Character Bios
Amroth
Meaning: high climber
Location(s): Lothlórien
Race/Species: Elf
Type/Kind: Sindar
Title(s): Lord of Lórien, King of Lórien
Dates: ?? - T.A. 1981
Parents: Debated; see description
Spouse: Betrothed to Nimrodel
Description:
According to text in Unfinished Tales, Tolkien at one time envisioned Amroth to be the son of Celeborn and Galadriel, however, Christopher Tolkien notes that later documents and drafts show his father had abandoned this premise and made Amroth the son of Amdir, a Silvan king in Lothlorien. In yet other sources, Amroth is said to be the son of Malgalad (arguably early name for Amdir):
"Amroth was King of Lorien, after his father Amdir was slain in the Battle of Dagorlad . . . Though Sindarin in descent he lived after the manner of the Silvan elves and housed in the tall trees of a great green mound ever after called Cerin Amroth. "
Unfinished Tales, Part 2, Ch 4, The History of Galadriel and Celeborn: Amroth and Nimrodel
Etymology
In another etymological discussion of the same period the name Amroth is explained as being a nickname derived from his living in a high talan or flet, the wooden platforms built high up in the trees of Lothlórien in which the Galadhrim dwelt (see The Fellowship of the Ring II 6): it meant "upclimber, high climber."
Unfinished Tales, Part 2, Ch 4, The History of Galadriel and Celeborn: Amroth and Nimrodel
The explanation supposes that the first element in the name Amroth is the same Elvish word as Quenya amba "up," found also in Sindarin amon, a hill or mountain with steep sides; while the second element is a derivative from a stem rath- meaning "climb" (whence also the noun rath, which in the Númenórean Sindarin used in Gondor in the naming of places and persons was applied to all the longer roadways and street of Minas Tirith, nearly all of which were on an incline: so Rath Dínen, the Silent Street...).
Unfinished Tales, Part 2, Ch 4, The History of Galadriel and Celeborn: Notes, Note 16
Contributors:
kenaz 06-23-2005
added etymology: Elena Tiriel 28Sep05