An affix used in the Sindarin names of relatives of Finwë.
Quenya
finwë
masculine name. Finwë
Cognates
Element in
- Q. Arafinwë “*Noble Finwë” ✧ PE17/039; PE17/118; PE17/118; PM/344
- Q. Canafinwë “Strong-voiced Finwë”
- Q. Curufinwë “*Skilled-Finwë” ✧ MR/217; PE17/039; PE17/118; PM/343; VT41/10
- Q. Findis ✧ PM/343
- Q. Finwion “Son of Finwë” ✧ MR/217
- Q. Ingoldo “The Noldo” ✧ MR/230
- Q. Morifinwë “Dark Finwë”
- Q. Namna Finwë Míriello “the Statute of Finwë and Míriel” ✧ MR/258
- Q. Nelyafinwë “Finwë third”
- Q. Nityafinwë “Little Finwë” ✧ PM/365
- Q. Pityafinwë “Little Finwë”
- Q. Nolofinwë ✧ MR/230; PE17/039; PE17/118; PE17/118; PM/344
- Q. Sarafinwë
- Q. Telufinwë “Last Finwë” ✧ PM/353
- Q. Turcafinwë “strong, powerful (in body)”
Elements
Word Gloss PHIN “clever, skillful; neat, fine, delicate; skill, dexterity, clever, skillful; neat, fine, delicate; skill, dexterity, [ᴹ√] nimbleness” -wë “ancient name suffix (usually but not always masculine)” Variations
- Finwe ✧ PE17/017; VT41/10
- finwë ✧ PM/365 (finwë)
The first lord of the Noldor (S/52). His name is an ancient compound of uncertain meaning. Its final element is the suffix -wë common in ancient names (PM/340). Its initial element is probably derived from the root √PHIN “clever, skillful” (PE17/17, Ety/PHIN), though it was sometimes affiliated with derivatives of the root √SPIN(ID) “fine thread, filament; hair” (PE17/17, 119) after it developed in Common Eldarin into phin- (PM/340).
His name appears as an element in the Quenya names of many of his children and grandchildren, either incorporated directly or alluded too via the element findë “hair” < √SPIN(ID), as in Findecáno (PM/345). In the Sindarin names of his descendants, the element S. fin also alluded to his name (VT41/10).
Conceptual Development: This name appears in the earliest Lost Tales in exactly the same form, though ᴱQ. Finwe was not at first the father of Feanor (LT1/115, 145). Christopher Tolkien suggested the earliest form of this name was derived from the root ᴱ√FINI “✱cunning” (LT1A/Finwë). In The Etymologies, the name ᴹQ. Finwe is given as an ancient combination of the roots ᴹ√PHIN and ᴹ√WEG (Ety/PHIN, WEG), basically the same as its later derivation.