fána

white

fána, fánë (1) adj. "white" (Markirya - fánë as a sg. form in may be a misreading). Compare fanya.

fána

adjective. white, white; [ᴹQ.] cloud

@@@ as suggested by Helge Fauskanger, the form fánë “white” in the Markirya poem may be a slip or misreading

Element in

• Q. man cenuva fána cirya? “Who shall see a white ship?” ✧ MC/221
• Q. man tiruva fána cirya? “Who shall heed a white ship?” ✧ MC/222

Variations

• fáne ✧ MC/221; MC/222

fánë

adjective. white

fanya

(white) cloud

fanya noun "(white) cloud" (translated "sky" in FS); pl. fanyar in Namárië(Nam, RGEO:67). ). Used "only of white clouds, sunlit or moonlit, or clouds gilded or silvered at the edges by light behind them", not "of storm clouds or cloud canopies shutting out the light" (PE17:174). Cf. lumbo, q.v. According to VT46:15, fanya was originally given as an adjective "white" in the Etymologies; the printed version in LR wrongly implies that fanya and fána both mean "cloud", whereas actually the first was at this stage meant to be an adjective "white" whereas fána is both noun "cloud" and adj. "white". However, Namárië and later emendations to the entry SPAN in Etym indicate that Tolkien would later think of fanya as a noun "cloud", perhaps giving it the same double meaning as fána: noun "cloud" as well as adjective "white". According to PE17:26, fanya was originally an adjectival form "white and shining" that was however often used as a noun "applied to various things, notably to white clouds lit by sun or moon". In Namárië, the word is used poetically with reference to the hands of Varda (she lifted her hands ve fanyar "like clouds").

ninquita-

verb. make pale, white

ilwë

sky, heavens

ilwë noun "sky, heavens" (LT1:255), "the middle air among the stars" (LT1:273). VT49:51, 53 also mentions an obscure prononominal element ilwë.

fáwë

snow

fáwë vb. "snow" (GL:35; rather lossë in Tolkien's later Quenya)

hellë

sky

hellë noun "sky" (3EL; a distinct word hellë "frost" was struck out, see KHEL.)

niquë

snow

niquë (2) ("q")noun "snow" (NIK-W)

nívë

pale

nívë adj."pale" (MC:213; this is "Qenya" Tolkien's later Quenya has néca)

calima

bright

calima adj. "bright" (VT42:32); cf. ancalima; in PE17:56, arcalima appears as another superlative "brightest" (see ar- #2).

ninquë

white, chill, cold, palid

ninquë adj. "white, chill, cold, palid" (WJ:417, SA:nim, PE17:168, NIK-W - spelt "ninqe" in Etym and in LT1:266, MC:213, MC:220, GL:60), pl. ninqui in Markirya. Compounded in Ninquelótë noun "White-Flower" (SA:nim), = Sindarin Nimloth, the White Tree of Númenor; ninqueruvissë ("q") "white-horse-on" _(MC:216; this is "Qenya", read _ninqueroccossë or *ninquiroccossë in LotR-style Quenya). Normally ninquë would be expected to have the stem-form ninqui-, given the primitive form ¤ninkwi; Ninquelótë rather than *Ninquilótë must be seen as an analogical form.

ninquë

adjective. white; chill, cold; pallid

Changes

• ninque → losseä ✧ PE17/071

Cognates

• S. nimp “pale, pallid, white, pale, pallid, white; small and frail, [ᴱN.] wan, sickly” ✧ PE17/168
• S. nim “white” ✧ SA/nim

Derivations

• ✶ninkwi “white, pale”
  • √NIK(W) “(also of) snow, ice, snow, ice; *white” ✧ PE17/168
• √NIK(W) “(also of) snow, ice, snow, ice; *white” ✧ PE17/168

Element in

• ᴺQ. ninquima “frankincense”
• Q. nieninquë “snowdrop, snowdrop, [ᴹQ.] (lit.) white tear”
• ᴺQ. ninquelë “pallor”
• Q. Ninquelótë “White Blossom” ✧ SA/nim
• Q. ninqui carcar yarra “the white rocks snarling” ✧ MC/222; MC/222
• Q. ninquita- “to whiten, grow white, to whiten, grow white, [ᴹQ.] make white; to shine white”
• ᴺQ. ninteccon “chalk, (lit.) white writing rock”
• Q. sanomë tarnë Olórin, Aracorno, Eomer, Imrahil, mi mísë, mi telepta yo morna, mi laiqua yo ninquë, mi luinë, ta Gimli mi lossëa “There stood Gandalf, Aragorn, Eomer and Imrahil in grey, in silver and black, in green and white, and in blue, and also Gimli in white” ✧ PE17/071
• Q. Taniquetil “High White Peak”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√NIK > ninque	[niŋkwi] > [niŋkwe]	✧ PE17/168

Variations

• ninque ✧ PE17/071; PE17/071 (ninque); PE17/168; WJ/417

fanya

noun. (white) cloud, white and shining [thing], (white) cloud, white and shining [thing]; [ᴹQ.] sky; white

The usual word for “cloud” in Quenya, appearing within both the Namárië and Markirya poems (LotR/377; MC/223), in the latter as an element in Q. fanyarë “the skies” (MC/222). More specifically, it was a “white cloud” (PE17/26, 175). For dark or stormy clouds, lumbo is a more accurate word.

