|
Post by ithren on Jun 8, 2009 8:50:25 GMT -6
Excuse me, Mr. Fingon, sir, but can you tell me what the name 'Nerdanel' translates to? The 'ner' means 'man', I know, but I can't find the rest of it anywhere. I've tried UT and some of the HoME books, such as vols. 11 and 12 and Web sites, but can't find where Prof. Tolkien ever gave the meaning for the name. Thanks again for your time!
|
|
Rhapsody
Pretty Good Sneech
Bard of Silver Dreams
Posts: 161
|
Post by Rhapsody on Jun 8, 2009 9:12:38 GMT -6
|
|
|
Post by ithren on Jun 8, 2009 9:57:28 GMT -6
Hi, Rhapsody!
Thanks so much for the excellent essay by Dawn Felagund, which I printed out to keep as a reference tool.
It certainly answers the question of what Nerdanel's name means, with a lot of bonus material as well.
She's one of my favorites, kind of like a Greek tragic heroine. She certainly had to put up with a lot from Feanor, then ended up losing all her children as well.
|
|
|
Post by Darth Fingon on Jun 8, 2009 11:35:20 GMT -6
If we go with this meaning, it could also refer to the fact that she was a sculptor of very lifelike works. I think this is the more likely explanation, since if you look at the meanings of Tolkien's names, they're almost always very simple. A few more possibilities off the top of my head: 1) The stem NER, apart from giving us words for 'man' and 'manly', also gives 'strength'. So Nerdanel could also mean something like 'woman of strength'. 2) The 'anel' portion could be daughter rather than woman, for a meaning of 'man-daughter' (daddy's girl: somebody who takes after her father rather than mother).
|
|