1) (past participle) gwanwen (lenited wanwen; pl. gwenwin), also as noun: a ”departed” one, one of the Elves of Aman: Gwanwen (i **Wanwen), pl. Gwenwin (in Gwenwin) (WJ:378), 2) gwann (dead), lenited wann; pl. gwain**;
Sindarin
gwanwen
proper name. Departed
gwanwen
adjective. departed, departed, *gone, lost [to time], past
gwanwen
departed
gwanwen
departed
(lenited ’wanwen; pl. gwenwin), also as noun: a ”departed” one, one of the Elves of Aman: Gwanwen (i ’Wanwen), pl. Gwenwin (in Gwenwin) (WJ:378)
gwanwen
noun. Elves that left Beleriand for Aman (lit. "the departed")
pl. gwenwin; cf. Q vanwa >> gwanwel
gwanwel
elf of aman
(”departed” Elf), pl. gwenwil (in gwenwil), coll. pl. gwanwellath. (WJ:378) Also gwanwen; see
gwann
departed
(dead), lenited ’wann; pl. gwain
gwae-
verb. to go, depart
This highly irregular verb appeared in Definitive Linguistic Notes (DLN) from 1959 as the Sindarin equivalent of Q. auta- “go (away), depart”, itself very irregular, both verbs derived from the invertible root √WĀ/AWA (PE17/148). The Sindarin verb has a present tense form gwaen “I go” and past forms 1st. sg. anwen “✱I went” and 3rd. sg. anu/awn “✱he/she went”, with these past forms apparently based on an ancient nasal-infixed strong past ✶anwē (from which the archaic Q. strong past †anwe “went” was derived). It has two more forms gwanu/gwawn. These seem to be the equivalent of Q. vanwa “lost” < ✶wanwā.
The present tense form gwaen “I go” is especially peculiar. Compare this to the more regular present tenses cewin “I taste” < kawin(e) (PE22/152) and galon “I grow” < galān(e) (PE17/131). I think the likeliest explanation is that gwaen is derived from an ancient aorist form wa-i-nĭ, with ai becoming ae as was usual of Sindarin’s phonetic developments. If so, the presents of this verb would be based on √WA and the pasts based on √AW.
A final twist is that in the note from DLN Tolkien mentions u-intrusion, a sound change parallel to the more common i-intrusion, whereby a final u moved before a preceding consonant. The forms awn and gwawn are thus the u-intruded results of anu and gwanu. This u-intrusion would not occur in forms with further suffixes, like anwen “I went”.
A probably related form gwanwen “departed” appears in the Quendi and Eldar (Q&E) essay from 1959-60 (WJ/378). This could be an independent adjective, but could also be a passive participle of gwae- (or some variant of it), possibly a strengthened or elaborated form of gwanu/gwawn. Note that Q&E also states that:
> The only normal derivative [of AWA] is the preposition o, the usual word for ‘from, of’. None of the forms of the element ✱awa are found as a prefix in S, probably because they became like or the same as the products of ✱wō, ✱wo (WJ/366).
Some people believe this indicates that Tolkien rejected other derivatives like gwae-, but since Q&E also contains gwanwen, I think this statement only applies to direct derivatives of AWA, as opposed to gwae- and gwanwen which are derived from the inverted root WĀ.
Neo-Sindarin: How to handle this verb in the context of Neo-Sindarin is unclear. Given the extreme irregularity of this verb, it is tempting to discard it. Unfortunately, we have no other attested Sindarin verbs for “to depart”. Furthermore, common verbs like “go” tend to be irregular in many languages (such as English as “go” vs. “went”), so it makes sense the same would be true of Sindarin. As such, I propose the following conjugation for this verb (hat tip to Gilruin for most of this paradigm; he suggested much better forms than my original ideas):
Present tense ✱gwae “go” < primitive ✶gwa-ĭ, with inflections added to this form: gwaen “I go”, ✱gwael “you go”, etc.
Past tense awn “went” < ✶anwē with u-intrusion. Inflected forms are based on non-intruded anw-: anwen “I went”, ✱anwel “you went”, etc.
Past/passive participle gwanwen “departed”, an elaboration of the older (archaic?) perfective participle gwanu/gwawn.
Future ✱gwatha “will go”, ✱gwathon “I will go”, < ✶wa-thā, wa-thā-nĭ.
