vëa

sea

vëa (3) noun "sea" (MC:213, 214, 216; possibly obsoleted by #1 and #2 above, though some argue that the initial element of the late names Vëantur and Vëandur [q.v.] could be vëa #3 rather than #2 (it can hardly be #1) . In any case, the normal word for "sea" in LotR-style Quenya seems to be ëar.) Inflected vëan "sea" (MC:220), vëar "in sea" (a "Qenya" locative in -r, MC:213), vëassë "on sea" (MC:220). Cf. also vëaciryo.

vëa

wind

vëa (4) noun "wind" (PE17:189)

vëa

seeming, apparent

vëa (1) adj. "seeming, apparent" (PE17:189)

vëa

adult, manly, vigorous

vëa (2) adj. "adult, manly, vigorous" (WEG)

vëa

adjective. seeming, apparent, seeming, apparent; [ᴱQ.] similar, like

vëa

noun. wind

airen

noun. sea

airë

sea

airë (2) noun "sea" (the form airen is given, intended as a genitive singular when Tolkien wrote this; in LotR-style Quenya it would rather be a dative sg.) (AYAR/AIR; cf. airon)

airë

noun. sea

An archaic word for “sea” which fell out of use to due conflict with “holy” words like aira or airë; it was a noun form of primitive ✶gaı̯ră (PE17/27). The more common modern word for “sea” is ëar.

Conceptual Development: ᴹQ. aire “sea” appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s as a derivative of ᴹ√AYAR (Ety/AY); it appeared beside a form ᴹQ. airen that might be a genitive form, or might be a longer form; see the entry on ᴹQ. airon for discussion.

váya

sea

váya noun "sea" (considered as "waters, motion"). The wording of the source indicates that Tolkien only tentatively considered such a word (PE17:33)

ëar

sea

ëar noun "sea" (AYAR/AIR [gives also dat. sg. ëaren],WJ:413; see Letters:386 for etymology). Not to be confused with the pl. form of the verb ëa "be, exist". Pl. ëari "seas" (FS, LR:47); Eär "the Great Sea" (cf. ëaron "ocean"), ablative Eärello "from the Great Sea", et Eärello "out of the Great Sea" (EO). Eärë noun "the open sea" (SD:305). Compound ëaruilë noun "seaweed" (UY). Found in proper names like Eärendil "Sea-friend", Eärendur masc. name, *"Sea-servant"; in effect a variant of Eärendil(Appendix A). Eärendur was also used ="(professional) mariner" (Letters:386).Fem. name Eärwen "Sea-maiden" (Silm); Eärrámë "Sea-wing", "Wings of the Sea", name of Tuor's ship (RAM, AYAR/AIR, SA)

vëandur

masculine name. Vëandur

An earlier name of Ciryon (PM/191). It might be a combination of [ᴹQ.] vea “sea” and -(n)dur “servant”; hat-tip to Vyacheslav Stepanov for this suggestion.

vëantur

masculine name. Vëantur

Númenórean Captain of the King’s Ships and grandfather of Aldarion (UT/171). The second element of his name is probably the suffixal form -(n)tur of -tur “lord”. The meaning of the initial element is unclear, but it might be related to [ᴹQ.] vea “sea”.

vailë

noun. wind, [strong] wind, *gale

An obscure word for “wind” in notes from December 1959 (D59) derived from the root √WAYA and appearing in various forms: vëa, vaiwe, and vaile, the last of these with an adjectival form vailima “windy” (P17/189). A similar set of Quenya derivatives of √WAY appeared in notes from 1957, but there most of the forms were rejected: {vaiwe, view-, vaive, víw}, along with unrejected váva (PE17/33-34). Tolkien considered all these as possible cognates of S. gwae “wind”.

Conceptual Development: Precursors include ᴱQ. ’wā “wind” from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√GWĀ (QL/102), ᴱQ. vá or vanwe “wind” from Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1930s (PE16/142) and ᴹQ. vaiwa “wind” from The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√WAIWA (Ety/WĀ). Thus the Quenya forms were much less stable than their Sindarin equivalent and its precursor, which were simply G. gwâ “wind” (GL/43; PE13/146) >> N./S. gwae(w) “wind” (Ety/WĀ; NM/237; PE17/33-34, 189).

