Westernesse

Brief Description

The CommonSpeech name for Númenor.

See also: Númenor

Details

Westernesse. The CommonSpeech name of Númenor (which means 'West-land'). It is meant to be western + ess, an ending used in partly francized names of 'romantic' lands, as Lyonesse, or Logres (England in Arthurian Romance). The name actually occurs in the early romance King Horn, of some kingdom reached by ship. Guide to the Names in the Lord of the Rings

I have often used Westernesse as a translation. This is derived from rare Middle English Westernesse (known to me only in MS. C of King Horn) where the meaning is vague, but may be taken to mean 'Western lands' as distinct from the East inhabited by the Paynim and Saracens. Letters #276

Comments and Annotations

From the Hobbits' point of view, translated to us in English, "Númenor" is "western isle", where "esse" is an archaic suffix for islands. -- [PhlIp]

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