yén

long year

yén noun, Elvish "long year" of 144 solar years, 52,596 days (Nam, Appendix D, E; RGEO:66. Tolkien earlier defined yén_ as 100 solar years; see PM:126. In the Etymologies, stem YEN, it seems to mean simply "year", but in the LotR Appendices the word for "year" instead appears as _loa or coranar, q.v.) Yénonótië "reckoning of years" (MR:51). Pl. yéni in Nam and Etym, entry YEN though the plural form is misread as "yen-" in the printed version of the Etymologies, cf. VT46:23. Yéni pa yéni "years upon years" (VT44:36). Pl. genitive yénion in yénion yéni "ages of ages" (VT44:36)

yén

noun. Elvish long year (144 solar years)

Cognates

• S. în “year”

Derivations

• ᴹ√YEN “year”

Element in

• ᴺQ. atyenárë “anniversary”
• Q. et sillumello ter yénion yéni tenn’ ambarmetta “*from this hour, through years of years until the ending of the world” ✧ VT44/36; VT44/36
• Q. yénië “annals”
• Q. yéni únótimë ve rámar aldaron “long years numberless as the wings of trees” ✧ LotR/0377; RGEO/58
• Q. yéni únótimë ve aldaron rámar “long-years not-countable as trees’ wings” ✧ RGEO/58
• Q. yéni ve lintë yuldar avánier “the years have passed like swift draughts” ✧ LotR/0377; RGEO/58
• Q. yéni avánier ve lintë yuldar “years have passed away like swift draughts” ✧ RGEO/58
• Q. Yénonótië “*Reckoning of Years” ✧ MR/057

Variations

• Yén ✧ MR/057 (Yén)
• yên ✧ NM/006; NM/010
• yēn ✧ PE17/062; PE17/119

quantien

last day of year

quantien ("q") noun "last day of year" (YEN) or "full year" (VT46:23). The latter gloss also turns up in PM:quantien "full year" = yén, a period of 144 solar years (PM:126; pl. quantiéni, PM:127). Since the latter meaning comes from drafts for the LotR Appendices that did not make it into the published LotR, it is difficult to tell whether it is canonical.

idhrinn

noun. year

în

noun. year

A Sindarin word for “year”, derived from the primitive root ᴹ√YEN of similar meaning, with its vowel sound the result of [[s|a long [ē] becoming [ī]]].

Conceptual Development: The word în first appeared in The Etymologies from the 1930s with the gloss and derivation given above. It did not directly appear in Tolkien’s later writings, but was an element in several later words such as S. ínias “annals” and S. iphant “aged” (lit. “year full”). Furthermore, its Quenya cognate yén did reappear in the Lord of the Rings appendices.

In The Etymologies, both N. în and ᴹQ. yén were glossed “year”, and there were other words for longer periods of time, such as ᴹQ. qantien “century, (lit.) full year” and N. anrand “cycle, age”. In the Lord of the Rings and other later writings, Tolkien changed the meaning Q. yén to an “Elvish century” of 144 years. It is quite likely that S. în also changed to this meaning, but since it did not appear as an independent word in later writing, we have no direct confirmation of this.

Neo-Sindarin: Most Neo-Sindarin writers continue to use în with the sense “year” (that is, a solar year of 365 days). If you are concerned with this word’s true meaning, you might instead use a neologism for this period of time, such as ᴺS. lóran or ᴺS. coranor, but since these are not in widespread use, it is less likely a reader would understand your meaning.

Cognates

• Q. yén “Elvish long year (144 solar years)”

Derivations

• ᴹ√YEN “year”

Element in

• ᴺS. edinor “anniversary day”
• S. ínias “annals” ✧ MR/200
• S. iphant “*aged, [N.] aged, having lived long, (lit.) year-full”
• ᴺS. penninor “full year (last day of year), *new year’s eve”

Variations

• ín ✧ MR/200

idhrinn

year

(no distinct pl. form).

în

year

1) în, no distinct pl. form; coll. pl. ?íniath. 2) idhrinn (no distinct pl. form). LONG YEAR (Valian year) ennin. No distinct pl. form, but coll. pl. enniniath.

în

year

no distinct pl. form; coll. pl. ?íniath.

idhrin

noun. year

idhrind

noun. year

în

noun. year

în

noun. year

Cognates

• ᴹQ. yén “year” ✧ Ety/YEN

Derivations

• ᴹ√YEN “year” ✧ Ety/YEN

Element in

• N. edinar “anniversary day”
• N. Enedhin “Midyear week”
• N. ennin “Valian year” ✧ Ety/YEN
• N. idhrin “year, *(lit.) year-circle”
• N. ingem “old (in mortal sense), suffering from old age, decrepit, (lit.) year-sick” ✧ Ety/YEN
• N. ínias “annals” ✧ Ety/YEN
• N. ifant “aged, having lived long, (lit.) year-full” ✧ Ety/YEN
• N. penninar “full year (last day of year)” ✧ Ety/YEN

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
ᴹ√YEN > în	[jēn] > [jīn] > [īn]	✧ Ety/YEN

Variations

• in ✧ Ety/YEN

ennin

noun. Valian year