A feminine suffix appearing in several names, as suggested by Carl Hostetter and Patrick Wynn (AAD/11). On SD/427, Tolkien said that the affix -th was often found in feminine forms.
Quenya
-ldë
suffix. feminine agent
Element in
Variations
- -lde ✧ PE17/069
-llë
suffix. feminine agent
Element in
Variations
- -lle ✧ PE17/069; PE17/190
-ndë
suffix. feminine agent
Element in
- Q. serindë “broideress, needlewoman, *seamstress” ✧ MR/257
Variations
- -nde ✧ PE17/069
A fairly common feminine suffix appearing as -il in Sindarin, either formed on its own or as a variant of the feminine suffix -iel. This suffix was also common Noldorin words in The Etymologies of the 1930s, along with an alternate form -ril that seems to be a feminine agental suffix, the equivalent of masculine -(r)on, seen in pairs like N. melethril/melethron “lover” and N. odhril/odhron “parent” (Ety/MEL, ONO). The -il suffix and its -ril variant are seen all the way back in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s in pairs like G. gwadhril/gwadhron “inhabitant” (GL/47) and G. ainil/ainos “god”, female and male respectively (GL/18). So it seems this feminine suffix was well established in Tolkien’s mind.