Thread: Names in Middle-Earth, Quick Guide

Translating 'Edhelion' i get 'elven son', which seems to me a peculiar name for an elven refuge. Is there some other translation that I miss?

Edit: Nm, just found the explanation (Edhelion: Edhel + Iaun "Elf Sanctuary") in this thread:
http://forums.lotro.com/showthread.p...e-Translations
So, thanks for already having answered.

Originally Posted by Macarusca

Translating 'Edhelion' i get 'elven son', which seems to me a peculiar name for an elven refuge. Is there some other translation that I miss?

Edit: Nm, just found the explanation (Edhelion: Edhel + Iaun "Elf Sanctuary") in this thread:
http://forums.lotro.com/showthread.p...e-Translations
So, thanks for already having answered.

You are, of course, also correct. It could be Edhel -ion, Son of the Elf.

Originally Posted by Berephon

You are, of course, also correct. It could be Edhel -ion, Son of the Elf.

Greetings
When I started this, my first MMORPG, I named my female elf minstrel Peralda (after the elemental ruler of air in alchemy) Last name-Zephyrsinger. I used common tongue because my Sindarin is non existant but i know enough about languages to try not to get the composites wrong.

Then an alt needed naming in a hurry -by then i'd discovered Per means half-so I have baby Perfain (half dreams) and Perithron (half light) but these are made up composites-are they too embarrassing?

If so I'll reroll and choose names from the lore.
BTW a translation for Zephyrsinger would be welcome -closest i can get is one word each for breeze and sing or air (melody) but not sure how to combine them.

Can't help with the name issue, but you don't need to reroll just to change their names. Go to the LOTRO Store and under Character, buy a Character Rename scroll.

Originally Posted by Calta

Greetings
When I started this, my first MMORPG, I named my female elf minstrel Peralda (after the elemental ruler of air in alchemy) Last name-Zephyrsinger. I used common tongue because my Sindarin is non existant but i know enough about languages to try not to get the composites wrong.

Then an alt needed naming in a hurry -by then i'd discovered Per means half-so I have baby Perfain (half dreams) and Perithron (half light) but these are made up composites-are they too embarrassing?

If so I'll reroll and choose names from the lore.
BTW a translation for Zephyrsinger would be welcome -closest i can get is one word each for breeze and sing or air (melody) but not sure how to combine them.

I think your composites sound fine. Let's see how the names actually break down, and I'll see what I can do for a translation of Zephysinger.

Per- is indeed an adjective meaning half.

-alda is nothing (sometimes folks make names that are incidentally Sindarin, but Peralda isn't one of those.)

Dream would be ôl, plural yl; fain is an adjective meaning white. So Half-dreams would be Peryl, Half-dream would be Perol.

Light is calad, gâl, galad, gaul, gail, rill, glaur, silif, and silith. (Some of these mean things like glittering light or silver light, but for variety's sake, I'm listing them all here.) Ithron is the Sindarin equivalent of Istar -- Wizard. So, Half-light could be Pergalad, Peral, Peralad, Perol, Perail, Peril, Perlor, Perchilif, Perchilith, in order of the second elements above.

Zephysinger could be written Hwestlin or Hwestlind (breeze-singer) or possible even Gwaelinn or Súlinn (wind-singer)

Originally Posted by Berephon

I think your composites sound fine. Let's see how the names actually break down, and I'll see what I can do for a translation of Zephysinger.

Per- is indeed an adjective meaning half.

-alda is nothing (sometimes folks make names that are incidentally Sindarin, but Peralda isn't one of those.)

Dream would be ôl, plural yl; fain is an adjective meaning white. So Half-dreams would be Peryl, Half-dream would be Perol.

Light is calad, gâl, galad, gaul, gail, rill, glaur, silif, and silith. (Some of these mean things like glittering light or silver light, but for variety's sake, I'm listing them all here.) Ithron is the Sindarin equivalent of Istar -- Wizard. So, Half-light could be Pergalad, Peral, Peralad, Perol, Perail, Peril, Perlor, Perchilif, Perchilith, in order of the second elements above.

