Gongs or Gongers

[Estelyn Telcontar]

This is an interesting question, Makar! The word sounded so strange and unfamiliar to me at first glance that I thought it was another of those D&D type game inventions. However, looking it up in my Index to HoME, I found that it refers to The Book of Lost Tales (HoME I and II). In an early version of the Legendarium, Tolkien used the word. In BoLT 1, CRRT's notes at the end of the chapter 'Gilfanon's Tale':

This might be thought to be a name for the Kaukareldar or 'false-fairies', but in the Gnomish word-list Gong is defined as 'one of a tribe of the Orcs, a goblin'.

In BoLT 2, there are a few usages of the name and another note at the end of the chapter 'The History of Eriol or Aelfwine':

Gongs: these are evil beings obscurely related to Orcs.

Since the word is not used in any later versions of the stories, it appears to have been rejected by JRRT; however, the 'Gongs' are a genuine invention of his!