Epessë
From Tolkien Gateway
Epessë, Quenya for after-name, is a nickname or honorific given to an elf at some point in his or her life. It is one of the anessi, or given names, of High Elves, along with the father-name and amilessë ("mother-name").[1] The epessë was a public name, and the person it was given to sometimes adopted it as one of his or her actual names.
An example is Gil-galad ("Star of Radiance"), which was the mother-name of the last High King of the Noldor. His father-name was Rodnor.[2] Upon becoming king he was given the epessë Ereinion ("Scion of Kings") and called Ereinion Gil-galad.[3]
Etymology
Epessë comes from epe ("after") + essë ("name").
References
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Peoples of Middle-earth, "XI. The Shibboleth of Fëanor", Note on Mother-names, p. 339
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Peoples of Middle-earth, "XI. The Shibboleth of Fëanor", The Parentage of Gil-galad, p. 350
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Peoples of Middle-earth, "XI. The Shibboleth of Fëanor", The names of Finwë's descendants, p. 347
