firieth

noun. mortal woman

firieth

noun. a mortal woman

fair (“mortal”) + eth (traditional ending for female names)

firieth

noun. (Female) Mortal

A feminine form of Feir “Mortal (Man)”, a combination of that term with the feminine suffix -eth (WJ/387).

Conceptual Development: Earlier words for a “female Mortal” include G. idhwin or idhril from the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/50) and ᴱN. fionwin or fioniel from the Index of Names for The Lay of the Children of Húrin from the early 1920s (PE15/62), all feminized forms of the contemporaneous words for “Mortal” or “Man (as a species)”. The second of these also appeared as ᴱN. fionwin or fionniel in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s (PE13/143).

firiath

noun. mortals, human beings

Fíriel

noun. mortal maid

firin

adjective. mortal

adj. mortal. >> firen

firion

noun. mortal man

fíreb

adjective. mortal

fíreb

noun. Mortal

Cognates

• Q. Fírima “Mortal, (lit.) One Apt to Die” ✧ WJ/387

fíreb

adjective. mortal

An adjective meaning “mortal”, more literally “those apt to die”, a Sindarin adaptation of Q. fírima of the same meaning, both based on the root √PHIR having to do with natural death (WJ/387). It was also used as Fíreb to refer to Mortal Men, a variant of Feir of similar meaning. Tolkien said “Fíreb as compared with Fírima shows the use of a different suffix, since the S equivalent of Q -ima (✱-ef) was not current” (WJ/387).

Derivations

• √PHIR “exhale, expire, breathe out, exhale, expire, breathe out; [ᴹ√] die of natural causes” ✧ WJ/387

Element in

• S. Fíreb “Mortal” ✧ WJ/387

Elements

Word	Gloss
fir-	“to fade, *die”
-eb	“adjective suffix”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√PHIRI > Fíreb	[pʰīrikwā] > [pʰīripā] > [pʰīripa] > [ɸīripa] > [ɸīrepa] > [fīrepa] > [fīrep] > [fīreb]	✧ WJ/387

Variations

• Fíreb ✧ WJ/387

fair

noun. mortal

feir

noun. mortal

feir

noun. Mortal, Mortal, [N.] mortal man

A term used for Men meaning “Mortal”, appearing in the Quendi and Eldar essay of 1959-60, cognate to Q. Firya of the same meaning, both derived from √PHIR which was the basis of words for natural death (WJ/387). According to Tolkien this word was borrowed from Quenya, since the Noldor had pre-knowledge of the nature of Men having learned of them from the Valar. The plural form of Feir was Fîr and its class plural Firiath, the latter also appearing in contemporaneous Silmarillion drafts (WJ/219 footnote). It is unclear why this word did not become ✱Fair, since ei became ai in Sindarin monosyllables. Perhaps it remained Feir because it was an adaptation from Quenya, or it could be a conceptual remnant of its Noldorin form (see below).

Conceptual Development: Probably the first precursor to this word was ᴱN. fion “man, human being” from Index of Names for The Lay of the Children of Húrin compiled in the early 1920s (PE15/62), also appearing with the gloss “mortal man” in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the same period (PE13/143). In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien gaven N. {fîr “man, mortal” >>} feir pl. fîr “mortals” under the root ᴹ√PHIR (Ety/PHIR; EtyAC/PHIR), hence with basically the same form, meaning and etymology as it had in later Sindarin.

Cognates

• Q. Firya “Mortal” ✧ WJ/219; WJI/Feir; WJ/219

Derivations

• Q. Firya “Mortal” ✧ WJ/387
  • √PHIR “exhale, expire, breathe out, exhale, expire, breathe out; [ᴹ√] die of natural causes” ✧ WJ/387

Element in

• S. Fíriel
• S. Firieth “(Female) Mortal” ✧ WJ/387
• S. Firion “(Male) Mortal” ✧ WJ/387

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
Q. Firya > Feir	[firja] > [ferja] > [feria] > [feri] > [feir]	✧ WJ/387
Q. Firya > Fîr	[firji] > [firi] > [fir]	✧ WJ/387

adaneth

noun. (mortal) woman

bess

noun. wife

arwen

noun. noble woman

bess

noun. (young) woman

firieth

mortal woman

(pl. firith).

firieth

mortal woman

firieth (pl. firith).

firin

mortal

?firin. No distinct pl. form.

firin

mortal

. No distinct pl. form.

fíreb

mortal

(adj. and noun) fíreb (pl. fírib), coll. pl. firebrim. The literal meaning is "apt to die" (WJ:387).

fíreb

mortal

(pl. fírib), coll. pl. firebrim. The literal meaning is "apt to die" (WJ:387).

fair

mortal man

(fír-), pl. fîr, coll. pl. firiath. Archaic sg. feir (WJ:387). Wheareas the above-mentioned terms are apparently gender-neutral, the following are gender-specific:

adaneth

mortal woman

(pl. edenith), also firieth (pl. firith).

adaneth

mortal woman

adaneth (pl. edenith), also firieth (pl. firith).

bess

woman

bess (i vess, construct bes) (wife), pl. biss (i miss). The word etymologically means ”wife”, but the meaning was generalized.

bess

woman

(i vess, construct bes) (wife), pl. biss (i miss). The word etymologically means ”wife”, but the meaning was generalized.

dess

young woman

(i ness, o ndess, constuct des), pl. diss (i ndiss).

gwanur

kinsman

(i ’wanur) (brother), pl. gwenyr (in gwenyr). Note: a homophone of the sg. means ”pair of twins”.