Session 1.6

Phillip Menzies

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Staff member
Questions for next Session airing on 23rd of October 2015 for Episode 1.4 are:
  • What is the story arc for the next episode and where will it end?
  • Which of the Valar do we show Melkor interacting with, who gets speaking roles and how do we depict their reaction to Melkor?
  • What other longer term stories or characters that will play out later in the series do we want to include or introduce in this episode?
As always please refer to the overarching season 1 notes from Episode... no SESSION 1.1 at http://silmfilm.mythgard.org/episode-1-1-plot-overview/ and the last Session 1.5 in your deliberations on these questions.
 
The arc for this episode could be the Valar's acceptance of Melkor. The characters that I think we could show interacting with Melkor are Manwe, Ulmo, Aule ,(we have air, water and earth here) and possibly their spouses.
(A moment with Sauron could also be interesting)

So I'm just doing some brainstorming here.
Maybe at first the Valar distrust him. But then Melkor accidentally makes something beautiful and the Valar see his potential for good. Manwe, being his brother, would really want to give him a chance.
Therefore, the Valar go into a kind of watchful peace with him (some more dubiously than others).

At the end we could have him creating things with the other Valar, and them coming to fully accept him. But Aule is still slightly suspicious of him because all of the things that he makes, while majestic, grand and beautiful, could be turned around and used to harm the Children in some way.
Examples might be: snow, cumulonimbus clouds, volcanoes (possibly undersea volcanoes too?) , Rocky Mountain styled canyons, etc.

The rocky relationship with Aule could be brought up later on in the series (relating to Sauron's fall and the creation of the Dwarves).
 
Ok I'll repeat my suggestion for the last episode: "... the suggestion about Melkor and Aulë's Maiar that I think Curumo should be there. I find the differences and similarities between Sauron and the future Saruman a really interesting topic and would like to see both their stories begin in this episode. Curumo could have developed a stronger cooperation and connection with Aulë, being some kind of favourite, although Sauron perhaps shows more power. Melkor could give Sauron credit for this in a mutual creative process, but ignore Curumo. If Aulë and Melkor have a disagreement of some kind, Sauron could at least partially take Melkor's side. Curumo, on the other hand, could feel impressed by Melkor but as he is hurt by Melkor ignoring him, he takes his master Aulë's side."
I've been trying to think about a name for pre-balrogian Gothmog. I don't consider myself a quenya expert and don't know if they are any good, but anyway, here they are: 1.Calwanár ("Beautiful flame"). 2. Uryalcar (This is supposed to mean "Burning splendour" or something like that.) 3. Rámanárë ("Winged fire") or possibly Uryaráma ("Burning wing"? Unsure about the ráma, if it can be plural or singular only)
 
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If Melkor is a loner in the previous episode, the fire Maiar could show up at Utumno in this episode and sort of inspire him to come along and explore Varda, and start "marring", if you will. Not that these Maiar are bad guys. They should be angelic. But they should look up to him who arises in might, and be gradually more and more inspired by his ways, the way of fire. Further down the road, the fire will burn with black smoke, but for now it is just bright and hot.
 
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I had an idea for Melkor interacting with Yavanna and Nienna:

Yavanna sitting with a mid-sized jungle cat (something she can pet; doesn't look too fierce). Also hanging around is a rabbit or other prey animal. All are getting along just fine.
Then Melkor comes along and chats with Yavanna, admires the cat (note that this could be a wolf/dog instead but of course cats make more sense). Yavanna is very skeptical but gracious. The cat, peaceful before, growls a bit but not in anger at Melkor. Later, we see the cat hunt and kill the rabbit. Yavanna comes on this scene and is sad/moved. Nienna is with her and they share a moment grieving. Then Nienna points out that the cat is feeding her young with the rabbit meat, and that millions of tiny insects are feeding on the rest; circle of life, etc.

Just a thought...
 
I'd like to see Manwë talking to Varda, wanting her to help him see what Melkor is up to, like he is worried what is happening around his "brother" since he remembers the music. While he is curious about what Melkor does, he might not want to meet him right away, as he knows there will be tension between them.
 
