Flower in Elvish — Lótë in Quenya, Loth in Sindarin, and the Flowers of Middle-earth

Quick Answer: Flower in Elvish is lótë in Quenya and loth in Sindarin. Both appear in Lothlórien (Sindarin, "Dreamflower"). Tolkien also named real flowers: elanor and niphredil in Lothlórien, mallos (golden flower), alfirin, lissuin and the healing herb athelas.

Tolkien wrote more about flowers than most readers notice. The golden floor of Lothlórien, the white blossoms at the birth of Lúthien, the herb that wakes the dying in the Houses of Healing: each has an Elvish name. This guide gives the plain words for flower, then the named flowers one by one, with the source for each. Where Tolkien gives no meaning, it says so. For the wider vocabulary, see Elvish words for nature.

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The Core Words

Most of the rarer entries come through Eldamo, the online lexicon that collects Tolkien's published and unpublished word lists. They are real Tolkien words, but several come from late or incomplete papers, so treat them as precise rather than famous.

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Quenya: Lótë

Pronunciation: LOH-teh. The accent mark on ó marks a long vowel, and stress falls on the first syllable.

Lótë is the standard Quenya word for flower. You can see it inside other words:

• Lótessë — the Quenya name for May, literally "Flower-ness" (Eldamo's gloss, inferred rather than written by Tolkien; the month name itself is in The Lord of the Rings Appendix D).
• Ninquelótë — a Quenya name of Telperion, the White Tree of Valinor, "white blossom". Our data file spells it Ninquelote; the long ó is the standard form.
• Losta- — the verb "to bloom".
• Lilótëa — "having many flowers", an adjective.

Quenya also separates the kinds of flower. A lotsë is a small single flower; olótë is the whole bloom of one plant; lós is a mass of flowers on a stem. English has one word where Tolkien's Quenya has several. For a single name or tattoo, the plain choice is still lótë.

Telperion and Laurelin

The Two Trees of Valinor bore silver and golden flowers, and their light is what the Elves loved before the Sun and Moon. After the Trees died, their last flower and fruit were made into the Moon and the Sun (The Silmarillion). That is why a Quenya word for flower lives inside a title of the White Tree. For the tree words themselves, see Elvish word for tree.

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Sindarin: Loth

Pronunciation: LOTH, with a short o and the th of "thin".

Loth is the Sindarin word, glossed "flower, blossom" in the Silmarillion index. It is the first half of two famous names:

• Lothlórien — see below.
• Nimloth — "white flower", from nim (white) plus loth. Nimloth was the name of the White Tree of Númenor, grown from a seedling of Celeborn, the White Tree of Tol Eressëa (The Silmarillion, "Akallabêth").

Sindarin has the same split as Quenya. Lotheg and elloth mean a single flower; goloth and lûth mean a cluster or inflorescence. Pirin names a flower that opened and shut quickly with any change of light, a very Tolkien detail.

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Lothlórien: the Dreamflower

Lothlórien is Sindarin. Eldamo glosses it "Dreamflower, (lit.) Lórien of the Blossom," and the sources it cites are The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales. The name joins loth, flower, to Lórien.

The common mistake is the second half. Lórien comes from the root for dream or sleep. It is not laurë, gold, and it is not lómë, night. The golden light and the dark night are tempting associations for a forest of golden leaves, but they are not the etymology. Our Lothlórien explained guide goes through the place in full.

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The Named Flowers of Middle-earth

The "literally" readings are Eldamo's analysis of the elements, not always a gloss Tolkien wrote down. The data file marks the cases where the literal reading is inferred, such as niphredil, "pale point".

Elanor and niphredil

Elanor and niphredil are the two flowers most readers know. Both are tied to Lothlórien, where they grow in the grass of Cerin Amroth. Elanor reappears at the very end of the story: Sam Gamgee names his daughter Elanor (The Lord of the Rings, Appendix B). It is one of the few Elvish plant names in English use as a given name. Niphredil also grows in Doriath at the birth of Lúthien (The Silmarillion).