Zephysinger could be written Hwestlin or Hwestlind (breeze-singer) or possible even Gwaelinn or Súlinn (wind-singer)

Berephon
thankyou so much for your prompt reply! (it's pretty obvious why i gave Latin up in secondary school- can't even read a dictionary properly.)

Thank you Jeffm also for the rename tip- but as my alts are only a few days old I may start again anyway!

Hello Berephon, can you translate these please

Calm and true

Wanderer

Grey eyes (a person with grey eyes, as Gondorians used to have :P )

Cheers

Originally Posted by WinterStar

Hello Berephon, can you translate these please

Calm and true

Wanderer

Grey eyes (a person with grey eyes, as Gondorians used to have :P )

Cheers

Thenidhidh, Theninhidh -- True Peace (not exact, but closest I can get. There's no word for calm.)
Randir -- Wanderer
Mithrenhin, Thindhin -- Grey Eyes

Berephon, thanks so much for your help with names and your attention to lore detail in the game. It makes exploring really rewarding.

I have two character names that I cobbled together from a name website. I have no idea if they're correct. It's a bit too late to change, but I want to quiet the nagging voices in my head that I got them all wrong.

Mithrendis (Mist Wanderer)
Theleryn (sister of the forest)

I wasn't sure whether the last word in Sindarin came first when translated to English. I was going for Wanderer of the Mist or Forest Sister. Am I close?

Edit: Well, darn. Apparently, I inadvertently named my Hunter the female version of the same name the Elves gave to Gandalf. That's embarrassing. I still would like to know about the Theleryn one. (I know there's an accent over the first "e", but you can't use those in game.)

Originally Posted by happyending

Berephon, thanks so much for your help with names and your attention to lore detail in the game. It makes exploring really rewarding.

I have two character names that I cobbled together from a name website. I have no idea if they're correct. It's a bit too late to change, but I want to quiet the nagging voices in my head that I got them all wrong.

Mithrendis (Mist Wanderer)
Theleryn (sister of the forest)

I wasn't sure whether the last word in Sindarin came first when translated to English. I was going for Wanderer of the Mist or Forest Sister. Am I close?

Edit: Well, darn. Apparently, I inadvertently named my Hunter the female version of the same name the Elves gave to Gandalf. That's embarrassing. I still would like to know about the Theleryn one. (I know there's an accent over the first "e", but you can't use those in game.)

Mithrendis is not the feminine of Mithrandir. Mithrandir is Mith (pale grey) + Randir (Wanderer). Mithrendis would be Mithren (grey) + -dis (bride, young woman). Mithrendis would be Grey Bride or Grey Young Woman.

Sister of the Forest would be Glâd, Taur, or Tawar (Forest) + Gwathel, Muinthel, or Thêl (Sister), resulting in Gladwathel, Gladmuinthel, Gladdawar, Torwathel, Tormuinthel, Torthel, Tawarwathel, Tawarmuinthel, or Tawarthel.

Ah, never mind. You used Eryn (Wood, in the sense of Forest). It would actually be Erynthel, but your roots are correct.

As a general rule, adj-noun compounds start with the adjective, noun-noun compounds start with the second noun. Sister of the Wood (Forest) would be written Erynthel, Wood-sister.

Well, at least I was close! Thanks for the help, Berephon!

Originally Posted by Berephon

As a general rule, adj-noun compounds start with the adjective, noun-noun compounds start with the second noun. Sister of the Wood (Forest) would be written Erynthel, Wood-sister.

Ahhhh, thanks for that general rule!!! I've always wondered. I've looked at some Sindarin language sites and they are always so complicated, thus useless, for a casually interested person.

Originally Posted by jeffm

Ahhhh, thanks for that general rule!!! I've always wondered. I've looked at some Sindarin language sites and they are always so complicated, thus useless, for a casually interested person.

There are rare exceptions, but this is the general rule.

Hi, my question will be real simple compared to the interest, depth and knowledge in this thread but first i wanted to thank all the contributers because I just saw this thread and it's just what i wanted to read about and very helpful.

well my question is just to ask if these names i want to make for myself and one that i have already are correct in how i combined things and for middle earth. my characters are female elves.

first one is Amdireth and i picked myself to be from rivendale. i had read amdir means hope so I thought eth to make it female.

these I didn't make yet but just wanted to make sure they were right please?
I read Thanneth means steadfast female but that was taken so I wanted to use Thanniell - is that right?
Then i read for sunflower the word is lothanor. would lothaneth be ok?

thanks for anyones help..again sorry this is so simple a question.

