names and their meanings

[Elianna]

I think it's fun to read these kinds of discussions because you'll always have someone say SamWISE, then you'll always have someone who says, "Actually, it means half-wit." Maybe Tolkien meant to do that.

To continue that thought: In the "Epilogue" of LotR (HoME v 9), Aragorn writes a letter to Sam; it's written all in Elvish. In the letter, he asks all Sam's family to come and see him as he passes by, and in inviting all the family, he translates all their names into Elvish. Then he makes a pun in saying that "half-wise" should be called "full-wise."

Also, something I noticed reading App. F, the 'sam' part of Samwise means 'half', so all thoughout the book, they're calling a Halfling 'half'.