Neo-Quenya: Of the various forms, I prefer Q. vailë since (a) it is later, (b) has an adjectival form and (c) has a possible direct cognate S. gwael “✱wind”, also from around the same time. Q. súrë is the usual word for “wind” and is thus preferable for most uses, but I think vailë might be used for a strong wind or gale, since elsewere in Quenya derivatives of √WĀ seem to be tied to stronger winds: hwarwa “violent wind”, vangwë “storm” (NM/237).

Vëandur

vigorous servant

Vëandur, masc. name (PM:191), either "Vigorous servant" or "Sea-servant" (= mariner; compare ëarendur, etymologically very similar if the Qenya form vëa "sea" was maintained in later Quenya). See vëa #1 and 2 and compare Vëantur.

Vëantur

vigorous lord

Vëantur, masc. name (UT:171), either "Vigorous lord" or "Sea-lord" (see vëa #1 and 2; those who prefer the translation *"Sea-lord" see this name as evidence that Tolkien maintained the Qenya noun vëa "sea" in later Quenya). Compare Vëandur.

vëaciryo

of sea-ship

vëaciryo ("k") noun in genitive "of sea-ship", genitive of *vëacirya ("k")(MC:216; this is "Qenya"; see vëa # 2)

vëaner

(adult) man

vëaner noun "(adult) man" (WEG)

vëassë

vigour

vëassë noun "vigour" (WEG)

vëo

man

†vëo noun "man" (WEG; etymologically connected to vëa "manly, vigorous"; the more neutral word for "man" is nér. According to VT46:21, Tolkien indicated that vëo is an archaic or poetic word.) Tolkien at a later point defined the word as "living creature" (PE17:189). Cf. variant wëo, q.v.

Vëantur

Vëantur

Vëantur's name means either "Commander of Men" or "Manly Commander" in Quenya (from vëan, 'man', 'manliness' and -ntur, meaning 'commander').

vëalta-

verb. to resemble

ciryando

sailor

ciryando ("k")noun "sailor" (PE17:58).

ciryando

noun. sailor

lér

man

**lér noun "man" (NI1; hypothetical Q form of PQ dēr; the form actually used in Quenya was nér)

nér

man

nér (1) (ner-, as in pl. neri) noun "man" (adult male elf, mortal, or of other speaking race) (MR:213, VT49:17, DER, NDER, NI1, VT45:9; see also WJ:393)

nér

noun. man

súru

wind

súru noun "wind" (MC:213, 216, 220; this is "Qenya"; Tolkien's later Quenya has súrë)

súrë

wind

súrë noun "wind", stem súri- because of primitive form sūrǐ- (PE17:62),hence the instrumental form súrinen "in the wind" or more literally "by the wind" (Nam, RGEO:66,Markirya, J.R.R. Tolkien: Artist & Illustrator p. 197); Súrion masc.name, "Wind-son" (Appendix A). Early "Qenya" has súru (MC:213, 216, 220). See also súriquessë.

vailë

wind

vailë noun "wind" (PE17:189)

vaiwa

wind

vaiwa noun "wind" (WĀ/WAWA/WAIWA)

vaiwë

wind

vaiwë noun "wind" (PE17:189)

vaiwë

noun. wind

wai

wind, weave

wai (what the primitive element ¤wei "wind, weave" became in Quenya; therefore confused with the stem WAY "enfold") (WEY)

wailë

wind

wailë noun "wind", later form vailë, q.v. (PE17:189)

waiwa

wind

waiwa noun "wind" (WĀ/WAWA/WAIWA)

wá

wind

wá (actually spelt wâ) noun "wind" (LT1:266). Cf. wáya-.

ëar falastala

the sea surging

The tenth line of the Markirya poem (MC/222). The first word is ëar “sea” followed by the active-participle (“-ing”) of the verb falasta- “to surge”.

Decomposition: Broken into its constituent elements, this phrase would be:

> ëar falasta-la = “✱sea surg-ing”

vëasta

noun. comparison, resemblance

aer

noun. sea

oear

noun. sea

oear

noun. sea

oer

noun. sea

oer

noun. sea

gwaew

noun. wind

benn

noun. man, male

dîr

noun. man, referring to an adult male (elf, mortal, or of any other speaking race)

forodrim

noun. Northmen

forodwaith

noun. Northmen

forodwaith

noun. the lands of the North

forodweith

noun. Northmen

forodweith

noun. the lands of the North

gwaew

noun. wind

azra

noun. sea

The Adûnaic word for “sea” (SD/429), appearing as azar in some early texts (SD/305). It is fully declined on SD/431.