Conceptual Development: ᴱQ. aulo “cloud” appeared in Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s, but Tolkien wrote ᴱQ. fanya in pencil next to it (PE16/142) and seems to have stuck with that form thereafter. In Fíriel’s Song of the 1930s, however, Tolkien translated ᴹQ. fanya as “sky” (LR/72), while in The Etymologies of the 1930s fanya was “white” and derived from the root ᴹ√SPAN of the same meaning (Ety/SPAN). In that document, ᴹQ. fána was “cloud” (Ety/SPAN), but in later writings Q. fána became “white” (MC/222) and Q. fanya “cloud” (LotR/377; MC/223).

Fanya was derived from the root ᴹ√SPAN “white” in the 1930s, and the root √SPAN did reappear briefly in a discussion from 1967 (PE17/184-185), but in later writings Tolkien usually derived fanya from √PHAN. Tolkien wrote several lengthy essays on this root, and in one them said:

> √PHAN-. The basic sense of this was “cover, screen, veil”, but it had a special development in the Eldarin tongues ... The derivative (properly adjectival in form) ✱phanyā became [in Sindarin] fain, used as an adjective meaning “dim, dimmed” (applied to dimmed or fading lights or to things seen in them) or “filmy, fine-woven etc.” ... the word for “cloud” was in Quenya supplied by the derivative fanya (cf. I, 394), which was no longer used as an adjective. But this was used only of white clouds, sunlit or moonlit, or of clouds reflecting sunlight as in the sunset or sunrise, or gilded and silvered at the edges by moon or sun behind them (PE17/174-175).

Cognates

• S. fain “white, shimmering, shining; white and shining [thing]; dim, dimmed; filmy, fine-woven; (vague) apparition; cloud, white, shimmering, shining, [N.] radiant; [S.] white and shining [thing]; dim, dimmed; filmy, fine-woven; (vague) apparition; cloud” ✧ PE17/026; PE17/036
• S. fân “(white) cloud; veil, curtain; form or vision of a spiritual being; spirit [embodied]” ✧ PE17/173

Derivations

• √PHAN “cover, screen, veil; white, (light white) shape; shape, vision” ✧ NM/237; PE17/026; PE17/026; PE17/036; PE17/173; RGEO/66
  • √PHA “exhalations (as mists upon water or steams and the like)” ✧ NM/237
• ✶phanyā “*veiled, veiling” ✧ PE17/174
  • √PHAN “cover, screen, veil; white, (light white) shape; shape, vision” ✧ PE17/174
  • √PHA “exhalations (as mists upon water or steams and the like)” ✧ NM/237

Element in

• Q. an sí Tintallë Varda Oiolossëo ve fanyar máryat Elentári ortanë “for now the Kindler, Varda, the Queen of the Stars from Mount Everwhite has uplifted her hands like clouds” ✧ LotR/0377; RGEO/58
• Q. an sí Varda, Tintallë, Elentári ortanë máryat Oiolossëo ve fanyar “for now Varda, Star-kindler, Star-queen [has] lifted up her (two) hands from Mount Everwhite like (white) clouds” ✧ RGEO/59
• Q. Arfanyarassë “High Shining White Peak”
• Q. fanyarë “the skies (not heaven or firmament), the upper airs and clouds” ✧ MC/223

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√phan > fanya	[pʰanja] > [ɸanja] > [fanja]	✧ NM/237
√FAN > fanya	[pʰanja] > [ɸanja] > [fanja]	✧ PE17/026
√FAN > fanya	[pʰanja] > [ɸanja] > [fanja]	✧ PE17/026
√PHAN > fanya	[pʰanja] > [ɸanja] > [fanja]	✧ PE17/036
√PHAN > fanya	[pʰanja] > [ɸanja] > [fanja]	✧ PE17/173
✶phanyā > fanya	[pʰanjā] > [ɸanjā] > [ɸanja] > [fanja]	✧ PE17/174
√Fana- > fanya	[pʰanja] > [ɸanja] > [fanja]	✧ RGEO/66

isca

pale

isca ("k") adj."pale" (LT1:256)

lossë

snow

lossë (1) noun "snow" or adj. "snow-white" (SA:los, MC:213, VT42:18); losselië noun"white people" (MC:216, PE16:96)

luina

pale

[luina] adj. "pale" (VT45:30)

top-

cover

top- vb. "cover" (1st pers. aorist topë "covers"), pa.t. tompë (TOP). Variant tup-, q.v.

