The etymology of the word 'fir' is a complex and elaborate one, and it seems to have originally come from an ancient root word meaning 'oak forest' (though in fact oaks and firs are quite unrelated trees). The word seems to have evolved in Old English to mean any highland forest, and this version of the word, firgen, is modernised by Tolken in names such as 'Firienholt' or 'Halifirien'. As simply 'fir', the name came ultimately to be used of a particular kind of highland conifer.
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