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2.1  Nen fimred, Nenvithim

§ Nen fimred (TI:10)
§ Nenvithim ’Hoardales’ (TI:114)

The region northeast of Imladris had been first named ’Dimrilldale(s)’, but this name was then transferred to the east of the Misty Mountains, while this land received the names ’Hoardale(s)’, ’Wolfdale’, ’Entishdale’, ’Entish Dales’, ’Entish Lands’ (with ent in the sense of ’giant’ (RS:205)).
Both Elvish names seem to contain the plural of nan ’valley’ (Let:230).
It is not entirely clear whether Nen fimred translates ’Hoardale’ or ’Wolfdale’. The ending -red in fimred seems to denote an abstract noun, as in N. pathred ’fullness’ (KWAT-), S. haered ’remote distance’ (Rgeo:72, KHAYA-), but as the initial element fim ’slender’ as in Fimbrethil ’slender-beech’ (LotR App.F) or ’slender-princess’ (√PHIM, PE17:23,82) does not fit at all and I have no sufficient explanation.
The second element in Nenvithim appears to be lenited #mithim *’hoar, grey’ from MITH- with N. mith ’grey’. The adjectival ending -im is here very interesting. It must come from -imā, but would normally develop by lenition into -ef [εv] in Noldorin/Sindarin. No forms with -ef occur in these languages, however. Moreover, we are later explicitly told that the S equivalent of Q -ima (*-ef) was not current (WJ:387).
Both the absence of m-lenition and a-affection is known from the northern dialect of Sindarin, for instance lāmina > lomin instead of loven (PE17:133, VT41:10, [9]). A similar conception could have been already present in these early writings in one way or another. Ilkorin, for example, does not show m-lenition either, see e.g. dûm ’twilight’ (DOMO-).
The same ending -im most probably occurs in Neleg Thilim ’the Gleaming tooth’, see 3.9.


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