pharaz

noun. sea

A draft word for “sea”, deleted and replaced with azar (SD/305), which later become azra. This word reappeared later with a different meaning: pharaz “gold”.

bawab

noun. wind

The noun for “wind”, attested only in the plural (bawîb) and subjective plural (bawîba) forms (SD/247, SD/312). Its plural form indicates that it is a strong-noun (Strong I), so its final vowel must be short, but in theory it could be any of a, i or u, each of which would be replaced by long î in plural nouns. Nouns with identical vowels are more common, however, so ✱bawab is the most likely singular form, though as Helge Fauskanger points out (AL/Adûnaic) the normal form could also be the weak noun ✱bawâb with a poetic strong plural (SD/435).

ay(ar)

root. sea

ndē̆r

noun. man

sū

noun. wind

sūli

noun. wind

sūri

noun. wind

thar

root. vigour

aear

noun. sea

Tolkien changed this word several times, see gaear

aear

Sea

_n. _Sea, especially the Great (Western) Sea. Q. ear. nef aear, sí nef aearon lit. 'beyond the Sea, here beyond the Great Sea'. >> gaear, gaer

aear

noun. sea

aer

noun. sea

Tolkien changed this word several times, see aear , gaear

gaear

noun. sea

gaear

Sea

_n. _Sea, especially the Great (Western) Sea. Shorter form gaer. Q. ear. >> aear, gaer

gaear

noun. sea

A word for “sea” variously attested as gaear (PE17/027; PM/363; WJ/400), gaer (PE17/27; PE17/149), and aear (Let/386; RGEO/65) in later writings. Of these, I prefer gaear for purposes of Neo-Sindarin, reduced to gaer in compounds.

Possible Etymology: The presence or absence of the initial g- depends on whether the word’s root is √AY(AR) (as it appears in The Etymologies and some later writings) or √GAY(AR) (as it appears in other later writings). See the entry of the root √GAY(AR) for a discussion of this vacillation. Similarly, the form gaer appears primarily as an element in compounds, and can be explained as a reduced form of gaear in that context. For these reasons, this entry uses gaear as the ordinary Sindarin word for “sea”. This has the additional advantage of disambiguating it from the adjective gaer “dreadful”.

Conceptual Development: This word appeared as N. oer or oear “sea” in The Etymologies of the 1930s, reflecting the Noldorin sound change of ai to oe (Ety/AY). However name for the “Great Sea” was N. {Belegar >>} Belegaer in the narratives of this period (LR/19), and the name N. Rhûnaer “Eastern Sea” appeared in draft Lord of the Rings maps from 1943 (TI/307). The element N. oer did appear in the day-of-the-week name N. Aroeren “✱Sea-day” in drafts of The Lord of the Rings appendices, but this was revised to S. Oraeron (PM/130, 138).

gaer

noun. sea

gaer

Sea

_n._Sea, especially the Great (Western) Sea. Shorter form of gaear.Q. aire (obsolete). >> aear, gaear

gaer

noun. sea

gwae

wind

_ n. _wind. Tolkien also notes "WAKH in wagme > gwaew, gwae" (PE17:34). Q. vea. >> gwaew

aear

sea

aear (ocean); pl. aeair. The shorter form aer (for N oer) is maybe best avoided since it can be confused with aer "holy", unless the latter is actually a lenited form of gaer. Forms with g-, representing an alternative concept of the word for ”sea”: gaear (i **aear) (ocean), pl. gaeair (i ngaeair = i ñaeair) (PM:363), also gaer (i **aer, no distinct pl. form except with article: i ngaer = i ñaer), but homophones of the latter mean "reddish, copper-coloured, ruddy" and also "dreadful, awful, fearful; holy".

aear

sea

(ocean); pl. aeair. The shorter form aer (for N oer) is maybe best avoided since it can be confused with aer "holy", unless the latter is actually a lenited form of gaer. Forms with g-, representing an alternative concept of the word for ”sea”: gaear (i ’aear) (ocean), pl. gaeair (i ngaeair = i ñaeair) (PM:363), also gaer (i ’aer, no distinct pl. form except with article: i ngaer = i ñaer), but homophones of the latter mean "reddish, copper-coloured, ruddy" and also "dreadful, awful, fearful; holy".

