-wen

suffix. maiden, *female suffix

A common feminine suffix in Sindarin (SA/wen; PE17/190), a reduction of S. gwend “maiden” in compounds; see that entry for more examples.

Conceptual Development: In the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s the common female suffix was G. -win based on G. gwin “woman”, though Tolkien mentioned a variant -wein in Gnomish Lexicon Slips revising that document (PPE13/118). By the Noldorin of the 1930s, the usual suffix was -wen from N. gwenn “maiden”, and Tolkien seems to have stuck with it thereafter, as noted above.

-wen

suffix. their

_3rd pl. poss. suff. their.See also the paradigm of poss. suff. in PE17:46. Earlier -ent_. >> -ent

gwen

noun. maiden

_n. _maiden. Q. wendē. >> gwend, gweneth

wen

maiden

, see MAIDEN. The final element -wen in names means ”girl, maiden, virgin”.

gwend

noun. maiden, maiden, *young woman

A word for “maiden” or “✱young woman”, frequently appearing as suffixal -wen as an element in female names, derived from the root √WEN(ED) (PE17/191; Ety/WEN).

Conceptual Development: In the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, the word G. gwin meant “woman, female” and G. {gwen >>} gwennin was “girl” (GL/45). The former was derived from the root ᴱ√giu̯i which had to do with pregnancy, but the latter was derived from {ᴱ√gw̯ene >>} ᴱ√gu̯eđe. In the contemporaneous Qenya Lexicon {ᴱ√WENE >>} ᴱ√GWENE was the basis of words like ᴱQ. ’wen(di) “maiden” (QL/103). In the Gnomish Lexicon Slips it seems G. gwin was also reassigned to the root ᴱ√(G)WENE [ᴱ√u̯enĭ-], derived from ᴱ✶u̯einā́, though possibly shifted or blended in meaning with an adjectival sense “womanly” (PE13/113).

In the Early Noldorin Grammar of the 1920s, Tolkien had ᴱN. uin “woman” (PE13/123), a form that also appeared with this gloss in contemporaneous Early Noldorin Word-lists as a replacement for deleted {gwind, gwinn} (PE13/146, 155). In The Etymologies of the 1930s, Tolkien had N. gwend, gwenn “maiden” under the root ᴹ√WEN(ED) which he said was “often found in feminine names” (Ety/WEN). He noted that “since the [suffixed names] show no -d even in archaic spelling, they probably contain a form wen-”. Tolkien seems to have stuck with these forms thereafter.

Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I would use this word for a young woman or adolescent girl, especially prior to marriage, but for female children I would use neth.

-il

suffix. feminine suffix

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.

dadwen

verb. return

_v. _return, going/coming back. Q. nanwen-. >> damen

damen

verb. return

_ v. _return. Q. nanwen-. >> dan-

gwend

noun. maiden

_n. _maiden. Q. wendē. >> gwen, gweneth

bad

go

#bad- (i vâd, i medir), pa.t. bant. Isolated from trevad- ”traverse”.

bad

go

(i vâd, i medir), pa.t. bant. Isolated from trevad- ”traverse”.

gwend

maiden

gwend (i **wend, construct gwen) (friendship), pl. gwind (in gwind), coll. pl. gwennath**. Note: a homophone means ”bond, friendship”.

gwend

maiden

(i ’wend, construct gwen) (friendship), pl. gwind (in gwind), coll. pl. gwennath. Note: a homophone means ”bond, friendship”.

iell

maid

1) iell (-iel) (girl, daughter), pl. ill, 2) sell (i hell) (daughter, girl), pl. sill (i sill), coll. pl. sellath** **

iell

maid

(-iel) (girl, daughter), pl. ill

sell

maid

(i hell) (daughter, girl), pl. sill (i sill), coll. pl. *sellath*** **

-wen

maiden

-wen "maiden" as suffix, a frequent ending in feminine names like Eärwen "Sea-maiden" (SA:wen). Early "Qenya" also has -wen, feminine patronymic "daughter of" (LT1:271, 273), but the patronymic ending seems to be -iel "-daughter" in Tolkien's later Quenya.

wen

maid, girl

wen noun "maid, girl" (*wend-), in early "Qenya" also wendi (Tolkien's later Quenya form wendë occurs in MC:215 and in Etym, stems GWEN, WEN/WENED). (LT1:271, 273)

-iel

suffix. -daughter; feminine suffix

The most common Quenya suffix for “daughter of” such as in Elerondiel “✱Daughter of Elrond” (PE17/56) or Uinéniel “Daughter of Uinen” (UT/182).

