Names in Middle-Earth, Quick Guide

[MissGrace]

I have several different kinds of names for my characters. Despite their disparity, there's a story for each one.

SarahJo, my main, is a human minstrel from Breeland. It seemed to me from reading the books that people from this area had more regular understandable English names (Butterbur, Tom, Harry, Bill, Mat). I like the name Sarah, and Jo fit for other reasons. Simple and straightforward, keeping things cheery even in the dark places

Athelwine is my guardian, from Rohan. I gave her a more Elvish name. Originally, (back in closed beta), she was going to be my main. Her background is sad, but noble, taking after Éowyn. Athel I took from athelas, which means noble flower (if I remember correctly); wine means lady. Athelwine: noble-lady (I think )

Camia is my hobbit burglar. She's a bit unusual. I know hobbit girls are often named after flowers, so I made up a new flower, called a camia, which grows upside-down. While a sturdy flower, it's hard to find.

Lithwyn is my elf, a loremaster. I believe it means dust-maiden. Her story is still rather shrouded in mystery.

And finally, there's Quil, my captain. She's a proud member of the Q-clan. If you see a bunch of captains with a Q name running around Gladden, be sure to wave!

[Sylux14]

Two different languages. naur (werewolf) + âth (dog) are Black Speech. Naug (stunted) is the Sindarin root used in Naugrim (stunted people). Our pseudo Black Speech source is even more limited than our pseudo Kuzdul (hence why you've probably noticed a few more duplicate Orc/Troll/Warg names sprouting up.)

I find it odd that there is no word for wolf in black speech yet there is the word 'werewolf'



P.S. - you misspelled Khuzdul, shame on you!

[MysterX]

Two different languages. naur (werewolf) + âth (dog) are Black Speech. Naug (stunted) is the Sindarin root used in Naugrim (stunted people). Our pseudo Black Speech source is even more limited than our pseudo Kuzdul (hence why you've probably noticed a few more duplicate Orc/Troll/Warg names sprouting up.)

Speaking of which, I notice there is an NPC named Morthrang in Fanuidhol ... which as I recall is also the name of a boss in Urugarth?

[Berephon]

I find it odd that there is no word for wolf in black speech yet there is the word 'werewolf'



P.S. - you misspelled Khuzdul, shame on you!

As I said, our source is quite limited. And, yeah, I know. I blame it on medicine and the lack of sleep.

[Berephon]

Athelwine is my guardian, from Rohan. I gave her a more Elvish name. Originally, (back in closed beta), she was going to be my main. Her background is sad, but noble, taking after Éowyn. Athel I took from athelas, which means noble flower (if I remember correctly); wine means lady. Athelwine: noble-lady (I think )

Lithwyn is my elf, a loremaster. I believe it means dust-maiden. Her story is still rather shrouded in mystery.

The Rohirrim actually use a Mercian variant of Anglo-Saxon for their names . . . which you managed to get, intentionally or not! (In Sindarin, -wen (or gwen) is maiden, by the way.) Athelwine is a completely legitimate Anglo-Saxon name--I don't know the meaning however.

Is Lithwyn schizophrenic? Her name means "Maidens of the Dust (or Sand or Ash)." Lith + Gwen, pluralized.

And for a weird lore tidbit: athelas is a strange amalgam of the Quenya athea and the Sindarin las, probably due to the fact that it was named by the Númenóreans, who used both Quenya and Sindarin in their naming, as well as their own tongue (which I can never remember the name of without looking it up.)

[karakedi]

I believe that -wine means 'friend' in Anglo-Saxon, as in Aelfwine 'elf friend.' I'm not sure about the Aethel, though it certainly has an AS sound and look.

Don't we normally refer to the language of Numenor as Adunaic? (Apologies for missing diacritics.)

[Berephon]

I believe that -wine means 'friend' in Anglo-Saxon, as in Aelfwine 'elf friend.' I'm not sure about the Aethel, though it certainly has an AS sound and look.

Don't we normally refer to the language of Numenor as Adunaic? (Apologies for missing diacritics.)

Thank you, yes, Adûnaic is what I was looking for.

[mickey34]

Okay Berephon:

My surname is Greyfloods and I have been trying to name my jewelry and weapons in Sindarin. Would I be correct that Greyflood would be Mithduinen? I called one of my axes Mithduinenhast. It doesn't sound right at all.

Thought you might get a kick out of my 2nd age bow. I wanted my bow to be called "holy torment" and it hilariously translated into Aerbaul. I certainly hope when I shoot my bow and miss I don't hear the orcs shout "Aer Baul, Aer Baul".

[Berephon]

Okay Berephon:

My surname is Greyfloods and I have been trying to name my jewelry and weapons in Sindarin. Would I be correct that Greyflood would be Mithduinen? I called one of my axes Mithduinenhast. It doesn't sound right at all.

