Names in Middle-Earth, Quick Guide

[Barruktp]

Did I tell you that? If I did, I don't know what I was thinking...Spray is Ros, but Woven is Remmen. I can't find anything that Lane- would be mutated from.

Really? I got it from the Gateway to Sindarin, chapter on roots.

[Berephon]

hmmm... I always think about asking this, but I never do for some reason.

Berephon, my surname on my Hunter Arday is Taurmith, now according to the source I used (don't remember which one, though I'm guessing an online dictionary) that means Grey-wood, question is, did I construct the name properly?

Not quite. In adjective-noun compounds, the adjective almost always comes first. So it would be Mithdor (au also usually becomes o in compounds--as in Balraug = Balrog.) At the beginning of a final element, t becomes d. The roots are definitely correct. (Taur is wood as in forest, not the material. The material is Tawar.)

[Berephon]

Really? I got it from the Gateway to Sindarin, chapter on roots.

Hrm, I can't find it (and I'm not doubting...that section just makes my eyes cross. I was going by the English-Sindarin Glossary and the Sindarin-English Glossary.) I'm interested in the context from the Roots section and to find the original form of the root to see how it may change. Do you recall which page?

[lf2536]

Not quite. In adjective-noun compounds, the adjective almost always comes first. So it would be Mithdor (au also usually becomes o in compounds--as in Balraug = Balrog.) At the beginning of a final element, t becomes d. The roots are definitely correct. (Taur is wood as in forest, not the material. The material is Tawar.)

ok, thanks Berephon, I was going for the forest meaning.

[Baresira]

I did not really create any of my character's names with anything in mind.

Any chance MOGLOTH has any kind of cool meaning? I highly doubt it does. My other main character is named BARESIRA. Now, Baresira was a randomly generated name from the WoW generator.

I do not expect anything, but if I happened to luck into something that would be pretty cool.

[Berephon]

I did not really create any of my character's names with anything in mind.

Any chance MOGLOTH has any kind of cool meaning? I highly doubt it does. My other main character is named BARESIRA. Now, Baresira was a randomly generated name from the WoW generator.

I do not expect anything, but if I happened to luck into something that would be pretty cool.

Unfortunately, Mogloth doesn't mean anything, though Lothmog would have. Mog as a final element is mutated from Baug (which would be Bog as the initial element). The meaning of Lothmog would be Cruel Flower (a rare instance where the adjective comes second, such as Gothmog, Cruel Enemy.)

Yeah, Baresira doesn't get you anything.

[Azuroth]

Alright, oh Sindarin master, assuming I wanted to step away from the beard and try an elf, how would one say "Angry (or Wrathful) Blue Dragon"?

[TheOneRinger]

Unfortunately, Mogloth doesn't mean anything, though Lothmog would have. Mog as a final element is mutated from Baug (which would be Bog as the initial element). The meaning of Lothmog would be Cruel Flower (a rare instance where the adjective comes second, such as Gothmog, Cruel Enemy.)

Yeah, Baresira doesn't get you anything.

hehehe Cruel Flower... sounds like something you might call Galadriel after she'd been exceptionally and frustratingly mystical.

[Baresira]

Unfortunately, Mogloth doesn't mean anything, though Lothmog would have. Mog as a final element is mutated from Baug (which would be Bog as the initial element). The meaning of Lothmog would be Cruel Flower (a rare instance where the adjective comes second, such as Gothmog, Cruel Enemy.)

Yeah, Baresira doesn't get you anything.

So, his parents were dyslexic. :-)

Cruel Flower would make him like a mad captain, right?

[Berephon]

Alright, oh Sindarin master, assuming I wanted to step away from the beard and try an elf, how would one say "Angry (or Wrathful) Blue Dragon"?

Well, there are a few options, all of them very long.

Anger is Ruith

Blue is Luin (unless you want to be pale blue, in which case it would be Elu or Gwind)

Dragon is Amlug or Lhûg

So, the definition construct would literally be Blue Dragon of Anger.

Ruithluinamlug, Ruithluillúg, Ruitheluamlug, Ruithelulúg, Ruithwindamlug, or Ruithwinglúg.

All I can say is...ouch....

[theonekane]

Lol.

That list of long names made me smile Berephon.

My elf is named Eargil.

My intention was to make a name meaning star sea, but I have a feeling now that gil is supposed to be a begining and not an ending.

poo.

My character since beta and he has a borked name.

[Berephon]

Lol.

That list of long names made me smile Berephon.

My elf is named Eargil.

My intention was to make a name meaning star sea, but I have a feeling now that gil is supposed to be a begining and not an ending.

poo.

My character since beta and he has a borked name.

Definition-wise, that name would mean Star of the Sea or Sea-star. However, Ear is not Sindarin, anyway.

The Sindarin compound for Star-sea (or Star of the Sea) would be Gílaer. Or Gílaear, or Elaer, or Elaear.

[theonekane]

Nice.

I still like my name...

At least it meant what I thought. That's a start I guess.

Gilaear is nice though. That may be my next alt.

Thanks for the reply!

[Berephon]

Nice.

I still like my name...

That's the important part.

[Sonsy]

Well, there are a few options, all of them very long.

Anger is Ruith

Blue is Luin (unless you want to be pale blue, in which case it would be Elu or Gwind)

Dragon is Amlug or Lhûg

So, the definition construct would literally be Blue Dragon of Anger.

