ened

place name. Ened

An island west of Drengist named on a map of Beleriand from the 1950s, but not on the map in the published Silmarillion (WJ/181-2). This name may be simply be ened(h) “middle” used as a name.

ened

noun. core, centre, middle

While the word is written enedh in the Etymologies, it seems that Tolkien considered and reconsidered its form throughout his life. Late rough jottings (c. 1968), as well as the text of letter no. 168 and the fact that the toponym Enedwaith was never changed on the LotR map, seem to imply that ened is the (most) definitive form. See also the possibly related preposition ned , which has sometimes been suggested to mean "in" (while again a prefix nedh- is seen in the Etymologies)

ened

noun. centre

enedh

noun. centre, middle, centre, middle; [N.] core

@@@ Tolkien vacillated between enedh (< √ENED) and ened (perhaps < √ENET) in his later writings. In HSD/ened, it is suggested that ened is the likely “final” form based on Enedwaith as it appears in The Lord of the Rings and as discussed on Let/224. I prefer enedh for better compatibility with its Quenya cognate endë as in Q. enderi “middle-days” (LotR/1108, endë + ré “day”). If the Sindarin form were ened < √ENET, the corresponding Quenya form would instead be entë. Furthermore, in a general discussion of the uses of dh on VT42/20, Tolkien states that “Enedhwaith is misspelt”, possibly meaning that the normal spelling (Enedwaith) is not strictly correct.

ened

adverb. moreover

enedh

middle

enedh (core, center), pl. enidh

enedh

core

1) enedh (middle, center), pl. enidh, 2) nest (heart, center), pl. nist

enedh

middle

(core, center), pl. enidh

enedh

core

(middle, center), pl. enidh

onod

noun. Ent

onod

Ent

pl1. enyd, pl2. onodrim _ n. _Ent.

onod

noun. Ent

The Sindarin word for “Ent” (Let/224), appearing its plural forms Onodrim and Enyd in Appendix F of The Lord of the Rings (LotR/1130).

Conceptual Development: The earliest name of the “Entwash” in Lord of the Rings drafts of the 1940s was N. Ogodrûth, indicating a previous form of this word: N. Ogod (TI/250).

onodrim

noun. the Ents, as a race

nest

core

(heart, center), pl. nist

onod

ent

Onod (pl. Enyd, coll. pl. Onodrim) (Names:165, Letters:178)

onod

ent

(pl. Enyd, coll. pl. Onodrim) (Names:165, Letters:178)

ened

root. centre, middle; three

A root for “centre, middle”, it first appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s as ᴹ√NED with augmented form ᴹ√ENED (Ety/ÉNED, NÉD). The only derivative of its unaugmented form was the Noldorin prefix N. nedh- “mid-”; its usual forms N. enedh/ᴹQ. ende were derived from the augmented form ᴹ√ENED. In notes from the 1950s and 60s, it seems this augmented form became the normal form, as in √EN(ED) “center, middle” (PE17/26) or ened- “middle” (VT47/26).

One complication in the later iterations of the root was the appearance of the word S. Enedwaith “Middle-region” in The Lord of the Rings maps and appendices (LotR/1089). I suspect this form dates from the period in Lord of the Rings drafts of the 1940s where Tolkien decided to represent [ð] as d: compare N. Fanuidol (TI/306) vs. S. Fanuidhol (LotR/283) and N. Galadrim (TI/239) vs. S. Galadhrim (LotR/341). For whatever reason, Enedwaith was never corrected, and in some places Tolkien said this was a mistake and the proper form should be Enedhwaith (PM/328; VT42/20) while in other places he considered revising the root for “middle” to √ENET or √HEN(ET) (VT41/16).

In his notes on numbers and fingers from 1968, Tolkien said the primitive form was ened with variant form enel (VT47/16, 29; VT48/9-10, 24-25), as the result of frequent d/l interchange in Common Eldarin (VT47/29). In these notes this “middle” root was likewise connected to √ENEK “three” as represented by the “middle” finger (VT48/10). In this set of 1968 notes Tolkien also said √ENET was connected to the distinct root √EN “again” and had the sense “one more” (VT47/15; VT48/25). As for the enel “middle” variant, it seems it was used more in Nandorin (VT47/29), but was a factor in some Quenya words such as Q. enelmo “go-between, intervener, intermediary, mediator” (VT47/14).

Neo-Eldarin: For purposes of Neo-Eldarin, I think it is best to assume the root for “middle” was mainly √ENED, and that Tolkien’s flirtations with √(H)ENET “middle” was a transient idea. I think it is also worth retaining the unaugmented prefix nedh- “mid-” for Neo-Sindarin words, though originating from a lost original vowel rather than a lack of augmentation.

ened

noun/adjective. middle, centre

enel

root. centre, middle; three

henet

root. middle

ened

adjective. middle

enedh

noun. core, centre, middle

While the word is written enedh in the Etymologies, it seems that Tolkien considered and reconsidered its form throughout his life. Late rough jottings (c. 1968), as well as the text of letter no. 168 and the fact that the toponym Enedwaith was never changed on the LotR map, seem to imply that ened is the (most) definitive form. See also the possibly related preposition ned , which has sometimes been suggested to mean "in" (while again a prefix nedh- is seen in the Etymologies)

ogod Reconstructed

noun. Ent

endë

noun. centre, middle, centre, middle; [ᴹQ.] core

endë

core, centre, middle

endë noun "core, centre, middle" (NÉD, EN, VT48:25)

entë

moreover, further, furthermore, what is more

entë (1) conj. "moreover, further, furthermore, what is more" (VT47:15, VT48:14). Compare yunquentë as a variant of yunquenta, q.v.

entë

noun. centre

endya

middle

endya > enya adj. "middle" (ÉNED)

endëa

middle

#endëa adj. "middle" in atendëa, q.v. Compare enya.

endëa

adjective. middle, middle, *average

An adjectival form of endë “middle” implied by Q. atendëa “double-middle” from the first edition of The Lord of the Rings (RC/728).

Neo-Quenya: In a Discord post from 2025-04-24, Delle suggested this adjective might mean “✱average” as well.

enya

middle

enya < endya adj. "middle" (EN). Compare #endëa.

tólë

centre

tólë noun "centre" (LT1:269; the word endë is to be preferred in Tolkien's later Quenya)