I've been trying to think about a name for pre-balrogian Gothmog. I don't consider myself a quenya expert and don't know if they are any good, but anyway, here they are: 1.Calwanár ("Beautiful flame"). 2. Uryalcar (This is supposed to mean "Burning splendour" or something like that.) 3. Rámanárë ("Winged fire") or possibly Uryaráma ("Burning wing"? Unsure about the ráma, if it can be plural or singular only)

Sauron's pre-fallen name is Mairon ('The Admirable'), which conveniently sounds a lot like Sauron. (I am only up to session 1-5 now, so I don't know if this was brought up later). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sauron

So, it would be convenient if the names connect in some way (Melkor --> Morgoth, Mairon --> Sauron, ??? --> Gothmog)
What do you call the lord of the Valaraukar in the beginning?

Here's some stuff on Gothmog's name:
The name Gothmog is derived from the roots GOS-/GOTH- "dread", and MBAW- "compel, force, subject, oppress" (found also in the title for Morgoth "Bauglir": the tyrant or oppresor).
["Lungorthin, Lord of Balrogs" is mentioned in the Lay of the Children of Húrin (early version), but it's probably not meant to be another name for Gothmog].
http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Gothmog_(balrog)

Unfallen Gothmog might be a Michael the Archangel-like champion dragon slayer type.

The "Sindarin or Quenya?" question is hugely important here and we need to answer it at some point. The published Silmarillion uses mostly Sindarin, so he is called Fëanor, not Fëanáro. But sure I'll give this guy a Quenya name if you like.

As I am not an expert in Tolkien's languages, my first step is typically to check out the wordlists on Ardalambion to get started.

My first thought was 'Winged Victory', but that comes out as Tureráma, which sounds silly.

WING ráma (Pl. rámar and plural instrumental form rámainen are attested. The form #rámë, occurring in the ship-name Eärrámë "Sea-Wing", evidently has a feminine ending.)
HAVING WINGS rámavoitë (pl. prob. *rámavoisi, cf. LEAPING, WINDY), "WEST-WINGS" (the name of a ship) NúmerrámarRAM/LT2:335, MC:222, Silm:295, UT:175, 458
VICTORY túrë (mastery, might, strength), apairë –TUR, GL:17

GOTH- and OTH- aren't really going to happen in Quenya, but ending with -MO is possible. So that's probably my best chance to make it sound like Gothmog.

rámalócë ("k") noun "winged dragon" (LOK)
rámavoitë adj. "having wings" (LT2:335, Narqelion)

Rámamo = Winged One

ohta noun "war" (OKTA, KOT > KOTH). In the pre-classical Tengwar system presupposed in the Etymologies, ohta was also the name of tengwa #15 (VT46:7), but Tolkien would later call this letter anca instead – changing its value from ht to nc.
#ohtacar- stem of the past tense ohtacárë (-"káre") vb. "war-made", made war (+ allative = make war upon) (LR:47, SD:246; ohtacárië in LR:56). The past tense could probably also be *ohtacarnë with the better-attested pa.t. of car- “make”.
[ohtacáro] ("k") noun "warrior" (KAR). In the Etymologies as printed in LR, the accent of the word ohtacáro was omitted (VT45:19).
ohtar noun "warrior, soldier" (UT:282)

Ohtacármo = War-made One


Another option would be to use a name coined by Tolkien for another character.
#nehtar noun "slayer", isolated from Morinehtar "Darkness-slayer" (PM:384, 385). It may be that a verbal stem #nehta- "to slay, kill" can also be isolated from this noun, though the attested form is actually nahta- (a possible example of A/E variation).

Morinehtar = Darkness Slayer is one of the blue wizards, but the name could be appropriate for an unfallen fire spirit.
 
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Great input! I'm thinking we should avoid too warrior-like names, to make the contrast of the fall clearer. Also, references to dragons is a bit early since there are none yet.
Since my last post on this I've been thinking and I believe in keeping it simple. I like the -MO suffix you bring up MithLuin, which could give us names like:
"Uryamo" (burning one)
and
"Alcarmo" (one of splendour)
What do you think?
 
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I am currently imagining the fall of the balrogs depicted as an actual literal fall. Meaning, some angels tumble off a cliff, and transform mid-fall into more monstrous beings as their wings burn off, leaving only shadow behind. This could be really disturbing or funny as anything. Especially since it seems the only way to kill a balrog is to knock it into an abyss ;).