Dúnadan

noun. Man of the west, Númenórean

adan

noun. man, one of the Second People (elvish name for men)

adanadar

noun. man, one of the Fathers of Men

adanath

noun. men

aearon

noun. great sea, ocean

Tolkien changed this word several times, see gaearon

drúadan

noun. wild man, one of the Woses

drû

noun. wild man, Wose, Púkel-Man

In PE/11:31, an older Gnomish word drû, drui meant "wood, forest", and in PE/13:142, the early Noldorin word drú was assigned the meaning "dark". Drû pl. Drúin later came to be used for the name of the Woses, with other derivatives (Drúadan, etc.). "Wose" is actually the modernization of an Anglo-Saxon word wasa only found in the compound wudu-wasa "wild man of the woods", cf. UT/385 sq. In the drafts of the "Ride of the Rohirrim" in WR/343-346, the Woses first appeared as "the dark men of Eilenach". Though internally said to derive from drughu in their own tongue, Tolkien's choice for the Sindarin name of the Woses was apparently influenced by earlier meanings assigned to this word

dîr

noun. man, man, [N.] adult male; agental suffix

A word for “man” as a male person, attested only as an element in compounds or as (archaic?) ndir (PE17/60). This word likely refers to male individuals of all races including Elves, Men, Dwarves and so forth, much like its Quenya cognate Q. nér. This word must have been derived from the primitive subjective form ✶ndēr of the root √N(D)ER “male person”, where the ancient long ē became ī, and the initial cluster nd- became d-, though the ancient cluster would still be reflected in mutated forms, such as in i nîr “the man” rather than ✱✱i dhîr.

Conceptual Development: Perhaps the earliest precursor to this word is (archaic) G. †drio “hero, warrior” with variants driw, driodweg and driothweg, a cognate of ᴱQ. nēr (GL/22). This Gnomish word was derived from primitive ᴱ✶n’reu̯, where the initial nr- became dr-. At this early stage, the root was unstrengthened ᴱ√NERE (QL/65), as reflected in (archaic) ᴱN. nîr “hero, prince, warrior-elf” in the Early Noldorin Dictionary of the 1920s (PE13/164).

In The Etymologies of the 1930s the root became ᴹ√DER “adult male, man” of any speaking race and the derived form was N. dîr (Ety/DER). However, in this document Tolkien said:

> EN †dîr surviving chiefly in proper names (as Diriel older Dirghel [GYEL], Haldir, Brandir) and as agental ending (as ceredir “doer, maker”) ... In ordinary use EN has benn [for “man”] (properly = “husband”).

Thus in the scenario described in The Etymologies, dîr “man” was archaic and used only as an element in names or as a suffix. In ordinary speech it was replaced by N. benn, which used to mean “husband” but now meant “man”, while the word for “husband” became N. hervenn (Ety/BES). It is unlikely Tolkien imagined this exact scenario in later Sindarin, however, since the 1930s root for benn was ᴹ√BES “wed”, but by the 1960s the root for husband/wife/marry words had become √BER.

Neo-Sindarin: Since the status of N. benn is questionable given ᴹ√BES >> √BER, many Neo-Sindarin writers prefer to use S. ✱dîr as the Sindarin word for man. I am of the opinion that both dîr and benn are acceptable for “man, male person”. This is because I prefer to retain ᴹ√BES as the root for “marry, wed”, since it is the best basis for attested husband/wife words in (Neo) Sindarin.

gaearon

noun. great sea, ocean

gaeron

noun. great sea, ocean

gwae

noun. wind

The normal Sindarin word for “wind”, usually appearing as gwae but sometimes as gwaew, most frequently derived from √WAY “blow” but also a bewildering variety of other roots (NM/237; PE17/33-34, 189); see the entry for √WĀ for further discussion.

Conceptual Development: The earliest form of this word was G. gwâ “wind” from both Gnomish Grammar and Gnomish Lexicon from the 1910s (GG/14; GL/43). The form ᴱN. gwá “wind” reappeared in Early Noldorin Word-lists from the 1920s (MC/217), but in the Nebrachar poem from circa 1930 the form was gwaew “wind” (MC/217). It was N. gwaew “wind” in The Etymologies of the 1930s from the root ᴹ√WAIWA (Ety/WĀ), and appeared a number of times in later writings as both gwae and (more rarely) gwaew, as noted above.

Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I prefer using only gwae for “wind”, reserving gwaew for “storm”.

gwaew

wind

_ n. _wind. Tolkien also notes "WAKH in wagme > gwaew, gwae" (PE17:34). >> gwae

sûl

noun. wind

sûl

noun. wind, [strong] wind, *gust

A noun for “wind” appearing in names like Amon Sûl, derived from the root √SŪ “blow, move with audible sound (of air)” (NM/237; PE17/124).

