Hi! I'd like to translate Free Spirit to Sindarin. My idea would be "Faerlain" from faer (spirit in general) + lain (free/freed).
It is the name of a ship, so I tried to use a more general term for spirit, but I'd like to know whether it's actually acceptable in connection with something "not living"; though, probably beloved by the sailors and consequently personified.
Perhaps 'Ferrein' could be derived from the Noldorin word 'rhain²', an adjective meaning 'free'. 'lain' signifies a Sindarin noun for 'thread', 'warp', or 'twine'. I suppose this could be interpreted as 'not living'. But when I think of 'free spirit' to me it conjures up the image of a person who is independent, nonconformist, and perhaps a bit unconventional. Ellanto, what do you think?
The lain intended here is this one, from √LEK "loose, unbind, let, permit", so no issues with using this. Rain "free, unconstrained", on the other hand, is essentially no different from rain "erratic wandering"; in other words using this would yield "wandering spirit", which is not quite what was intended.
Faer is the right word for the spirit of a non-living creature. Faerlain, too, seems correctly formed.
A word on the suggested Ferrein: as discussed in previous threads, I don't think [ae] would reduce in an initial stressed syllable; furthermore, [ei] can only ever exist in non-final syllables, whereas [ai] is its counterpart in final positions. So faer + rain > Faerrain; or possibly Faerain, if we take Aerandir as an example of [rr] reducing to simplify a superheavy syllable (though I should note that Faerain would look more like an embodied spirit, fae ⪤ Q. fëa, rather than a non-living thing).
I was wondering about [ae] since it already had [ai] it would shorten to make it not as heavy. And for some reason I read it wrong when I looked at S35 later [ei] became [ai] in final syllables (C = Consonant). lol