Ithilbor

We have very little detail of Ithilbor's history, but we do know that his son Saeros took refuge in Doriath after the First Battle, and so Ithilbor must have lived in the time before that battle. The First Battle was fought before the rising of the Moon and Sun (according to The Grey Annals in volume XI of The History of Middle-earth, it was fought about twenty-nine years beforehand). We do not know whether Ithilbor survived that battle (nor indeed whether he fought in it at all), but it is perhaps notable that while his son Saeros made his way to Doriath at that time, there is no mention of Ithilbor doing the same. The implication seems to be that he was one of the many Green-elves slain at that time, though this is not directly stated.

Ithilbor's name seems to contain the Sindarin word Ithil, 'Moon', but this is rather odd because, from the little we know of his life, he must have been born in a time before the Moon existed. Perhaps we're to take it that Ithilbor was an epessë, a name given to him at a later time, or perhaps Ithil is here meant to be read in an etymological sense (where its components would read as something 'shining brightly'). In that letter case, the name would mean 'bright-shining fist' rather than 'Moon fist'.

The -bor element seems to be a mutated form of paur, 'fist', but it might potentially derive from some other source. Notably, there is an Elvish root bor- meaning 'enduring' or 'steadfast', and that meaning might potentially be intended for Ithilbor's name.