As for the names, I'm not really sold on any of them yet. I might come around to Uryamo. Most words starting with 'u' have a negative connotation (since 'u-' is not in Quenya). It's just that it doesn't really sound like it has a strong connection to 'Gothmog,' and what the Silmarillion does not need more of is confusing name changes. I'm sure a big deal will be made of Melkor --> Morgoth on screen, so I'm not worried about the audience following along with that one. But Mairon --> Sauron and Uryamo(?) --> Gothmog are going to be much more incidental sideline stuff. It might be mentioned once, and then we don't hear their names for awhile, so the audience is left going 'Who is this guy?' when he doesn't look anything like his original and has a totally different name.

While I agree that an 'evil' meaning on a name should be a dead give-away, I am assuming that the audience won't actually know elvish, so it's sound rather than meaning at this point. Gothmog sounds evil, which is why we are looking for a replacement name. I didn't think Ohtacármo or Morinehtar sounded particularly evil, so that's why I suggested them (even if there is a strong war-like element to those names). Keep in mind that 'Ungoliant' means 'Ancient Spider' in Sindarin and we are keeping her name as-is for this portion. (It is a loan word from Quenya: Ungwë liantë 'Dark Spider'). Sure, if you know any elvish, her transformation into a giant spider later won't be a huge surprise, but...I don't think the name is really a 'spoiler' (as anyone who knows that also likely knows the story already). It's possible someone will remember the name 'Cirith Ungol' from the Return of the King film and be like 'ha! I know what she is!' But if so, kudos to them!


The bigger question is really how we are going to handle names and name changes. The published Silmarillion gives all of the names in Sindarin, as it is told from the perspective of an elf in Beleriand *after* Thingol's decree. But realistically, all of the elves in Valinor will be speaking Quenya. So, one (probably terribly unpopular) option would be to give *ALL* of the names in Quenya for the first 3 seasons, and then when Thingol makes his decree, switch to calling everyone by Sindarin names. This will be SUPER confusing and frustrating. 'Fëanor, who was called Fëanáro' is not a direction we want to go in. Fëanáro, Nolofinwë, Arafinwë --> Fëanor, Fingolfin, Finarfin. This would diminish the significance of Morgoth's name change, and, yeah, we have enough confusing names to work with already. The audience is never going to know who anyone is. (See 'Honest Trailer' for Game of Thrones)
 
Again, I'm no quenya expert, but as I understand it "urya" is quenya:
urya- vb.“be hot” (PE17:148), "burn" (intransitive) (LT1:271)

I'm picturing the fall of the balrogs as a process connected to their fire. I see it consuming their beauty, burning their wings to ashes, producing black smoke.
 
Yes, that is what it means.

