Henneth Annûn Story Archive

Does anyone know what types of names the men and women in Bree would use? Would they just use English names? There is Bill Ferny, but then there is also Barliman... which is perhaps an Old-English name as well. I need a few names for original characters and I know they would be different than what the Dunedain would use, but am not sure.

Also, does Tolkien give Barliman Butterbur a family history? Father, mother, wife, etc?

Thanks for any help you can give me!

Radbooks

 

Hi, Radbooks

Tolkien says in Appendix F "On Translation" that the Breelanders had names that often referred to plants, "Ferny" being a good example of that. Meckinock used "Pearblossom" in one of her tales, tee hee. If you pick anything that sounds remotely "Middle English" you will do okay. I have a Breelander called "Cobin Graywacke" in my story  ("graywacke" is a kind of rock). For first names, they are called "Harry" and "Bob" and such. Check out the names of towns in Yorkshire, etc., or Chaucer, for inspiration.

As far as I know, Barliman has no history beyond being the innkeeper of the Prancing Pony.

Gandalfs apprentice 

 

Also,first names translated into English can be traditional English names but should not be anything Biblical, to avoid a clash of traditions and connotations. Thus "Sam" was short for "Samwise", not "Samuel", and "Barney" became a short form of "Barliman", not "Barnabas". I'd avoid any name that's obviously Welsh, Scottish, Irish or French too. I don't know what the "Bill" in "Bill Ferny" stands for, but I doubt if it was "William" (anglicised "Guillaume"). At the same time, the Breemen are related to Dunlendings and speak Westron, so they wouldn't have the pure Anglo-Saxon names of the Rohirrim.

You could take a look at regular medieval English names for male given names, especially the short forms, - Dickon, Sim (but not as a short form of Simon!), Hob - and flower/herb names for women. Lily, Tansy, Marigold, Cicely, for instance. For surnames, you could pick a name from the many common names for weeds/wildflowers of the British Isles, again avoiding those with overt Primary World connotations (Herb Robert, Jack-In-The-Pulpit, Queen ANne's Lace). 

 

I found a few references for English names:

 <a href="http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/yorkshire.html">Yorkshire given names from 1379</a>

 <a href="http://www.list.jaunay.com/engnames/ ">English surnames list by county</a>

<a href="http://www.behindthename.com/nmc/eng.php ">History of English first names</a> 

Have fun! Give us a heads up when the story is finished.

Gwynnyd 

 

Oh, thanks so much, Gandalfs Apprentice! I appreciate the help here... I like the name Cobin Graywacke, it sounds very Middle-earthian.

It's good to know about Baliman because then I can do what I want with his family history... which is more fun for me.

Thanks again,

Radbooks

 

Anna,

I didn't realize that the Breelanders were related to the Dunlendings... though I supposed they had to come from somewhere! I like the idea of the shorter names too... I was thinking about using 'Will' but as short for 'Willis' or 'Willbert' but I should go and check the source again and make sure it isn't French or something.

Thanks again,

Radbooks

 

Gwynnyd,

Thanks for the links, I will check them out and then put them in my ever expanding story resource file.

The story is being posted as a WIP at Tolkien FanFic and at Stories of Arda and it's called, "Brothers at Heart". It's about Aragorn's early days with the Dunedain and his friendship with Halbarad. It won't be finished for some time, though.

Thanks again,

Radbooks

 

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