Over the last few years I have used a website called 'Eldamo' to help make sense of various words and phrases that I otherwise wouldn't have any clue as to what they mean. Here is the link:
It is a very good site, and I owe a debt to the individual who has created it - I don't know him, but I am grateful for everything that he has assembled there. I would have been far more lost than I currently am without his work.
Faramir is an interesting name to look up there because there hasn't really been an attempt to even guess at a meaning for that name. The same goes if I look at other sites like Tolkien Gateway - it just says the name was never glossed.
Other lesser well-known sites (to me at least) do give at least some guesses as to the name, with "Sufficient Jewel" being by far the most popular one that I have come across.
The lack of a strong, consistent definition and rationale for his name, in particular, is surprising to me, because compared with other names and words I have tried to parse through, Faramir's name seems to be one of the most straightforward that there are.
My own opinion on Faramir's name meaning is reflected in the title of this post, and I will repeat it here:
"Jewel Hunter"
This comes by very simply breaking his name down into "Fara" and "Mir", translating those, and putting it into my own words. The translations are as follows (both based on Quenya):
Fara = "to hunt"
Mir = "jewel"
So, you literally get "to hunt jewel", and I then rephrase it into an English and you have "Jewel Hunter".
Rather than this just being mere trivia, I think the name of Faramir gives an indication or clue as a future role he will play, and that this role ties into some things that Jesus taught to those at Bountiful in The Book of Mormon. Which is a good thing, I think, for Faramir. In the Lord of the Rings, he is a bit of a lost character. Besides (re)uniting with Eowyn at the end of the tale (which was a vital thing, even if not fully apparent) there isn't really much that he contributes to the story other than abruptly entering the tale and acting almost as a foil or comparison for his father and brother. One gets the sense that there ought to have been more of a purpose for this character in that story (at least I do). My guess is that Denethor and Boromir's decision to have Boromir go to Rivendell and ultimately then join with the Fellowship, when it ought to have been Faramir, left Faramir's character a bit adrift (as well as obviously making for a more difficult story for the Fellowship). So a future role that more clarifies his own story and purpose might be welcome.
Jesus quotes from what is now Malachi 3 and 4 in teaching those at Bountiful, along with other scriptures we have in the Old Testament such as some of Isaiah's words. For the Malachi passages he says specifically that he is giving those words to these people because i) they don't have them, and ii) they need to be given to future generations. Which is odd, at first brush, because future generations (such as us) already have them from the bible, so what does this mean?
I think that Jesus is putting the words of Malachi into proper context with other prophecies and words (specifically that of Isaiah) to give greater meaning or understanding to what will be happening in the latter days.
One of those things is the work of a servant - a messenger - who will assist, basically, in gathering Jesus' people, as well as cutting off all those who are not nor will be his people. These are the sheep that Jesus has numbered, and they will be led up like calves of the stall.
In quoting Malachi 3, Jesus says this about his people that will be gathered:
"And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of Hosts, in that day when I shall make up my jewels; And I will spare them as a man spareth his own son that serveth him"
I believe the 'jewels' that are referenced here are these people that will be gathered. They are Jesus' family, through the Holy Ghost (as mentioned before) and all who will want to be numbered among them and become part of that family. This is the Family of Light... God's Shining Jewels.
It is Faramir, therefore, that I believe will play the role of this messenger, hunting the Jewels who are scattered across all nations and people, and gathering them back to their home and family. He will be assisted by others in this task, a few of my guesses as to whom I have mentioned in these posts, some I haven't yet, but hopefully will (e.g., Elijah as mentioned also by Jesus at Bountiful), and others we will find out about at some point.
In any case, there is more than just the name of Faramir that I believe ties him to this role, and I hope to explore that in other posts also at some point, working backwards from this perhaps, but for now that is the thought I wanted to get down.
"For the Malachi passages he says specifically that he is giving those words to these people because i) they don't have them, and ii) they need to be given to future generations. Which is odd, at first brush, because future generations (such as us) already have them from the bible, so what does this mean?"
ReplyDeleteThe first point is odd, too, since Malachi 3-4 is quoted repeatedly in the Small Plates (e.g. 1 Nephi 22), so apparently the Nephites did already have those words. Only the chapters Jesus gave them are quoted, never chapters 1-2, so perhaps we should conclude that the Small Plates as we have them are actually a post-Jesus production and not the original words of Nephi and company.
@WJT:
ReplyDeleteI don't think Nephi's writings were available to the Nephites at all based on the type of information that they contained.
As to Malachi and Nephi similarities, I would just say that both were 'translated' into English after Jesus, so, by definition, both are post-Jesus productions as you note. How closely they resemble the original words and thoughts of Nephi depends on the method and intent of the translator(s).
But neither point is what interested me here in this post, and so I don't have much else to say or add to this.
@ben:
ReplyDeleteNo, no email yet for this site. That may change at some point in the future, but for now just comments.
I do/ will moderate the comments. I have been out for the past week or so and that is why I am just posting and responding to a few comments now - sorry for the delay.