fenna

door

fenna noun "door" (PE17:45, 181)

fenna

noun. door

fende

noun. door

fendë

noun. door

A word appearing as {phende >>} fende “door” in Late Notes on Verb Structure (LVS) from 1969 (PE22/166 and note #112). The deleted variant probably indicates its primitive form.

Conceptual Development: The earliest “door” word was ᴱQ. posta in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root {ᴱ√PONO >>} ᴱ√BOÐO (QL/75). Another precursor was ᴹQ. fenda “threshold” in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√PHEN (Ety/PHEN). In notes from December 1959 (D59) Tolkien gave Q. fenna as a derivative of √PHEN and cognate to S. fen, all meaning “door” (PE17/181).

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I prefer 1969 fendë as the word for “door”, but I think [ᴹQ.] fenda “threshold” might remain viable as a separate derivative of the root.

Changes

• phende → fende ✧ PE22/166

Cognates

• S. fen(n) “door, door; [N.] threshold” ✧ PE17/045; PE17/181

Derivations

• √PHEN “door” ✧ PE17/181

Element in

• Q. á sac’ i fendë, mecin “close the door, please” ✧ PE22/166
• ᴺQ. fennatir “door-watcher”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√PHEN > fenna	[pʰenna] > [ɸenna] > [fenna]	✧ PE17/181

Variations

• fenna ✧ PE17/045; PE17/181
• fende ✧ PE22/166
• phende ✧ PE22/166 (phende)

fennas

noun. doorway, gateway

fennas

doorway

_ n. doorway. fennas nogothrim lasto beth lammen _'doorway of the Dwarf-folk listen to the words of my tongue'. >> fen

fennas

noun. great door, doorway, gateway

A word that Tolkien variously glossed as “great door”, “doorway”, and “gateway” (PE17/45; RGEO/67). It is an elaboration of fen(n) “door” (PE17/45). The word fennas appeared in the Moria Gate Spell: fennas nogothrim, lasto beth lammen “doorway of the Dwarf-folk listen to the word of my tongue” (LotR/0307; PE17/45).

Cognates

• ᴺQ. fendassë “doorway, gateway”

Element in

• S. fennas nogothrim, lasto beth lammen “doorway of the Dwarf-folk listen to the word of my tongue” ✧ LotR/0307; PE17/045; RGEO/67

Elements

Word	Gloss
fen(n)	“door, door; [N.] threshold”
-as	“abstract noun”

Variations

• Fennas ✧ LotR/0307; RGEO/67

fen

noun. door, threshold

fen

door

_ n. _door. Q. fenna. >> fennas

fen(n)

noun. door, door; [N.] threshold

A word for “door” in the name Fen Hollen “Closed Door” (LotR/826; RC/550). In notes from December 1959 (D59), Tolkien based it on the root √PHEN and gave its Quenya equivalent as fenna, indicating a primitive form of ✱phennā (PE17/181). If so, its ordinary form should be fenn, and this was indeed the form in Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s (WR/341). Perhaps fen is a reduced pseudo-prefixal form.

Conceptual Development: In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien had N. fenn “threshold” derived from ON. phenda under the root ᴹ√PHEN (Ety/PHEN).

Neo-Sindarin: I don’t think the senses “door” and “threshold” are likely to coexist, so for purposes of Neo-Sindarin I would limit fenn to “door” and would use ᴺS. fend < ✱phenda for “threshold”, following the principle that nd remained “at the end of fully accented monosyllables” in Sindarin (LotR/1115).

Cognates

• Q. fendë “door” ✧ PE17/045; PE17/181

Derivations

• √PHEN “door” ✧ PE17/181

Element in

• S. Fen Hollen “Closed Door, Shut Door” ✧ PE17/045; PE17/098; RC/550
• S. fennas “great door, doorway, gateway” ✧ PE17/045

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√PHEN > fen	[pʰenna] > [ɸenna] > [fenna] > [fenn]	✧ PE17/181

Variations

• fen ✧ PE17/045; PE17/098; PE17/181
• Fen ✧ RC/550

annon

noun. great door or gate

fennas

gateway

fennas (door), pl. fennais, coll. pl. fennassath

fennas

gateway

(door), pl. fennais, coll. pl. fennassath

fend

door

(threshold), construct fen, pl. find, coll. pl. fennath, 2) fennas (gateway), pl. fennais, coll. pl. fennassath, 3) annon (great gate), pl. ennyn

phen

root. door

The root ᴹ√PHEN first appeared (unglossed) in The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives like ᴹQ. fenda “threshold” and N. fenn “threshold, door” (Ety/PHEN). The root √PHEN “door” reappeared in etymological notes from 1959 as the basis for Q. fendë/S. fen “door” (PE17/181). The most notable name associated with this root was S. Fen Hollen “Closed Door” from The Lord of the Rings (LotR/826; RC/550) along with its precursors in LotR drafts: N. Fenn Forn(en) and N. Fenn Uiforn (WR/338, 341).

Derivatives

• Q. fendë “door” ✧ PE17/181
• ᴺS. fend “threshold”
• S. fen(n) “door, door; [N.] threshold” ✧ PE17/181

fenn

noun. door, threshold

fend

noun. door, threshold

annon

noun. great door or gate