There's some discussion of this in the Etymologies, although that's an earlier work (from the days when Tolkien was still calling the Sindarin language 'Noldorin') so may not be entirely canon. (Depending on what you think of as canon anyway...)
There are two different words in Elvish for 'king':
(Q) Tár (S) Taur or Tôr - refers to the "legitimate king of a whole tribe". Tolkien refers to five people by name as using this title: "Ingwë of the Lindar, Finwë of the Noldor (and later Fingolfin and Fingon of all the exiled Gnomes)"... The Sindarin version was only ever used of Thingol, and was considered archaic or poetic otherwise. However, there's no indication whether limiting it to those five was exclusive (nobody else claimed the title) or illustrative. The derivation is from a root word meaning 'lofty' or 'noble'.
Tári is the feminine form, as in Elentári 'Star-queen'. In Sindarin that became tóril, a title only used to refer to Melian of Doriath.
(Q) Haran (S) Aran (plural Erain) -refers to the lord or king of a specified region. It's derived from a root meaning 'to possess'.
Tolkien uses as an example of the difference between the two words that Fingolfin was both taur of the Exiles and aran of Hithlum.
Assuming that's all still valid, then my assumption would be that the English word 'king' is being used to translate both Elvish words depending on context. It's only when it's necessary to distinguish between the two that tár/taur is translated as 'High King' instead.
In Valinor, I suggest, the word tár was the only one in common use. When the Ãoldor arrived back in Middle-earth, part of their motivation was to claim kingdoms for themselves: and so they started using the word haran/aran to describe the rulers of each of the new kingdoms.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2013-06-03 03:39 pm (UTC)There are two different words in Elvish for 'king':
(Q) Tár (S) Taur or Tôr
- refers to the "legitimate king of a whole tribe". Tolkien refers to five people by name as using this title: "Ingwë of the Lindar, Finwë of the Noldor (and later Fingolfin and Fingon of all the exiled Gnomes)"... The Sindarin version was only ever used of Thingol, and was considered archaic or poetic otherwise. However, there's no indication whether limiting it to those five was exclusive (nobody else claimed the title) or illustrative. The derivation is from a root word meaning 'lofty' or 'noble'.
Tári is the feminine form, as in Elentári 'Star-queen'. In Sindarin that became tóril, a title only used to refer to Melian of Doriath.
(Q) Haran (S) Aran (plural Erain)
-refers to the lord or king of a specified region. It's derived from a root meaning 'to possess'.
Tolkien uses as an example of the difference between the two words that Fingolfin was both taur of the Exiles and aran of Hithlum.
Assuming that's all still valid, then my assumption would be that the English word 'king' is being used to translate both Elvish words depending on context. It's only when it's necessary to distinguish between the two that tár/taur is translated as 'High King' instead.
In Valinor, I suggest, the word tár was the only one in common use. When the Ãoldor arrived back in Middle-earth, part of their motivation was to claim kingdoms for themselves: and so they started using the word haran/aran to describe the rulers of each of the new kingdoms.