The Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor

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This historical and etymological essay titled only "Nomenclature" by its author, belongs with other, similar writings that Christopher Tolkien has dated to c. 1967-69 (XII.293-94), including Of Dwarves and Men, The Shibboleth of Feanor, and The History of Galadriel and Celeborn, and that were published, in whole or in part, in Unfinished Tales and The Peoples of Middle-earth. Indeed, Christopher Tolkien gave numerous excerpts from this essay in Unfinished Tales. He prepared a fuller presentation of the text for The Peoples of Middle-earth, but it was omitted from that volume on consideration of length.

Christopher Tolkien has kindly provided me with both the full text of the essay and of his own edited version intended for The Peoples of Middle-earth. That edition, being intended for a more general audience and made under constraints of space, naturally omits a number of more technical and/or discursive philological passages and notes. In editing the text for the more specialized audience of Vinyar Tengwar, I have of course restored all such philological matter. I have also retained, with his gracious consent, as much of Christopher Tolkien's own commentary on the essay as practicable (clearly identified as such throughout), while providing some additional commentary and notes of my own, primarily on linguistic matters. In addition to Christopher Tolkien, I would like to extend my gratitude to john Garth, Christopher Gilson, Wayne Hammond, Christina Scull, Arden Smith, and Patrick Wynne, all of whom read this work in draft and provided encouragement along with many helpful comments and corrections.

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