wehe Reconstructed

root. *death

This root appeared in the Qenya Lexicon as unglossed ᴱ√VEHE where it served as the basis for the names ᴱQ. Vē and ᴱQ. Vefantor (QL/100), elsewhere explained as the “Fantur of Death” (QL/37). In the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon, the Gnomish cognates of these Qenya names were G. Gwî and G. Gwifanthor from primitive u̯ē· (GL/45). In the Qenya Lexicon Tolkien compared ᴱ√VEHE to ᴱ√FEHE, and while this root does not appear elsewhere, ᴱ√ǶEHE does, with gloss “breath; die, expire” and a derivative ᴱQ. Fé “last hour, death” (QL/41). Since ƕ is basically a voiceless w, it seems likely the actual root was ✱ᴱ√WEHE as voiced variant of ᴱ√ǶEHE, probably with a sense similar to “✱death”. None of these forms appear in Tolkien’s later writings.

Derivatives

• Eq. Vê ✧ LT1A/Vê; QL/100
• G. Gwî ✧ GL/45; LT1A/Vê

Variations

• u̯ē· ✧ GL/45
• VEHE ✧ LT1A/Vê; QL/100