maiwë

noun. gull

A noun for “gull” appearing in its plural form maiwi in the Q. Markirya poem of the 1960s (MC/222). In The Etymologies of the 1930s, ᴹQ. maiwe “gull” was derived from the root ᴹ√MIW “whine” (Ety/MIW).

Conceptual Development: In the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s the word was ᴱQ. māwe (māwi-) “gull” under the early root ᴱ√MAWA “cry, bleat” (QL/60), also mentioned in the Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa (PME/60). In Early Qenya Word-lists from the 1920s Tolkien instead had vaiya or {maiwe >>} waiwe “seamew” (PE16/138), but in the version of the ᴱQ. Oilima Markirya poem from circa 1930, Tolkien used maiwe in its nominative plural form maiwin “gulls” (MC/213).