§ Toll-onnui >> Toll Ondren ’Great Carrock’ (TI:268)
§ Toll-ondu >> Toll-onnui >> Toll-ondren ’the Great Carrock’ (TI:268)
§ Tol Galen (TI:271)
§ Tolondren >> Eregon >> Brandor >> Tol Brandor (TI:285)
§ Tolharn >> Tollernen ’Stoneait’ >> Eregon ’Stone pinnacle’ (TI:324,345)
§ Emris >> Eregon >> Tolbrandir (TI:367,316-318)
These are earlier names of Tol Brandir, a little island in the Anduin (cf. the drawing in PE17:22).
’Carrock’ is related to Old English carr, Welsh carreg ’rock, stone’ (RC:207) and most of the early names clearly mean *’stony island’ with N. toll ’island’ (TOL2-) and different adjectives *’stony’, derived with the endings -ui, -ren; and -u < -wā/-wē in ondu (cf. N. cadu ’shaped, formed’ < ON katwe/katwa (KAT-, VT45:19)).
There is the stem GOND- ’stone’ in The Etymologies, so that one may think that all these forms are lenited *gonnui, *gondren, *gondu; but there was no initial G- originally – the first names of Gondor were Ond >> Ondor (TI:493), changed to Gondor later in the process of writing (Feb.9 1942, TI:423). In devising this word for Tolkien was influenced by a book from his childhood, where ond ’stone’ was given as being known from a pre-Celtic language of Britain (Let:324). Note however that gonn ’great stone, rock’ (GL:41) already appears very early in the Gnomish Lexicon and is associated with the name Gondolin.
’Galen?’ with a question mark is once written above ondren, thus ’Green Isle’ (with lenited N. calen ’bright-coloured = green’ (KAL-)) was considered (cf. LR:268, Silm.index).
Eregon may mean *’single stone’. The adjective ereg occurs later as a name of a river in Ond(or) with the translation ’first’ (see 2.47). The element er- was always present in Tolkien’s writings, sometimes used in counting series as ’one’ or ’first’, but with the original meaning ’remain alone’ (QL:36) or ’be alone, deprived’ (ERE-).
However, the translation ’Stone pinnacle’ suggests ereg *’pinnacle’ instead. The Etymologies give N. ereg ’holly-tree’ from ERÉK- ’thorn’, here perhaps in a more general meaning. The final element of Eregon should then be a simplified form of ond ’stone’.
Then the name reaches a form close to later Brandir. Tolkien writes in the manuscript of Nomenclature that Brandir was of uncertain origin and meaning; prob[ably] a corruption of *baradnir Grey-elven (Sindarin) for tower-steep = ”steep tower” (RC:333). Of course, barad ’tower’ is the same as in Barad-dûr, ’The Dark Tower’ (UT:422, BARAT-), but #nir ’steep’ is difficult to relate to anything else and seems to be an ad-hoc invention.
Another interpretation is that Brandir is the plural of brand ’steeple’ with the suffix -ir (cf. Thinnir *’Grey-elves’ < thind (PE17:140)), hence Tol Brandir ’Isle of the Great Steeples’ (PE17:61,22).
Brandor could perhaps be a compound of brand, brann ’lofty, noble, fine’ (BARÁD-) or ’towering; tall and massive’ (PE17:61) and the element #-or from ORO- ’up, rise, high’, here indicating a high rock and used instead of the full noun orod ’mountain’. Compare Erebor ’The Lonely Mountain’ from The Hobbit, which similarly contains N. ereb ’isolated’ (ERE-) and #-or.
But of course -or may be just a name-formative suffix, as in the personal name Galadhor, Galdor from GALAD-, galadh ’tree’.
Tolharn obviously contains lenited sarn ’stone as a material; or as adj.’ (SAR-) and Tollernen seems to include #ernen *’single’ < *erninā, an adjective from ERE-.
Emris, at last, is difficult to explain. N. rhis, rhess ’a ravine’ (RIS-) as in Imladris does not seem to fit in reference to an island, unless the cutting of a river is meant. This name is probably of an intendedly obscure origin.