Q. Arien f. “Maiden of the Sun”

Q. Arien, f. “Maiden of the Sun”

The Maiden of the Sun who guided the solar orb through the heavens after it was created (S/99). Her name is likely a compound of árë “sunlight” and the feminine suffix -ien¹.

Conceptual Development: When she first appeared, this character’s name was ᴱQ. Urwen(di) “Sun-maiden” (LT1/179, LT1A/Urwen), combining the early name of the Sun, ᴱQ. Ûr, with ᴱQ. wen(di) “maiden”. Her name was later revised to ᴹQ. Úrien¹ (SM/97, SM/170) >> ᴹQ. Árien (SM/99, 168) >> ᴹQ. Arien (LR/243, Ety/AR¹).

In later writings, the name sometimes appeared with the long Á (PE17/148, MR/376) but usually had a short A, and this is the form appearing in the later drafts and published versions of The Silmarillion (MR/136, 198; S/99). In his late notes on the cosmology of Middle-earth, Tolkien consider numerous variant forms for this name: Áren, Ār(i), Ārië, Āzië and even a (rejected) masculine form Auron (MR/376, 380), but none of these variants appeared in the narratives. The early form Úrien also briefly reappeared in some linguistic note from the 1950s (PE21/86).

References ✧ LT1I; MR/136, 198, 376, 380; MRI/Arien, Auron; PE17/148; PE21/86; S/99; SA/arien; SI

Glosses

Variations

Elements

árë “sunlight, warmth (especially of the sun); day” ✧ PE17/148 (āre)
-ien¹ “feminine ending; feminine patronymic, -daughter”

Derivations

Phonetic Developments

as- > arien [asien] > [azien] > [arien] ✧ SA/arien

ᴹQ. Árien f. “Sun-maiden”

See Q. Arien for discussion.

References ✧ Ety/AR¹; LR/243; LRI/Arien; PE22/17, 19, 47; SM/99, 168; SMI/Árien, Úrien

Glosses

Variations

Changes

Elements

ᴹ√AR¹ “day” ✧ Ety/AR¹
-ien¹ “daughter”

ᴹQ. Úrien¹ f. “Sun-maiden”

An earlier name for Q. Arien (SM/97, LR/243). Its initial element seems to be Ûr, an early name Tolkien used for “Sun”.

See Q. Arien for further discussion.

References ✧ LR/243; LRI/Arien, Úrien; SM/97, 99, 170; SMI/Árien, Úrien, Urwen

Glosses

Changes

Elements

Úrin “Sun, (lit.) Fiery” ✧ SM/97 (Ûr)

ᴱQ. Urwen(di) f. “Sun-maiden”

See Q. Arien for discussion.

References ✧ GL/18, 75; LT1A/Ónen, Ûr, Urwen; LT1I; LT2I; MRI; PE14/15; PME/98; PMI; QL/98; SM/170; SMI/Úrien, Urwen

Glosses

Variations

Related

Changes

Elements

Ûr “Sun, (lit.) Fire” ✧ LT1A/Ûr; LT1A/Urwen; QL/98 (Ur)
wen(di) “maid, girl, maiden” ✧ LT1A/Ónen (-wen); LT1A/Urwen (wendi)

Cognates