noun.west, direction or region of the sunset, occident, (lit.) going down
The word númen or núme was the Quenya word for “west” for much of Tolkien’s life, and was also the name of tengwa #17 [5] (LotR/1123). It is a combination of √N(D)Ū “go down” and √MEN “way” (PE17/64; Ety/NDŪ, MEN), so originally meaning “going down” or “way of the setting sun” (Let/361) in the same way that rómen “east” is the direction of the rising sun. Q. númen is thus similar in origin to English “occident”. As a standalone word it is usually númen, but in compounds or with inflections it is frequently reduced to núme-. For the Elves, númen is considered the primary direction, since it points towards Aman where the Two Trees were (LotR/1123; VT49/8).
Conceptual Development: ᴱQ. nūme “west” dates all the way back to the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s where it appeared under the early root ᴱ√NUHU “bow, bend down. stoop, sink” (QL/68). The form númen did not appear as an independent word until The Etymologies of the 1930s (Ety/MEN), and númen was already the name of tengwa #17 in the earliest version of notes on The Feanorian Alphabet (PE22/23).
The word númen or núme was the Quenya word for “west” for much of Tolkien’s life, and was also the name of tengwa #17 [5] (LotR/1123). It is a combination of √N(D)Ū “go down” and √MEN “way” (PE17/64; Ety/NDŪ, MEN), so originally meaning “going down” or “way of the setting sun” (Let/361) in the same way that rómen “east” is the direction of the rising sun. Q. númen is thus similar in origin to English “occident”. As a standalone word it is usually númen, but in compounds or with inflections it is frequently reduced to núme-. For the Elves, númen is considered the primary direction, since it points towards Aman where the Two Trees were (LotR/1123; VT49/8).
Conceptual Development: ᴱQ. nūme “west” dates all the way back to the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s where it appeared under the early root ᴱ√NUHU “bow, bend down. stoop, sink” (QL/68). The form númen did not appear as an independent word until The Etymologies of the 1930s (Ety/MEN), and númen was already the name of tengwa #17 in the earliest version of notes on The Feanorian Alphabet (PE22/23).