[NeumeIndil]

I'll keep this one short: Anyone know what her name means?

I tried Encyclopedia of Arda, Counsel of Elrond, Ardalambion, Michael Martinez' essays and read everything about her in Morgoth's Ring and Robert Foster's Complete Guide to Middle-earth (which, in spite of the name, I'm finding somewhat lacking).

A source or translation would be appreciated. Thanks!

[RobinKa]

A Woman in Few Words: The Character of Nerdanel and Her Treatment in Canon and Fandom by Dawn Felagund, posted at the Silmarillion Writers' Guild, has a short paragraph concerning a probable meaning of Nerdanel's name. Hope this helps

[NeumeIndil]

Ooh. Yes, very helpful, but if that hypothesis is true, "Nerdanel" would be a name rather like "Galadriel", that the bearer was given later in life. How could she be a "man-maker" until she'd borne at least a couple of sons? Hmm....

[Viv]

Maybe it has to do with her mannish skills at crafting? Her papa probably would have been pleased if someone had told him, at her birth, that she'd grow up to be a master craftsman (eclipsed only by her husband...).

[RobinKa]

I found this as well.

Some of elvish names were somewhat prophetic (for example Maedhros' and Maglor's mother names were Maitimo and Macalaure -- the tall and the strong voiced, respectively). So it's probable that the name Nerdanel indicated the fact that Feanor and she had seven children.

Then, Nerdanel might be a 'sindarinized' form of her Quenya name (I've been digging through some Polish Tolkien forum and found the explanation which says that Nerdanel might be derived from quenyan Nertánellë -- scupltress. That would point out the fact that she kind of made 'men' -- their images carved in stone or wood).

I'm not an expert on Feanor's family and the Noldor in general, but that 'sculptress' name makes sense to me I'll keep on searching.

[NeumeIndil]

Now *that's* striking a chord, Binks. Galadriel was given the name Nerwen by her mother meaning "man-maiden", opposite her father name Artanis "noble woman". Celeborn (or someone, at any rate) called her Alatariel after she arrived in Beleriand, which translates from Telerin to Galadriel in Sindarin.

If that "sculptress" thing pans out with Nerdanel, I've still got wiggle room to toss in a mother name given after a few years of life if I want, but she could have been given her best-known name by her father, who would have hoped to have a fellow artisan in at least one of his offspring (like Viv has suggested), or by someone that she fooled with a life-like statue some time in her formative years, or even by Feanor himself after son # 4, 5, or 6 arrived.

See, this is why I ask these kinds of questions.