Lanfear's original and assumed names

[Kalessin]

(This is going to sound somewhat Marian, for those of the Catholic religious persuasion.) But Atha'an Miere means Sea People, and Do Miere Avron means Watchers over the Waves. Lanfear's name initially is Mierin, so ... Seagirl? Seawoman? Mermaid?

 

Her assumed name in the Hunt for the Horn and until she unveils herself to Rand, is Selene, which by some strange coincidence, happens to be derived from the name for the ancient Greek Moon Goddess.

 

The name she chose for herself is Lanfear, Daughter of the Night in the Old Tongue. And her colours are all moon-related. Until she is demoted by Moridin, all her names have to do with either the sea or the moon. It's as if she was an anti-Mary Queen of Heaven, Star of the Sea.

Edited January 27, 2022 by Kalessin
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[EmreY]

I think trying to figure out etymologies in WoT is pretty difficult.  My take would be that Mierin has as much to do with "miere" as Hosea has to do with "sea".

 

But thank you for giving me visions of Lanfear as an evil Ethel Merman. ? 

 

 

Edited January 27, 2022 by EmreY

[Juan Farstrider]

4 hours ago, Kalessin said:

(This is going to sound somewhat Marian, for those of the Catholic religious persuasion.) But Atha'an Miere means Sea People, and Do Miere Avron means Watchers over the Waves. Lanfear's name initially is Mierin, so ... Seagirl? Seawoman? Mermaid?

 

Her assumed name in the Hunt for the Horn and until she unveils herself to Rand, is Selene, which by some strange coincidence, happens to be derived from the name for the ancient Greek Moon Goddess.

 

The name she chose for herself is Lanfear, Daughter of the Night in the Old Tongue. And her colours are all moon-related. Until she is demoted by Moridin, all her names have to do with either the sea or the moon. It's as if she was an anti-Mary Queen of Heaven, Star of the Sea.

I like this. Also her big game plan for the end where she games the system to gain ultimate power through Rand is the opposite of saying "I am a handmaiden of the Lord", so that's also like being an anti-Mary.

[EmreY]

I think Lanfear is closer to Inanna than to Mary.  And her consort was Dumuzid, who was a shepherd. ?

 

 

[Juan Farstrider]

18 minutes ago, EmreY said:

I think Lanfear is closer to Inanna than to Mary.  And her consort was Dumuzid, who was a shepherd. ?

 

 

I can't say I know anything about Inanna. So maybe there is a closer connection, but the idea is not that she's like Mary but like an anti-Mary. I don't that RJ took any thing and inversed it like that though. 

[Kalessin]

On 1/28/2022 at 7:37 AM, EmreY said:

I think Lanfear is closer to Inanna than to Mary.  And her consort was Dumuzid, who was a shepherd. ?

 

 

I hadn't thought of it in that way. It does make sense, though as Ninsinanna, she was the Morning and Evening Star (Venus), which Rand is (as Lord of the Morning) in WOT. And the wolves name Lanfear Moonhunter ...

[Andra]

Regarding Miere/Mierin - I don't think so.

What we know of the Old Tongue (both from Jordan's published details, and from fan labor) does certainly show that suffixes like that are sometimes used to modify the root word.  But none of the examples we have of "miere" ever do so.  Prefixes, certainly.  But not suffixes.  

 

Similarly, we have many examples of surnames having Old Tongue meanings, but I can recall no such examples of birth names that do.  And we have no indication from any of the lore that links Lanfear to water in any way that would hint at that name.

 

It is actually somewhat more likely that a name originally based on an Old Tongue word might be corrupted over time into a name with a similar pronunciation but a changed spelling - like Aemon becoming Emond.

 

So a surname originally meaning "son/daughter of the sea" could have evolved over time into al'Meara.  ?

 

Edited January 29, 2022 by Andra