maglor

masculine name. *Forging Gold

Second son of Fëanor (S/60), his name is phonetic conversion of his mother-name Q. Macalaurë “Forging Gold” (PM/353), which in proper Sindarin would have been Magalor (VT41/10).

Conceptual Development: In the earliest Lost Tales, his name was G. Maglor (LT2/241). It remained N. Maglor in Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s (SM/88, LR/223). In The Etymologies, it was translated “Gold-cleaver”, a combination of the root ᴹ√MAK “cleave” and the suffixal form -lor of glaur “gold” (Ety/MAG). In “The Lay of Leithian Recommenced” from the 1950s, Tolkien revised the name to Maelor (LB/353), a form that also appears as a late change in Silmarillion revisions from the 1950s-60s (MR/182 note §41), but when Tolkien devised the derivation given above in The Shibboleth of Fëanor from the late 1960s, he reverted back to Maglor.

Maglor

Gold-cleaver

His father-name was Canafinwë, a name which in Quenya means "Strong-voiced [of] Finwë". It is derived from cáno, a noun which means "commander", added to the name of his grandfather. His mother-name was Makalaurë. In The Etymologies it is interpreted as "Gold-cleaver". A possible explanation for this translation is given in The Shibboleth of Feanor, where it is stated that the name might be a reference to his skill in harping, whose sound was golden.