Alfirin, mallos, lissuin

These are Sindarin names Tolkien used for flowers of Gondor and the Elven lands. Alfirin is the clearest: al- "not" plus a root for dying, so "undying". That is the true meaning, but a flower name is still a flower name. A tattoo of alfirin says "alfirin, a flower", and "immortal" is the same word read as an adjective. Mallos is mal, gold, plus loth, flower, in a compound form, the same mal as mallorn.

Athelas, the healing herb

Athelas is the herb Aragorn uses in the Houses of Healing, called kingsfoil in the common tongue. The Sindarin name is athelas; the Quenya one is asëa aranion, "asëa of the Kings". It is a plant more than a flower, but readers search for it with the others, and the Quenya form is a real attested name, not a translation we made up.

Simbelmynë is not Elvish

Simbelmynë, the white flower that grows over the burial mounds of the kings of Rohan, is often listed as an Elvish flower. It is not. Tolkien renders the language of Rohan as Old English, and "simbelmynë" is that rendering, glossed "Evermind". If you want an Elvish equivalent, none is attested, so do not make one.

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Writing Lótë and Loth in Tengwar

Both words transcribe cleanly. Lótë carries a long vowel, which Tengwar usually shows with a lengthening mark on the tehta or a long carrier, and the final ë is a vowel sign that many writers leave off. Loth ends in the Sindarin th, a single letter, not a t plus h. A letter-by-letter transcription of either word often goes wrong at exactly those points. Type each word into our Tengwar name tool and compare with a second source. For the rules, see the reading and writing guide, and for how to say the words, the pronunciation guide.

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Baby Names and Tattoo Notes

Names.

• Elanor is an attested name in Tolkien: Sam's daughter. It is the safest flower name in the legendarium.
• Nimloth was the name of a tree and of an Elf-maiden in the Silmarillion. It means "white flower" and works well as a name.
• Lothíriel is the name of a princess of Dol Amroth in Appendix A. It contains loth, but we do not have a confirmed gloss for the rest of the name, so we do not offer a translation.
• Loth, Lótë and Mallos are words, not names in Tolkien. People do use them as names; just know they are nouns.

More options are in Elvish baby names and Elvish names for girls.

Tattoos.

• Pick one language. Lótë is Quenya and loth is Sindarin. Do not mix them in one design.
• Mind the accent. Lótë without its accents becomes a different-looking word. Keep the long vowel and the diaeresis on the final ë.
• One word beats a sentence. "A flower in the dark" or "bloom where you are planted" is not attested Elvish. If you build a phrase, label it as a modern reconstruction (Neo-Quenya or Neo-Sindarin). Our translator separates attested words from guesses.
• Check the meaning of a flower name. Alfirin and elanor are real; "rose" in Quenya is not attested, only Sindarin meril.

Our Elvish tattoo guide and the list of common translation mistakes cover the usual traps.

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People Also Ask

What is the Elvish word for flower? In Quenya, flower is lótë (also alma in Parma Eldalamberon 17, and lotsë for a small single flower). In Sindarin, it is loth, with lotheg or elloth for a single flower.

What does Lothlórien mean? Lothlórien is Sindarin, glossed Dreamflower or Lórien of the Blossom. It joins loth, flower, to Lórien, whose root means dream, not gold or night.

What is the Elvish word for rose? Sindarin meril is glossed rose in Eldamo, citing Tolkien's Sauron Defeated. Quenya has no rose word in the data we use, so do not translate rose into Quenya by guesswork.

Is simbelmynë an Elvish word? No. Simbelmynë is the Rohirric name of the white flower on the burial mounds of Rohan, rendered in Old English by Tolkien and glossed Evermind. Rohirric is not an Elvish language.

Is Elanor a real Elvish word? Yes. Elanor is Sindarin for a small golden star-shaped flower, literally sun-star, from The Lord of the Rings. Sam Gamgee also gave the name to his daughter.

Related Reading

• Elvish Word for Tree — Alda in Quenya, Galadh and Orn in Sindarin
• Lothlórien Explained — the Golden Wood and Its Name
• Elvish Baby Names
• Elvish Names for Girls
• Elvish Words for Nature: 30+ Quenya and Sindarin Vocabulary
• Elvish Word for Sun — Anar in Quenya, Anor in Sindarin
• Elvish Word for Water — Sindarin and Quenya
• Elvish Tattoo Complete Guide

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