Subject: Let's take a look.
Author:
Posted on: 2015-02-09 16:23:00 UTC

Disclaimer: my Sindarin is based on the Ardalambion model. If you have a different source, you may find some differences.

Tharellien: 'Thar' (as in 'Thargelion') is beyond, indeed, but I'm not sure where 'ell' came from? You might be thinking of 'el', star, but heaven is 'menel'. That provides the name 'Tharvenel', but honestly I wouldn't use something that reminds me of an STD. Beyond the Stars would be 'Tharelin' or 'Thariliath' (though that latter is a bit dubious... depending on how you parse it, it may need to be 'Tharngiliath', but that's not a word any self-respecting elf would use).

A vowel-heavy ending on 'Tharelin' wouldn't work too well... if you'll accept a singular star, you could have 'Tharelien', One from Beyond a Star - you could even keep the double-L, since it doesn't change the way it's said. There's also the word gilwen, which refers to the starry dome of the sky (it's Q. 'Ilmen'), so 'Tharngilwen' would work, is pronounceable, and even comes with a built-in feminine ending (so can actually translate back as 'Lady from Beyond a Star').

Gerfinneth: 'ger' seems to be a corruption of 'gaer', meaning coppery - but also meaning sea and awe-inspiring. Regrettably the other coppery word, 'ross', has its own homophones (foam and glitter(!)).

'find' is obviously our old friend hair (specifically a head of it); it would usually show up in compounds as 'fin', but the double 'n' makes sense. 'f' doesn't mutate, so that's a plus.

'-eth'... well, it shows up as 'out of' before a th. I'm not really sure where this suffix is coming from, but it seems like a reasonable contraction of 'elleth' (and 'Gerfinelleth' is too long, and 'Gerfilleth' just doesn't look right). 'Gaerfinneth' is the more correct spelling, but y'know, vowels... so overall, I'm inclined to give you this one. It looks better than 'Gerfineth', certainly.

Overall: So she's using her mother-name and an after-name? Not a problem, but it sparks the question of why she has the after-name. It's fairly nondescript, even if it is a near cognate to 'Russandol' (hi, Maedhros!). Usually when afternames are used they seem to be either:

-A nickname among friends, as indeed 'Russandol' was.
-Highly personally or politically significant, as in Elu Thingol 'the Grey-Cloak' (ie, Lord of the Sindar), Finrod Felagund 'the Hewer of Caves', or of course Luthien Tinuviel 'my husband gave me this name, and if you complain you'll find out exactly why the Powers of West and North alike bent to my will'.
-The only name they use, as with... well, most of the Noldor, technically, but let's cite Galadriel and, uh, Maedhros again as examples.

So is 'Gerfinneth' what her friends call her ('Oy, Gingernut!')? Or is she somehow significant for her red hair (being a descendent of Mahtan would probably do that), or is she normally Gerfinneth unless things are getting plotty?

hS

PS: Actually, writing it over and over, 'Gerfinneth' is starting to bother me. It's... I dunno, it just feels like it's too weak before that 'rf' cluster there. Compare 'Glorfindel', where there's a nice solid 'Gl' to start you off; here, it's just a bit weak.

Actually, 'Gerfindeth' might make it a bit better; it places the emphasis clearly on 'find' - ger-FIND-eth - which is where it should be. I'd probably go with that.

('Gaerfindeth' - no, that's clearly a Welsh castle. Stick with 'ger')

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