Aicanáro

sharp flame, fell fire

Aicanáro ("k") masc. name "Sharp Flame, Fell Fire"; Sindarized as Aegnor. (So in SA:nár and PM:345; MR:323 has Aicanár. VT41:14, 19 instead gives Ecyanáro_ as the Q form of Aegnor.)_

aicanáro

masculine name. Fell Fire; Sharp Flame

The mother-name of Aegnor, from which his Sindarin name was derived (PM/346-7). Tolkien gave two distinct interpretations of this name: “Sharp Flame” (MR/323) and “Fell Fire” (PM/347). In both cases, the second element of the name was nár “fire, flame”, but the interpretation of the initial element aica shifted between “sharp” and “fell”. It is hard to say which of these two interpretations was preferred by J.R.R. Tolkien himself and Christopher Tolkien included both translations in the published version of The Silmarillion. See the entry for S. Aegnor for one possible interpretation.

Conceptual Development: In some late notes (VT41/14), J.R.R. Tolkien wrote this name as Ekyanāro “sharp flame” (S. Eignor). As suggested by Carl Hostetter (VT41/19, note #19), Tolkien seems to have (temporarily) shifted aica “sharp” (from the root ᴹ√AYAK) to ekya “sharp” (from the root ᴹ√EK), from which ᴹQ. ehte “spear” was also derived. This was perhaps a reversion to the earlier name N. Egnor (also derived from ᴹ√EK). However, Tolkien apparently abandoned these changes.

Changes

• Ekynāro → Ekyanāro ✧ VT41/19

Cognates

• S. Aegnor “Fell Fire, Sharp Flame” ✧ MR/323; MRI/Aikanár; PM/346; PM/347; PMI/Aegnor; SA/nár; WJI/Aikanáro; VT41/19
• S. Goenor “Fell Fire” ✧ PM/347

Derivations

• ✶Aika-nār- “Fell Fire” ✧ PM/347

Elements

Word	Gloss
aica	“fell, terrible, dire, fell, terrible, dire; [ᴹQ.] sharp”
nár	“fire (as an element), fire (as an element); [ᴹQ.] flame”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶Aika-nār- > Aikanáro	[aikanāro]	✧ PM/347

Variations

• Aikanár ✧ MR/323; MRI/Aikanár
• Aikanáro ✧ PM/346; PM/347; PMI/Aegnor; SA/nár; WJI/Aikanáro
• Ekyanāro ✧ VT41/14; VT41/19
• Ekynāro ✧ VT41/19 (Ekynāro)

goenor

masculine name. Fell Fire

The literal Sindarin translation of Q. Aicanáro, as opposed to the form he actually used: Aegnor. It is a combination of goe “terror, great fear” and naur “fire” (PM/363).

Cognates

• Q. Aicanáro “Fell Fire; Sharp Flame” ✧ PM/347

aegnor

masculine name. Fell Fire, Sharp Flame

Fourth son of Finarfin (S/61), variously translated “Fell Fire” and “Sharp Flame”. His name is an adaption of his Quenya mother name Aicanáro (PM/346). This name seems to be a compound of aeg “point” and the suffixal form -nor of naur “fire” (SA/nár).

Possible Etymology: His Quenya name was translated “Fell Fire”, from the element Q. aica “fell”, but Tolkien said that Aegnor was not a true Sindarin name, since there was no Sindarin word ✱✱aeg meaning “fell” (PM/347). Rather, a true translation of his name would be Goenor (PM/363).

There is, however, a Sindarin word aeg meaning “point; sharp, pointed, piercing”, attested in the name Aeglos “Snow-point” and in the word aeglir “range of mountain peaks” as in Hithaeglir “Misty Mountains”. Thus “Sharp Flame” might be a false etymology for this name. This alternate translation appeared in the Silmarillion Appendix (SA/nár) and some early writings from the 1950s (MR/323), but it may be that this was simply an earlier, rejected translation rather then a false etymology.

Conceptual Development: In Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s, his name was N. Egnor (SM/15, 88; LR/116, 223), and at this stage the initial element of his name was N. êg “thorn” from the root ᴹ√EK “spear” (Ety/EK, NAR¹). In draft notes associated with The Shibboleth of Fëanor, Tolkien considered changing this name to S. Eignor (VT41/19 note #19), but this seems to have been a transient idea.

Changes

• Aegnor → Eignor ✧ VT41/19

Cognates

• Q. Aicanáro “Fell Fire; Sharp Flame” ✧ MR/323; MRI/Aikanár; PM/346; PM/347; PMI/Aegnor; SA/nár; WJI/Aikanáro; VT41/19

Derivations

• ✶Aika-nār- “Fell Fire” ✧ PM/347

Elements

Word	Gloss
aeg	“sharp, sharp, [N.] pointed, piercing”
naur	“fire, fire, [N.] flame”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
✶Aika-nār- > Aegnor	[aikanāro] > [aikanǭro] > [aikanauro] > [aikanaur] > [aiganaur] > [aignaur] > [aegnaur] > [aegnor]	✧ PM/347

Variations

• Eignor ✧ VT41/19

Aegnor

noun. Aegnor

fell fire; aeg (from Q aika “fell”) + naur (“flame”) S form of Q Aikanáro “sharp flame, fell fire”; the name was not true S, as there was no S adjective corresponding to Q “fell, terrible”, though aeg would have been its form if it had occurred.

Aegnor

Fell Fire

Aegnor's mother-name was Aikanáro, meaning "Fell Fire" in Quenya (from aica = "fell, dire", nár = "fire", and -o = pronominal suffix).

Like many mother-names, his name was prophetic, a reference to his valiance in battle. His father-name was Ambaráto, meaning "Champion of Doom" (from ambar = "doom" and aráto = "champion"). Aegnor is the Sindarin version of his mother-name.

Aegnor

Aegnor

Aegnor's mother-name was Aikanáro (pron. [ˌa͡ɪkaˈnaːro]), meaning "Fell Fire" in Quenya (from aica = "fell, dire", nár = "fire", and -o = pronominal suffix). Like many mother-names, his name was prophetic, a reference to his valiance in battle. His father-name was Ambaráto (pron. [ˌambaˈraːto]), meaning "Champion of Doom" (from ambar = "doom" and aráto = "champion"). Aegnor is the Sindarin version of his mother-name.

aika-nār-

masculine name. Fell Fire

Derivatives

• Q. Aicanáro “Fell Fire; Sharp Flame” ✧ PM/347
• S. Aegnor “Fell Fire, Sharp Flame” ✧ PM/347