Quenya 

wendi

maid, girl

wendi noun "maid, girl" (LT1:271), "young or small woman, girl" (VT48:18); see wendë

wendë

noun. maiden

wendë

maid

wendë noun "maid" (GWEN), wendë > vendë "maiden" (WEN/WENED, VT45:16, VT47:17). Sana wendë "that maiden" (PE16:96 cf. 90). According to VT47:17, this word for "maiden" is "applied to all stages up to the fully adult (until marriage)".Early "Qenya" also had wendi "maid, girl" (LT1:271); this may look like a plural form in Tolkiens later Quenya. On the other hand, VT48:18 lists a word wendi "young or small woman, girl". It is unclear whether this is Quenya or a Common Eldarin form, but probably the former: PE17:191 displays the word for "maiden" as wendē, so the Quenya stem form is probably *wende- rather than wendi*-, the stem-form that would result from Common Eldarin wendi). In his Quenya translation of the Sub Tuum Praesidium, Tolkien used Wendë/Vendë to translate "virgin" with reference to the Virgin Mary. Here the plural genitive Wenderon appears in the phrase Wendë mi Wenderon "Virgin of Virgins"; we might have expected Wendion instead (VT44:18).If the pl. form of wendë is wender rather than wendi, as the gen.pl. wenderon suggests, this may be to avoid confusion with the sg. wendi** "girl".

wen

maid, girl

wen noun "maid, girl" (*wend-), in early "Qenya" also wendi (Tolkien's later Quenya form wendë occurs in MC:215 and in Etym, stems GWEN, WEN/WENED). (LT1:271, 273)

-wen

maiden

-wen "maiden" as suffix, a frequent ending in feminine names like Eärwen "Sea-maiden" (SA:wen). Early "Qenya" also has -wen, feminine patronymic "daughter of" (LT1:271, 273), but the patronymic ending seems to be -iel "-daughter" in Tolkien's later Quenya.

vendë

maiden

vendë < wendë noun "maiden" (WEN/WENED, VT45:16), "virgin" (in Tolkien's translations of Catholic prayers where the reference is to Mary; see VT44:10, 18). The form Véndë in VT44:10 seems abnormal; normally Quenya does not have a long vowel in front of a consonant cluster.

Sindarin 

gwend

noun. maiden

_n. _maiden. Q. wendē. >> gwen, gweneth

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:191] < WEN-ED girl, virgin, maiden. Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

gwend

noun. maiden, maiden, *young woman

A word for “maiden” or “✱young woman”, frequently appearing as suffixal -wen as an element in female names, derived from the root √WEN(ED) (PE17/191; Ety/WEN).

Conceptual Development: In the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, the word G. gwin meant “woman, female” and G. {gwen >>} gwennin was “girl” (GL/45). The former was derived from the root ᴱ√giu̯i which had to do with pregnancy, but the latter was derived from {ᴱ√gw̯ene >>} ᴱ√gu̯eđe. In the contemporaneous Qenya Lexicon {ᴱ√WENE >>} ᴱ√GWENE was the basis of words like ᴱQ. ’wen(di) “maiden” (QL/103). In the Gnomish Lexicon Slips it seems G. gwin was also reassigned to the root ᴱ√(G)WENE [ᴱ√u̯enĭ-], derived from ᴱ✶u̯einā́, though possibly shifted or blended in meaning with an adjectival sense “womanly” (PE13/113).

In the Early Noldorin Grammar of the 1920s, Tolkien had ᴱN. uin “woman” (PE13/123), a form that also appeared with this gloss in contemporaneous Early Noldorin Word-lists as a replacement for deleted {gwind, gwinn} (PE13/146, 155). In The Etymologies of the 1930s, Tolkien had N. gwend, gwenn “maiden” under the root ᴹ√WEN(ED) which he said was “often found in feminine names” (Ety/WEN). He noted that “since the [suffixed names] show no -d even in archaic spelling, they probably contain a form wen-”. Tolkien seems to have stuck with these forms thereafter.

Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I would use this word for a young woman or adolescent girl, especially prior to marriage, but for female children I would use neth.

