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Old 01-01-2009, 02:02 PM   #340
Galin
Ghost Prince of Cardolan
 
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 1,031
Galin is a guest at the Prancing Pony.Galin is a guest at the Prancing Pony.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Elmo
Well I'm guessing what my name means. El means star. Ulmo means 'he who pours' so my means 'star pourer'? 'Star water'?
Tolkien noted that (in Quenya) -mo '... often appeared in names or titles, sometimes with an agental significance': Ulmo was interpreted as 'the Pourer' < *UL 'pour out'

So here Quenya -mo does have agental significance 'pour out' > Pourer (one who does 'the meaning of the stem'), though not in all cases, noting Tolkien's 'sometimes'. If El- means 'star' in Elmo my guess would be something like 'Star-person'.

On the other hand, in The Shibboleth of Feanor (1968) Tolkien looks at Elwe, Olwe and the stems el-, ol-, and seems to cast doubt on an intended rendering of Elwe meaning 'Star-person': 'There is nothing known to connect Elwe more closely with the stars than all the other Eldar; and the name seems invented as a pair with Olwe, for which no 'meaning' was suggested'
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