tup-

cover

#tup- vb. "cover", isolated from untúpa, q.v. Variant top- in the Etymologies.

vasar

veil

vasar (þ) noun "veil" (VT42:10, the word was "not in daily use", VT42:9). Older form waþar.

fanwa

veil, screen

fanwa noun "veil, screen" (PE17:176, 180)

néca

pale, vague, faint, dim to see

néca ("k") adj "pale, vague, faint, dim to see", pl. nécë ("k") in Markirya

alcarinqua

radiant, glorious

alcarinqua adj. "radiant, glorious" (AKLA-R [there spelt "alkarinqa"], WJ:412, VT44:7/10), "glorious, brilliant" (PE17:24), noun Alcarinquë, "The Glorious", name of a star/planet (SA:aglar - there spelt "Alkarinquë", but the Silmarillion Index has "Alcarinquë". The celestial body in question seems to be Jupiter, MR:435). Cf. also Alcarin, q.v.

halya-

veil, conceal, screen from light

halya- vb. "veil, conceal, screen from light" (SKAL1, VT46:13) Tolkien noted that "√SKAL applied to more opaque things that cut off light and cast shadows over other things" (PE17:184), contrasting it with √SPAN, the rejected stem of fanta-, q.v.

olos

snow, fallen snow

†olos (2) noun "snow, fallen snow" (prob. oloss-, cf. the longer form olossë below; this form should be preferred since olos also = "dream, vision") (GOLOS)

olossë

snow, fallen snow

†olossë noun "snow, fallen snow" (GOLÓS, LOT[H])

marya

pale, fallow, fawn

marya adj. "pale, fallow, fawn" (MAD)

ungo

cloud, dark shadow

ungo noun "cloud, dark shadow" (UÑG)

fána

cloud

fána (2) noun "cloud" _(SPAN, VT46:15). _Cf. fana.

lumbo

cloud

lumbo noun "cloud" (pl. lumbor in Markirya), also glossed "gloom; dark, shade" (PE17:72, 168). In early "Qenya", lumbo was glossed "dark lowering cloud" (LT1:259)

fain

noun/adjective. white

glân

adjective. white, [bright shining] white; [N.] clear; [G.] pure, †bright; [ᴱN.] clean

Derivations

• ᴹ√GALAN “bright”

Element in

• S. Curunír ’Lân “Saruman the White” ✧ UT/390

nim

white

_adj. _white. >> Nimbrethil

nim

white

_adj. _white (usual word). >> nimp, nimras

nim

adjective. white

Cognates

• Q. ninquë “white; chill, cold; pallid” ✧ SA/nim

Derivations

• At. nimbi “white” ✧ PE17/019
  • ✶ninkwi “white, pale”
  • √NIK(W) “(also of) snow, ice, snow, ice; *white” ✧ PE17/168
• ✶ninkwi “white, pale” ✧ PE17/168
  • √NIK(W) “(also of) snow, ice, snow, ice; *white” ✧ PE17/168
• S. nimp “pale, pallid, white, pale, pallid, white; small and frail, [ᴱN.] wan, sickly” ✧ SA/nim
  • √NIK(W) “(also of) snow, ice, snow, ice; *white” ✧ PE17/168
  • ✶nimpĭ “small” ✧ VT48/18
  • √NIP “small (usually with connotation of weakness)” ✧ VT48/18

Element in

• S. Barad Nimras “White Horn Tower” ✧ SA/nim
• S. Ered Nimrais “White Mountains, (lit.) White-horns Mountains” ✧ SA/nim
• S. Nimbrethil “Silver-birches” ✧ PE17/019; PE17/019; SA/nim
• S. Nimloth “White Blossom, Pale Blossom” ✧ SA/nim
• S. Nimras “White Horn” ✧ PE17/168
• S. Nimrodel “Lady of the White Cave”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
At. nimbi > nim	[nimbi] > [nimbe] > [nimb] > [nimm] > [nimm] > [nim]	✧ PE17/019

faen

adjective. radiant, white

silivren

adjective. (white) glittering

nimp

adjective. pale, pallid, white, pale, pallid, white; small and frail, [ᴱN.] wan, sickly

Cognates

• Q. ninquë “white; chill, cold; pallid” ✧ PE17/168

Derivations

• √NIK(W) “(also of) snow, ice, snow, ice; *white” ✧ PE17/168
• ✶nimpĭ “small” ✧ VT48/18
  • √NIP “small (usually with connotation of weakness)” ✧ VT48/18

Derivatives

• S. nim “white” ✧ SA/nim

Element in

• ᴺS. nimmas “whiteness”
• S. Nimphelos “Pale ?Snow” ✧ PE17/168; SA/nim
• S. niphred “pallor, pallor; [N.] fear” ✧ PE17/055; PE17/168; SA/nim

