Sindarin 

Faenor

noun. Faenor

spirit of fire (pure S of half S - half Q Fëanor); faer (“spirit”) + naur (“fire”) S form of Q Fëanáro.

Sindarin [Tolkiendil] Group: Tolkiendil Compound Sindarin Names. Published by

faenor

masculine name. Spirit of Fire

The proper form of Fëanor if it were a true Sindarin name (MR/217, PM/343). This name is a combination of fae “spirit” and the suffixal form -nor of naur “fire”.

Elements

WordGloss
fae“incarnate spirit, incarnate spirit, *soul”
naur“fire, fire, [N.] flame”
Sindarin [MR/217; MRI/Fëanor; PM/343; PMI/Fëanor] Group: Eldamo. Published by

fëanor

masculine name. Spirit of Fire

Greatest of the Noldor and crafter of the Silmarils (LotR/657). His Sindarin name is a partial adaptation of his mother-name Q. Fëanáro “Spirit of Fire”, as opposed to a pure Sindarin translation, which would have been Faenor (MR/217, PM/343). As such, it is a combination of Q. fëa “spirit” and the suffixal form -nor of S. naur “fire”.

Conceptual Development: The earliest mention of this name is in the Gnomish Lexicon from the 1910s, where ᴱQ. Feanor is explicitly marked Qenya, with a cognate G. Fionor (< Fionaur) “Goblet Smith” in Gnomish (GL/35). The language of the name Feanor in earliest Lost Tales is not specified, but it is probable that Tolkien re-imagined the name as Gnomish at an early stage, since both Feanor and his father Bruithwir were of the Noldoli (LT1/128, 145).

In the Silmarillion drafts and The Etymologies from the 1930s, the name N. Feanor is explicitly marked as Noldorin, with a Qenya equivalent ᴹQ. Feanáro, both developed from primitive ᴹ✶Phayanāro “Radiant Sun” (Ety/PHAY). However, the phonetic developments leading from ᴹ✶Phaya- to N. Fea- are obscure, and the combination [ea] does not occur in any other Noldorin word. This is likely the reason Tolkien developed the mix-language derivation discussed above, which appears in notes associated with the Silmarillion revisions from the 1950s-60s.

Cognates

  • Q. Fëanáro “Spirit of Fire” ✧ MR/257; MRI/Fëanor; PE17/039; PE17/118; PM/343; PMI/Fëanor; SA/nár; SI/Fëanor

Derivations

  • Q. Fëanáro “Spirit of Fire” ✧ SI/Fëanor

Elements

WordGloss
fëa“(indwelling or incarnate) spirit, soul”
naur“fire, fire, [N.] flame”

Variations

  • Feänor ✧ PE17/118
Sindarin [LotR/1116; LotRI/Fëanor; MR/217; MR/257; MRI/Fëanor; PE17/039; PE17/118; PM/343; PMI/Fëanor; S/063; SA/fëa; SA/nár; SI/Fëanor; UTI/Fëanor; WJI/Fëanor] Group: Eldamo. Published by