Names in Elvish

Discussions in Middle-earth lore, language and books.
Post Reply
New Soul
Points: 52 
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Feb 14, 2021 5:47 pm
I remember a lot time ago there was a thread where people asked for name translations into Sindarin and Quenya. I remember Aaron being Calanon in either Sindarin or Quenya, but I cannot remember which. So on that note what is Aaron in both languages and what would "son of Daniel" be in the two languages?

Loremaster of the Herd
Points: 1 555 
Posts: 955
Joined: Tue Jun 09, 2020 4:18 am
I am not a Tolkien-languages person by any means but some cursory googling (can any better read folks tell me if Parf Edhellon is a reliable source?) suggests that Aaron, the meaning of which is not 100% clear but which has been linked to an older Egyption name which might mean Warrior-Lion might be something like "Ramahtar" in Quenya and "Gwedaug" in Sindarin?

Sorry I can't be of more / more assured help.
In the deeps of Time, amidst the Innumerable Stars

Councillor of Imladris
Points: 455 
Posts: 97
Joined: Sun May 17, 2020 11:57 am
I am in pretty much the same situation as @Androthelm, not being a Tolkien linguist in any sense of that word, but willing to help.

Of course everything will hang on what believed etymology of "Aaron" that has been the basis.

The word Calanon would appear to me to contain Quenya cala, “light”, and anon, “son” (Tolkien apparently used Calion/Kalion for this meaning, but it is nonetheless my best guess at a backtranslation of Calanon).
'
The first gloss appears to have been fairly consistent throughout many versions of Quenya including in The Lord of the Rings (Qenya kala), and the second gloss is known from Parma Eldalamberon 17, so I believe that it would make a consistent “LotR age” Quenya name for “Son of Light” or “Light-son” or something similar.

At a look, Parf Edhellen seems reasonably reliable, though I always prefer to cross check these things with other sites such as Hiswelokë (especially for Sindarin), Ardalambion (old, but still good), and (in case there's anything grammatical, I need to check) Parma Tyelpelassiva.

A good thing about Parf Edhellen is that they have good references, so it is a small matter to pick out (in this case) Parma Eldalamberon 17, Words, Phrases and Passages in Various Tongues in The Lord of the Rings and verify the gloss of anon as “son”. I also very much like that they do allow the user to distinguish between the various versions of Tolkien's languages (for a good introduction to the importance of that see Carl Hostetter's excellent article, “Elvish as She Is Spoke” (which can be found on the ELF website under articles).

The patronymic in Qenya/Quenya appears to have been the suffix -ion (i.e. serving the same role as ‘-son’ in English). If @Calanon's request for “Son of Daniel” is meant as a translation of English “Danielson”, then the suffix would be -ion preceded by some translation of Daniel depending on what the etymology / meaning of that name is.
Last edited by Troelsfo on Sun Feb 21, 2021 2:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
“The love of Faery is the love of love” J.R.R. Tolkien

Loremaster of the Herd
Points: 1 555 
Posts: 955
Joined: Tue Jun 09, 2020 4:18 am
@Troelsfo thanks for the good word in support of Parf Edhellen. I've found them useful in the past for low stakes stuff -- coming up with character names and so on -- and I really like the layout / the amount of information they appear to have, but I wasn't sure how reliable that information was.
In the deeps of Time, amidst the Innumerable Stars

Post Reply