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√NIK > nimp	[niŋkwi] > [niŋkwe] > [nimpe] > [nimpʰe] > [nimɸe] > [nimfe] > [nimf] > [nimp]	✧ PE17/168
✶nimpĭ > nimp	[nimpi] > [nimpe] > [nimpʰe] > [nimɸe] > [nimfe] > [nimf] > [nimp] > [nimp]	✧ VT48/18

Variations

• nimf ✧ SA/nim (nimf)

gloss

adjective. snow-white, dazzling-white

uilos

noun/adjective. always white, ever white as snow

glân

adjective. bright, shining white

The word is deduced from its mutated form, but it is worth mentioning that a stem GALÁN "bright", with glan "daylight" (and later "clear") as derivative, is listed in the Etymologies (not included in the published text, but see VT/45:13). Most of the words meaning "white" in the Indo-Eureopean languages come from the original notion of "brightness", e.g. Greek leukós "white" is cognate with Latin lucere "to shine", lux "light". This association of sense is also found in Gnomish, PE/11:39 (glan "clean, pure", from "bright" originally) and in Early Noldorin (PE/13:144, glann "clean"). The similarity with Welsh glan (where the vowel, incidentally, is also long, though this is concealed by Welsh orthographic convention) is also striking

fain

noun/adjective. cloud

fain

noun/adjective. white, shimmering, shining; white and shining [thing]; dim, dimmed; filmy, fine-woven; (vague) apparition; cloud, white, shimmering, shining, [N.] radiant; [S.] white and shining [thing]; dim, dimmed; filmy, fine-woven; (vague) apparition; cloud

Cognates

• Q. fanya “(white) cloud, white and shining [thing], (white) cloud, white and shining [thing]; [ᴹQ.] sky; white” ✧ PE17/026; PE17/036

Derivations

• √PHAN “cover, screen, veil; white, (light white) shape; shape, vision” ✧ NM/237; PE17/026; PE17/036; PE17/179
  • √PHA “exhalations (as mists upon water or steams and the like)” ✧ NM/237
• ✶phanyā “*veiled, veiling” ✧ PE17/174
  • √PHAN “cover, screen, veil; white, (light white) shape; shape, vision” ✧ PE17/174
  • √PHA “exhalations (as mists upon water or steams and the like)” ✧ NM/237

Element in

• S. Ar-Feiniel “White Lady”
• S. fanui “cloudy, (lit.) having much cloud” ✧ RC/268
• S. Ras-Arphain

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√phan > fein > fain	[pʰanjā] > [pʰanja] > [ɸanja] > [ɸanja] > [fania] > [fenia] > [feni] > [fein] > [fain]	✧ NM/237
√FAN > fain	[pʰanjā] > [pʰanja] > [ɸanja] > [ɸanja] > [fania] > [fenia] > [feni] > [fein] > [fain]	✧ PE17/026
√PHAN > fain	[pʰanjā] > [pʰanja] > [ɸanja] > [ɸanja] > [fania] > [fenia] > [feni] > [fein] > [fain]	✧ PE17/036
✶phanyā > fain	[pʰanjā] > [pʰanja] > [ɸanja] > [ɸanja] > [fania] > [fenia] > [feni] > [fein] > [fain]	✧ PE17/174
√PHAN > fain	[pʰanjā] > [pʰanja] > [ɸanja] > [ɸanja] > [fania] > [fenia] > [feni] > [fein] > [fain]	✧ PE17/179

fân

noun. veil

los

snow

{ŏ}_ n. _snow. Q. losse. >> glos, glosui, loss, Loss(h)oth

loss

noun. snow

_ n. _snow. Q. losse. >> glos, glosui, los, Loss(h)oth

nimp

adjective. pale

adj. pale, pallid. nimp << nim (PE17:168). >> niphred

Menel

noun. sky, high heaven, firmament, the region of the stars

esgal

noun. veil, screen, cover that hides

lossen

adjective. snowy

lossen

adjective. snowy

A word for “snowy” mentioned in passing in The Road Goes Ever On, adjectival form of S. loss “snow” (RGEO/62).

uilos

noun/adjective. a small white everlasting flower also called simbelmynë or "evermind"

loss

noun. snow (especially fallen or long-lying snow)

fân

noun. cloud (applied to clouds, floating as veils over the blue sky or the sun or moon, or resting on hills)

faun

cloud

(pl. foen, coll. pl. fonath)

fân

cloud

1) fân (veil, also used of the manifested body of a Vala), construct fan, pl. fain, 2) faun (pl. foen, coll. pl. fonath)

fân

cloud

(veil, also used of the manifested body of a Vala), construct fan, pl. fain

faen

white

(radiant). No distinct pl. form.

fain

white

; no distinct pl. form.