Conceptual Development: The earliest hint of this suffix was ᴱQ. -il mentioned by Tolkien in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s as the equivalent of feminine patronymic ᴱQ. -wen (QL/103), but its only use in this period was in the masculine name ᴱQ. Indorildo, a variant of ᴱQ. Indorion and hence probably meaning “son of” (LT2/217). In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien mentioned ᴹQ. -iel as a feminine patronymic under the root ᴹ√YEL “daughter” (Ety/YEL¹), but this root was rejected and in that document Tolkien seems to have replaced it with ᴹQ. -ien (EtyAC/YŌ).

In later writings Tolkien considered a bewildering variety of suffixes for the feminine patronymic, including -iel(d), -well, -wend and -ien (PE17/170, 190). In practice, though, only -iel appeared in actual names for “daughter of” (see above), perhaps because it is was the cleanest equivalent of the well-established masculine patronymic -ion “son of”.

vendë

noun. maiden, *virgin

The usual Quenya word for “maiden” derived from the root √WEN(ED) (Ety/WEN; PE17/191; VT47/17). Tolkien usually wrote this word as wende but it would be pronounced and written vende in modern Quenya.

Conceptual Development: This word was fairly stable in Tolkien’s mind. In the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s this word was ᴱQ. ’wen (wend-) “maid, girl” with longer variant wendi “maiden” derived from the early root {ᴱ√WENE >>} ᴱ√GWENE (QL/103). The form wendi was also mentioned in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon, but there the root was {ᴱ√gw̯ene >>} ᴱ√gu̯eđe (GL/45). In the Nieninqe poem written around 1930 it was ᴱQ. wende “maiden” (MC/215), a form that reappeared in the version of the poem from the 1950s as well (PE16/96).

In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien gave this word as ᴹQ. wende, vende “maiden” under the root ᴹ√WEN-ED of the same meaning (Ety/WEN), In a marginal note Tolkien said that derivatives of ᴹ√WEN-ED should be transferred to ᴹ√GWEN, and under that root Tolkien indicated there was blending with ᴹQ. wende “maid” (Ety/GWEN).

In later writings Tolkien mostly used the form wende, but in Quenya prayers from the 1950s he once wrote Vénde, where the long é was probably a slip (VT44/5, 10). Likewise in later writings Tolkien mostly gave the root as √WEN(ED), but in one place considered deriving wende from √GWEN “fair” (PE17/191). Finally he generally translated this word as “maiden”, but in Quenya Prayers from the 1950s used it with the sense “virgin” in reference to the Virgin Mary (VT44/5, 12).

Neo-Quenya: It is tricky to reconcile Tolkien’s regular use of the form wende with the root √WEN(ED), since ancient w became v in Quenya, making the expected form vende. To retain wende, the most straightforward explanation is that it was derived from strengthened ✱gwendē, since this initial cluster survived as w at least into Classical Quenya and possibly beyond. However, the strengthening of ✶wendē > ✱gwendē must have occurred after the Common Eldarin period, otherwise the Sindarin form would have been ✱✱bend, whereas Tolkien consistently used S. gwen(d).

Many Neo-Quenya writers avoid this question simply by revising the form to vende, a practice I recommend as well, though its suffixal form would (mostly) remain -wen. I also prefer to use vende mainly for “maiden, ✱young woman” and for “virgin” (of any gender) I recommend vénë.

vendë

maiden

vendë < wendë noun "maiden" (WEN/WENED, VT45:16), "virgin" (in Tolkien's translations of Catholic prayers where the reference is to Mary; see VT44:10, 18). The form Véndë in VT44:10 seems abnormal; normally Quenya does not have a long vowel in front of a consonant cluster.

wendë

maid

wendë noun "maid" (GWEN), wendë > vendë "maiden" (WEN/WENED, VT45:16, VT47:17). Sana wendë "that maiden" (PE16:96 cf. 90). According to VT47:17, this word for "maiden" is "applied to all stages up to the fully adult (until marriage)".Early "Qenya" also had wendi "maid, girl" (LT1:271); this may look like a plural form in Tolkiens later Quenya. On the other hand, VT48:18 lists a word wendi "young or small woman, girl". It is unclear whether this is Quenya or a Common Eldarin form, but probably the former: PE17:191 displays the word for "maiden" as wendē, so the Quenya stem form is probably *wende- rather than wendi*-, the stem-form that would result from Common Eldarin wendi). In his Quenya translation of the Sub Tuum Praesidium, Tolkien used Wendë/Vendë to translate "virgin" with reference to the Virgin Mary. Here the plural genitive Wenderon appears in the phrase Wendë mi Wenderon "Virgin of Virgins"; we might have expected Wendion instead (VT44:18).If the pl. form of wendë is wender rather than wendi, as the gen.pl. wenderon suggests, this may be to avoid confusion with the sg. wendi** "girl".

