-iel

suffix. It corresponds to masc

_fem. suff. _It corresponds to masc. -we. Q. -iel.

-iel

suffix. adjective suffix

Element in

• S. glóriel “golden” ✧ S/235

Variations

• -iel ✧ S/235 (-iel)

-iel

suffix. perfective-participle

Element in

• S. míriel “sparkling like jewels, like a jewel” ✧ PE22/152

Variations

• -iel ✧ PE22/152

-iel

suffix. daughter; feminine suffix

A widely used feminine suffix in Sindarin (PE17/23, 190). It sometimes more specifically meant “-daughter” in names such as Elrenniel “Arwen; ✱(lit.) Elrond-daughter” (PE17/56) or Tinúviel “Daughter of Twilight” (S/165), but in other cases it simply meant female as in names like Gilthoniel “Star-kindler [female]” (PE17/23). It was also sometimes reduced to -il or -el. See the entry on the root √YE(L) for a discussion of various conceptual vacillations in its connection to “daughter”.

Conceptual Development: The use of N. -iel dates back to Noldorin, where its connection to “daughter” was more explicit, though Tolkien vacillated on whether the suffix was based on ᴹ√YEL or ᴹ√SEL (Ety/SEL, YEL). The suffix does not appear to be specifically feminine in Gnomish of the 1910s, however, appearing in both female names like G. Níniel (LT2/100) and male names like G. Inwithiel (LT1/22).

Cognates

• Q. -iel “-daughter; feminine suffix” ✧ PE17/023

Derivations

• ✶-iel “feminine suffix”

Element in

• S. Adanel
• S. Ar-Feiniel “White Lady”
• S. Berúthiel “?Angry-queen”
• S. Elrenniel “Arwen; *(lit.) Elrond-daughter”
• S. Fíriel
• S. Gilthoniel “Star-kindler” ✧ PE17/023
• S. Glorfinniel “Goldilocks”
• S. Ivriniel
• S. Lothíriel
• S. Meiniel
• S. Nimrodel “Lady of the White Cave”
• S. Níniel “Tear-maiden”
• S. rodel “lady, high lady” ✧ PE17/049
• ᴺS. siel “granddaughter”
• S. Tinúviel “Nightingale, (lit.) Daughter of Twilight”

Variations

• iel ✧ PE17/023
• -el ✧ PE17/049 (-el)

-il

suffix. feminine suffix

A fairly common feminine suffix appearing as -il in Sindarin, either formed on its own or as a variant of the feminine suffix -iel. This suffix was also common Noldorin words in The Etymologies of the 1930s, along with an alternate form -ril that seems to be a feminine agental suffix, the equivalent of masculine -(r)on, seen in pairs like N. melethril/melethron “lover” and N. odhril/odhron “parent” (Ety/MEL, ONO). The -il suffix and its -ril variant are seen all the way back in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s in pairs like G. gwadhril/gwadhron “inhabitant” (GL/47) and G. ainil/ainos “god”, female and male respectively (GL/18). So it seems this feminine suffix was well established in Tolkien’s mind.

Element in

• S. brethil “princess, (lit.) queen-daughter”
• S. híril “lady, lady; [G.] princess, †queen” ✧ SA/heru
• ᴺS. regil “mare”
• S. Thuringwethil “Woman of Secret Shadow”

-eb

suffix. adjective suffix

Cognates

• Q. -inqua “-ful, complete” ✧ WJ/412

Derivations

• ✶-ikwā “-ful, adjectival suffix” ✧ WJ/412
  • √KWA “complete, full, whole, all, every, complete, full, whole, all, every; [ᴹ√] something” ✧ WJ/412; WJ/415

Element in

• S. aglareb “glorious, brilliant, glorious, brilliant, *radiant” ✧ WJ/412
• ᴺS. eitheb “thorny, *(orig.) full of points; sharp”
• S. ereb “single, alone, lonely, single, alone, lonely, [N.] isolated”
• S. fíreb “mortal”
• ᴺS. glidheb “like honey”
• S. gorthob “horrible”
• S. maecheneb “sharp-eye[d]” ✧ WJ/337
• ᴺS. maeligeb “wealthy, rich”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶ikwā > -ipā > -eb	[-ikwā] > [-ipā] > [-ipa] > [-epa] > [-ep] > [-eb]	✧ WJ/412

-en

suffix. adjective suffix

Derivations

• ✶-inā “adjective; passive participle”

Element in

• S. aewen “of birds” ✧ SA/lin¹
• ᴺS. anóren “sunny”
• S. dínen “silent” ✧ PE17/098
• S. firin “mortal, dying, dying, mortal; [N.] human”
• S. glórin “*golden, golden, [G.] of gold”
• S. lossen “snowy” ✧ RGEO/62
• ᴺS. mirwelthen “vintage, *(lit.) wine pressing”
• S. rhúnen “eastern”
• S. thurin “secret, hidden”
• S. tolothen “eighth” ✧ SD/129

Variations

• -en ✧ PE17/098 (-en); RGEO/62 (-en); SA/lin¹ (-en); SD/129

-in

suffix. adjective suffix

-ren

suffix. adjective suffix

@@@ perhaps a later, S-only, innovation

Cognates

• Q. -rin “-ian, racial-adjective, language”

Element in

• S. angren “of iron” ✧ SA/anga
• S. celebrin “like silver (in hue or worth), like silver (in hue or worth), [G.] of silver”
• ᴺS. cothren “hostile”
• S. edhellen “elvish”
• S. Falathren “Shore-language”
• ᴺS. fathren “tasselled”
• ᴺS. gwaeren “windy”
• S. gwaeren “windy”
• S. gwathren “shadowy, dim”
• ᴺS. mabren “handed, having hands, dextrous”
• S. mithren “grey”
• S. silivren “(white) glittering, crystalline”
• ᴺS. singren “salt, *salty”

gwen

noun. maiden

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

gwend

noun. maiden

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

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

• S. Rodwen “High Virgin Noble”
• S. Arwen “Noble Maiden”
• ᴺS. arwen “noble lady”
• S. Galadwen
• S. Gladhwen “Laughing Maiden”
• ᴺS. gwendren “maidenly, girlish”
• S. gweneth “maidenhood, maidenhood, [N.] virginity” ✧ PE17/191
• ᴺS. gwennod “elder tree; elderberry, *(lit.) maiden berry”
• S. Hirwen
• S. Ivonwin “Maidens of Yavanna”
• S. Ivorwen
• S. Laewen
• S. Urwen
• S. -wen “maiden, *female suffix”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√WEN-ED > gwen(d)	[wende] > [gwende] > [gwend] > [gwenn]	✧ PE17/191

Variations

• gwen(d) ✧ PE17/191

sellath

noun. all the daughters

iell

daughter

1) iell (-iel) (girl, maid), pl. ill, 2) sell (i hell) (girl, maid), pl. sill (i sill), coll. pl. sellath**. **DAUGTHER OF TWILIGHT, see NIGHTINGALE

iell

daughter

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

sell

daughter

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

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”.