Originally Posted by bethanna

Hi, my question will be real simple compared to the interest, depth and knowledge in this thread but first i wanted to thank all the contributers because I just saw this thread and it's just what i wanted to read about and very helpful.

well my question is just to ask if these names i want to make for myself and one that i have already are correct in how i combined things and for middle earth. my characters are female elves.

first one is Amdireth and i picked myself to be from rivendale. i had read amdir means hope so I thought eth to make it female.

these I didn't make yet but just wanted to make sure they were right please?
I read Thanneth means steadfast female but that was taken so I wanted to use Thanniell - is that right?
Then i read for sunflower the word is lothanor. would lothaneth be ok?

thanks for anyones help..again sorry this is so simple a question.

Sorry for the delay in responding.

-eth is indeed a feminine suffix. In the case of amdir + -eth, however, it becomes Amdirieth (which is She of Hope -- hope based on reason, as opposed to faith, which is estel.)

For Thanniell, you'd want Thanniel, single l. Thand is actually shield (and this is probably where the Thann root was coming from in Thanneth). Steadfast can be either Him or Thalion. So Himeth, Thalionieth, Himiel, or Thalioniel would be Steadfast Lady, Woman, or whatever other feminine modifier you want to throw in there.

Sunflower would actually be Anolloth (anor + loth) or Nolloth (naur + loth). The direct translation is Flower of the Sun, and in Sindarin, the second noun usually comes first in a noun-noun compound. Also, in this structure, the -r for both initial roots becomes -l before the l- of the final root.

Could i get a translation for : ''Pilgrimage to the Great Sea'' and ''The passing of the Elves''

Thank you

Originally Posted by ''Cris'''

Could i get a translation for : ''Pilgrimage to the Great Sea'' and ''The passing of the Elves''

Thank you

Closest for Pilgramage to the Great Sea would be Rain 'ni Belegaer or Raun 'ni Belegaer (Wandering to the Great Sea).

Passing of the Elves would be Gwennaid in Edhil (Departure of the Elves).

Hey Berephon, sorry for going off-topic but i figured this would be the best place to ask

Is there a way to tell beforehand/in advance what the ingame time is going to be during the day and next day/other days?
To understand better what i mean, when you get a chance, click on my signature and read the thread.
That event has to begin around noon-late noon so the most of it can be done during the night and at the end, the stars to be still up in the sky
So i need to know, beforehand, even days earlier what is the time ingame, lets say for Friday March 9 6PM /servertime, what would that be ingame?
Thanks in advance

Originally Posted by ''Cris'''

Hey Berephon, sorry for going off-topic but i figured this would be the best place to ask

Is there a way to tell beforehand/in advance what the ingame time is going to be during the day and next day/other days?
To understand better what i mean, when you get a chance, click on my signature and read the thread.
That event has to begin around noon-late noon so the most of it can be done during the night and at the end, the stars to be still up in the sky
So i need to know, beforehand, even days earlier what is the time ingame, lets say for Friday March 9 6PM /servertime, what would that be ingame?
Thanks in advance

Alas, I don't believe so. I'm pretty sure we have a 3 hour day cycle and 2 hour night cycle, if that helps. However, I'm sure that resets with server resets, as well.

This is truly an epic thread. I am not sure how I first found it but two thumbs up . Look at the sig and guess the meaning of the name .

I just stumbled upon this and it's awesome! I was looking for this to rp my soon to be Elf toon!

I've also been looking for a long time for something like this but for the Khudzul language (dwarf language)... anyone have any references for that?

Originally Posted by KratosX

I just stumbled upon this and it's awesome! I was looking for this to rp my soon to be Elf toon!

I've also been looking for a long time for something like this but for the Khudzul language (dwarf language)... anyone have any references for that?

Tolkien generated very few Khuzdûl words. For our purposes we used an existing language (as Tolkien did) and modified it to use the word structures seen in the Professor's Khuzdûl. Unfortunately, I am not at liberty to share the details; however, if you want some translations I would be glad to provide some.