glân

white

1) glân (clear), lenited lân, pl. glain. (UT:390, VT45:13). Note: a homophone means ”hem, border”. 2) nimp (nim-) (pale); no distinct pl. form. 3) faen (radiant). No distinct pl. form. 4) fain; no distinct pl. form.

glân

white

(clear), lenited ’lân, pl. glain. (UT:390, VT45:13). Note: a homophone means ”hem, border”.

nimp

white

(nim-) (pale); no distinct pl. form.

gloss

white as snow, dazzling white

(in compounds -los), lenited ’loss; pl. glyss.

silivren

glittering white

(lenited hilivren; pl. *silivrin**). *Verb

mith

pale grey

(lenited vith; no distinct pl. form). David Salo would read mîth with a long vowel. Note: a homophone means ”white fog, wet mist”.

gwind

pale blue

(lenited ’wind; no distinct pl. form).

thind

pale

(grey); no distinct pl. form

gail

bright

gail (light), lenited ngail; no distinct pl. form (VT45:18). The adj. calen etymologically means "bright", but is used = "green" (q.v.).

gail

bright

(light), lenited ngail; no distinct pl. form (VT45:18). The adj. calen etymologically means "bright", but is used = "green" (q.v.).

faen

radiant

faen (white). No distinct pl. form.

faen

radiant

(white). No distinct pl. form.

gwathra

veil

(verb) gwathra- (i **wathra, in gwathrar**) (dim, obscure, overshadow)

elu

pale blue

(analogical pl. ely). Archaic elw (pl. ilw?).

gîl

bright spark

(i ngîl = i ñîl, construct gil) (star, silver glint), no distinct pl. form except with article (in gîl = i ñgîl), coll. pl. *giliath** (RGEO, MR:388)*

escal

veil

(noun) 1) escal (screen, cover that hides), pl. escail. Also spelt esgal (pl. esgail). 2) fân (cloud, manifested body of a Vala), construct fan, pl. fain

gael

pale

(glittering), lenited ’ael; no distinct pl. form.

loss

snow

(fallen snow) loss (construct los; pl. lyss if there is a pl.) (RGEO:61-62, Letters:278, VT42:18) (Note: homophones mean ”flower” [more commonly loth] and ”wilderness”.).

maidh

pale

1) maidh (lenited vaidh; no distinct pl. form) (fallow, fawn), 2) nimp (nim-) (white); no distinct pl. form, 3) thind (grey); no distinct pl. form; 4) gael (glittering), lenited ael; no distinct pl. form. 5) *malu (lenited valu; analogical pl. mely; lenited valu) (fallow). Cited in archaic form malw (LR:386 s.v. SMAL).

maidh

pale

(lenited vaidh; no distinct pl. form) (fallow, fawn)

malu

pale

(lenited valu; analogical pl. mely; lenited valu) (fallow). Cited in archaic form malw (LR:386 s.v. SMAL).

nimp

pale

(nim-) (white); no distinct pl. form

toba

cover

toba- (i doba, i thobar) (roof over). Cited as a ”Noldorin” infinitive in -o (tobo)

toba

cover

(i doba, i thobar) (roof over). Cited as a ”Noldorin” infinitive in -o (tobo)

escal

cover

(a cover that hides) escal (screen, veil), pl. escail. Also spelt esgal (pl. esgail).

escal

cover

(screen, veil), pl. escail. Also spelt esgal (pl. esgail).

lossen

snowy

lossen (pl. lessin, for archaic lössin). Adj.

nimbi

adjective. white

Derivations

• At. nimbi “white”
  • ✶ninkwi “white, pale”
  • √NIK(W) “(also of) snow, ice, snow, ice; *white” ✧ PE17/168

nimbi

adjective. white

About Nimrodel: "Nim is evidently the Telerin word nimbi 'white'." >> Nimrais >> Nimrodel

lygn

adjective. pale

Primitive form given as lugni "blue", sc. the stem LUG1 (LR:370, not defined) with an ending -ni not otherwise attested, though -i is an ending found on many primitive colour-adjectives. The ending _-i _causes umlaut u > y; compare yrc as the plural of urc "Orc". That a short original final -i is capable of causing such an umlaut at the Common Eldarin stage is somewhat surprising, since Primitive Quendian lugni should have become *lugne at this stage, and final e would hardly cause umlaut. Perhaps we are to understand that the change of final i to Common Eldarin e happened relatively late, after the Eldar had crossed the Hihtaeglir and parted with the Nandor?

spenna

noun. cloud

Derived from a stem SPAN "white" (LR:387), but hardly a direct cognate of Quenya fanya and Telerin spania (both probably from spanjâ), nor a direct cognate of Sindarin faun, stated to be derived from spâna. Rather spenna must derive from spannâ, sc. the stem SPAN with the adjectival ending -nâ (or possibly the simpler adjectival ending -â combined with a medial strengthening n > nn). As for the change of a to e, cf. scella from skalnâ.