Cognates

  • Q. vendë “maiden, *virgin” ✧ PE17/191

Derivations

  • wendē “maiden, young or small woman, girl”
    • WEN(ED) “maiden, girl, virgin; woman” ✧ VT47/17; VT48/18
  • WEN(ED) “maiden, girl, virgin; woman” ✧ PE17/191

Element in

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
WEN-ED > gwen(d)[wende] > [gwende] > [gwend] > [gwenn]✧ PE17/191

Variations

  • gwen(d) ✧ PE17/191
Sindarin [PE17/191] Group: Eldamo. Published by

gwen

noun. maiden

_n. _maiden. Q. wendē. >> gwend, gweneth

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:191] < WEN-ED girl, virgin, maiden. Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

gwend

maiden

gwend (i **wend, construct gwen) (friendship), pl. gwind (in gwind), coll. pl. gwennath**. Note: a homophone means ”bond, friendship”.

gwend

maiden

(i ’wend, construct gwen) (friendship), pl. gwind (in gwind), coll. pl. gwennath. Note: a homophone means ”bond, friendship”.

wen

maiden

, see MAIDEN. The final element -wen in names means ”girl, maiden, virgin”.

iell

maid

1) iell (-iel) (girl, daughter), pl. ill, 2) sell (i hell) (daughter, girl), pl. sill (i sill), coll. pl. sellath** **

iell

maid

(-iel) (girl, daughter), pl. ill

sell

maid

(i hell) (daughter, girl), pl. sill (i sill), coll. pl. *sellath*** **

Primitive elvish

wendē

noun. maiden, young or small woman, girl

Derivations

  • WEN(ED) “maiden, girl, virgin; woman” ✧ VT47/17; VT48/18

Derivatives

  • Q. vendë “maiden, *virgin”
  • S. gwend “maiden, maiden, *young woman”

Variations

  • wendi ✧ VT48/18
  • [w]ensi ✧ VT48/18
  • wenki ✧ VT48/18
Primitive elvish [VT47/17; VT48/18] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Noldorin 

gwend

noun. maiden

Noldorin [Ety/398, X/ND1] Group: SINDICT. Published by

gwenn

noun. maiden

Noldorin [Ety/398, X/ND1] Group: SINDICT. Published by

gwenn

noun. maiden

Cognates

  • ᴹQ. vende “maiden, maid” ✧ Ety/WEN

Derivations

  • ᴹ√WEN(ED) “maiden” ✧ Ety/WEN

Element in

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ√WENED > gwend > gwenn[wende] > [gwende] > [gwend] > [gwenn]✧ Ety/WEN

Beware, older languages below! The languages below were invented during Tolkien's earlier period and should be used with caution. Remember to never, ever mix words from different languages!

Old Noldorin 

wende

noun. maiden

Derivations

  • ᴹ√WEN(ED) “maiden” ✧ Ety/BAN

Element in

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ√WEN > wende[wende]✧ Ety/BAN
Old Noldorin [Ety/BAN] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Middle Primitive Elvish

wen(ed)

root. maiden

Derivatives

  • ᴹ✶wen- “girl” ✧ Ety/WEN
    • Ilk. gwen “girl” ✧ Ety/WEN
    • ᴹQ. véne “girl” ✧ Ety/WEN
  • ᴹQ. vende “maiden, maid” ✧ Ety/GWEN; Ety/WEN
  • N. gwenn “maiden” ✧ Ety/WEN
  • On. wende “maiden” ✧ Ety/BAN

Variations

  • WEN ✧ Ety/BAN; Ety/WEN
  • WENED ✧ Ety/WEN
Middle Primitive Elvish [Ety/BAN; Ety/GWEN; Ety/WEN] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Early Quenya

wen(di)

noun. maid, girl, maiden

Cognates

Derivations

  • ᴱ√GWENE “*maiden; woman” ✧ GL/45; LT1A/Urwen; QL/103; QL/103

Element in

Variations

  • wendi ✧ GL/45; LT1A/Urwen; QL/060; QL/103 (wendi)
  • wen ✧ LT1A/Urwen; LT1A/Wendelin
  • ’wen ✧ QL/103
  • ’wendi ✧ QL/103
  • wend- ✧ QL/103 (wend-)
Early Quenya [GL/45; LT1A/Ónen; LT1A/Urwen; LT1A/Wendelin; QL/060; QL/096; QL/103] Group: Eldamo. Published by

wende

noun. maiden

Element in

Early Quenya [MC/215; PE16/090; PE16/092] Group: Eldamo. Published by