However, if you are looking at RPing a dwarf, you don't want Khuzdûl for your character's name. You want Old Norse. Dwarves never used their Khuzdûl names among other peoples.

My approach to translate Edhelion was in analogy to Eregion so I ended up with (city/place/refuge) of the Elves, which appeared to me a bit too general with other prominent Elven places like Mithlond, Imladris or Lorien, unless these were not founded or known by the time the name was given which would be at the beginning of the Second Age after the destruction of Beleriand.

One thing I'm curious about with dwarven names is in which language they are in Middle Earth, I know the names are taken from a 'list of dwarves' which also includes Gandalf and since this name is used in the Shire and Bree I thought it was Common, but Common is represented by modern English in the books and not Norse.

Originally Posted by fusei

My approach to translate Edhelion was in analogy to Eregion so I ended up with (city/place/refuge) of the Elves, which appeared to me a bit too general with other prominent Elven places like Mithlond, Imladris or Lorien, unless these were not founded or known by the time the name was given which would be at the beginning of the Second Age after the destruction of Beleriand.

One thing I'm curious about with dwarven names is in which language they are in Middle Earth, I know the names are taken from a 'list of dwarves' which also includes Gandalf and since this name is used in the Shire and Bree I thought it was Common, but Common is represented by modern English in the books and not Norse.

Dwarves name themselves for common use using the names of the North-men (not far removed from the Rohirrim and Dale-men), hence the use of Norse. (As was pointed out to me by one of our players, Tolkien specifically used the Old Gnutnish dialect, which was only used on one little island...the Professor was a master!)

I've been playing for years as Kaden, but I'm looking at changing servers, meaning I'm going to loose my name :-(

I've got a History for my Character though, and I'd like to put some of that into my name....I don't got a clue what I'm doing, perhaps someone can help with translations? Some of my ideas..

Wanderer from the Mists

Mist Wanderer

Old Man of the Mists

Mist Walker

Or even Lonely Wanderer....

How could I come up with something that sound lore appropriate for a Male Captain?

Originally Posted by Kradan

I've been playing for years as Kaden, but I'm looking at changing servers, meaning I'm going to loose my name :-(

I've got a History for my Character though, and I'd like to put some of that into my name....I don't got a clue what I'm doing, perhaps someone can help with translations? Some of my ideas..

Wanderer from the Mists

Mist Wanderer

Old Man of the Mists

Mist Walker

Or even Lonely Wanderer....

How could I come up with something that sound lore appropriate for a Male Captain?

Wanderer from the Mists: Randir uin Hîth

Mist Wanderer: Híthrandir

Old Man of the Mists: Híthiorbenn, Híthiordir, Hithbrúmbenn, Hithbrúndir

Mist Walker: Híthbadanir

Lonely Wanderer: Erebrandir

Thanks Berephon! I'm partial to Hithrandir, but I'm afraid a Mod will see that as being to similar to Mithrandir and make me change it......otherwise I may go with Hithbrundir though not sure if I can get that type of u in the game....Would a Mod get at me for Hithrandir? ^_^ Appreciate the help!

Originally Posted by Kradan

Thanks Berephon! I'm partial to Hithrandir, but I'm afraid a Mod will see that as being to similar to Mithrandir and make me change it......otherwise I may go with Hithbrundir though not sure if I can get that type of u in the game....Would a Mod get at me for Hithrandir? ^_^ Appreciate the help!

Highly doubtful, unless another player reports it. At that point, who knows?

As for Hithbrúndir, no you can't use diacritics in our naming engine, so just make it Hithbrundir.

Hey Berephon, I've decided to create some new alts on another server just for Roleplay purposes. Any chance you could translate some names in both Sindar and Rohirric?

Such as: Hunter of Winters Forest
Wanderer of the Frozen Woods
Tracker of Winters Beasts (Beasts of Winter?)

Well, you get the general theme. If there's any names you'd suggest with a theme of Winter/Cold/Frost/etc, I'd like to hear them!

Thank you in advance.

P.S. Does the name "Laranstor" have any meaning to it? Random name generator gave it to me, but hey you never know...

