vanya
fair
vanya
proper name. Fair Elves, the Fair
An Elf of the first tribe, known as “The Fair” (S/53). Their name developed from the primitive root √(G)WAN “pale, fair” referring to their fair hair (WJ/383).
Conceptual Development: Tolkien also considered deriving this name from primitive ✶banya “beautiful” (PM/402) from the root √BAN (PE17/165). In Quenya, these two roots were blended, so both origins could have been true in a sense.
Cognates
- T. Vania “Vanya” ✧ WJ/383; WJI/Vanyar
Derivations
Derivatives
- T. Vania “Vanya” ✧ WJ/383
Element in
- Q. Vanyarin “*of the Vanyar; language of the Vanyar”
Elements
Word Gloss vanya “fair, beautiful, unmarred; fair-haired (yellow to golden), fair, beautiful, unmarred; fair-haired (yellow to golden); [ᴱQ.] good (not evil), holy” Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ✶Banyai > Vanyar [banjar] > [βanjar] > [vanjar] ✧ PM/402 ✶wanjā > Vanyar [wanjar] > [βanjar] > [vanjar] ✧ WJ/380 ✶wanjā > Vanyar [wanjar] > [βanjar] > [vanjar] ✧ WJ/383
alya
fair, good
alya (1) adj. "fair, good" (PE17:146), "prosperous, rich, abundant, blessed" (GALA). In a deleted entry in Etym, the glosses provided were "rich, blessed"; another deleted entry defined alya as "rich, prosperous, blessed". (GALA, [ÁLAM], VT42:32, 45:5, 14)
vanë
fair
vanë adj. "fair" (LT1:272; in Tolkien's later Quenya rather vanya)
vanë
adjective. fair, fair, [ᴱQ.] lovely
Derivations
- √BAN “beauty (due to lack of fault or blemish); fair, beautiful” ✧ PE17/056
Element in
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √BAN > vane [bani] > [bane] > [βane] > [vane] ✧ PE17/056 Variations
- vane ✧ PE17/056
-ima
fair
-ima adjectival suffix. Sometimes it is used to derive simple adjectives, like vanima "fair" or calima "bright"; it can also take on the meaning "-able" (PE17:68), as in mátima "edible" (mat- "eat"), nótima "countable" (not- "count") and (with a negative prefix) úquétima "unspeakable" (from quet- "speak"). Note that the stem-vowel is normally lengthened in the derivatives where -ima means "-able", though this fails to occur in cenima "visible" (q.v., but contrast hraicénima, q.v.) and also before a consonant cluster as in úfantima "not concealable" (PE17:176). "X-ima" may mean "apt to X" (when the ending is added to an intransitive verbal stem), as in Fírimar "mortals", literally "those apt to die" (WJ:387). The adj. úfantima "not concealable" (PE17:176) also appears as úfantuma (PE17:180), indicating the existence of a variant ending -uma (possibly used to derive adjectives with a "bad" meaning; compare the ending *-unqua next to -inqua, q.v.)
alima
fair, good
alima adj. "fair, good" (also alya) (PE17:146)
linda
fair, beautiful
linda adj. "fair, beautiful" (of sound) (SLIN, LIND; VT45:27), "soft, gentle, light" (PE16:96), "beautiful, sweet, melodious of sound" (PE17:150); for Linda as a noun, see Lindar.
vanyar
Vanyar
The name Vanyar means "the Fair" in Quenya, referring to their golden hair. It seems to be from a primitive Elvish form bányâ (stem BAN) but also from wanjâ (stem WAN). The Teleri called them Baniai.
vanya (1) adj. "fair" (FS), "beautiful" (BAN), a word referring to beauty that is "due to lack of fault, or blemish" (PE17:150), hence Arda Vanya as an alternative to Arda Alahasta for "Arda Unmarred" (ibid., compare MR:254). Nominal pl. Vanyar "the Fair", the first clan of the Eldar; the original meaning of this stem was "pale, light-coloured, not brown or dark" (WJ:382, 383, stem given as WAN), "properly = white complexion and blonde hair" (PE17:154, stem given as GWAN); stems BAN vs. WAN discussed, see PE17:150.