Maedhros' father-name was Nelyafinwë, meaning "Finwë the Third", shorter form Nelyo, as his grandfather and father both shared the name Finwë. Nelya is a Quenya adjective that means "third". His mother-name was Maitimo, "Well-shaped One", for he was noted for his comeliness. His epessë was Russandol, "Copper-top", referring to the dark red hair he inherited from his grandfather Mahtan. It is derived from russa, a Quenya adjective meaning "red-haired". The name Maedhros is Sindarin, and is said to mean "Pale-glitter" in The Etymologies. It is formed by the adding up the "Noldorin" maidh, meaning "pale", "fallow" or "fawn" and archaic "Noldorin" form rhoss, which translates as "flash", "glitter of metal". However, in The Shibboleth of Fëanor, note# 65, the Sindarin form Maedhros is explained as having been derived from a contraction of his mother-name with his epessë (Mait- + Rus-).
Sindarin
maedhros
masculine name. *Shapely and Red-haired
Changes
- Maedros → Maedron ✧ PM/372
Variations
- Maedros ✧ MRI/Maidros; PM/352; PM/366; PM/372; PMI/Maedros; VT41/10; WJI/Maidros
- Maedron ✧ PM/372; PMI/Maedros
- Maiðros ✧ WJ/115; WJI/Maidros
- Maeðros ✧ WJI/Maidros
Maedhros
Pale-glitter
Maedhros
Maedhros
Maedhros' father-name was Nelyafinwë, meaning "Finwë the Third", shorter form Nelyo, as his grandfather and father both shared the name Finwë. Nelya is a Quenya adjective that means "third". His mother-name was Maitimo, "Well-shaped One", for he was noted for his comeliness. His epessë was Russandol, "Copper-top", referring to the dark red hair he inherited from his grandfather Mahtan. It is derived from russa, a Quenya adjective meaning "red-haired". In The Shibboleth of Fëanor, note# 65, it is said that the names Maitimo and Russandol are the base for the Sindarized name Maedhros (derived from a contraction of Mait- + Rus-). In the earlier work The Etymologies, the name Maedhros is original Noldorin, and is said to mean "Pale-glitter". It is formed by the adding up maidh ("pale", "fallow" or "fawn") and "archaic" rhoss ("flash", "glitter of metal").
Eldest son of Fëanor (S/60). His name is an adaption of elements from both his mother-name Q. Maitimo “Well-shaped One” and his nickname Q. Russandol “Copper-top”: S. maed “shapely” and S. ross “red-haired” (PM/366). As such, his name was more properly spelled Maedros (PM/352).
Conceptual Development: When he first appeared in the earliest Lost Tales, this character’s name was G. Maidros (LT2/241), a name that earlier in the tales was used for the grandfather of Fëanor (LT1/146). This form continued to be used in the Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s (SM/88, LR/223), but in The Etymologies, Tolkien said it was an anglicanization of proper Noldorin Maidhros “Pale-glitter” (Ety/MAD), which also appeared in The Etymologies as N. Maedhros (Ety/RUS).
The form Maidhros continued to appear in Silmarillion revisions from the 1950s-60s (WJ/115), but for the most part earlier Maidros was revised to Maedhros (MR/177), the form Christopher Tolkien adopted for the published version of The Silmarillion: see N. [[n|[ai] revised to [ae]]]. Tolkien constructed the derivation given above in The Shibboleth of Fëanor, where he actually used the form Maedros (PM/352, 366). Later still he considered revising the name to Maedron (PM/372, note #2), but this change was not carried out in the texts.