Thought you might get a kick out of my 2nd age bow. I wanted my bow to be called "holy torment" and it hilariously translated into Aerbaul. I certainly hope when I shoot my bow and miss I don't hear the orcs shout "Aer Baul, Aer Baul".

There actually isn't a Sindarin word for flood. The Sindarin name for the river Greyflood is Gwathló which directly translates as Pool of Shadow. The river that feeds into it is Mitheithel which means Grey Well.

You could of course use any word for pool, river, or other body of water to denote Greyflood.

Grey: mithren, thind
Pale grey: mith

river: celon, sîr
great river: sirion
large river: duin
pool: ael, lîn, loeg, nên
cold pool: rim
small pool: bôth

Mithgelon, Mithír, Mithirion, Mithduin, Mithael, Mithlín, Mithloeg, Mithnen, Mithrim, Mithboth, Thingelon, Thinhír, Thinduin, Thindael, Thinglín, Thingloeg, Thinnen, Thidhrim, Thimboth, Mithrengelon, Mithrenhír, Mithrenhirion, Mithrenduin, Mithrenael, Mithrenglín, Mithrengloeg, Mithrennen, Mithredhrim, Mithremboth.

Obviously a lot of those are a mouthful. Now the Hast that you added actually means axe-stroke. If you were looking for axe that is Hathol, which makes it even more of a mouthful.

(Note: following an -r or vowel, h- becomes ch-)

Aer Baul (or Aerbol) would actually be Torment of the Sea; however, that still fits your name. (And you shouldn't "breeze" an Orc . . . it could be dangerous. ) The word you are looking for is Gaer (dreadful, awful, holy) . . . following the imperative verb No (be), it lenits to Aer. In this case, it would be Gaerbol.

[mickey34]

There actually isn't a Sindarin word for flood. The Sindarin name for the river Greyflood is Gwathló which directly translates as Pool of Shadow. The river that feeds into it is Mitheithel which means Grey Well.

You could of course use any word for pool, river, or other body of water to denote Greyflood.

Grey: mithren, thind
Pale grey: mith

river: celon, sîr
great river: sirion
large river: duin
pool: ael, lîn, loeg, nên
cold pool: rim
small pool: bôth

Mithgelon, Mithír, Mithirion, Mithduin, Mithael, Mithlín, Mithloeg, Mithnen, Mithrim, Mithboth, Thingelon, Thinhír, Thinduin, Thindael, Thinglín, Thingloeg, Thinnen, Thidhrim, Thimboth, Mithrengelon, Mithrenhír, Mithrenhirion, Mithrenduin, Mithrenael, Mithrenglín, Mithrengloeg, Mithrennen, Mithredhrim, Mithremboth.

Obviously a lot of those are a mouthful. Now the Hast that you added actually means axe-stroke. If you were looking for axe that is Hathol, which makes it even more of a mouthful.

(Note: following an -r or vowel, h- becomes ch-)

Aer Baul (or Aerbol) would actually be Torment of the Sea; however, that still fits your name. (And you shouldn't "breeze" an Orc . . . it could be dangerous. ) The word you are looking for is Gaer (dreadful, awful, holy) . . . following the imperative verb No (be), it lenits to Aer. In this case, it would be Gaerbol.

Thanks, Berephon. At least I won't run out of names for my gear now.

[Fornost]

Aer Baul (or Aerbol) would actually be Torment of the Sea; however, that still fits your name. (And you shouldn't "breeze" an Orc . . . it could be dangerous. ) The word you are looking for is Gaer (dreadful, awful, holy) . . . following the imperative verb No (be), it lenits to Aer. In this case, it would be Gaerbol.

Gerbils may be great running a server, but not sure if I'd want one to fight Orcs for me.

[Airworthy]

Hi Berephon,

I've made a guess at naming my greatsword "Heavy Metal" in Sindarin. I don't want to post it...because it's probably so off the mark you would be spending too much time laughing and not enough time working. So...could you give me the right translation? I'm almost due for a reforge so I can get it fixed stat.

Thanks!

[Berephon]

Hi Berephon,

I've made a guess at naming my greatsword "Heavy Metal" in Sindarin. I don't want to post it...because it's probably so off the mark you would be spending too much time laughing and not enough time working. So...could you give me the right translation? I'm almost due for a reforge so I can get it fixed stat.

Thanks!

(Heavy Metal) Longrod, Longdinc, or (Heavy Polished Metal) Longros.

[Inkling]

(Heavy Metal) Longrod, Longdinc, or (Heavy Polished Metal) Longros.

Now you're just making things up :)

[Mandella]

(Heavy Metal) Longrod, Longdinc, or (Heavy Polished Metal) Longros.

Ahem... Are those going to get by the naming filters?

[lf2536]

Now you're just making things up

if only he was...

