[SpaceWeavil]

[GypsieRose]

[Eyborg]

[Roisin]

If there's a Ferdinand Took, I really don't see why you can't have an Isabella.

Roisin

[estellabrandybuck]

Isadora should work...but Isabella just sounds better (in my opinion anyway) and I think Roisin's right; if there's a Ferdinand, surely there could be an Isabella.

[Ellbee]

[Andreth]

I don't see a problem with Isabella, myself. The only rule I've come across about Hobbit names is in Letters where the professor says that Hobbits on the social level of Samwise and his father have very Saxon names as a rule. But then he says that he didn't obey that rule by making their last name Gamgee. Other than the use of flower names, I don't see a pattern to Hobbit names.

[GypsieRose]

Eyborg,

I have to agree that "Isabella" has a fine Tookish ring to it. I was thinking...the Took family tree features names like "Isengrim" and "Isembard." Maybe you could spell the name "Isebella" and figure it's a feminine derivative of one of those?

Ellbee,

Far be it from me to go too deeply into the touchy subject of Faramir characterization; I was just curious what set you so strongly against him. However--and I promise this will be my last comment on the subject in this thread--I'm always puzzled what makes people single out the book version of the character as "too perfect," in a book where practically all the good guys are perfect. I'm not saying other readers don't have the right to feel that way, just that he seems "only" on a par with the rest of the good guys to me, not a standout goody-goody. Ah well. Obviously, mileage varies.

--Rose

[Ellbee]

[Roisin]

I liked MovieFaramir's sadness.

Roisin

[GypsieRose]

*chuckle* I have a feeling if you tell a really devoted fan of Frodo or Sam that they're not shown to be as perfect as Aragorn and Faramir in the book, you'll get some argument. Also I do think book-Faramir has some moments which correspond to book-Aragorn's doubts. But oops, that's getting close to continuing to discuss. *slaps hand*

Um, so. OFC's?

--Rose

[Ellbee]

[Andreth]

[Viv]

[Andreth]

Yes, Miss Viv, you're right about the -a being masculine, but that was in the original Hobbit language and not the translations. He switched the endings around when he 'Englished' them. The Hobbit name of Bilba became Bilbo when translated. But your mentioning that reminded me of where that info came from and the section on Hobbit naming in Appendix F of RotK, and then my OC nature forced me to sit down and look it up to refresh my memory.

I won't quote all of it here, but basically it sounds like he took Hobbit names from all over the place. "To their maid-children Hobbits commonly gave the names of flowers and jewels."

Concerning the Tooks naming process it says, 'In some of the old families, especially those of Fallohide origin such as the Tooks and the Bolgers, it was, however, the custom to give high-sounding first-names."

Then a few paragraphs later we have "Names of classicial origin have rarely been used; for the nearest equivalents to Latin and Greek in the Shire-lore were the Elvish tongues, and these the Hobbits seldom used in nomenclature."

Then in Peoples of Middle-earth you have the behind-the-scenes look at the Appendices and here is where the question of using Hebraic names comes from - "It will be observed that I have not [>rarely] used Scriptural names or names of Hebraic origin to represent Hobbit-names. There is nothing in Hobbit lore or history that corresponds [added: closely] to this element in our names."

I've noticed this a lot in Tolkien's writings - he'll either originally have or go back and add words like seldom, rarely, often...or other vague terms. I figure this was to give himself some leeway with all these people who were writing in and correcting him or questioning him about his own work when he broke his own rules. Which was often. It also gives you leeway to use the name Isabella. The 'devoted to God' meaning could be a cause for argument since Tolkien says that he didn't think the Hobbits practiced any form of worship or prayer and this is obviously the element that's missing in the Hobbit language. But he also says that they were aware of who Eru/God was, so it's not implausible.

I still think Isabella is a very high-sounding Tookish name and there's nothing wrong with leaving it as is.