Science fiction and fantasy: Xenite.Org -- Worlds of Imagination on the Web!

The White Council

Re: What lack of names? (was Re: am i missing something?)

Tolkien and Inklings Discussion

Archive index

Tolkien and Inklings Forum
Middle-earth Mailing List
LoTR movie news
LoTR collectibles
Liv Tyler is Arwen
Elijah Wood is Frodo Baggins
Tolkien Middle-earth at Suite101
LoTR movies forum
All Forums

  Posted by Jeuda the Dwarf on September 13, 1999 at 00:17:37
In Reply to: What lack of names? (was Re: am i missing something?) posted by Michael Martinez on September 12, 1999 at 22:07:39:



: : I'm going to have to spend some time looking at all the : : messages but about the name thing...It seams as well as lack of : : names there are other reasons for the grouping of the names. It : : seams that a child got a name that usually had something in : : common with with the father (either a first letter or a vowel : : sound)

: How do you guys figure Tolkien was lacking for names? Have you ever tried to count all the names used in the book? There are HUNDREDS. Tolkien didn't reuse names because he ran out of ideas for new ones.

maybe he did, maybe he didn't. there's a limit to everything, and you can see that he is Already using the same names with minimal changes. perhaps if he would have used the same name with too-minimal changes it might look as a sort of a mockery of the older name and characther(there's also a limit to the times you can change a name, without making it sound too silly), so it was better just to stick to the original name. : : eg. Gimli, Gloin's son; Frodo, Drogo's son; Aragorn, Arathorn's : : son; Balin, Dwalin's son; Thorin, Thrain's son... etc, etc. : : This may have been done by Tolkien so that people did not get : : too confused, as in if you see a name you can almost see the : : line...can anybody think of other reasons why Tolkien would : : have done this?

: That's a good point, but a lot of these guys ended up with more than one name. (see above) when you got a stack of similar names, why not stack them together? : : On another point, I've only read LOTR about 4 or 5 times but : : since lokking in here and reading messages and asking questions : : I have gained a much wider understanding of the complexities of : : Tolkien's world.

: I hope you won't be intimidated by what you see, however, especially if you find me or one of the other old-timers disagreeing with or questioning you.

: : : Thanx everyone!!

intimidated?!? naa, i got a much bigger ego than THAT.



Tip: Earlier messages, if they are missing when you click on the links, may be in a lower-numbered archive. Edit the URL in your browser window to change the archive number. Ex. archive_02/ becomes archive_01/.
Tip: Click on the Tolkien and Inklings Forum link to followup to archived messages. You'll need to copy the text from this message and repost it in your new message.


The Tolkien and Inklings Forum is an SF-FANDOM Web site.

SF-FANDOM is a part of the Xenite.Org network.

Xenite.Org is home to Lord of the Rings movie news. The Tolkien and Inklings Forum is the Web's oldest fan-run forum dedicated to J.R.R. Tolkien.

Xenite.Org has been providing the most comprehensive Lord of the Rings movie news on the Web since February 1998.

Xenite.Org also brings you Xena Online Resources. Xena Online Resources is the Web's largest directory of Hercules and Xena-related content.

The Xenite.Org network is home to more than 100 science fiction and fantasy Web sites.



The Tolkien and Inklings Forum is an independent, moderated forum provided as a courtesy to fans of J.R.R. Tolkien and the Inklings, including C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, et. al., by Xenite.Org. Please be sure to review our Posting Policy before participating in our forums. This archive is provided as a courtesy of Xenite.Org and in no way implies or imparts any liability or obligation on our part to uphold or maintain the content provided herein. This message and other archived messages from Xenite.Org forums may contain content not necessarily endorsed, reviewed, or approved by Xenite.Org and/or its moderation staff. All opinions expressed in these archives are those of the original posters and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of Xenite.Org, its owner or owners, moderators, administrators, and/or other volunteer staff or agents. All content is copyright the original poster unless otherwise noted. This page is copyright © 1997-2001 Michael L. Martinez. All rights reserved. No reproduction, electronic or otherwise, may be made without the express permission of the copyright holders, except as occurs in normal browser caching and search engine indexing. You may print one copy of this page for your personal use.