Hadhafang (or Haðafang) is mentioned as a Noldorin "sword-name" in The Etymologies, mentioned in the entries SYAD and STAG. Another dissimilated form given is Havathang. It is said to be a cognate of Quenya Sangahyando, "throng-cleaver". The names have not been used by Tolkien in his stories, while Sangahyando was eventually used as a person's name, of a corsair of Umbar.
Quenya
sangahyando
masculine name. Throng-cleaver
Changes
Sangahyanda→ Sangahyando ✧ PMI/SangahyandaElements
Word Gloss sanga “throng, press, pressure, press, pressure; throng, [ᴹQ.] crowd, pack; [ᴱQ.] tight mass; [ᴹQ.] crowded, packed” hyando “cleaver, cleaver, [ᴹQ.] hewer (sword)” Variations
- Sangahyanda ✧ PE17/116; PMI/Sangahyanda (
Sangahyanda)
A descendant of Castamir who led the forces of Umbar against Gondor (LotR/1048). His name is a compound of sanga “throng” and hyando “cleaver” (Let/425, PE17/116).
Conceptual Development: In the early Qenya Lexicon, ᴱQ. Sangahyando “cleaver of throngs” was given as a name for Túrin Turambar’s sword (QL/81), and the name ᴹQ. Sangahyando appeared in The Etymologies as the name of a sword (Ety/STAG, SYAN). Its use for a man of Umbar did not emerge until The Lord of the Rings appendices, where it appeared as Sangahyanda in the 1st edition of The Lord of the Rings, changed in the 2nd edition to Sangahyando (PM/215).
For the most part, Tolkien gave the meaning “throng” to the initial element and “cleaver” to the final element, but in his phonetic notes from the Tengwesta Qenderinwa and the Outline of Phonology from the 1950s, he seems to have considered assigning the meaning “throng” to the second element (PE18/101, PE19/92).
A short form Sangian “throng-hewer” appeared in linguistic notes from the early 1930s (PE21/32).