[Airworthy]

It's even better than I thought!

[MissGrace]

The Rohirrim actually use a Mercian variant of Anglo-Saxon for their names . . . which you managed to get, intentionally or not! (In Sindarin, -wen (or gwen) is maiden, by the way.) Athelwine is a completely legitimate Anglo-Saxon name--I don't know the meaning however.

Is Lithwyn schizophrenic? Her name means "Maidens of the Dust (or Sand or Ash)." Lith + Gwen, pluralized.

And for a weird lore tidbit: athelas is a strange amalgam of the Quenya athea and the Sindarin las, probably due to the fact that it was named by the Númenóreans, who used both Quenya and Sindarin in their naming, as well as their own tongue (which I can never remember the name of without looking it up.)

Ah, I actually had I typo, her name is Lithwen. Shows how often I play her

As for Athelwine, I went back to the source I used for her name (The Languages of Tolkien's Middle-earth, by Ruth S. Noel). For athelas, it lists athel as related to Old English, meaning noble, and las from Sindarin, meaning leaf. Does that seem correct? And -wine, thanks to Karakedi for reminding me that it means friend! Noble-friend is good name for a guard, yes? Now I just need to figure out if I goofed in another way.. is -wine masculine only?

[Berephon]

Ah, I actually had I typo, her name is Lithwen. Shows how often I play her

As for Athelwine, I went back to the source I used for her name (The Languages of Tolkien's Middle-earth, by Ruth S. Noel). For athelas, it lists athel as related to Old English, meaning noble, and las from Sindarin, meaning leaf. Does that seem correct? And -wine, thanks to Karakedi for reminding me that it means friend! Noble-friend is good name for a guard, yes? Now I just need to figure out if I goofed in another way.. is -wine masculine only?

According to my source, the OE meaning for Athel (aethel) is indeed "noble" (specifically meaning "aristocratic"). The connection to Tolkien's Elvish languages is unlikely. I don't have the meaning of athea, just that it's the root for athelas.

[Silverlocket]

There actually isn't a Sindarin word for flood. The Sindarin name for the river Greyflood is Gwathló which directly translates as Pool of Shadow. The river that feeds into it is Mitheithel which means Grey Well.

You could of course use any word for pool, river, or other body of water to denote Greyflood.

Grey: mithren, thind
Pale grey: mith

river: celon, sîr
great river: sirion
large river: duin
pool: ael, lîn, loeg, nên
cold pool: rim
small pool: bôth

Mithgelon, Mithír, Mithirion, Mithduin, Mithael, Mithlín, Mithloeg, Mithnen, Mithrim, Mithboth, Thingelon, Thinhír, Thinduin, Thindael, Thinglín, Thingloeg, Thinnen, Thidhrim, Thimboth, Mithrengelon, Mithrenhír, Mithrenhirion, Mithrenduin, Mithrenael, Mithrenglín, Mithrengloeg, Mithrennen, Mithredhrim, Mithremboth.

Obviously a lot of those are a mouthful. Now the Hast that you added actually means axe-stroke. If you were looking for axe that is Hathol, which makes it even more of a mouthful.

(Note: following an -r or vowel, h- becomes ch-)

Aer Baul (or Aerbol) would actually be Torment of the Sea; however, that still fits your name. (And you shouldn't "breeze" an Orc . . . it could be dangerous. ) The word you are looking for is Gaer (dreadful, awful, holy) . . . following the imperative verb No (be), it lenits to Aer. In this case, it would be Gaerbol.

The man, you are.

SL

[Belegwe]

A couple more new ones for you: Cuilnathron and Annamaur.

[Berephon]

A couple more new ones for you: Cuilnathron and Annamaur.

Weaver of Life and Gloom of <Something> . . . what roots did you use for Annamaur?

[DYMongoose]

It was very late last night when a buddy convinced me to make a new guy on Landroval. I absolutely guessed on the name because I was too tired to care.
Does Tengrandir make any sense at all?

[willwheels]

I have nothing substantive to add, but wanted to note that I find it highly amusing that a thread with the word "quick" in the title is 524 posts long and over a year old. Thanks to Berephon for keeping it going.

Okay, some substance: you all inspired me to pick a proper name for my most recent alt and not just one that "sounded" like it fit the naming guidelines. So my (female) hobbit minstrel is named Althaea which is not only a flower but is derived from the Greek word for healing. So I think that's pretty good. (The more traditional English spelling of Althea was already taken, by I like my spelling better anyway.)

[Berephon]

It was very late last night when a buddy convinced me to make a new guy on Landroval. I absolutely guessed on the name because I was too tired to care.
Does Tengrandir make any sense at all?

Well, teng- doesn't translate to anything specific and randir is wanderer. However, ten + crann + -dir (properly Tengranndir, rather than Tengrandir) would roughly translate to "One Ruddy Guy."