-lta

their

-lta (and -ltya), 3rd person pl. pronominal possessive suffix "their", alternating with -nta/-ntya in Tolkiens writings (VT49:16, 17), just as the ending -ltë "they" also has the variant -ntë. According to VT49:17, the ending -lta or -ltya will appear as -ilta, -iltya following a consonant; other sources rather point to -e- as the connecting vowel in such cases (VT49:17).

-nta

their

-nta (2) possessive 3rd person pl. pronominal ending: "their" (VT49:17). Lintienta "their speed" (PE17:58), nassentar "their true-being[s]" (PE17:175). This ending corresponds to -ntë "they" (other versions of Quenya uses -ltë for "they" and hence -lta for "their"). Also -ntya, q.v. According to VT49:17, the ending -nta appears as -inta following a consonant (other sources point to -e- rather than -i- as the connecting vowel in such cases).

-nta

suffix. their

-ntya

their

-ntya, possessive 3rd person pl. pronominal ending: "their" (VT49:17), corresponding to -ntë as the ending for "they". Besides -ntya the form -nta is also attested, but the latter clashes with the ending for dual allative. (Other variants of Quenya uses -lta for "their", corresponding to -ltë as the ending for "they".) According to VT49:17, the ending -ntya appears as -intya following a consonant (other sources point to -e- rather than -i- as the connecting vowel in such cases).

-twa

their

-twa 2) an pronominal possessive ending mentioned in one chart of pronouns, apparently "their" referring to two persons (VT49:16); this may be an ending used in colloquial Quenya rather than formal language (it is listed together with the endings -ya "his, her" and -rya "their", that are explicitly said to belong to colloquial Quenya) (VT49:16-17)

entulessë

return

entulessë noun "return" (UT:171)

entulessë

proper name. Return

The name of the Númerórean ship that was the first to return to Middle-earth, six centuries after Númenor was settled (UT/171). It is the noun entulessë “return” used as a name.

entulessë

noun. return

lelya-

go, proceed (in any direction), travel

lelya- (1) vb. "go, proceed (in any direction), travel", pa.t. lendë / elendë (WJ:363, VT14:5, PE17:139) At one point Tolkien assigned a more specific meaning to the underlying root LED: "go away from the speaker or the point in mind, depart" (PE17:52), which would make lelya- a near synonym of auta-. The same source denies that the derivatives of _LED _were used simply for "go, move, travel", but elsewhere Tolkien assigns precisely that meaning to lelya-.

lenna-

go

lenna- vb. "go", pa.t. lendë "went" (LED; cf. lelya-). In the Etymologies as printed in LR, the word lenna- wrongly appears as **linna-; see VT45:27.

men-

go

#men- (4) vb. "go" (VT47:11, cf. VT42:30, VT49:23), attested in the aorist (menë) in the sentence imbi Menel Cemenyë menë Ráno tië "between Heaven and Earth goes the path of the Moon". In the verb nanwen- "return" (or go/come back), -men- is changed to -wen- following nan- "back" (etymological form cited as nan-men-, PE17:166). In examples from VT49:23, 24, Tolkien used men- in the sense of "go as far as": 1st person sg. aorist menin (menin coaryanna "I arrive at [or come/get to] his house"), endingless aorist menë, present tense ména- "is on point of arrival, is just coming to an end", past tense mennë "arrived, reached", in this tense usually with locative rather than allative (mennen sís "I arrive[d] here"), perfect eménië "has just arrived", future menuva "will arrive". All of these examples were first written with the verb as ten- rather than men-, Tolkien then emending the initial consonant.

nanwen-

return

nanwen- vb. "return" (go/come back) (PE17:166). The etymological form nan-men- indicates that the second element is #men- "go", changed to -wen- following nan- "back"; hence the perfect should perhaps be *naneménië.

vanya-

go, depart, disappear

vanya- (2) vb. "go, depart, disappear", pa.t. vannë (WAN). The verb auta- may have replaced this word in Tolkien's later conception.

wendi

maid, girl

wendi noun "maid, girl" (LT1:271), "young or small woman, girl" (VT48:18); see wendë

wendë

noun. maiden

gwenn

noun. maiden

-(r)il

suffix. feminine suffix

-il

suffix. feminine suffix

gwend

noun. maiden

gwenn

noun. maiden

-êth

suffix. feminine suffix

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.

-î

suffix. feminine suffix

A suffix used to form feminine nouns from common or masculine nouns (SD/435). Another common variant was -ê (SD/438).

-iel

suffix. feminine suffix

nanmen-

verb. return