Second son of Finarfin (S/61) translated “Mountaineer” (PE17/182). This name was derived from his Quenya name Artaresto, adapted into Sindarin as Rodreth, then further modified to Orodreth due to his love of mountians (PM/350). His Sindarin name could be interpreted as a combination of orod “mountain” (Ety/ÓROT) and reth “✱climber” (PE17/182).
Conceptual Development: In the earliest Lost Tales, this character was named G. Orodreth (LT2/82) and retained that name through most of Tolkien’s writings. In The Etymologies from the 1930s, the initial element of N. Orodreth was given as orod “mountain” (Ety/ÓROT). In some late writings from 1965 Tolkien considered changing his name to Arothir (PM/350), but that name was not used in the published version of The Silmarillion.
prop. n. 'mountainer'. >> -reth