úr noun "fire" (UR) This stem was struck out in Etym, but a word that must be derived from it occurs in LotR, so it seems that Tolkien restored it. Early "Qenya" also has Ûr, noun "the Sun" (also Úri, Úrinci ("k"), Urwen) (LT1:271). Cf. Úri.
Úr-anar noun, word occurring in Fíriel's Song, translated "the red sun"; actually the prefixed element úr- must have to do with the element ur- "heat, be hot" mentioned in the Silmarillion Appendix. Also compare Ûr as an early Qenya word for "the Sun".
úra (1) adj. "evil, nasty" (VT43:24, VT48:32)
úra (2) adj. "large" (UR), probably obsoleted by #1 above
urcárima, urcarnë adj. “hard to make / do”. (PE17:154). Cf. urucarin.
urco ("k"), stem *urcu- and pl. urqui, noun: an old word used in the lore of the Blessed Realm for anything that caused fear to the Elves during the March; by the Exiled Noldor the word was recognized as the cognate of Sindarin orch and used to mean "Orc". The Sindarin-influenced form orco was also used. (WJ:390)
urda adj. “hard, difficult, arduous” (PE17:154)
urdu noun "death" (LT2:342; rather nuru in Tolkien's later Quenya)
úrë noun "heat", also name of tengwa #36 (Appendix E)
úri noun "sun" (MC:214, 221; this is "Qenya"); genitive úrio "sun's" (MC:216)
Úrimë (in some editions Urimë, but this seems to be an error; cf. úrë "heat") noun, name of the eighth month of the year, "August" (Appendix D, SA:ur-, UT:302)
úrin adj. "blazing hot" (LT1:271)
Úrin (Úrind-, as in "g.sg. Úrinden", in LotR-style Quenya this is dat.sg.) noun, a name of the Sun (UR, PE17:148; this stem was struck out in Etym, but several words that must be derived from it occur in LotR, so it seems that Tolkien restored it.)
Úrion (Q?) noun, a title of Fionwë (= later Eönwë); see the LR index. (UR; this stem was struck out in Etym, but several words that must be derived from it occur in LotR, so it seems that Tolkien restored it.)
urna noun "oven" (LT1:271)
úro noun "evil" (VT43:24); Tolkien may have abandoned this form in favour of ulco, q.v.
*urta-, see usta-
ur(u)- prefix denoting difficulty (PE17:154, 172), cf. urcárima, urucarin
urnótima
adj. Unglossed, apparently *”difficult to count” (PE17:172)
uru noun "fire" (LT1:271)
urucarinadj. “made with difficulty” (PE17:154)
uruitë adj. "fiery" (UR; this stem was struck out in Etym, but several words that must be derived from it occur in LotR, so it seems that Tolkien restored it.)
urulócë ("k") noun "fire-dragon" (LOK), pl. Urulóci ("k") (SA:ur-). In the Silmarillion, the word Urulóci is both singular (as when Glaurung is called "the first of the Urulóki", Silm:138) and plural (as when Glaurung is called "the Urulóki", Silm:255).
Urundil masc. name, "copper-lover" (PM:365); this may suggest #urun as one word for "copper", unless this is the ending -ndil "friend, lover" suffixed to #uru- as a reduced form of urus, q.v.
urus (urust-) noun "copper" (VT41:10)
úruva adj. "fiery" (from UR; this stem was struck out in Etym, but several words that must be derived from it occur in LotR, so it seems that Tolkien restored it. The word úruva also occurred in early "Qenya"; in LT1:271 it is glossed "like fire".)
uruvoitë adj. "fiery" (LT1:271)
urwa adj. "on fire" (LT1:271)
urya- vb. “be hot” (PE17:148), "burn" (intransitive) (LT1:271)
ursa(þ)noun “rage” (PE17:188)
ursa(þ)vb. “to rage” (PE17:188)


I'm not sure you can use a verb in a name like that, though. Perhaps Urumo would be better, but then it sounds too similar to Ulmo. Uruvamo?
Uriel would sound angelic, if we wanted to make Gothmog female :p.
Probably some way I can make 'Rambo' happen, too. :p :p :p

Another option would be to choose a name with a meaning exactly opposite of Gothmog. So, if Gothmog = 'cruel oppressor' or 'dread tyrant,' then unfallen Gothmog's name should be something like 'kind leader.' But then we just wind up naming him 'athelas,' which is confusing. Aranasëa ? Asëacáno?

KINDLY asëa (Þ) (beneficial, helpful) (so according to a late note where the word is derived from *ATHAYA). Also (as noun) used as the name of the healing plant called in Sindarin athelas.
KING aran (pl arani is attested) In Etym, the Quenya word for "king, chieftain" is haran pl. harni, but evidence from LotR, WJ and UT shows that Tolkien changed it to aran pl arani. Cf. asëa aranion "kingsfoil", i arani Eldaron "the Kings of the Eldar", Arandor "kingsland", aranya *"my king", arandil "king's friend, royalist", and arandur"king's servant, minister".) LT1:273 has vardar "king", but this is hardly a valid word in LotR-style Quenya. KINGLY BULL Aramund (this may not be pure Quenya, because of the final consonant cluster) –3AR, LotR:899, WJ:369, UT:165, 193, 313, Letters:386, 423
CHIEF (adj) héra (principal); CHIEF (noun) #turco (isolated from Turcomund "chief of bulls, *chief bull"; this may not be pure Quenya, but Turco appears as a the short name of Turcafinwë, Celegorm's Quenya name – though that is translated "strong, powerful (in body)" rather than referring to more "political" power) –KHER, Letters:423, PM:352
CHIEFTAIN (or CHIEF, VT45:17) haran (stem harn-, as in pl harni) (in Etym also = king, but in LotR and other texts the Quenya word for "king" is aran pl. arani – see KING), cáno, cánu (see COMMANDER) (ruler, governor, commander) –3AR, UT:400


