Sindarin
gwend
noun. maiden, maiden, *young woman
Cognates
- Q. vendë “maiden, *virgin” ✧ PE17/191
Derivations
Element in
- S. Rodwen “High Virgin Noble”
- S. Arwen “Noble Maiden”
- ᴺS. arwen “noble lady”
- S. Galadwen
- S. Gladhwen “Laughing Maiden”
- ᴺS. gwendren “maidenly, girlish”
- S. gweneth “maidenhood, maidenhood, [N.] virginity” ✧ PE17/191
- ᴺS. gwennod “elder tree; elderberry, *(lit.) maiden berry”
- S. Hirwen
- S. Ivonwin “Maidens of Yavanna”
- S. Ivorwen
- S. Laewen
- S. Urwen
- S. -wen “maiden, *female suffix”
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √WEN-ED > gwen(d) [wende] > [gwende] > [gwend] > [gwenn] ✧ PE17/191 Variations
- gwen(d) ✧ PE17/191
gwend
noun. maiden
gwen
noun. maiden
gwend
noun. friendship
gwend (i 'wend, construct gwen) (bond), pl. gwind (in gwind), coll. pl. gwennath. Note: a homophone means ”maiden”.
gwend
maiden
gwend (i **wend, construct gwen) (friendship), pl. gwind (in gwind), coll. pl. gwennath**. Note: a homophone means ”bond, friendship”.
gwend
friendship
(i ’wend, construct gwen) (bond), pl. gwind (in gwind), coll. pl. gwennath. Note: a homophone means ”maiden”.
gwend
maiden
(i ’wend, construct gwen) (friendship), pl. gwind (in gwind), coll. pl. gwennath. Note: a homophone means ”bond, friendship”.
gwedh
bind
*gwedh- (i **wêdh, in gwedhir), pa.t. gwedhant, in older language also gwend**. In LR:397 s.v.
gwedh
bind
(i ’wêdh, in gwedhir), pa.t. gwedhant, in older language also gwend. In LR:397 s.v.
wen
maiden
, see MAIDEN. The final element -wen in names means ”girl, maiden, virgin”.
gwaedh
bond
1) (a ”bond” of loyalty) gwaedh (i **waedh) (troth, compact, oath), no distinct pl. form except with article (in gwaedh**), 2) _(apparently referring to physical ”bonds”, cf.
gwaedh
bond
(i ’waedh) (troth, compact, oath), no distinct pl. form except with article (in gwaedh)
gwêdh
chain
(i ’wêdh, construct gwedh), pl. gwîdh (in gwîdh), 3) (ditto) nûd (construct nud, pl. nuid). 4) (the ”bond” of friendship) gwend (i ’wend, construct gwen) (friendship), pl. gwind (in gwind), coll. pl. gwennath. Note: a homophone means ”maiden”.
dilith
noun. friendship
@@@ Discord 2023-03-06
Cognates
- ᴹQ. nilme “friendship”
Elements
Word Gloss N(D)IL “to love (as a friend or equal), be devoted to, to love (as a friend or equal), be devoted to; [ᴹ√] love, devotion; friend” -th “abstract noun”
nod
bind
nod- (i nôd, i nedir) (tie), pa.t. likely *nunt since the root is __ (LR:378).
nod
bind
(i nôd, i nedir) (tie), pa.t. likely ✱nunt since the root is NUT (LR:378).
A word for “maiden” or “✱young woman”, frequently appearing as suffixal -wen as an element in female names, derived from the root √WEN(ED) (PE17/191; Ety/WEN).
Conceptual Development: In the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, the word G. gwin meant “woman, female” and G. {gwen >>} gwennin was “girl” (GL/45). The former was derived from the root ᴱ√giu̯i which had to do with pregnancy, but the latter was derived from {ᴱ√gw̯ene >>} ᴱ√gu̯eđe. In the contemporaneous Qenya Lexicon {ᴱ√WENE >>} ᴱ√GWENE was the basis of words like ᴱQ. ’wen(di) “maiden” (QL/103). In the Gnomish Lexicon Slips it seems G. gwin was also reassigned to the root ᴱ√(G)WENE [ᴱ√u̯enĭ-], derived from ᴱ✶u̯einā́, though possibly shifted or blended in meaning with an adjectival sense “womanly” (PE13/113).
In the Early Noldorin Grammar of the 1920s, Tolkien had ᴱN. uin “woman” (PE13/123), a form that also appeared with this gloss in contemporaneous Early Noldorin Word-lists as a replacement for deleted {gwind, gwinn} (PE13/146, 155). In The Etymologies of the 1930s, Tolkien had N. gwend, gwenn “maiden” under the root ᴹ√WEN(ED) which he said was “often found in feminine names” (Ety/WEN). He noted that “since the [suffixed names] show no -d even in archaic spelling, they probably contain a form wen-”. Tolkien seems to have stuck with these forms thereafter.
Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I would use this word for a young woman or adolescent girl, especially prior to marriage, but for female children I would use neth.