wen(ed)

root. maiden, girl, virgin; woman

This and similar roots were connected to Elvish words for maidenhood for much of Tolkien’s life. The earliest form of this root was unglossed {ᴱ√WENE >>} ᴱ√GWENE in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. ’wendi “maiden” and ᴱQ. ’wendele “maidenhood” (QL/103). In the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon the primitive form was given as {ᴱ✶gw̯ene >>} ᴱ✶gu̯eđe having derivatives like G. gwennin “girl” and {G. gwendi >>} G. gwethli “maiden, little girl” (GL/45).

In The Etymologies of the 1930s Tolkien gave the root as ᴹ√WEN “maiden” with extension ᴹ√WENED and derivatives like ᴹQ. venesse/N. gweneth “virginity” and ᴹQ. vende/N. gwenn “maiden” (Ety/WEN). In this entry Tolkien later wrote “transfer to GWEN”, indicating a relationship to ᴹ√GWEN, a root in The Etymologies with derivatives having to do with youth and freshness (Ety/GWEN). The root √WEN(ED) appeared a number of times in Tolkien’s later writings, mostly as the basis for Q. wendë/S. gwen(d) “maiden” (PE17/191; VT47/17; VT48/18). The frequency with which Tolkien used Q. wendë over Q. vendë indicates the primitive root may have been ✱√GWEN(ED), since w derived from primitive gw survived longer in Quenya than ancient primitive w; see the entry on Q. vendë for further discussion.

Derivatives

• ✶wendē “maiden, young or small woman, girl” ✧ VT47/17; VT48/18
  • Q. vendë “maiden, *virgin”
  • S. gwend “maiden, maiden, *young woman”
• Q. vendë “maiden, *virgin” ✧ PE17/191; SA/wen; VT47/42
• Q. vénë “virgin, virgin; [ᴹQ.] girl”
• S. gwend “maiden, maiden, *young woman” ✧ PE17/191
• S. -wen “maiden, *female suffix” ✧ SA/wen

Variations

• WEN-ED ✧ PE17/191
• wen ✧ SA/wen
• wen-ed ✧ VT47/17
• wen(ed) ✧ VT47/42
• wēn- ✧ VT48/18