n. single hair (of man or elf). >> finn
Sindarin
find
noun. tress; single hair, tress, [ON.] lock of hair; [ᴱN.] hair (in general); [S.] single hair
Cognates
Derivations
Element in
- ᴺS. fidhren “having hair, -haired”
- S. Glorfinniel “Goldilocks”
- ᴺS. gwirfin “braid, pigtail, (lit.) woven-tress”
- ᴺS. merifind “Black-haired”
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ✶spindē > find [spindē] > [spinde] > [sɸinde] > [ɸinde] > [finde] > [find] > [finn] ✧ PE17/017 ✶phindē > find [pʰindē] > [pʰinde] > [ɸinde] > [finde] > [find] > [finn] ✧ PM/362 Variations
- finn ✧ PE17/017
- finn- ✧ PM/362
find
noun. a tress
find
noun. single hair
fing
noun. lock of hair
A noun appearing in 1967 notes on the Nomenclature of the Lord of the Rings as an element in Finglas “Leaflock” (RC/760). The form fineg appeared unglossed in notes from around 1965 as a derivative of ✶phinik (PE17/17). The word fing is more obscure than S. find of similar meaning.
Conceptual Development: The word G. fingl or finnil “a tress” appeared in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/35). In that period, the gl was probably the result of the sound change whereby ðl became gl, since this early form was likely derived from the root ᴱ√FIŘI [FIÐI] (QL/38). When it first appeared, the name N. Finglas (= find + las?) may also have had a similar sound change, but since Tolkien abandoned that phonetic rule in Sindarin of the 1950s and 60s (compare S. edlenn vs. N. eglenn “exiled”), Tolkien needed to come up with a new etymology.
Cognates
- Q. finca “[unglossed]” ✧ PE17/017
Derivations
Element in
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ✶finik/fink > fineg [pʰinika] > [ɸinika] > [ɸineka] > [fineka] > [finek] > [fineg] ✧ PE17/017 Variations
- fineg ✧ PE17/017
finn
noun. single hair
n. single hair (of man or elf). >> find
finn
noun. tress; single hair, tress; single hair; [ᴱN.] hair; [G.] lock of hair
find
tress
find (lock of hair). Construct fin; no distinct pl. form; coll pl. finnath.
find
lock of hair
find (tress). Construct fin; no distinct pl. form; coll pl. finnath
find
hair
(construct fin), no distinct pl. form, coll. pl. finnath.
find
tress
(lock of hair). Construct fin; no distinct pl. form; coll pl. finnath.
find
lock of hair
(tress). Construct fin; no distinct pl. form; coll pl. finnath
fend
door
(threshold), construct fen, pl. find, coll. pl. fennath, 2) fennas (gateway), pl. fennais, coll. pl. fennassath, 3) annon (great gate), pl. ennyn
fend
treshold
fend (door), construct fen, pl. find, coll. pl. fennath
fend
treshold
(door), construct fen, pl. find, coll. pl. fennath
fing
lock of hair
fing (no distinct pl. form)
hir-
verb. find
hir-
verb. to find, *light on, chance on
Cognates
- Q. hir- “to find”
Derivations
- √KHIR “light on, find”
fîn
hair
1) (a single hair) fîn (construct fin), no distinct pl. form. (PM:362), 2) (lock of hair, tress) find (construct fin), no distinct pl. form, coll. pl. finnath.
annon
noun. great door or gate
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
finn-
noun. a tress
fîn
noun. a tress
laws
noun. hair ringlet
raeda-
verb. to catch in a net
fast
shaggy hair
(pl. faist if there is a pl.).
fîn
hair
(construct fin), no distinct pl. form. (PM:362)
gad
catch
(i ’âd, i ngedir = i ñedir), pa.t. gant;
raeda
catch in a net
(i raeda, idh raedar) (VT42:12)
This word had a quite lengthy history as an element in the name S. Glorfindel “Golden Hair”. It appeared in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s as G. finn “a lock of hair” (GL/35), simply as ᴱN. find or finn “hair” in Early Noldorin Word-lists (PE13/143), and as Old Noldorin sphinde “lock of hair” from The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√SPIN (Ety/SPIN). In notes from the mid-1960s Tolkien said that find, finn meant a “single hair (of man or elf)” vs. S. †findel for a head of hair (PE17/17), but in The Shibboleth of Fëanor from 1968 Tolkien said it meant “tress” and was derived from primitive ✶phindē (PM/362 note #37).
Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I’d use fîn for a single hair, find for hair in general or for a tress or lock of hair, and finnel for an entire head of hair.