ninkwi

adjective. white, pale

Derivations

• √NIK(W) “(also of) snow, ice, snow, ice; *white” ✧ PE17/168

Derivatives

• Q. ninquë “white; chill, cold; pallid”
• S. nim “white” ✧ PE17/168
• At. nimbi “white”
  • S. nim “white” ✧ PE17/019
  • T. nimbi “white”

Element in

• ✶ninkwiraite “pallor”
• ✶ninkwisya- “to (begin to) grow pale” ✧ PE22/135
• ✶ninkwitā- “to make white, whiten” ✧ PE22/135
• ✶tār(a)-ninqui-tilte “High White Peak” ✧ PE17/186

Variations

• nimpĭ ✧ PE17/168
• ninqui ✧ PE17/186
• niñkwi ✧ PE22/135

nik(w)

root. (also of) snow, ice, snow, ice; *white

This root was used for Elvish words for “white” and “snow” for much of Tolkien’s life. It first appeared as ᴱ√NIQI “white” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. niqis “snow” and ᴱQ. ninqe “white” (QL/66), the latter surviving more or less unchanged for the rest of Tolkien’s life. In the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon it had derivatives like G. nictha- “to rain, hail, snow” and G. nimp “pallid” (GL/60), the latter the cognate of ᴱQ. ninqe and another word that survived in Tolkien’s later conceptions of the languages.

The root appeared as unglossed ᴹ√NIK-W in The Etymologies, again with ᴹQ. ninqe “white” and N. nimp “pale” and other similar words, including ᴹQ. niqe “snow” (Ety/NIK-W). The root was mentioned again in Tolkien’s later writing as √NIK-W (PE17/160) or √NIK (PE17/168) as a basis for “snow” words. In Sindarin Tolkien felt it was influenced by other roots, such as √(N)DIP/B “bending and drooping” (PE17/168) or √NIP “small with a connotation of weakness” (VT48/18) so that S. nimp also took on a connotation of weakness and frailty, and hence was used for “pale, pallid” rather than simply “white”.

Derivatives

• ✶ninkwi “white, pale” ✧ PE17/168
  • Q. ninquë “white; chill, cold; pallid”
  • S. nim “white” ✧ PE17/168
  • At. nimbi “white”
  • S. nim “white” ✧ PE17/019
  • T. nimbi “white”
• Q. ninquë “white; chill, cold; pallid” ✧ PE17/168
• Q. niqu- “to be chill, cold, freeze (of weather), snow” ✧ PE17/168
• Q. niquë “cold, cold; [ᴹQ.] snow” ✧ PE17/168
• Q. niquis “snowflake, ice-flake; petal (loose) of a white flower; frost-patterns, snowflake, ice-flake; petal (loose) of a white flower; frost-patterns, [ᴱQ.] snow” ✧ PE17/168
• Q. nixë “frost; ice-flake or snow-flake” ✧ PE17/168
• ᴺS. nich “frost”
• S. nimp “pale, pallid, white, pale, pallid, white; small and frail, [ᴱN.] wan, sickly” ✧ PE17/168
  • S. nim “white” ✧ SA/nim
• ᴺS. nítha- “to snow, hail, rain”

Variations

• NIK ✧ PE17/160; PE17/168
• NIKW ✧ PE17/160

kalinā

adjective. bright

Derivatives

• Q. calina “light, bright, sunny, (lit.) illumined”

Elements

Word	Gloss
kal-	“to shine, be bright”
-nā	“adjective suffix; passive participle”

phan

root. cover, screen, veil; white, (light white) shape; shape, vision

The earliest iteration of this root was unglossed ᴱ√FANA or ᴱ√FṆTṆ (the latter marked with a “?”) in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. fanóre “day-dream”, ᴱQ. fansa “swoon”, and ᴱQ. fantl “vision, dream, hazy notion, imaginary idea” (QL/37). The root ᴹ√PHAN also appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s, but the entry was unglossed, empty and eventually deleted (EtyAC/PHAN), perhaps supplanted by ᴹ√SPAN; see that entry for discussion.

√PHAN appeared quite a few times in Tolkien’s later writings, however, mostly in connection to Q. fanya “cloud” from the Namárië poem and S. Fanuilos as a name for Elbereth in the Sindarin prayer A Elbereth Gilthoniel. In connection to Fanuilos Tolkien said: “√FAN ‘white’, but especially applied to reflected light as of clouds, snow, frost, mist. Cf. fanya, Quenya, (white) cloud” (PE17/26). In a more extensive note he wrote:

> The element FAN- (Q fana, S fân) is “elvish” and not easy to translate. It may be said to mean “shape”, but with the added notion of light and whiteness; it is thus often used where we might use “a vision” — of something beautiful or sublime. Yet being elvish, though it may be used of things remote, it has no implication either of uncertainty or unreality. The Fân here is the vision of the majesty of Elbereth upon the mountain where she dwelt. So that Fanuilos really means in full: Figure (bright and majestic) upon Uilos (PE17/26).

