of Rohan, ‑líht, as L2 tells. Therefore we can quite certainly conclude that when Tolkien experimented with the names attested in L2, he was trying to find a satisfactory word that justified the adaptation of the original name Lim‑ + a Sindarin element to Common Speech (reflecting Rohanese) Lim-light, or *Lim-líht; and that the main objective was that the Sindarin word resembled the Common Speech adaptation, its meaning being a secondary aspect, although not unimportant.

English parallelisms: the river Skirfare

Above we have discussed the duality between the element lim‑ in a river-name, indirectly glossed by Tolkien in L3 as clear, sparkling, and the probable adverb lim *swift (in noro lim). Intriguingly, quite a similar thing happens in English with the element skir‑ in the name of the river Skirfare and the verb skirr .

The Skirfare is a river of North Yorkshire, whose course runs about thirty miles northwest from Leeds. The influence in the geography of Middle-earth (specially the Shire) of the English landscapes known by Tolkien has been widely discussed by various authors. And in a commentary about the Withywindle river in Tom Shippey’s J.R.R. Tolkien, Author of the Century, the Skirfare, glossed as the bright-runner, is mentioned, as the river in which drowned Professor Moorman, Tolkien’s predecessor in Leeds (p. 63). In this study, however, the relevant matter is the comparison between the name of this river and the previous discussion about Limlight.

The Oxford Dictionary of English Place-Names accounts for the etymology of Skirfare:

… Bright stream. The elements are O[ld ]Scand[inavian] skīrr bright, clear and a word for brook derived from OScand fara to go. Cf. the O[ld]N[orse] river-name Fara.

Its second part might be compared with the possible sense of ‑laith if coming from *lektā, related to Q lehta (specially in its tentative relation with LED‑, go, fare, travel). But besides this, we have the first element skir‑. The nearest Modern English word found in the Oxford English Dictionary is the rare or dialectal skire, meaning clear (of), free (from) something morally bad, pure, clear (of water) or clear, bright (of colours), itself a variant of shire bright, shining. Both skire and shire are cognates of Old English scír clear, bright, though the first form shows the influence of its Old Norse analogue, skīrr, as sk‑ is characteristic of Norse borrowings or variants — modern words directly derived from OE sc‑ usually show sh‑. In Tolkien’s A Middle English Vocabulary, he also glossed some ME cognates of these words: Scere, adj. bright, pure, and Schyre, Shire …, adj. bright, clear, fair, lovely. All these terms related to skir‑ in the river-name recall the concepts of brightness, clearness and beauty connected to some of the possible meanings of lim‑ commented on above, and below in note 3.

On the other hand, near to skire in the OED there is the verb skirr, a rare variant of scour (not in the sense of cleansing, but to move about hastily or energetically). Its origin is stated to be doubtful, but it likely comes from another Old Norse word, skúr, meaning storm. The first definition of this verb is to run hastily (away), to flee, make off, and the third is to pass or go rapidly over (a stretch of land or water), esp. in search of something or someone; also to ride rapidly through. Both of these definitions recall intensely the scene of the flight of Frodo on Asfaloth after the noro lim, though there are divergences between the meanings of skirr and that suggested in this article for lim: the English term is a verb, not an adverb, and its third definition (the one that makes reference to riding) has the sense of riding after someone, while Frodo was rather escaping.

It is not proven that Tolkien deliberately created the contrast between lim‑ in Limlight and lim in noro lim in order to match the cases of skir‑ in Skirfare and the verb skirr. And the tentative coincidence between the meaning of the Elvish name of the Limlight and Skirfare, which depends on a chain of hypotheses, is not enough basis to state that this river of the Middle-earth was inspired by the Yorkshire stream. However, the coincidence is striking, so further research should be done on the matter, be it through linguistic, geographical or even biographical study, in order to test the plausibility of these suggestions.