thent

thenta

Q. thenta, senta.

thent

adjective. short

The most common Sindarin word for “short”. In The Etymologies of the 1930s it was N. thent “short” derived from ᴹ√STINTĀ of the same meaning where the e was the result of a-affection (Ety/STINTĀ). In 1957 Notes on Names (NN), it was thent < ✶stentā where it was contrasted with thenn “grey-elf” < ✶thindā (PE17/141).

In 1957 Quenya Notes (QN) Tolkien instead had thenn “short” < ✶stenna, but this was part of a (brief?) paradigm where medial nt did not become nn in Sindarin (PE17/185). As such thent could no longer be the basis for Ann-thennath “✱Long-shorts” (LotR/193), name of a form of Elvish verse from The Lord of the Rings, and thus a new etymology was required:

> Since nt &c. no longer are held to yield nn &c., the word for “short” should be ✶stenna √STEN- “cut short, limit, confine, cramp”. Q thenna/senna. S thenn, esten (PE17/185).

However, this word appeared again as thent in the name of another style of Elvish alliterative verse: Minlamad Thent “✱First-echoing Short” in the draft introduction to the tale Narn i Chîn Húrin (WJ/311).

Neo-Sindarin: Since I prefer to assume medial nt did become nn, I would use thent “short” for purposes of Neo-Sindarin.

thent

adjective. short

then

adjective. short

thenn

adjective. short

estent

thenta

Q. thenta, senta.

estent

adjective. (very?) short

The slash sign in minlamad thent/estent might indicate either variant forms of an adjective, or a sequence of two short verse units, possibly of alliterating half-lines, see Tolkien's Legendarium p. 122

estent

adjective. short

The word estent was a longer form of thent “short” < ✶stentā (PE17/141; WJ/311), where the initial s became syllabic and developed into es-. In one place it had a variant esten as part of a paradigm where the word for “short” was thenn (PE17/185); see the entry on S. thent for discussion.

minlamad thent

proper name. mode of Elvish verse

Mode of Elvish verse (UT/146; WJ/311). Its final element is thent “short”, but the meaning of the first element minlamad is unclear. It may perhaps mean “first-echoing” and refer to alliteration, as suggested by Patrick Wynne and Carl Hostetter (Tolkien’s legendarium, p. 121-2). Tolkien said “this verse was not wholly unlike the verse known to Aelfwine” (WJ/311) and this may refer to the Old Norse or Old English styles of alliterative poetry; hat tip to Ellanto for suggesting this to me. In the Unfinished Tales as originally published, Christopher Tolkien gave this phrase as Minlamed thent/estent (UT/146), but in The War of the Jewels he said this was a slip on his part, and that J.R.R. Tolkien actually wrote Minlamad (WJ/311 and p. 315 note #3).

thent

short

thent (pl. thint), also ?estent (pl. estint).

thent

short

(pl. thint), also ?estent (pl. estint).

minlamad

noun. 'first voiced' or 'first-echoing', alliterative (?) verse mode (minlamad thent/estent)

The word is not translated by Tolkien. For a discussion of its probable meaning, refer to Tolkien's Legendarium p. 121-122

esten

adjective. short

nuitha

stop short

(i nuitha, in nuithar) (prevent from coming to completion; stunt; not allow to continue) (WJ:413)

thinnas

shortness

(also used for a “breve”, a mark indicating that a vowel is short). Verb