There are three different sources that offer a translation of Ecthelion and they all differ substantially. In The Book of Lost Tales Part 2, Appendix, it is said that the name derives from the Quenya ehtelë, "issue of water, spring", a reference to his title as Lord for the House of the Fountain. In The Etymologies, volume The Lost Road and Other Writings, his name is composed from ehtë, "spear" and thela, "point" (of spear). Put together they would translate as "Spear-point" or "Spear-head". In The War of the Jewels, which seems to be the last matter J.R.R. Tolkien wrote on it, it is derived from aeg, "sharp", and thel, "intent, resolve" (see also root STEL).
Sindarin
ecthelion
masculine name. ?One with Sharp Will
Elements
Word Gloss aeg “sharp, sharp, [N.] pointed, piercing” thel- “to intend, mean, purpose, resolve, will” -on “masculine suffix” Variations
- ecthElion ✧ LotR/1116
- Ægthelion ✧ WJ/318 (Ægthelion)
Ecthelion
Ecthelion
An Elf-lord of Gondolin said to be “of the Fountain” (S/239), as well as 17th and 25th ruling stewards of Gondor (LotR/1039). This name is derived from the archaic form Ægthelion (WJ/318), and appears to be a combination of aeg “sharp”, a form of thel- “to resolve, will” and the masculine suffix -on, perhaps meaning “One with Sharp Will” (as suggested by David Salo, GS/339).
Conceptual Development: This Elf-lord was already called G. Ecthelion in the earliest Lost Tales (LT2/173), but the meaning of his name changed as Tolkien revised his conception of the Elvish languages. In the Gnomish Lexicon from the 1910s, his name was glossed “Lord of the Fountain”, from G. ecthel(uin) “fountain” (GL/31, LT2A/Ecthelion). In The Etymologies from the 1930s, N. Ecthelion was derived from ecthel, whose gloss is unclear but may mean “?point (of spear)”, as suggested by Christopher Tolkien (Ety/STELEG). The Sindarin derivation above appeared in very late notes on the Silmarillion from around 1970 (WJ/316, 318).