Ruithluinamlug, Ruithluillúg, Ruitheluamlug, Ruithelulúg, Ruithwindamlug, or Ruithwinglúg.

All I can say is...ouch....

Well, at least he wouldn't have to worry about the name being taken already!

[Mandella]

Like some others here, I named my female elf loremaster based on what sounded good to my ear at the time, and was spun off from my most commonly used internet handle.

Berephon, would you be so kind as to tell me if Manriel means anything?

[einherjar]

Can I haz sticky prz?

[Berephon]

Like some others here, I named my female elf loremaster based on what sounded good to my ear at the time, and was spun off from my most commonly used internet handle.

Berephon, would you be so kind as to tell me if Manriel means anything?

I'll look into it on Monday when I get to the office. I can tell you off-hand that riel is Princess or Garlanded Maiden, but I'm not sure whether Man is itself a root or mutated from something else (though I'm sure it exists and has meaning.)

[martin93]

Berephon, I just want to say, I look up to you. The stuff you know about Tolkien lore is amazing.

Now I have a couple questions.

I named my now 60 warden Valsted, because it sounds epic. Atleast I think so... hehe. Does it mean anything? And for his sirname I used Nimech. Nim for white, and Ech for spear.
(Awh ****, i'm just reading it now and it's pretty vulgar. Oh well, hopefully the GM's don't know elvish.)
Did I do it right?

I guess that's 2 questions already... But I still have 1 more.

Do you have a college degree in this stuff? If so, where did you go? Are there classes totally based on Tolkien lore or was the topic included in some literature class?

Thanks!

[Berephon]

Berephon, I just want to say, I look up to you. The stuff you know about Tolkien lore is amazing.

Now I have a couple questions.

I named my now 60 warden Valsted, because it sounds epic. Atleast I think so... hehe. Does it mean anything? And for his sirname I used Nimech. Nim for white, and Ech for spear.
(Awh ****, i'm just reading it now and it's pretty vulgar. Oh well, hopefully the GM's don't know elvish.)
Did I do it right?

I guess that's 2 questions already... But I still have 1 more.

Do you have a college degree in this stuff? If so, where did you go? Are there classes totally based on Tolkien lore or was the topic included in some literature class?

Thanks!

Off-topic, but I'll answer the last question first since it doesn't require any research. I attended Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. While there were no regular classes on Tolkien, there were two or three professors in the English department who could easily be considered Tolkien "experts" (if anyone other than C. Tolkien can be.) While I was getting my BA and my brother (phaelan2) his MA, we helped create and participated in an independant study on the literary influences of Tolkien's works (not just LotR) with one of the afore-mentioned professors.

My background in Tolkien stretches even further back, though. I started reading The Hobbit and LotR at the age of eight (finished all four volumes in four days, one per day) and have read them ~2x per year since then (I will note that my capacity to read epic novels in one day vanished a loooooong time ago), as well as doing research in the extant texts. (I think I counted approximately 40+x that I have read The Hobbit and LotR.) My brother and sister both did their Master's theses on Tolkien, LotR, and his influences (phaelan2's has been used in high school classrooms.) Tolkien is a family affair.


Now, as to the names...

The root for white is actually Nimp. Ech means spine or thorn, but by extension I think saying spear would be a fair idiomatic expression, as Ecthel (a combination of êg --thorn -- and thela -- point (specifically of a spear) means spear-point. (Yeah, Ecthel is kind of redundant, considering the def of thela.)

The -mp at the end of Nimp only drops the -p before stops (b,c,d,g,p,t) and liquids (r,l), so it would actually be Nimpech.

Valsted looks fairly Germanic to me...the closest I can come to (through a very long string of "this word comes from this word comes from this word, ad nauseum"), I get a compound of Fyllu (by way of that long string of words I mentioned, starting with Fal-) and Stede from Anglo-Saxon, pretty much meaning Place of Fullness.

[Bopbopaluie]

I like my name, but didn't have the intention for it to mean anything...

Is it possible it does? Help meh out Berephon please!

Decthalon.

[Mandella]

I'll look into it on Monday when I get to the office. I can tell you off-hand that riel is Princess or Garlanded Maiden, but I'm not sure whether Man is itself a root or mutated from something else (though I'm sure it exists and has meaning.)

Just a gentle reminder so I won't be left hanging with half a name!



And thanks again for this kind of lore assistance. It's this sort of thing which has kept me around from Beta to now!

[Berephon]

I like my name, but didn't have the intention for it to mean anything...

Is it possible it does? Help meh out Berephon please!

Decthalon.

Unfortunately not. There is no root that would become Dec. Thala or Thalion (which is actually Thala plus the derivative/characteristic suffix -on) means stalwart, steadfast, strong (I would guess of will, given the other meanings.)

[Sthrax]

Very interesting thread!

Although my character's name is derived from Latin, I was curious if it had any meaning in Middle Earth, even if that meaning is silly or nonsense

The name is Stilachio Thrax

[Berephon]

Just a gentle reminder so I won't be left hanging with half a name!



And thanks again for this kind of lore assistance. It's this sort of thing which has kept me around from Beta to now!

Whoops! Yes, your name is a compound of mân and riel...So it is Princess of the Departed Spirit. (Except that -n usually mutates to -dh before r, so in most cases it would be Madhriel.)