Another option is to pick an English word/name, and try to 'elvish' it up a bit. Tolkien did this when he wanted to refer to real-world places or people within the mythology or while writing in Quenya/Sindarin. Some examples:

IRELAND Íverind- (As indicated by the hyphen, some ending is needed – a Quenya word cannot end in nd. The normal form must be *Íverin, becoming Íverind(e)- before an ending, e.g. genitive *Íverindo, locative *Íverindessë [cf. Lórien, locative Lóriendessë]. The name is also given as Íwerin or Iverindor, "an island off the west coast of Tol Eressëa" – Eressëa later becoming England in this early version of Tolkien's mythology.) –LT2:344, cf 285

Hristo noun "Christ", Tolkien's phonological adaptation of this word to Quenya (VT44:18; also Hrísto with a long vowel, VT44:15-16)

María fem. name "Mary" (Maria; Tolkien based the Quenyarized form on the Latin pronunciation) (VT43:28; Maria with no explicit long vowel in VT44:18)

"Now we have all got Elvish names!"
is a good resource for getting started if we decide to go this route. The naming of balrogs is a difficult matter, it isn't just one of your holiday games. You may think at first that I'm mad as a hatter if I tell you a balrog must have 3 separate names....

The relevant entry is:
MICHAEL: In Hebrew, Mi kha-'el? is the rhetorical question "Who [is] like God?" - in Quenya Man [ná] ve Eru?. This may be contracted to Manveru.

And from Ales Bisan's followup:
GABRIEL (m.) - Heb. 'man of God'; nér "man", Eru "God", thus Nereruo, maybe contracted Neruo or Eruner (="God-man")

So, if we wanted to make Gothmog into a Michael-the-Archangel-turned-bad character, we could name him Manveru. This is suspiciously similar to Manwë's name, so we might not want to use that.
 
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It might also be useful to remember where the names of the Valar come from to start with, so we can see why the 'simple is best' is the way to go here.

Manwë noun "Blessed Being" (Letters:283), the Elder King and Lord of the Valar, spouse of Varda. The name is adopted and adapted from Valarin Mānawenūz; names ending in - were already frequent in Quenya (WJ:399). In the Etymologies derived from MAN, WEG.Cf. Mánwen, Mánwë the oldest Quenya forms of Manwë, closer to the Valarin form (WJ:399).
Mânawenûz "Blessed One, One (closest) in accord with Eru". In Quenya reduced and altered to produce Manwë. (WJ:399)

Melko masc. name "Mighty One", name of the rebellious Vala, usually called Melkor (MIL-IK, MOR; FS – MR:350 confirms that the form Melko is still valid in Tolkien's later Quenya, though not interpreted "Greedy One" as in the Etymologies)
Melkor (spelt Melcor in VT49:6, 24, MR:362), masc. name: the rebellious Vala, the devil of the Silmarillion mythos. Older (MET) form Melkórë "Mighty-rising" (hence the interpretation "He that arises in power"), compare órë #2. Oldest Q form *mbelekōro (WJ:402).

Varda fem. name "the Sublime", name of a Valië, spouse of Manwë, the Queen of the Valar, called Elbereth in Sindarin (BARATH, BARÁD, WJ:402; in Letters:282 Varda is translated the "Lofty"). As a general adjective “sublime”, †varda could still occur as a poetic word in verse (PE17:23), but normal prose would apparently rather use the related word varanda

Ulmo
masc. name, used of the Vala of all waters (ULU), interpreted "the Pourer" by folk etymology, but the name was actually adopted and adapted from Valarin (WJ:400) ulu, ullu "water" (WJ:400, 401).
Ulubôz, Ullubôz a name containing ulu, ullu "water", adapted to Quenya as Ulmo and interpreted "the Pourer" by folk etymology. (WJ:400)

aulë (1) noun "invention" (GAWA/GOWO); evidently connected to or associated with Aulë, name of the Vala of craft (GAWA/GOWO, TAN), spouse of Yavanna; the name is adopted and adapted from Valarin (WJ:399)
A3ûlêz name of unknown meaning, altered to produce Quenya Aulë. (WJ:399)

