firin
adjective. mortal
firin
adjective. mortal, dying, dying, mortal; [N.] human
An adjective glossed “mortal, dying” with variant forms firin or firen appearing as an element in alfirin “immortal” (PE17/101).
Conceptual Development: The adjective [N.] firen had the gloss “human” in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√PHIR (Ety/PHIR).
Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin I would use this adjective largely for “one in the process dying”, and for “mortal (= one capable of dying)” I would use fíreb.
Cognates
- ᴹQ. firin “dead (by natural cause)”
Derivations
Element in
- S. alfirin “immortal, (lit.) not dying; a species of flower” ✧ PE17/101
Elements
Word Gloss fir- “to fade, *die” -en “adjective suffix” Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ✶firīne > firīn > fĭrin [pʰirīne] > [ɸirīne] > [firīne] > [firīn] > [firin] ✧ PE17/101 Variations
- fĭrin ✧ PE17/101
- firen ✧ PE17/101
firion
noun. mortal man
Fíriel
noun. mortal maid
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
Element in
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources Q. Firya > Feir [firja] > [ferja] > [feria] > [feri] > [feir] ✧ WJ/387 Q. Firya > Fîr [firji] > [firi] > [fir] ✧ WJ/387
fern
noun/adjective. dead, dead person; [N.] dead (of mortals)
An adjective in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “dead (of mortals)” under the root ᴹ√PHIR “die of natural causes”, used as a plural noun in the name Dor Firn i Guinar “Land of the Dead that Live” (Ety/PHIR). Christopher Tolkien choose to include the name Dor Firn-i-Guinar in the published version of The Silmarillion (S/188), and most Sindarin writers accept its ongoing validity.
Derivations
- √PHIR “exhale, expire, breathe out, exhale, expire, breathe out; [ᴹ√] die of natural causes”
Element in
- S. Dor Firn-i-Guinar “Land of the Dead that Live” ✧ S/188
firiath
noun. mortals, human beings
firieth
noun. mortal woman
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
sigil
noun. necklace
A word for “necklace” in the name Sigil Elu-naeth “Necklace of the Woe of Thingol” in Silmarillion notes from the late 1950s (WJ/258).
Conceptual Development: The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had G. fring “carcanet, necklace” (GL/59), an element in the early name G. Nauglafring “Necklace of the Dwarves” (LT2/221). ᴱN. fring “necklace” reappeared in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s (PE13/143), but in Silmarillion drafts of the 1930s the “Necklace of the Dwarves” was renamed to Nauglamír (SM/135), a name it retained thereafter (S/114). The element mîr in the later name means “jewel” (Ety/MIR; LotR/1115), and Tolkien coined a new word sigil for “necklace” in the 1950s, as noted above.
Element in
- S. Sigil Elu-naeth “Necklace of the Woe of Thingol” ✧ WJ/258
Variations
- Sigil ✧ WJ/258
gorthrim
noun. the dead
û
interjection. no
adv. or interj. no, not (of fact).
gorth
noun. a dead person
ú
prefix. no, not (negative prefix or particle)
baw
interjection. no, don't!
firin
mortal
?firin. No distinct pl. form.
firin
mortal
. No distinct pl. form.
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:
firieth
mortal woman
(pl. firith).
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).
sigil
necklace
sigil (i higil, o sigil), no distinct pl. form except with article (i sigil), coll. pl. sigiliath. (WJ:258) Note: a homophone means ”knife, dagger”.
sigil
necklace
(i higil, o sigil), no distinct pl. form except with article (i sigil), coll. pl. sigiliath. (WJ:258) Note: a homophone means ”knife, dagger”.
baw!
no
! (interjection expressing refusal or prohibition, not denying facts) baw! (dont!) Prefix
baw!
no
(don’t!) Prefix
gú
no, not
also ú
gorth
dead
(adj.) 1) gorth (lenited ngorth; pl. gyrth), also fern, pl. firn. These adjectives may also be used as nouns ”dead person(s)”. According to LR:381 s.v. _
adj. mortal. >> firen