Originally Posted by RLhunterman

Hey Berephon, I've decided to create some new alts on another server just for Roleplay purposes. Any chance you could translate some names in both Sindar and Rohirric?

Such as: Hunter of Winters Forest
Wanderer of the Frozen Woods
Tracker of Winters Beasts (Beasts of Winter?)

Well, you get the general theme. If there's any names you'd suggest with a theme of Winter/Cold/Frost/etc, I'd like to hear them!

Thank you in advance.

P.S. Does the name "Laranstor" have any meaning to it? Random name generator gave it to me, but hey you never know...

These are going to end up huge in Sindarin. As for Rohirric, I could give you some translations, but they wouldn't really be applicable for people (people generally use Anglo-Saxon personal names, for which I don't have any translation source...just lists of Anglo-Saxon names.)

For reference purpose, which generator did Laranstor come from (while the Elf generator sometimes yields somethign translatable, not always)? The rules are simply too complex, so our generator uses combinations of syllables intended to sound legit. To note, in Sindarin, Laranstor does not mean anything.

The other generators definitely don't yield translatable names.


Anyway, on to your translations:

Hunter of Winter's Forest: (Sindarin) Rhîlâtfaron, Rhîlâtferedir, Rhîdorfaron, Rhîdorferedir, Rhîdawarfaron, Rhîdawarferedir, (Rohirric) Drafenwinterlikakett, Drafenwinterlikacholt, Drafenwinterlikakwudu, Drafenwinterlikakan...er, you can see the futility of that? There are numerous online lists of Anglo-Saxon names, however. I would suggest referencing those for Rohirrim.

Wanderer of Frozen Woods (as there is no Sindarin for frozen, modifying to Woods of Ice): Helegerydhrandir, Heleglâdrandir, Gochelerydhrandir, Gochellâdrandir

Tracker (Hunter) of Winter's Beasts: Rhîlavanfaron, Rhîlavanferedir

As you can see, it's best to keep your meanings to two major words (Winter's Forest, Hunter of the Winter, etc)

Originally Posted by Berephon

These are going to end up huge in Sindarin. As for Rohirric, I could give you some translations, but they wouldn't really be applicable for people (people generally use Anglo-Saxon personal names, for which I don't have any translation source...just lists of Anglo-Saxon names.)

For reference purpose, which generator did Laranstor come from (while the Elf generator sometimes yields somethign translatable, not always)? The rules are simply too complex, so our generator uses combinations of syllables intended to sound legit. To note, in Sindarin, Laranstor does not mean anything.

The other generators definitely don't yield translatable names.


Anyway, on to your translations:

Hunter of Winter's Forest: (Sindarin) Rhîlâtfaron, Rhîlâtferedir, Rhîdorfaron, Rhîdorferedir, Rhîdawarfaron, Rhîdawarferedir, (Rohirric) Drafenwinterlikakett, Drafenwinterlikacholt, Drafenwinterlikakwudu, Drafenwinterlikakan...er, you can see the futility of that? There are numerous online lists of Anglo-Saxon names, however. I would suggest referencing those for Rohirrim.

Wanderer of Frozen Woods (as there is no Sindarin for frozen, modifying to Woods of Ice): Helegerydhrandir, Heleglâdrandir, Gochelerydhrandir, Gochellâdrandir

Tracker (Hunter) of Winter's Beasts: Rhîlavanfaron, Rhîlavanferedir

As you can see, it's best to keep your meanings to two major words (Winter's Forest, Hunter of the Winter, etc)

Thanks for the response, and translations! I've always had a "Frost" theme on character surnames (Frosthelm, Frozenvoice, Frostbow, etc) and was hoping I might glean some translated names following the same theme. Perhaps you might even come up with some names based on the surnames I just gave you.

As for Laranstor, I got it from the random name generator at character creation. He's an Elf of Lindon. I just used the RNG as I didn't plan on playing him much (he's a guardian, and I'm not a huge fan of playing tanks) but recently started playing him quite a bit since our kinship formed a "sub-kin" which utilizes the XP Disabler (thank you LOTRO!) to level our new alts and then cap them at the Shadows of Angmar cap. We're basically trying to have a kin which replicates SoA as closely as possible. (You'd be welcome to join us Berephon. )