Yavanna, fem. name: Yav-anna, “Fruit-gift” (PE17:93) or "Fruit-giver", name of a Valië, spouse of Aulë, associated especially with plants (YAB, ANA1; cf. yávë)

Nienna noun (name of a Valië, related to nië = tear) (NEI)

Tulkas (Tulkass-, as in dat.sg. Tulkassen) masc. name, used of a Vala, adopted and adapted from Valarin (WJ:399, TULUK)
Tulukhastâz (sic - read Tulukhaštâz?) is supposedly a compound containing tulukha(n) "yellow" and (a)šata "hair of head", hence "the golden-haired". Adapted to Quenya as Tulkas. (WJ:399)
(but see tulca (1) ("k") adj. "firm, strong, immovable, steadfast" (TULUK))


nessa adj. "young" (NETH), also Nessa as name of a Valië, the spouse of Tulkas (adopted and adapted from Valarin, or an archaic Elvish formation: WJ:404 vs. 416). Also called Indis, "bride" (NETH, NI1). The fem. name Nessanië (UT:210) would seem to incorporate Nessa's name; the second element could mean "tear" (nië), but since Nessa is not normally associated with sorrow, this #nië is perhaps rather a variant of "female" (compare Tintanië as a variant of Tintallë).

Námo (1) noun "Judge", name of a Vala, normally called Mandos, properly the place where he dwells (WJ:402)

Vairë
(1) fem. name "the Weaver", name of a Valië, spouse of Mandos (Silm, WEY). The name is translated "Ever-weaving" in VT39:10, and it is implied that the archaic form was *Wairē rather than ¤Weirē, the reconstruction given in the Etymologies (entry WEY). Tolkien considered changing the name to Vérë (PE17:33) One source glosses the literal meaning as “weaving” rather than “weaver” (PE17:191).

Irmo masc. name "Desirer", name of a Vala; normally called Lórien, properly the place where he dwells (WJ:402)

Estë fem. name "Repose, Rest" (WJ:403, EZDĒ, SED), only used as name of a Valië (WJ:404)

Oromë noun name of a Vala, adopted and adapted from Valarin. Observes Pengolodh, "the Eldar now take the name to singify 'horn-blowing' or 'horn-blower', but to the Valar it had no such meaning" (WJ:400-401, cf. SA:rom and ROM, TÁWAR in Etym, VT14:5).
Arômêz (in the source, the letter ô has a diacritic indicating that it is open and a-like) a name adapted to Quenya as Oromë and to Sindarin as Araw. (WJ:400) According to Elvish folk etymology,Oromë meant "horn-blowing" or "horn-blower", but the original Valarin name simply denotes this Vala and has no etymology beyond that (WJ:401).

Vána
fem. name, a Valië, the wife of Oromë (Silm, WJ:383); the Etymologies gives Vana with no long vowel (BAN). The apparent meaning is *“beautiful (one)”, since she was “the most perfectly ‘beautiful’ in form and feature…representing the natural unmarred perfection of form in living things” (PE17:150).

Ossë noun name of a Maia, adopted and adapted from Valarin (WJ:400), though connected with the common noun ossë "terror" in Etym (GOS/GOTH)
Ošošai, Oššai a name supposedly meaning "spuming, foaming", adapted to Quenya as Ossai > Ossë, Sindarin Yssion, Gaerys. (WJ:400)

Uinen (Uinend-, as in dative Uinenden) fem. name, used of a Maia, spouse of Ossë (UY, NEN). Adopted and adapted from Valarin (WJ:404), though it is also said that it contains -nen "water" (SA:nen); the latter explanation may be folk etymology. In the Etymologies, the name is derived from the same stem (UY) as uilë "long trailing plant, especially seaweed".


Note that none of these are 'maiden crowned with a radiant garland' levels of complexity. They embody some aspect of the mind of Iluvatar, so the word for that thing they embody is their name. This makes me much more inclined to go with 'Fiery One' for Gothmog.

