# REALLY IMPORTANT! : How did Tolkien choose to name the elfs?



## Tatarica (Mar 26, 2005)

How did Tolkien choose to name the elfs?
I am talking about how he formed the prefix of all his names.

\really important/


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## OldTomBombadil (Mar 26, 2005)

First let me state that the proper plural of 'elf' is _elves_. Tolkien was very particular about this. He wrote a "Note on the Text" at the beginning of _The Fellowship of the Rings_ to clarify his idiosyncratic use of such terms as _dwarves_, _elvish_, and _elven_ over _dwarfs_, _elfish_, and _elfin_. (His difficulty with well-meaning proofreaders probably lead to him writing this note.)

That being said, you may know that Tolkien was a philologist whose special area of study was medieval languages related to Anglo-Saxon. You may also know that Tolkien invented two Elvish languages, _Quenya_ (or High-elven) and _Sindarin_ (or Grey-elven); Sindarin was the common Elvish language used for many centuries throughout Middle-earth, including the Third Age when the events depicted in _The Lord of the Rings_ occur.

I've never read explicitly how Tolkien chose to name Elven individuals, but it is very likely he used a variety of methods. One method he did use were descriptive names, for example:

_Arwen _mean 'Royal Maiden' or 'Lady'

_Galadriel_ means 'Lady of Light' (her shining hair emitted a light that was said to resemble the light of the Two Trees of Valinor)

_Glorfindel_ means 'Golden Hair'

_Eärendil_ means ‘Sea-lover’ (he became a great Mariner and later, with a Simiril bound to his brow, sailed the heavens as the Morning Star)

_Elrond_, the son of Eärendil, means 'Star-dome'

_Elros_, the twin brother of Elrond, means 'Star-foam'

_Elladan_ ('Elf-man') and _Elrohir_ ('Elf-horse-master') were the twin sons of Elrond.


Since you're particularly interested in names, you may enjoy this list of Elvish Name Translations.  

(Did you know that Thomas means 'twin'? It's Elven translation is _Onónion_. 

I didn't know I had a twin. Do you suppose he's one of those "evil twins" you're always hearing about? Wait a minute, what if _I'm_ the evil twin?!  )


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## Hobbit-GalRosie (Apr 20, 2005)

> Elros, the twin brother of Elrond, means 'Star-foam'



Please, where does it say Elros was actually Elrond's _twin_. I had that impression he was for the longest time but whenever and wherever I looked I couldn't find anything to back it up. I don't think it was in the Appendices, and I know it wasn't in the Sil, and I thought it was stated somewhere in HoMe, but then Christopher commented on this idea being _changed_ later unless I misremember, and perhaps even saying it was the only place where such a statement was made. Please, wise, kind Bombadil, if you have any more info on this impart it to me! It's been driving me crazy for ages.


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## OldTomBombadil (Apr 21, 2005)

I don't own a copy, so this is second hand, but others have indicated that HOME XI refers to "Elros and Elrond, twin sons of Earendil".

See this discussion of Twins in Middle-earth


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## Hobbit-GalRosie (Apr 23, 2005)

Oh, thank you so much! That's a big help to me.

A little more on topic now, as I recall Tolkien in a letter said that generally names (I don't believe he specified wheter of people/place/things or all of the above) came to him before the story and he more created the tale to match them than the other way around; this is given more weight since there are of course numerous quotes about how his mythology was primarily linguistic in inspiration. I'd say having whole languages all ready developed from which to choose names was probably the larger part of the process.


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