Etymology

Welcome to the Etymology section of Nevrast, this is the location where you can discover your Elvish name or just have some fun learning a little Elvish.

Elvish is the language devised by author J. R. R. Tolkien of which there are two forms, Quenya and Sindarin. When the Noldorin Elves that left Middle Earth to abide with the Valar in the land of Valinor returned to Middle Earth they found that their speech and the speech of the Elves that remained in Middle Earth had diverged. The Elves of Valinor, the Calaquendi, spoke Quenya whereas the Moriquendi spoke Sindarin. But when Thingol, king of the Grey Elves (the Sindar) learned of the kinslaying in which his brother, king of the Teleri was slain, he forbade the use of Quenya in his realm. The Noldor accepted Sindarin for general use, but Quenya remained in use by the lords of the Noldor and as the language of lore.

To begin the translation of your name, you should first know that there are two possible ways to go about it. First you can do an actual translation of your name by finding the meaning, or etymology, of your name, then finding the Elvish equivalent and adding a correct- gender name suffix. The second way is by using the Elvish Dictionary to create you own name by combining words that have a deep importance to you, or describe who you are.

1. Go to http://www.behindthename.com/ type in your first name and trace it back until you find the etymology of your name. For example: the name Toni, meaning "flower" from Greek anthos.

2. After completion of step one use the Elvish Dictionary to find the equivalent Elvish word. If you can’t find the exact word, look for words with similar meaning; if your name is a combination then see how close you can get.

3. If you could find no words to match your name, we apologize, since only a limited amount of Elvish is known to us in this day and age, we do not know the entire language. If this is the case with your name we recommend the second option. To do this, choose your name and follow the same steps.

4. Combination of Elvish words is usually formed by placing the describing element before the main element. The concepts are expressed by word order and not by separate words. Examples:

elanor ‘sun-star’ literally ‘star-sun’
Elendil ‘Lover of the Stars’ literally ‘star-lover’

You do not always have to combine words of the same speech, Quenya and Sindarin are occasionally combined in names.

5. Once you have combined your name it is time to add the gender suffix to the end of your name, pick the one that sounds the best. Girls: -iel, -ien, -riel, -e, -wen, -we. Guys: -ion, -hir, -on. It is worthy to note that on few occasions women do not have a name suffix, whereas men who have few to choose from often go without.

6. Now you too have an Elvish name. Quetailye i lambéllo Eldar.

7. Be sure to check out the fonts section where you can type in Elvish!

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