Gerund ✱gwaed (< ✶wa-itā) and active participle ✱gwaul (< ✶wa-ālā) “departing”.
Imperative ✱gwaw “go!” < ✶wa-ā, as with baw “don’t!” < ✶bā (WJ/371-2).
Finally, this verb means “go” specifically in the sense “depart”, that is: “go away”. For “go (generally and in any direction)”, use the verb men-.
If you dislike this irregularity of gwae- or you believe that Tolkien’s note in Q&E (see above) indicates this verb was rejected along with (most) Sindarin derivatives of AWA, then the neologism haena- “to leave, depart” gives an alternative verb.
alph
noun. swan
alph
noun. swan
n. Zoo. swan.
alph
noun. swan
The Sindarin noun for “swan” derived from primitive ✶alkwā (NM/378; UT/265; Ety/ÁLAK), where first the [[at|ancient [kw] became [p]]] and then the [[os|[lp] became [lf] (spelled lph)]].
Conceptual Development: In the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, this word appeared as {alcwi >>} alfa (GL/18), which is perhaps the moment that Tolkien decided that labialized velars became labials in the Sindarin branch of Elvish (though in Gnomish this sound change applied only medially). In Gnomish Lexicon Slips modifying this document, the word became alf (PE13/109), and Tolkien stuck with this form thereafter, though eventually revising the spelling to alph once he decide that final [f] was spelled ph. In The Etymologies of the 1930s, N. alf “swan” appeared under the root ᴹ√ALAK “rushing” (Ety/ÁLAK).
edhel
noun. Elf
eledh
noun. Elf
elen
noun. Elf
ell
noun. Elf
penedh
noun. Elf
alph
swan
alph (pl. eilph)
alph
swan
(pl. eilph)
avar
non-eldarin elf
pl. Evair, also called
banath
noun. beauty
beinas
noun. beauty
calben
elf of the great journey
(i galben, o chalben), pl. celbin (i chelbin).
dúnedhel
elf of beleriand
(i Núnedhel), pl. *Dúnedhil*** (i Ndúnedhil*). (WJ:378, 386)*
edhel
elf
(pl. edhil). Coll. pl. Edhelrim (or Edhellim) (UT:318). Also †eledh, pl. elidh, coll. pl. eledhrim (Letters:281), also elen, pl. elin, also with coll. pl. eledhrim (elen + rim with the regular change nr > dhr). (WJ:363, 377-78; the shorter coll. pl. Eldrim > *Elrim*** may also occur). But since elin** also means "stars", other terms for "Elf" may be preferred.
edhelharn
elf-stone
(pl. edhelhern) (SD:128-31).
elleth
elf-woman
(pl. ellith) (WJ:363-64, 377)
ellon
elf-man
(pl. ellyn)
elvellon
elf-friend
(pl. elvellyn, coll. pl. elvellonnath (WJ:412);
laegel
green-elf
pl. laegil; coll. pl. laegrim or laegeldrim (WJ:385). These forms from a late source would seem to supersede the ”N” forms listed in LR:368 s.v. LÁYAK: *Lhoebenidh* or *Lhoebelidh*. The Green-elves of Beleriand were also called Lindel (pl. Lindil), also Lindedhel (pl. Lindedhil) *(WJ:385)*.
lefn
elf left behind
pl. lifn.
miniel
first elf
(i Viniel), pl. Mínil (i Mínil), coll. pl. Miniellath. (WJ:383)
mornedhel
dark elf
(i Vornedhel), pl. Mornedhil (i Mornedhil). Conceivably the entire word could be umlauted in the pl.: ?Mernedhil. **(WJ:409) Another term for ”Dark Elf” is Dúredhel (i Dhúredhel), pl. Dúredhil (i Núredhil**).
mân
departed spirit
(i vân, construct man), pl. main (i main)
peredhel
half-elf
(pl. peredhil) (PM:256, 348).
send
grey-elf
(i hend, o send, construct sen) (probably a term only used by the Noldor, borrowed from Quenya Sinda), pl. sind (i sind), coll. pl. Sendrim (the only attested form).
A term the Sindar used for the Elves who left Beleriand for Aman, derived from the same root as Q. vanwa: √WĀ/AWA (WJ/366, 378). Another variation was Gwanwel (WJ/378), perhaps incorporating †Ell “Elf”.