Fíriel
noun. a mortal maid
Fíriel
noun. mortal maid
fíriel
feminine name. Fíriel
Daughter of king Ondoher and wife of Arvedui (LotR/1049), her name is a compound of Feir “mortal” and the feminine suffix -iel meaning “Mortal Maid” (Ety/PHIR).
Conceptual Development: In Tolkien’s unfinished story “The Lost Road” from the 1930s, the name Fíriel was given to a Númenórean maiden (LR/62). In The Etymologies from the 1930s, the name appeared as a name of Lúthien, with the gloss and etymology given above (Ety/PHIR).
Elements
Word Gloss Feir “Mortal, Mortal, [N.] mortal man” -iel “daughter; feminine suffix”
fíreb
adjective. mortal
fíreb
noun. Mortal
Cognates
- Q. Fírima “Mortal, (lit.) One Apt to Die” ✧ WJ/387
fíreb
adjective. mortal
An adjective meaning “mortal”, more literally “those apt to die”, a Sindarin adaptation of Q. fírima of the same meaning, both based on the root √PHIR having to do with natural death (WJ/387). It was also used as Fíreb to refer to Mortal Men, a variant of Feir of similar meaning. Tolkien said “Fíreb as compared with Fírima shows the use of a different suffix, since the S equivalent of Q -ima (✱-ef) was not current” (WJ/387).
Derivations
- √PHIR “exhale, expire, breathe out, exhale, expire, breathe out; [ᴹ√] die of natural causes” ✧ WJ/387
Element in
- S. Fíreb “Mortal” ✧ WJ/387
Elements
Word Gloss fir- “to fade, *die” -eb “adjective suffix” Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √PHIRI > Fíreb [pʰīrikwā] > [pʰīripā] > [pʰīripa] > [ɸīripa] > [ɸīrepa] > [fīrepa] > [fīrep] > [fīreb] ✧ WJ/387 Variations
- Fíreb ✧ WJ/387
firieth
noun. mortal woman
firin
adjective. mortal
adj. mortal. >> firen
firion
noun. mortal man
firiath
noun. mortals, human beings
fair
noun. mortal
feir
noun. mortal
feir
noun. Mortal, Mortal, [N.] mortal man
A term used for Men meaning “Mortal”, appearing in the Quendi and Eldar essay of 1959-60, cognate to Q. Firya of the same meaning, both derived from √PHIR which was the basis of words for natural death (WJ/387). According to Tolkien this word was borrowed from Quenya, since the Noldor had pre-knowledge of the nature of Men having learned of them from the Valar. The plural form of Feir was Fîr and its class plural Firiath, the latter also appearing in contemporaneous Silmarillion drafts (WJ/219 footnote). It is unclear why this word did not become ✱Fair, since ei became ai in Sindarin monosyllables. Perhaps it remained Feir because it was an adaptation from Quenya, or it could be a conceptual remnant of its Noldorin form (see below).
Conceptual Development: Probably the first precursor to this word was ᴱN. fion “man, human being” from Index of Names for The Lay of the Children of Húrin compiled in the early 1920s (PE15/62), also appearing with the gloss “mortal man” in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the same period (PE13/143). In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien gaven N. {fîr “man, mortal” >>} feir pl. fîr “mortals” under the root ᴹ√PHIR (Ety/PHIR; EtyAC/PHIR), hence with basically the same form, meaning and etymology as it had in later Sindarin.
Cognates
- Q. Firya “Mortal” ✧ WJ/219; WJI/Feir; WJ/219
Derivations
Element in
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources Q. Firya > Feir [firja] > [ferja] > [feria] > [feri] > [feir] ✧ WJ/387 Q. Firya > Fîr [firji] > [firi] > [fir] ✧ WJ/387
fíreb
mortal
(adj. and noun) fíreb (pl. fírib), coll. pl. firebrim. The literal meaning is "apt to die" (WJ:387).
fíreb
mortal
(pl. fírib), coll. pl. firebrim. The literal meaning is "apt to die" (WJ:387).
firieth
mortal woman
(pl. firith).
firin
mortal
?firin. No distinct pl. form.
firin
mortal
. No distinct pl. form.
fair
mortal man
(fír-), pl. fîr, coll. pl. firiath. Archaic sg. feir (WJ:387). Wheareas the above-mentioned terms are apparently gender-neutral, the following are gender-specific:
fair (“mortal”) + iell (“daughter, child” [Etym. SEL-D] traditional ending for women’s names)