The Intent Behind The Names

This is the part in which Hannah and Sarah reveal the meanings and/or histories of the various character and place names that they used in 'Your Heart Will Be True'. It has been a tradition to do this in all our stories, and we would like to publicly acknowledge Ainu Laire, who figured out Tantur's name way back in the seventh chapter.

Elenwen (daughter of stars) — The only one of Aragorn's children's names that we had to invent ourselves (since we named Gilraen after Aragorn's mother). It referenced both of her parents, in a way, so it was perfect.

Bartho (doom) — This one probably needs no explanation.

Arien (sun maiden) — The original Arien was the Maiar chosen by the Valar to guide the course of the sun. Her importance to Bartho made this name a natural choice!

Lindamar (fair dream) — Bartho's former love. If you have seen the movie 'Holes' you will understand what we mean when we say, "Her head was as empty as a flower pot."

Erynbenn (woodsman) — A good name for a Dúnadan. It wasn't very specific, but since Erynbenn was introduced as a young man in 'Darkest Night' and might yet be needed in other stories (like this one), we were determined not to fall into the Nethtalt trap again! see 'Nethtalt' farther down for explanation.

Melima (loveable, fair) — Erynbenn's wife. Melima possessed both those traits; the name was perfect!

Tavarion (son of the wood) — Erynbenn's son. The meaning was meant as a reference to Erynbenn's name.

Anto (giver) — Erynbenn's lieutenant. He came close to giving up his life on a couple of occasions.

Eression (only son) — Eression was the only son of his father, and thus the last survivor of the race of Black Numenoreans.

Malvegil (historical) — Malvegil was named for a king in Arthedain.

Duurben (somber man) — Duurben was, and probably always will be (in spite of Aragorn's efforts), a little too serious for his own good.

Nethtalt (young, insecure) — *headdesk* The name which will haunt us forever! In 'Death or Despair' Nethtalt was a young boy whose insecurity was his defining trait. When we brought him back as a young man for 'Thorongil', he was older and more confident, and the name was awkward. Now we have produced him for a final appearance as an wise old man, and… well, let's just say it's downright embarrassing. *grin*

Thorongil (eagle of the star) — Nethtalt's son.Thorongil was named after Aragorn (or rather, Aragorn's alias). We thought it made sense, considering how much Nethtalt respected Aragorn.

Thorongil's alias:

Halda (veiled) — 'Halda', of course, referred to Thorongil's mission as a spy. We almost named him something that just meant 'spy', but we really didn't want anyone guessing this one, so we picked a slightly more vague meaning. 'Veiled' could just mean 'up to something'.

 Vardnauth (ruler of thought) — Vardnauth's characteristic powers were a part of our plot for a long time, but it took a little while to find the right name for him. Until we decided on this one, we just called him 'Evil Elf' in our plot discussions.

Tantur (double master) — A somewhat biblical reference; and the only time a plot development has been guessed by someone looking up the elvish behind our names!

Mavranor (eager after land) — It has always been one of her leading traits.

Gwanur (brother) — Mavranor's deceased brother. Since his only role in our stories, from the very beginning, was to be Mavranor's brother… and then be killed by Aragorn, it seemed pointless to give him a more specific name.

Ingem (old from mortalness) — Mavranor's decrepit general. Not much more to be said for him.

Nulla (dark, obscure) — The Southron assassin sent to kill Faramir. So dark, and so obscure, you probably didn't remember his name was 'Nulla'.

Tindu (twilight) — Referring not only to the aura of her home, but also the waning of her people as she chronicled their history.

Tirin (I watch) — Referring not only to his duties as a sentry in Lorien, but also his observant nature in other ways.

Kopairin (harbor town) — Kopairin was… well, a harbor town. Doesn't get much easier than that. *grin*

Valihondo (happy heart) — Valihondo was meant, from the beginning, to be a genuinely good man, and a worthy mayor. Someone Aragorn could count on.

Saravesse (fiery wife) — Valihondo's wife. You'd have to be fiery to handle that many kids.

Valihondo and Saravesse's Children: We named them all after birds! It gave a wide range to choose from.

Pilin (sparrow)

Sorni (eagle)

Feinalpha (white swan)

Tuilin (swallow) — a twin

Dulin (swallow) — the other twin

Fioni (hawk)

The Corsairs: Our odd sense of humor always tends to rear its head when we have to name large crowds of villains. The Corsairs lurking in Rohan caught us on a particularly bad night!

Ringa (damp)

Miksa (wet)

Raasa (sea)

Earuile (seaweed)

Hwan (fungus)

Talas (sole of foot)

Other important names:

Mornelet (black tooth) — The snake that bit Arwen.

Lhandlas (wide leaf) — The herb that cured snake-bite.

Runda (rough piece of wood) — The not-terribly-up-to-date fort on Gondor's southern border.

Benk (small boat) — Part of the name of one of the ships in Kopairin which Aragorn and Legolas fight aboard.

Lunta (ship) — Another of the ships in Kopairin.

Other unimportant names:

Veronda (faithful) — Beregond's wife. She's not canon, we invented her. And then we proceeded to forget all about her, so she's not in the story at all except at the very beginning when Erynbenn mentions her in a list of happily wedded couples he knows.

Osto (city with walls all around) — The city Halda is away visiting while Mavranor concocts her plan to take over Gondor. Specifically, he's checking the new fortifications.

Irin (town) — The town (gee, that was obvious) near which Erynbenn almost died.

Sakkata (rend, tear) — The Southron king Mavranor tricks into fighting his cousin at the beginning.

Yelma (loathing) — The Southron cousin Mavranor tricks Sakkata into fighting.