About the Blog

 
My name is Meann. If you’re not sure how to pronounce that–it’s likely only Filipinos would get it–that’s okay.

I am an Engineer by day (the kind who deals with maps and GPS and aerial photos), but I also do freelance writing work.

I’ve been blogging for years, but I’ve also been wandering like a cyberspace gypsy from one blogging platform to another. I’m now in love with WordPress, though, so I hope to make this journal my permanent home.

I will write mostly about books because reading is my passion, but I did advertise “Other Stories”, so expect to find occasional posts about movies, TV shows, and maybe geeky, fangirl-y stuff. You have been warned. ;p

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This is as good a page as any to start with the “geeky stuff”, so…

About the URL

I’ve been using the name “Almeldiel” around cyberspace since 2002.   It is currently my username on Twitter and here in WordPress.

For those who have been wondering where it came from, one of the members of The Philippine Tolkien Society studies Quenya (or High-Elven,) one of the languages of J.R.R. Tolkien’s elves.  Rashbold’s knowledge is truly impressive, and he is widely regarded as an expert in it.

Once, when we were talking about name translations in the message group, he offered to derive Elven names from our real names, and this is what he made of mine:

Your name, Maryann, is obviously a combination of Mary and Ann (or Anna, Anne). Now, the modern form Mary was descended from the Hebrew Mariam or Miriam. The meaning is not known for certain, but there are several theories: “sea of bitterness”, “rebelliousness”, and “wished for child” (all from Hebrew). However, it is most likely an Egyptian name, perhaps derived in part from mry (“beloved”) or mr (“love”).

Ales Bican, the webmaster of ELM, used “bitterness” in his interpretation. As the Quenya word for “bitter” is sára, a good rendering would be Sárielle. “Beloved” in Quenya is melda, so Meldiel would be nice.

As for the Ann element, it is descended from the Hebrew Hannah (< Chaanach). Its meaning is unambiguous, “favour” or “grace”. Its Quenya equivalent is alamare or almie.

So, Maryann can be interpreted as either Almiesáriel or Almeldiel (by haplology). Take your pick.

I picked Almeldiel for two reasons. First, I didn’t like the “bitterness” element of the translation for Almiesáriel; “Beloved” was of course more favorable. Second, the “beloved” element was based on an Egyptian translation, and I am truly fascinated with ancient Egyptian culture, so the choice was clear.

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Blog Header Image: “Where I End and You Begin” by Alfredo Lopez (via Simple Desktops)