Finwë masc. name, apparently displaying the frequent ending -wë suffixed to a stem normally having to do with hair, but the name is obscure (see Tolkien's discussion in PM:340-341). Also in Etym (PHIN, WEG). According to VT46:9, Finwë was also the name of tengwa #10 in the pre-classical Tengwar system presupposed in the Etymologies, but Tolkien would later call #10 formen instead.
Quenya
finwë
masculine name. Finwë
Cognates
Element in
- Q. Arafinwë “*Noble Finwë” ✧ PE17/039; PE17/118; PE17/118; PM/344
- Q. Canafinwë “Strong-voiced Finwë”
- Q. Curufinwë “*Skilled-Finwë” ✧ MR/217; PE17/039; PE17/118; PM/343; VT41/10
- Q. Findis ✧ PM/343
- Q. Finwion “Son of Finwë” ✧ MR/217
- Q. Ingoldo “The Noldo” ✧ MR/230
- Q. Morifinwë “Dark Finwë”
- Q. Namna Finwë Míriello “the Statute of Finwë and Míriel” ✧ MR/258
- Q. Nelyafinwë “Finwë third”
- Q. Nityafinwë “Little Finwë” ✧ PM/365
- Q. Pityafinwë “Little Finwë”
- Q. Nolofinwë ✧ MR/230; PE17/039; PE17/118; PE17/118; PM/344
- Q. Sarafinwë
- Q. Telufinwë “Last Finwë” ✧ PM/353
- Q. Turcafinwë “strong, powerful (in body)”
Elements
Word Gloss PHIN “clever, skillful; neat, fine, delicate; skill, dexterity, clever, skillful; neat, fine, delicate; skill, dexterity, [ᴹ√] nimbleness” -wë “ancient name suffix (usually but not always masculine)” Variations
- Finwe ✧ PE17/017; VT41/10
- finwë ✧ PM/365 (finwë)
Finwë
finwë
Finwë
Finwë
The name Finwë is said to be one of the oldest recorded names of the Eldar. It is not certain if Finwë had any clear meaning, but it can be analyzed as fin- (derived from Common Eldarin PHIN "hair") + -wë (suffix generally used for male names).
The first lord of the Noldor (S/52). His name is an ancient compound of uncertain meaning. Its final element is the suffix -wë common in ancient names (PM/340). Its initial element is probably derived from the root √PHIN “clever, skillful” (PE17/17, Ety/PHIN), though it was sometimes affiliated with derivatives of the root √SPIN(ID) “fine thread, filament; hair” (PE17/17, 119) after it developed in Common Eldarin into phin- (PM/340).
His name appears as an element in the Quenya names of many of his children and grandchildren, either incorporated directly or alluded too via the element findë “hair” < √SPIN(ID), as in Findecáno (PM/345). In the Sindarin names of his descendants, the element S. fin also alluded to his name (VT41/10).
Conceptual Development: This name appears in the earliest Lost Tales in exactly the same form, though ᴱQ. Finwe was not at first the father of Feanor (LT1/115, 145). Christopher Tolkien suggested the earliest form of this name was derived from the root ᴱ√FINI “✱cunning” (LT1A/Finwë). In The Etymologies, the name ᴹQ. Finwe is given as an ancient combination of the roots ᴹ√PHIN and ᴹ√WEG (Ety/PHIN, WEG), basically the same as its later derivation.