Conceptual Development: A precursor to this word is G. saul “great wind” from the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/67), derived from the early root ᴱ√SUHYU “air, breath, exhale, puff” as suggested by Christopher Tolkien (LT1A/Súlimo; QL/86).

Neo-Sindarin: Given its connection to the sound of wind, I think sûl would be used mostly for strong or noisy wind, including (but not limited to) gusts of wind, as opposed to more ordinary (and less noisy) gwae “wind”. This notion is supported by its Gnomish precursor G. saul “great wind”.

adan

man

(pl. Edain; the coll. pl. Adanath is attested). The word Adan came to be used primarily of a member of the Three Houses of the Edain, not of the mortal race of Men in general.

bôr

trusty man

(boron-) (i vôr, construct bor) (steadfast man, faithful vassal), pl. *b**ŷr* for older beryn, i meryn (archaic böryn, i möryn). In ”Noldorin”, the older pl. forms were berein, beren.

cirion

sailor

cirion (i girion) (shipman), pl. ciryn (i chíryn), coll. pl. cirionnath.

cirion

sailor

(i girion) (shipman), pl. ciryn (i chíryn), coll. pl. cirionnath.

curunír

man of craft

(i gurunír, o churunír) (wizard), no distinct pl. form except with article (i churunír), coll. pl. ?curuníriath.

dîr

man

1) (adult male of any speaking race) dîr (dír-, also agentive ending -dir or -nir; with article, i nîr, hard mutation as in o ndîr), no distinct pl. form except with article (i ndîr); coll. pl. díriath. Also benn (i venn, construct ben), pl. binn (i minn). The latter is in archaic language used = "husband" (the etymological meaning). The ending -we in names may also express ”being, man, person”. 2) (mortal human as opposed to Elf) Adan (pl. Edain; the coll. pl. Adanath is attested). The word Adan came to be used primarily of a member of the Three Houses of the Edain, not of the mortal race of Men in general.

dîr

man

(dír-, also agentive ending -dir or -nir; with article, i nîr, hard mutation as in o ndîr), no distinct pl. form except with article (i ndîr); coll. pl. díriath. Also benn (i venn, construct ben), pl. binn (i minn). The latter is in archaic language used = "husband" (the etymological meaning). The ending -we in names may also express ”being, man, person”.

dúnadan

man of the west

(i Núnadan), pl. Dúnedain (i Ndúnedain) (WJ:378, 386).

firion

mortal man

(pl. firyn).

gothiol

adjective. similar

gwaeren

windy

(lenited ’waeren; pl. gwaerin)

gwaew

wind

1) gwaew (i **waew) (storm), no distinct pl. form except with article (in gwaew), 2) sûl (i hûl), pl. suil (i suil**). Note: a homophone means ”goblet”.

gwaew

wind

(i ’waew) (storm), no distinct pl. form except with article (in gwaew)

gôr

vigour

1) gôr (i **ôr, construct gor), pl. gŷr (i ngŷr** = i ñŷr). Note: a homophone means ”horror, fear, dread” but has different mutations.

gôr

vigour

(i ’ôr, construct gor), pl. gŷr (i ngŷr = i ñŷr). Note: a homophone means ”horror, fear, dread” but has different mutations.

rhavan

wild man

(?i thravan or ?i ravan – the lenition product of rh is uncertain), pl. rhevain (?idh revain) (WJ:219). – The following terms apparently apply to ”men” of any speaking race:

sûl

wind

(i hûl), pl. suil (i suil). Note: a homophone means ”goblet”.

thalion

dauntless man

(hero), pl. thelyn. Also used as an adj. ”dauntless, steadfast, strong”. 

beorn

noun. man

The shift of e to eo is strange and has no direct parallels, but compare eo from i in meord "fine rain" (< primitive mizdê). Normally final -ô becomes -â in Nandorin (see golda), but here it is simply lost instead of producing *beorna. C.f. meord the other word where we might have expected to see a final -a (in that case from -ê); it may be that final vowels are lost in words that would otherwise come to have more than two syllables. - The shift of primitive s to r in besnô > beorn may be ascribed primarily to the blending with ber(n)ô, but r from z is seen in meord < mizdê; perhaps the s of besnô first became z and then r. Such developments are common in Quenya.