The chief of the Valar, spouse of Varda (S/26). His name is an adaptation of his Valarin name or title: Val. Mānawenūz (WJ/399), with its final element influenced by the suffix -wë common in ancient names (PE17/189-190). Its initial element is related to root √MAN, also adapted from Valarin and seen in names like Aman (PM/357, SA/mān). An approximate translation of his name is “Blessed Being, Ruler or One” (Let/283, PE22/85, WJ/399).
Conceptual Development: The name ᴱQ. Manwe of the Lord of the Valar dates back to the earliest Lost Tales (LT1/52, QL/58). In The Etymologies from the 1930s, the derivation of ᴹQ. Manwe from its Primitive Elvish elements √MAN and -we was essentially the same as given above (Ety/MAN, WEG). At these earlier stages, however, “Primitive Elvish” was actually Valarin (LR/192), so the idea of a separate adaptation from Valarin came later (WJ/399).
Manwë noun "Blessed Being" (Letters:283), the Elder King and Lord of the Valar, spouse of Varda. The name is adopted and adapted from Valarin Mānawenūz; names ending in -wë were already frequent in Quenya _(WJ:399). _In the Etymologies derived from MAN, WEG.Cf. Mánwen, Mánwë the oldest Quenya forms of Manwë, closer to the Valarin form (WJ:399). Lower-case manwë in LR:56. Ablative Manwello, VT49:24 (in this source Tolkien indicated that lo Manwë is the preferred way of saying "from Manwë", but this was apparently a short-lived idea; see lo). Masc. name Manwendil "Manwë-friend; one devoted to Manwë" (UT:210). In the pre-classical Tengwar system presupposed in the Etymologies, Manwë was also the name of letter #22 (VT45:32), which tengwa Tolkien would later call vala instead changing its Quenya value from m to v.