Ambarussa
top-russet
ambarussa
masculine name. Top-russet
The mother-name of both of the twins Amrod and Amras, though at Fëanor’s insistence, she gave one of them a new mother-name: Umbarto, which Fëanor changed to the less ominous Ambarto (PM/353-4). The name is a compound of amba “up” and russa “red-haired”, and refers to the red hair of the twins.
Cognates
- S. Amras “Top-russet” ✧ PM/353; PMI/Ambarussa; PMI/Amros; VT41/10
Elements
Word Gloss amba “up(wards)” russa “red-haired”
amras
masculine name. Top-russet
Twin brother of Amrod and second(?) youngest of the sons of Fëanor (it is unclear which of the twins was born first). The name is a compound of am “up” and ross “red-haired” (PM/353, VT41/10), an adaption of his Quenya nickname Q. Ambarussa. In a few places the name appears as Amros (PM/366, VT41/10), closer to its Sindarin elements.
Conceptual Development: In the earliest Lost Tales, this character was first named G. Dinithel (LT2/251), revised in the Lays of Beleriand to ᴱN. Durithel, then ᴱN. Díriel (LB/86). The name remained N. Díriel in Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s, and the form Diriel (with a short i) appeared in The Etymologies (Ety/DER, GYEL). The name was revised to Amras in Silmarillion revisions from the 1950s-60s (WJ/197).
Cognates
- Q. Ambarussa “Top-russet” ✧ PM/353; PMI/Ambarussa; PMI/Amros; VT41/10
Elements
Word Gloss am “up, up, [G.] upwards, towards head of, above” ross “red-haired, copper-coloured” Variations
- Amros ✧ PM/366; PMI/Ambarussa; PMI/Amros; VT41/10
Amras
Top-russet
Amras' father-name in Quenya was Telufinwë, "Last [of] Finwë", for he was the last of the sons of the House of Finwë and its short form was Telvo. His mother-name was originally Ambarussa ("Top-russet", referring to his hair), the same as his twin Amrod, but Fëanor insisted that the twins ought to have different names and Nerdanel prophetically called him Umbarto, "The Fated" (from umbar = "fate"). His father, disturbed by it, changed it to Ambarto, "Upwards-exalted" (from amba = "upwards, top" and arta = "exalted", "lofty"). Nevertheless both twins called each other Ambarussa.
The name Amras is the Sindarin version of Ambarussa.
In later notes found in The Peoples of Middle-earth, Tolkien mentions that he wished to change the name to Amros because of linguistic issues. While this occured late in life, and there are no known manuscripts written later that contradict this, its canonicity is in dispute.
Ambarussa masc. name "top-russet", alternation of Umbarto, mother-name (never used in narrative) of Telufinwë = Amras (PM:353-354)