Tolkien also wrote a lengthy essay discussing this root in several versions (PE17/173-180). The second version of this essay began:

> √PHAN-. The basic sense of this was “cover, screen, veil”, but it had a special development in the Eldarin tongues. This was largely due to what appears to have been its very ancient application to clouds, especially to separate floating clouds as (partial) veils over the blue sky, or over the sun, moon, or stars. This application of the most primitive derivative ✱phanā (Q fana, S fân) was so ancient that when ✱phanā (or other derivatives) was applied to lesser, handmade, things this was felt to be a transference from the sense “cloud”, and words of this group were mainly applied to things of soft textures, veils, mantles, curtains and the like, of white or pale colours (PE17/174).

Finally, in The Road Goes Ever On (RGEO) from 1967, Tolkien wrote:

> Fana- is an Elvish element, with primary meaning “veil”. The S. form fân, fan- was usually applied to clouds, floating as veils over the blue sky or the sun or moon or resting on hills. In Quenya, however, the simple word fana acquired a special sense. Owing to the close association of the High-Elves with the Valar, it was applied to the “veils” or “raiment” in which the Valar presented themselves to physical eyes ... The High-Elves said these forms were always to some degree radiant, as if suffused from a light within. In Quenya, fana thus came to signify the radiant and majestic figure of one of the great Valar. In Sindarin, especially as used by the High-Elves, the originally identical word fân “cloud” was also given the same sense (RGEO/66).

This discussion in RGEO is essentially a summary of the much lengthier essay on √PHAN noted above. Thus it seems Tolkien’s latest notion of the root was that it originally mean “cover, screen, veil”, and was applied to clouds as veiling the sun, and from this application the root came to refer to white, radiant and soft things. In the Quenya of Valinor the word Q. fana was then applied to the radiant materialized bodies of the Valar, and when the Noldor again encountered the Sindar this sense influenced S. fân (originally just “cloud”) as well.

Derivations

• √PHA “exhalations (as mists upon water or steams and the like)” ✧ NM/237

Derivatives

• ✶phanā “veil, cloud” ✧ PE17/173; PE17/174
  • Q. fana “raiment, veil; (bright) shape or figure; bodily form of an angelic spirit” ✧ PE17/173; PE17/174
  • S. fân “(white) cloud; veil, curtain; form or vision of a spiritual being; spirit [embodied]” ✧ PE17/173; PE17/174
• ✶phanmā “veil, screen” ✧ PE17/174
  • Q. fanwa “veil, screen” ✧ PE17/176; PE17/180
• ✶phantā- “to veil, cloak” ✧ PE17/173
  • Q. fanta- “to veil, cloak, mantle” ✧ PE17/174
  • S. fanna- “to veil, cloak” ✧ PE17/174
• ✶phanyā “*veiled, veiling” ✧ PE17/174
  • Q. fanya “(white) cloud, white and shining [thing], (white) cloud, white and shining [thing]; [ᴹQ.] sky; white” ✧ PE17/174
  • S. fain “white, shimmering, shining; white and shining [thing]; dim, dimmed; filmy, fine-woven; (vague) apparition; cloud, white, shimmering, shining, [N.] radiant; [S.] white and shining [thing]; dim, dimmed; filmy, fine-woven; (vague) apparition; cloud” ✧ PE17/174
• Q. fana “raiment, veil; (bright) shape or figure; bodily form of an angelic spirit” ✧ PE17/026; PE17/179; RGEO/66
• Q. fanta- “to veil, cloak, mantle” ✧ VT43/22
• Q. fanwë “vapour, steam” ✧ NM/237
• Q. fanya “(white) cloud, white and shining [thing], (white) cloud, white and shining [thing]; [ᴹQ.] sky; white” ✧ NM/237; PE17/026; PE17/026; PE17/036; PE17/173; RGEO/66
• S. fain “white, shimmering, shining; white and shining [thing]; dim, dimmed; filmy, fine-woven; (vague) apparition; cloud, white, shimmering, shining, [N.] radiant; [S.] white and shining [thing]; dim, dimmed; filmy, fine-woven; (vague) apparition; cloud” ✧ NM/237; PE17/026; PE17/036; PE17/179
• S. fân “(white) cloud; veil, curtain; form or vision of a spiritual being; spirit [embodied]” ✧ NM/237; PE17/026; PE17/036; RGEO/66
• ᴺS. fanu “vapour, steam”
• S. fanui “cloudy, (lit.) having much cloud” ✧ PE17/026; PE17/036
• S. fanwos “mind-picture (of apparition in dream)”

Element in

• ✶phanmā “veil, screen” ✧ PE17/179
• Q. fanta- “to veil, cloak, mantle” ✧ PE17/179
• S. Fanuilos “Bright (Angelic) Figure upon Uilos” ✧ PE17/026

