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Post by kimberleighe on Nov 16, 2011 17:41:35 GMT -6
I seem to recall faintly that in the naming of Elves, they had a "mother-name" and "father-name". I am looking for the information regarding the customs of giving those names. If anyone could pass along this information or where I could find it, I'd appreciate it!
Thanks!
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Post by erulisse on Nov 16, 2011 19:43:46 GMT -6
I checked through several references but could not find anything that codified the practice, although it does seem to be a definite custom.
I hope someone else has something more concrete for you...
- Erulisse (one L)
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Post by Darth Fingon on Nov 16, 2011 19:45:34 GMT -6
I seem to recall faintly that in the naming of Elves, they had a "mother-name" and "father-name". I am looking for the information regarding the customs of giving those names. If anyone could pass along this information or where I could find it, I'd appreciate it! Thanks! Most of this can be found in the essay "Laws and Customs Among the Eldar", located in History of Middle-earth 10 - Morgoth's Ring. If you don't have the book, I believe PDF files are available for download in the files section of the Silmarillion Writers' Guild yahoo group. They were at one point. If they're not stil available, I have them saved somewhere and could upload them here. (Side Note: I have to point this out because I find it massively annoying when the "Laws and Customs" are liberally applied to all Elves. The essay was "written" by a mortal Man in the later ages who sailed to Tol Eressea and observed the Elves, and most of the information therein references the Noldor in particular. It should therefore be read as "A Culturally Biased View of Laws and Customs Among the Eressean Noldor, Probably Thousands of Years After Lord of the Rings Took Place". The relevance of its statements to, say, the folk of Doriath is open to interpretation.) (ETA Side Note 2: When most people think of the "Laws and Customs" essay, they think of ELF MORALITY. In actuality it's really about Noldorin naming conventions, if you go on a strict page count basis. I'm convinced Tolkien wrote it in the spirit of "blah blah blah let's get this dull marriage and family tradition crap over with so we can move on the the juicy stuff: how Elves are named!") In Tolkien's writing, we really only ever see the concept of both mother- and father-names among the Noldor: specifically, in the House of Finwe. Examples can be seen in HoME 12 - The peoples of Middle-earth, which is also well worth a look if you're interested in learning more about names. |
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Post by kimberleighe on Nov 16, 2011 20:13:04 GMT -6
Awesome! Many thanks, Erulisse and Darth Fingon. I believe I do have Morgoth's Ring hiding somewhere in my book collection. It is helpful to see your side notes since it has been awhile since I've read the book.
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