#feel free to correct me but i keep seei ng aredhel edits with 'desirable lady' and it's egh to me

[galadhremmin]

If Aredhel's name Írissë is from írë (desire) + issë (feminine suffix) and the Vala Irmo is Irë + mo (agental suffix)--

1. is a more accurate translation of írissë then not 'desire' (feminine name) and not 'desirable lady', as Irmo is translated as 'the desirer' (masculine name)?

2. If so, that fits her as a character because she dreams of freedom (which she never quite archieves/loses soon), and is motivated by her own desire to leave Gondolin. And of course she desires freedom again in Nan Elmoth.

3. You might be able to argue her name indicates a special connection to Irmo, Vala of dreams. And nightmares. What happens to her in Nan Elmoth, the enchantments she gets caught in, going out by moonlight-- is decidedly dreamlike. But you might also simply imagine her as often visiting Lórien when still in Valinor. I know she loves to hunt, but I don't think she is mentioned as having a special connection to Oromë as Celegorm does. Maybe Aredhel as a follower of Irmo somehow... She also navigates a nightmarish place on her own in Middle Earth; Nan Dungortheb, "where the sorcery of Sauron and the power of Melian came together, and horror and madness walked."

If any Vala is associated with madness (or its healing) I wouldn't be surprised if it was Irmo, Vala of dreams.

4. I'm not a linguist and could be wrong about all of this, but I really like an interpretation of Aredhel's name that doesn't (to me) point to the worst thing that happened to her except for her death. Desire (her own) and an association with being led by dreams and desires feels better than 'desirable lady' as a name for this character, which I think elfdict tells me is not a translation provided by Tolkien himself anyway (?).

#aredhel #irisse #the silmarillion #quenya #feel free to correct me but i keep seei ng aredhel edits with 'desirable lady' and it's egh to me