Variations

• phan ✧ NM/237
• FAN ✧ PE17/026; PE17/026; PE17/153
• Fana- ✧ RGEO/66
• phan- ✧ VT43/22

fein

noun/adjective. white

brassen

adjective. white-hot

nimmid(a)-

verb. to whiten

Cognates

• ᴹQ. ninqita- “to whiten, make white; to shine white” ✧ Ety/NIK-W

Derivations

• ᴹ✶ninkwitā- “to make white (or pale), whiten”
• ᴹ√NIK(W) “*snow; white” ✧ Ety/NIK-W

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ√NIK-W > nimmid	[niŋkwit-] > [nimpit-] > [nimpʰit-] > [nimɸit-] > [nimfit-] > [nimfid-] > [nimmid-]	✧ Ety/NIK-W

Variations

• nimmid ✧ Ety/NIK-W

nim-

adjective. pale, white

nimp

adjective. pale, white

fein

adjective. white, radiant

Changes

• fein → fein “cloud” ✧ Ety/SPAN

Cognates

• ᴹQ. fanya “sky; white” ✧ Ety/SPAN

Derivations

• ᴹ√PHAY “radiate, send out rays of light” ✧ Ety/PHAY
• ᴹ√SPAN “white” ✧ Ety/SPAN

Element in

• N. Arafain “?White King”
• N. Eredfain
• N. Forfain “?White Beach”
• N. Kelufain “?White Source”
• N. Rhosfein “*White Rain”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ√PHAY > foen	[pʰajna] > [pʰaina] > [ɸaina] > [faina] > [fain] > [foen]	✧ Ety/PHAY
ᴹ√SPAN > fein	[spanja] > [sɸanja] > [ɸanja] > [fanja] > [fania] > [fenia] > [feni] > [fein]	✧ Ety/SPAN

Variations

• foen ✧ Ety/PHAY

foen

adjective. radiant, white

foen

adjective. radiant, white

gloss

adjective. snow-white, dazzling-white

ell

noun. sky

An element meaning “sky” in several names from The Etymologies of the 1930s: N. Elfaron “Sky-hunter” (Ety/SPAR) and N. Elthoron “Eagle of the Sky” (Ety/THOR). It was derived from the root ᴹ√ƷEL “sky” which had an Old Noldorin form: ON. elle (Ety/ƷEL). However, Tolkien said “In Noldorin and Telerin this is confused with EL star”, implying that the word was not used in modern language; an earlier but rejected version of this entry had archaic N. †ell, el “sky” (EtyAC/ƷEL).

Neo-Sindarin: Despite the above statements, ell is probably the best attested option for “sky” in Neo-Sindarin, and I would use it as such, since it is in fact distinct from S. êl “star”, a word that is itself archaic/poetic versus more common S. gil.

Derivations

• On. elle “sky” ✧ Ety/ƷEL
  • ᴹ√ƷEL “sky” ✧ Ety/ƷEL

Element in

• ᴺS. eiliant
• N. Elfaron “Sky-hunter” ✧ Ety/SPAR
• N. Elthoron “Eagle of the Sky” ✧ Ety/THOR

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
On. elle > ell > el	[elle] > [ell] > [el]	✧ Ety/ƷEL

Variations

• el ✧ Ety/SPAR (el); Ety/THOR (el); EtyAC/ƷEL (el)

fein

noun/adjective. cloud

gael

adjective. pale, glimmering

nimp

adjective. pale

Cognates

• ᴹQ. ninqe “white” ✧ Ety/NIK-W

Derivations

• ᴹ√NIK(W) “*snow; white” ✧ Ety/NIK-W

Element in

• N. Ered Nimras “White Mountains”
• N. Ered Nimrath “White Mountains”
• N. Ephel Nimrais
• N. Nimbrethil
• N. Nimloth “Pale Blossom”
• N. nimmid(a)- “to whiten” ✧ Ety/NIK-W
• N. Nimdil “White Horn”
• N. nínim “snowdrop”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ√NIK-W > nimp	[niŋkwi] > [niŋkwe] > [nimpe] > [nimpʰe] > [nimɸe] > [nimfe] > [nimf] > [nimp] > [nimp]	✧ Ety/NIK-W

maidh

adjective. pale, fallow, fawn

meidh

adjective. pale, fallow, fawn

toba-

verb. to cover, roof over

faun

noun. cloud

faun

noun. cloud

Cognates

• ᴹQ. fána “cloud; white” ✧ Ety/SPAN

Derivations

• ᴹ✶spāna “cloud” ✧ Ety/SPAN
  • ᴹ√SPAN “white” ✧ Ety/SPAN

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ✶spāna > faun	[spāna] > [spǭna] > [sɸǭna] > [sɸouna] > [ɸouna] > [founa] > [fauna] > [faun]	✧ Ety/SPAN