Select Elvish Words: 14.12 Age

14.12 Age

Q. coimen (coimend-) n. “life-year”

A measure of the age of an adult Elf, translated “life-year”, equal in time to an Elvish long-year yén which is 144 sun-years (NM/84, 120). The word coimen seems to be derived from a combination of √KOY “life” and √MEN “go, proceed”, so perhaps originally meaning “*life-process”. It may be distinguished from an olmen “growth-year” which measures the age of an Elf during childhood prior to maturity (quantolië). These measurements are complicated by the fact that (a) the age of maturity is different for Elvish men and woman and (b) Tolkien kept changing his mind about how quickly Elves aged during childhood. See olmen for further discussion.

Q. olmen (olmend-) n. “growth-year”

A measure of the age of a young Elf, translated “growth-year” (NM/84, 120). It seems to be derived from a combination of √OL “growth” and √MEN “go, proceed”, so perhaps originally “*growth-process”. It may be distinguished from a coimen “life-year” as a measure of the age after maturity (quantolië), a longer span equal to one yén which is an Elvish long-year (144 sun-years). These measurements are complicated by the fact that (a) the age of maturity is different for Elvish men and woman and (b) Tolkien kept changing his mind about how quickly Elves aged during childhood.

As originally described by Tolkien in notes from 1959 (NM/83-92), Elvish children grow at roughly 1/12th the rate of human children and one olmen is 12 sun-years (löar). Elvish women reach maturity after 18 olmendi (216 sun-years = 1.5 yéni) and Elvish men at 24 olmendi (244 sun-years = 2 yéni). Physiologically, a 216 year-old Elvish woman was the equivalent of an 18 year-old human woman, and a 244 year-old Elvish man was the equivalent of a 24 year-old human man.

Upon reaching maturity Elvish aging slows dramatically, so that after one yén an Elf ages about the same as a human would in one sun-year. Thus a 5 yéni-old (720 year-old) Elvish woman is the physiological equivalent of a 21.5 year-old human woman (18 olmendi ≈ 18 years + 3.5 colmendi ≈ 3.5 years) and a 5 yéni-old (720 year-old) Elvish man is equivalent to a 27 year-old human man (24 olmendi ≈ 24 years + 3 colmendi ≈ 3 years).

In later notes (but still from 1959) Tolkien changed his mind, so that Elves grew in childhood at the same rate as humans and reach maturity after 24 sun-years for both Elvish men and woman (NM/119-120). Thereafter they aged at the slower rate described above, with 1 yén the equivalent on one year of human aging. In notes from 1965, Tolkien changed his mind again, so that Elvish children matured at one-third the rate of Men and reached maturity after 72 years, but still the equivalent of a 24 year-old human (NM/146-148).

Regardless of the actual growth rate in childhood, the term olmen can be used to describe the age of children, whereas coimen is used for age in adulthood. Elves with the same number of coimendi would have the same level maturity and life-experience, but their temporal age could be 1-2 yéni more to include their childhood olmendi. Perhaps the same terms can apply to Men, but in that case might measure only a single sun-year given the shorter life-spans.

Q. ontavalië n. “puberty, *(lit.) able to beget”

A term for “puberty” in notes from 1959 (NM/120-121), apparently a combination of onta- “beget” and a noun form of √BAL “having power”, so perhaps meaning “*able to beget”.

Q. quantolië n. “maturity, *full growth”

A term for “maturity” in notes from 1959 (NM/120-121), apparently a combination of quanta “full” and a noun form of √OL “grow”, so perhaps meaning “*full growth”.

ᴹQ. randa n. “cycle, age (100 Valian Years)”

A noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “cycle, age (100 Valian Years)” derived from ᴹ✶randā under the root ᴹ√RAD “back, return” (Ety/RAD). At this point in Tolkien’s writing, 100 Valian years was about one millenia, but the actual meaning may have be looser than this.

ᴹQ. vea adj. “adult; vigorous, ⚠️manly”

An adjective in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “adult, manly, vigorous” under the root ᴹ√WEG “(manly) vigour” (Ety/WEG).

Neo-Quenya: In Tolkien’s later writings the root √WEG was less specifically tied to masculinity, so I would use vëa only for “adult” and “vigorous” for purposes of Neo-Quenya. For “masculine” I would use [ᴹQ.] hanuvoite.

Q. vinimetta n. “end of youth, *reaching middle age”

A term for the “end of youth” in notes from 1959 (NM/120-121), apparently a combination of vínë “youth” and metta “end”. It refers to the end of an Elf’s youthful vigor after 72 coimendi (“life-years”) or yéni (“Elvish long-years”) of adulthood, which is about 10,000 years old. Past this point, Elves are no longer able to have children and generally become more reserved, much like a human reaching “middle age”.

Q. yárië n. “age, *oldness”

A word used for “ages” in various versions of the Löa Yucainen poem from the 1950s (CPT/1296-1298). It seems to be a noun form of yára “old”, so perhaps “*oldness”.

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would use singular yárie for “age” in the sense of the length of existence of a thing, and plural yárier for “ages” as in a great span of time.

N. anrand n. “age, (lit.) *long cycle; ⚠️cycle”

A word appearing in The Etymologies of the 1930s as N. anrand, a combination of N. ann “long” [< ᴹ✶andā] and ON. randa “cycle, age (100 Valian Years)” (Ety/RAD). Notes on The Feanorian Alphabet from the 1930s instead had andrand [untranslated] (PE22/41).

Possible Etymology: Given its constituent element, anrand must be derived from *andarantā. Most of the time, we expect the ndr in the middle of such a word to survive, such as in Andram and Andros. However, Helge Fauskanger pointed out that in notes from the late 1960s, Tolkien indicated a ndr would become nr before following d: “findarātō would have become find-raud > findrod > finrod with loss of the medial d before a following d” (VT41/9). A similar phenomenon could have applied to anrand.

Neo-Sindarin: Hiswelókë’s Sindarin Dictionary (HSD) suggested an alternate development for this word, with the final -nd becoming -nn resulting in ᴺS. andrann. However, I prefer to retain anrand and would use it to mean “age” = “*long cycle”. I would use ᴺS. rand [< ᴹ✶randā] as “cycle” for shorter cyclical periods.

Conceptual Development: The Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s had G. born “age, great period” (GL/23), cognate to ᴱQ. vorne “aeon” which appeared under the early root ᴱ√VORO in the contemporaneous Qenya Lexicon (QL/102). ᴱN. born“great age, age, period” reappeared in Early Noldorin word-lists of the 1920s (PE13/139).