Post by Darth Fingon on Jul 20, 2008 2:18:08 GMT -6
Some new name developments courtesy of the Qenya Lexicon:
Tolkien gave actual translations for relatively few of the names of his characters. Some of the names are easy to translate based on his attested words, and others appear to defy logic. Here are QL-based interpretations for four previously problematic names.
FINWE and OLWE
Pretty much everyone (Christopher Tolkien included) translates the FIN element of Finwe as 'hair' (Q 'findë') while at the same time acknowledging that this makes no sense whatsoever. Olwe is even worse off, with a half-hearted mention that the OL element might be related to 'olba' (branch) in PoME. Both his and Finwe's names are written off as likely having no meaning at all, being nothing more than a cluster of pleasant-sounding syllables.
Alternatives?
For the root FINI, QL has the following:
finwa acute, sagacious.
finie, finde cunning.
fint a trick, notion.
[Cf. I 253 s.v. Finwë]
It looks like Finwe was originally meant to have nothing to do with hair at all. The 'fin' words related to hair come from the roots FILI and FIRI rather than FINI. The original meaning of 'finde' was not hair, but cunning, as is often applied to the Noldor. Rather a more appropriate name for their King, isn't it? This is confirmed if you look at the note (I 253 = Book of Lost Tales I, page 253, another book I've never fully read but is probably packed with interesting things).
This explanation of Finwe's name makes me think that QL is probably the better place to look for Olwe as well. I don't buy either the 'olba' explanation or the meaningless composition of syllables given in PoME. One possiblility is under the root OLO1: the word 'ole', meaning three, as in Olwe being the third Elven king in Valinor.
Other possibilities for 'ol' are many, much, magnify and multiply under OLO2, or dream under OLOR. But these make about as much sense as 'olba'.
MAHTAN
The word 'makte' (hand or hold/grip/power/possession: would become mahte in later Quenya) or 'maha' (alternate word for hand) is likely the main element in this name, giving the meaning of 'man who works with his hands'. An appropriate name for a smith.
ERESTOR
So this is the one everybody's been waiting for, am I right? I came across the meaning completely by accident not long ago, it it's what inspired the Qenya Lexicon wordlist project in the first place.
The verb 'resta-' (to aid/support/help/rescue) has been a significant omission in all Quenya wordlists to date. The noun 'resta' under the same root, RESE, is likewise absent, and means 'kin' or 'kinship'. This leaves two possible meanings.
First, 'Erestor' could mean simply 'kinsman', referring to his original incarnation as a Halfelven kinsman of Elrond. Second, in the more final-version-LotR-friendly vein, it could mean simply 'helper' or 'aide', both appropriate to Elrond's chief counsellor. Boring as dirt, but appropriate.
Does this mean his name is Quenya, then? Well, no, not exactly. In the first scenario, in which he is Elrond's kinsman via the line of Lúthien, a Quenya name would be inappropriate and wrong. In the second, as only Elrond's counsellor, it would be not impossible but also not likely, as nobody else in Rivendell at that point in time has a Quenya name. It just happens to be that the Quenya and Sindarin forms for this name would be identical. Anyone wishing to write him as a Noldo with Quenya-speaking origins can legitimately (name-wise, at least) do so, while a Sindarin background is equally possible. The verb, 'resta-', would be the same in both languages. A note under the entry for the root RESE specifically mentions the Gnomish (forerunner to Sindarin) word 'resta' as well, coming from the same root.
There is nothing rules-wise in later Quenya or Sindarin to render these words invalid, as sometimes happens with items appearing in the QL.
Tolkien gave actual translations for relatively few of the names of his characters. Some of the names are easy to translate based on his attested words, and others appear to defy logic. Here are QL-based interpretations for four previously problematic names.
FINWE and OLWE
Pretty much everyone (Christopher Tolkien included) translates the FIN element of Finwe as 'hair' (Q 'findë') while at the same time acknowledging that this makes no sense whatsoever. Olwe is even worse off, with a half-hearted mention that the OL element might be related to 'olba' (branch) in PoME. Both his and Finwe's names are written off as likely having no meaning at all, being nothing more than a cluster of pleasant-sounding syllables.
Alternatives?
For the root FINI, QL has the following:
finwa acute, sagacious.
finie, finde cunning.
fint a trick, notion.
[Cf. I 253 s.v. Finwë]
It looks like Finwe was originally meant to have nothing to do with hair at all. The 'fin' words related to hair come from the roots FILI and FIRI rather than FINI. The original meaning of 'finde' was not hair, but cunning, as is often applied to the Noldor. Rather a more appropriate name for their King, isn't it? This is confirmed if you look at the note (I 253 = Book of Lost Tales I, page 253, another book I've never fully read but is probably packed with interesting things).
This explanation of Finwe's name makes me think that QL is probably the better place to look for Olwe as well. I don't buy either the 'olba' explanation or the meaningless composition of syllables given in PoME. One possiblility is under the root OLO1: the word 'ole', meaning three, as in Olwe being the third Elven king in Valinor.
Other possibilities for 'ol' are many, much, magnify and multiply under OLO2, or dream under OLOR. But these make about as much sense as 'olba'.
MAHTAN
The word 'makte' (hand or hold/grip/power/possession: would become mahte in later Quenya) or 'maha' (alternate word for hand) is likely the main element in this name, giving the meaning of 'man who works with his hands'. An appropriate name for a smith.
ERESTOR
So this is the one everybody's been waiting for, am I right? I came across the meaning completely by accident not long ago, it it's what inspired the Qenya Lexicon wordlist project in the first place.
The verb 'resta-' (to aid/support/help/rescue) has been a significant omission in all Quenya wordlists to date. The noun 'resta' under the same root, RESE, is likewise absent, and means 'kin' or 'kinship'. This leaves two possible meanings.
First, 'Erestor' could mean simply 'kinsman', referring to his original incarnation as a Halfelven kinsman of Elrond. Second, in the more final-version-LotR-friendly vein, it could mean simply 'helper' or 'aide', both appropriate to Elrond's chief counsellor. Boring as dirt, but appropriate.
Does this mean his name is Quenya, then? Well, no, not exactly. In the first scenario, in which he is Elrond's kinsman via the line of Lúthien, a Quenya name would be inappropriate and wrong. In the second, as only Elrond's counsellor, it would be not impossible but also not likely, as nobody else in Rivendell at that point in time has a Quenya name. It just happens to be that the Quenya and Sindarin forms for this name would be identical. Anyone wishing to write him as a Noldo with Quenya-speaking origins can legitimately (name-wise, at least) do so, while a Sindarin background is equally possible. The verb, 'resta-', would be the same in both languages. A note under the entry for the root RESE specifically mentions the Gnomish (forerunner to Sindarin) word 'resta' as well, coming from the same root.
There is nothing rules-wise in later Quenya or Sindarin to render these words invalid, as sometimes happens with items appearing in the QL.
