An adjective whose basic sense is “gone, lost”, with numerous other similar translations such as “no longer to be had, vanished, departed, dead, past, over, gone for good”. The word vanwa is a good example of what I call an “anchor word”: a word that Tolkien established early in his development of Elvish and retained unchanged despite numerous changes in related elements of the languages. This word first appeared as part of the name ᴱQ. Mar Vanwa Tyaliéva “Cottage of the Lost Play” from the 1910s (LT1/14). Its most notable use in later writings was in the poem Namárië, where it appeared in the phrase sí vanwa ná, Rómello vanwa, Valimar! “now lost, lost to those from the east is Valimar!” (LotR/377).
Conceptual Development: In the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, the adjective ᴱQ. vanwa “gone, on the road, past, over, lost” appeared under the early root ᴱ√VAHA (QL/99), itself based on the root ᴱ√AVA “go away, depart, leave” (QL/33). It reappeared in the English-Qenya Dictionary of the 1920s with the gloss “over, gone” (PE15/76). In The Etymologies of the 1930s, ᴹQ. vanwa “gone, departed, vanished, lost, past” was derived from the root ᴹ√WAN “depart, go away, disappear, vanish” (Ety/WAN).
In the Quenya Verbal System of the 1948, ᴹQ. vanwa “gone, over” was given as an example of the perfective participle -nwa in combination with the root ᴹ√BĀ/BANA “go, proceed” (PE22/106). Very likely this was the derivation when Tolkien wrote the Namárië poem for the 1st edition of The Fellowship of the Ring published in 1954. However, in 1959 Tolkien abandoned the root √BA(N) “go” (PE17/143). At that point Tolkien coined a new etymology for vanwa based on the invertible root √WĀ/AWA, most fully described in the Quendi and Eldar essay from 1959-60 (WJ/366). In that document Tolkien described its derivation and meaning as follows:
> This last [vanwa] was an old formation (which is also found in Sindarin), and was the most frequently used part of the verb [auta- “go away, leave”]. It developed the meanings “gone, lost, no longer to be had, vanished, departed, dead, past and over”.
Despite all these changes in its derivation and the associated roots, the adjective vanwa itself retained the same basic form and meaning throughout Tolkien’s life.
An imperative exclamation meaning “be gone!, stand aside!” derived from the root √HEK “aside, apart, separate” (WJ/361, 364). Since the root was not verbal, this is probably a fossilized form, based on an ancient suffixed imperative ✶hek(e) ā. The modern Quenya verb form derived from the root √HEK is hehta- “put aside, leave out, exclude, abandon, forsake” (WJ/365).
Tolkien said heca “often appears in the forms hekat sg. and hekal pl. with reduced pronominal affixes of the 2nd person” (WJ/364). This is the only place he used a pronominal suffix with a suffixed imperative, making this construction somewhat dubious, especially since it seems hec- itself is not a verb. I would assume these are additional fossilized forms. As further evidence of their fossilized nature, the sg. suffix -t(ye) seems to be used imperiously as it was in ancient language, as opposed to affectionately as it was in modern Quenya. Furthermore, the reduced suffix -l is plural rather than singular-polite as it was in modern Quenya.
Conceptual Development: There was a similar-meaning interjection ᴱQ. {avavanda >>} avande “get hence!” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√AVA “go away, depart, leave” (QL/33).