"...
Morwen sent
Túrin forth over the mountains with two aged servants, bidding them find entry, if they could, into the kingdom of
Doriath."
The Silmarillion
Quenta Silmarillion 21
Of Túrin Turambar
These two 'aged servants' are never named in The Silmarillion, but the Narn i Chîn Húrin has more to say about them, including their names: Gethron and Grithnir. These two had been young at the time of Hador Lórindol, when they had roamed far and wide throughout Beleriand.
In their old age, they remained in the service of the House of Hador, whose lord at that time was Hador's grandson Húrin. After Húrin failed to return from the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, his wife Morwen chose Gethron and Grithnir as guides for the young Túrin, to lead him out of the now dangerous land of Dor-lómin. It was Gethron who stood before Thingol in the halls of Menegroth and asked that Túrin be fostered by the King, so playing a small part in Turin's deadly fate.
Notes
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If the name Gethron was intended to carry a meaning, that meaning is lost, as the name appears to be uninterpretable. We might possibly take this to suggest that the name wasn't Elvish, but rather that it derived instead from the old Mannish tongue of the House of Hador. The name does appear Elvish in structure, however, so if it did originate in a Mannish tongue, its form seems to have been adapted to Sindarin. Of course, there is also the possibility that the name simply incorporates Elvish elements that Tolkien did not otherwise record, or that it has no intended meaning at all.
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- Updated 14 January 2023
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