Valarin is the language of the Valar before the elves show up, so clearly the first season should be entirely in Valarin. Of course, Tolkien only gave us a few examples of what it sounded like, so it's not like we have any clue how to do that.
Here's what we know of Valarin: http://folk.uib.no/hnohf/valarin.htm
Conveniently, one of the few vocab words we have is fire: uruš "fire" (also rušur) (WJ:401)

Which brings us back to Urumo, Urusmo, but introduces the possibility of Rusumo (or another looser variation, since these aren't translations but transliterations/adaptations.)
 
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I really like your input MithLuin, we need to think this through and I completely agree with you that it is not a holiday game to name a balrog. If we're giving a new name to Gothmog it has to be pretty good... Rusumo is not too bad...but I don't know, it doesn't really sparkle, if you know what I mean...
What about trying to use igas?
igas "heat", tentatively isolated from Aþâraigas "appointed heat" (q.v.)

Or we could give up Valarin and go back to quenya.

Perhaps simply "Nárë"? It could be best to use a rather anonymous name.

nárë, also short nár, noun "flame" (NAR1, Narqelion). Translated "fire" in some names, see Aicanáro, Fëanáro (where nár apparently has the masculine ending -o, though in the latter name it may also be the genitive ending since Fëa-náro is translated “Spirit of Fire”). At one point, Tolkien mentioned “nār-“ as the word for “fire (as an element)” (PE17:183). Cf. ruinë as the word for “a fire” (a concrete instance of fire) in the same source.
 
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If we want his name to sound like Gothmog, we should name him 'Osmo' and be done with this. It (might) mean something like 'terrible one'. Luckily, terrible has that double meaning of bad and inducing terror (though not necessarily bad), so....this could be mildly ambiguous enough.

Igasmo sounds silly to me, but definitely unique/different!

Nárë is nice and short, though, and a perfect name for a fire spirit that does not sound like any of the other (current) names.

It's possible that the transformation of the balrogs into their monstrous form would happen during the Chaining of Melkor (the War to Begin All Wars episode). If so, it could be a dramatic enough moment, and sometime during the battle, Melkor could refer to him as Gothmog, or he could announce that himself.

A name like Nárë is clearly Quenya, whereas Gothmog is clearly Sindarin. So, there is that issue to be dealt with, as there shouldn't really be any Sindarin or Quenya before the elves appear, but Valarin is a mess, so just no. Maybe no one needs to refer to him by name on screen ever until after his fall? *hopeful*
 
The balrogs will probably fall before the chaining. I hope it will be when the Lamps are attacked.
 
Hmmm, that early? In that case, I might advocate just never using a name for this guy when he looks like an angel. He can have speaking lines, but never be addressed directly. Then, if he needs to be referred to in the frame narrative, he can be 'one of the followers of Melkor' or 'the leader of those loyal to Melkor' or something like that. Because, honestly? He's not going to be introduced until Episode 3. And the lamps are scheduled to come tumbling down in Episode 5, right? So, to give him an 'unfallen' name for (at most) 3 episodes.....seems to be a bit much. And we don't want to lessen the impact when Melkor becomes Morgoth.

But if we do have one, Nárwë or Nármo or Náron would all be 'Fire-one'. Nár means 'red fire' I think.... I think that a male name should end with -on, -mo, or -wë at this point in the story. Though, the Maiar could have names with -ndil (friend of) or -ndur (servant of), I suppose. Melkondur = Servant of Melkor. Namondur = Servant of Námo. Etc. '-nossë' means kin/house/people so could be a collective for the Maiar that follow a particular Vala. Conveniently, it sounds a bit like 'posse'.

Urthon would mean 'Rage'. Haranwë would be 'Chieftain'. Urumon means 'Fiery One' but doesn't sound particularly less evil than Gothmog.
 
Just wanted to quick chime in and cast my vote in favor of Nárwë or Nárë. It's simple, memorable, and it sounds like a name for a good guy.
So that's my vote, unless we do decide to ditch his pre-fallen name altogether. I think that is an attractive option, as we already have a plethora of characters and names to keep track of. So how about we leave him unnamed for the most part, but if we need a name for him at some point in the script, we call him Nárwë or Nárë.
 
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