elros

masculine name. Star-foam

Brother of Elrond who chose life as a mortal Man and became the first king of Númenor (LotR/1034-5). His name is translated “Star-foam” (Let/448, PM/349), a combination of êl “star” and ross “foam” (SA/ros, PM/368-9).

Conceptual Development: The name N. Elros first appeared in the Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s (SM/155 note #9, LR/216) and was mentioned in Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s (WR/158). In a few places Tolkien considered alternate etymologies for this name: in a letter to Rhona Beare from 1958, he suggested the initial element might be archaic †Ell “Elf” (Let/281), and in an essay on “The Problem of Ros” from 1968, he considered but ultimately rejected the possibility that the final element was a Bëorian word rôs “foam”, instead of Sindarin. Both of these seem to have been transient ideas.

Cognates

• Ad. Indilzar ✧ PMI/Indilzar; SDI2/Indilzar
• Ed. Elroth “Star-foam” ✧ PM/369
• Q. Elerossë “Star Foam” ✧ PM/349; PMI/Elros
• Ad. Gimilzôr “Star-?foam” ✧ SDI2/Gimilzôr

Elements

Word	Gloss
êl	“star”
ross	“rain; spindrift, spray, foam, rain; spray, spindrift, foam”

elros

masculine name. Star-foam

Elements

Word	Gloss
el	“star”
rhoss	“rain”