The Encyclopedia of Arda - an interactive guide to the world of J.R.R. Tolkien
Dates
Probably did not survive the War of the Last Alliance at the end of the Second Age1
Location
Last heard of in the region east of the Great River that would become known as the Brown Lands
Race
Family
Fimbrethil was Entwife to Fangorn (Treebeard)
Pronunciation
fi'mbrethil (th as in English 'breath')
Meaning
Variously translated 'slender-beech' or 'slim-birch'2
Other names

Indexes:

About this entry:

  • Updated 2 February 2018
  • Updates planned: 1

Fimbrethil

Treebeard’s beloved Wandlimb

The Elvish name, given in the Common Speech as 'Wandlimb', for Treebeard's beloved Entwife. She was lost with the other Entwives at the time Sauron blasted the regions known as the Brown Lands.


Notes

1

The gardens of the Entwives were ravaged during the War of the Last Alliance, giving rise to the wasted region known as the Brown Lands. After this the Entwives, including Fimbrethil, were lost, though there are hints that some of the Entwives might possibly have fled the devastation and thus survived into the Third Age. In principle, then, Fimbrethil might have lived on into the Third Age and even beyond, but it seems more likely she met her fate in the great war that brought the Second Age to a close.

2

When Treebeard translated Fimbrethil as 'Wandlimb', he was not being entirely literal. That interpretation concentrates on the fim- element of her name, which means 'slim' or 'slender'. The word brethil is usually 'birch', though it can also mean 'beech' in some circumstances (and Tolkien uses both translations in different interpretations of the name Fimbrethil). The form 'slender-beech' is given in Appendix F of The Lord of the Rings, and can thus be seen as the more formally canonical of the two options.

See also...

Entmaidens, Wandlimb

Indexes:

About this entry:

  • Updated 2 February 2018
  • Updates planned: 1

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