findel

having beautiful hair

findel adj. "having beautiful hair" (PE17:119); it is possible that this is intended as Sindarin.

finë

hair

finë (1) (stem *fini-, given the primitive form ¤phini) noun "a hair" _(PM:340, PE17:17) or "larch" (SPIN)_

findë

hair

findë (1) noun "hair" (especially of the head) (PM:340), "a tress or plait of hair" (PM:345), "tress, braid of hair, lock of hair" (SPIN)

phindelë

mass of long hair

phindelë noun "mass of long hair" (PE17:17; the normal Quenya spelling should be findelë, cf. findilë

loxë

hair

loxë (1) ("ks")noun "hair" (LOK). In later sources Tolkien uses findë, findessë, findilë for "hair", leaving the conceptual status of loxë uncertain.

finnel

noun. mass of long hair

n. mass of long hair. >> find, finn

finnel

noun/adjective. head of hair, fax, mass of long hair; having fine or beautiful hair, head of hair, fax, mass of long hair; having fine or beautiful hair; [N.] (braided) hair; [G.] tress

This word had a quite lengthy history as an element in the name S. Glorfindel “Golden Hair”. It appeared in the Name-list to the Fall of Gondolin as G. findel “tress” (PE15/24) and in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon with the gloss “a lock of hair”, but in that document it was deleted and replaced by G. finn “a lock of hair” and G. fingl or finnil “tress” (GL/35). It appeared as N. finnel “(braided) hair” in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√SPIN (Ety/SPIN).

In Notes on Names (NN) from 1957 findel was an adjective meaning “having beautiful hair” or “having fine hair” (PE17/119, 151). In a torn half sheet from the late 1950s or early 1960s it was OS. findel, S. finnel “mass of long hair”, and in a document from around 1965 it was (archaic) findel “head of hair, fax” from primitive ✶spindilā (PE17/17). In this last document Tolkien said it was “preserved mainly in such old names as Glorfindel”, so Tolkien may have intended that it was no longer in active use in modern Sindarin.

Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I’d use fîn for a single hair, find for a tress or lock of hair or hair in general, with finnel used for an entire head of hair, assuming finnel survived into modern Sindarin with the usual sound change of medial nd to nn. I would assume it can also be used adjectivally in reference to having beautiful hair.

Cognates

• Q. findelë “tress, lock [of hair]” ✧ PE17/017
• Q. findilë “head of hair” ✧ PE17/017

Derivations

• ✶spindilā “head of hair” ✧ PE17/017; PE17/017; PE17/119; PE17/151

Element in

• S. Glorfindel “Golden-hair” ✧ PE17/017

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶espin-delē > findel > finnel	[spindelē] > [spindele] > [sɸindele] > [ɸindele] > [findele] > [findel] > [finnel]	✧ PE17/017
✶spindilā > findel	[spindilā] > [spindila] > [sɸindila] > [ɸindila] > [ɸindela] > [findela] > [findel] > [finnel]	✧ PE17/017
✶spin-dela > findel	[spindela] > [sɸindela] > [ɸindela] > [findela] > [findel] > [finnel]	✧ PE17/119

Variations

• findel ✧ PE17/017 (findel); PE17/119; PE17/151

findel

adjective. having beautiful hair

adj. having beautiful hair. >> Glorfindel

findel

noun/adjective. head of hair, fax, mass of long hair; having fine or beautiful hair

laws

noun. hair ringlet

finnel

braided tress of hair

finnel (pl. finnil). Archaic †findel (pl. findil).

finnel

braided tress of hair

finnel (pl. finnil). Archaic †findel (pl. †findil).

finnel

braided tress of hair

(pl. finnil). Archaic †findel (pl. findil).

find

hair

(construct fin), no distinct pl. form, coll. pl. finnath.

fîn

hair

1) (a single hair) fîn (construct fin), no distinct pl. form. (PM:362), 2) (lock of hair, tress) find (construct fin), no distinct pl. form, coll. pl. finnath.

fîn

hair

(construct fin), no distinct pl. form. (PM:362)

fast

shaggy hair

(pl. faist if there is a pl.).

phin

root. hair

finnel

noun. (braided) hair

finnel

noun. (braided) hair

Derivations

• On. sphindele “(braided) hair” ✧ Ety/SPIN

Element in

• N. Glorfindel ✧ Ety/SPIN

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
On. sphindéle > findel > finnel	[sɸindele] > [ɸindele] > [findele] > [findel] > [finnel]	✧ Ety/SPIN

findel

noun. (braided) hair

lhaws

noun. hair ringlet

fast

noun. shaggy hair