Quenya
fírima
proper name. Mortal, (lit.) One Apt to Die
Cognates
- S. Fíreb “Mortal” ✧ WJ/387
Derivations
- √PHIR “exhale, expire, breathe out, exhale, expire, breathe out; [ᴹ√] die of natural causes” ✧ WJ/387
Element in
- Q. ar mi cemen rainë i hínin “and on earth peace, good will toward men” ✧ VT44/35
- Q. Firindil “Friend of Men”
- Q. náner ataformaitë ve fírimor quetir “*were ambidextrous as mortals say” ✧ VT49/11
Elements
Word Gloss fírima “mortal, *(lit.) able to die” Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √PHIRI > Fírimar [pʰīrimar] > [ɸīrimar] > [fīrimar] ✧ WJ/387
A name of Men as mortal beings (S/102, WJ/387). It is the adjective fírima “mortal” used as a noun.
Conceptual Development: In Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s, the form of this word was ᴹQ. Fírimo ending with an -o (LR/245). This form also appeared in Fíriel’s Song from the same time period. The form Fírima appeared in the Quendi and Eldar essay from 1959-60 (WJ/387), and this was the form used in the published version of The Silmarillion (S/102).
In later writings, the older form form still appeared, however. The form fírimonnar appeared later in a draft version of Alcar mi Tarmenel na Erun, Tolkien’s partial translation of Gloria in Excelsis Deo from the 1950s, but it was eventually replaced with híni “children [of God]”. Also, fírimor appeared in a draft version of the Ambidexters Sentence from the late 1960s, but it did not appear in the final version. Tolkien seems to have vacillated between Fírimo and Fírima in his later writings, but Fírimo was always replaced with something else, while Fírima was allowed to stand.