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Zmulady
Rohan
Sep 15 2008, 7:04pm
Post #1 of 8
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Last names in Middle Earth?
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Perhaps this has already been talked about, but why do some of the characters in LOTR have last names and some do not(or least they are not mentioned)? For example all the hobbits have last names and some of the elves have last names but none of the men or wizards or Dwarves do. Just curious as to why that is. Anyone here know?
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Peredhil lover
Valinor
Sep 15 2008, 8:07pm
Post #2 of 8
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but considering the Nordic tales belonged to Tolkien's sources, I'm not so surprised about the lack of last names for Men and Elves. It was pretty common in Scandinavia, after all, and Iceland still has no last names at all. They simply use the name of the parent plus -son or -dottir as a last name. (If someone named, say, Gunnar Bjarnason has a son named Sigurbjörn, the son would be named Sigurbjörn Gunnarson, and a daughter Runa would be Runa Gunnarsdottir). I think Tolkien followed this old custom.
I do not suffer from LotR obsession - I enjoy every minute of it.
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acheron
Gondor
Sep 16 2008, 12:13pm
Post #3 of 8
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some Men do, depends on where they're from
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The Men of Bree all have traditional last names (Barliaman Butterbur, Bill Ferny, etc.). The Men of the North seem to follow the Scandinavian custom of just having patronymics. (Brand son of Bard). Same for the Men of Rohan (who are fairly closely related to the Northmen). The Men of Gondor seem to mainly go by one name, with occasionally the patronymic if necessary; this seems to be an Elvish and/or Numenorean thing. The Elves don't seem to have last names in the traditional sense, but some Elves seem to gain a "nickname" (Finrod Felagund). No one knows the Dwarves' names, but their "outer" names are done in the style of the Men of the North.
For instance, on the planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much -- the wheel, New York, wars, and so on -- while all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man, for precisely the same reasons. -- Douglas Adams
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FarFromHome
Valinor
Sep 16 2008, 12:23pm
Post #4 of 8
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The Shire resembles 18th or 19th century England, and hobbit names fit in with this. Bree is still on the edge of this "English" world, and so, as acheron says, the names of the Men of Bree are much the same. But as the hobbits get deeper into Middle-Earth they find much older traditions, where names are still in the earlier stage of being "patronymic". Frodo is well-educated enough to understand this and adapt accordingly. So when he meets Faramir, he introduces himself and Sam as "Frodo son of Drogo" and "Samwise son of Hamfast".
...and the sails were drawn up, and the wind blew,
and slowly the ship slipped away down the long grey firth;
and the light of the glass of Galadriel that Frodo bore
glimmered and was lost.
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Zmulady
Rohan
Sep 16 2008, 6:55pm
Post #5 of 8
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well I guess that makes sense, and answers my question. Thanks guys!!
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visualweasel
Rohan
Sep 17 2008, 6:58pm
Post #7 of 8
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At least one Troll has a cognomen
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From The Hobbit:
"And I won't take that from you, Bill Huggins," says Bert, and puts his fist in William's eye.
The Shire, Bree, the Ettendales. Maybe it's a regional thing. 
Jason Fisher
Lingwë - Musings of a Fish
The Lord of the Rings discussion 2007-2008 – The Two Towers – III.4 “Treebeard” – Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
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Zmulady
Rohan
Sep 17 2008, 7:04pm
Post #8 of 8
(396 views)
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thanks for pointing that out.
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