Middle Earth Ranger Forum

So I finally conned…I mean persuaded…some old reenactment mates to join me in this 3rd age Ranger pursuit and form a company consisting (so far) of 3 Dunedain and a dwarf.

The question I’m pondering is what to name the company! The grey company wore grey cloaks. As far as I know that’s the only company we actually know the name of.

So I’m a bit stumped as to how to name our group!

Thoughts?

The old way of naming fighting bands (up to and including English Civil War regiments) was to use the name of whoever was in charge. ie "Ragnar's warband", "Folke's Company" or "The Duke of Malbrough's Own".
Another option is where they come from, or their area of operations. ie "the Watton militia", "South Essex Regiment"or " The Ermine Street Guard"
And lastly you could name them after their sponsor (usally the person paying for their gear, but sometimes just in the hope that the Sponsor would take an interest) "Lord Bragg's Troop"or "Prince of Wales Own Volunteers"

Specifically rangers in later years were named after their commander (in the US you have Roger's Rangers, etc) as they were an informal band. Like "we need to scout ahead, send so-and-so and his ragtag group of rangers".

However I think you'd want to look at earlier sources. Like how did Hessian mercenary companies name themselves?

For my two cents worth I would suggest taking a geographical inspiration. Tolkien's rangers seem to draw on location for namesakes so if you have an idea of where your troop is based then you could use that.

For example, just looking at a map - The Hills of Evendim are a series of hills North of the shire and within the old realm. I chose it offhand because it is equal distance between the Angle and the Blue Mountains which may explain the Dwarven friend in your ranks.
The Sindarin name for these hills is Emyn Uial, meaning 'Hills of Dusk' and so some options for a band of rangers tasked with patrolling this area may be

• Watchers of Emyn Uial

• Rangers of the dusk

• Dusklight company

You also have Lake Evendim, or Nenuial 'Lake of Twilight' in Sindarin which offers similar options.

I would tend to avoid naming the group after an individual unless they are fictional and I would probably skew towards company or some other term which includes more than simply Dunedain.

Eofor wrote: ↑Fri Feb 03, 2023 4:39 am

• Dusklight company

Dusklight Company is such a cool name.

Adding more to the geographic naming, you could translate your own real world area into Sindarin. For example, the Lake District in the UK, becomes the Ael Drand Rangers. In my own area, the Blue Ridge Mountains becomes the Lhun Pind Company. I've hike Blood Mountain in Georgia, so the Watchers of Agar Orod, etc. These are just from basic Sindarin translators/dictionaries found online and may not follow proper grammar.

I have some thoughts on this for a later time but popping on real quick to say I like the use of “Warden/Wardens” as well. “Wardens of Emyn Uial” to use Eofor’s suggestion.

Ah lads! This is exactly the kind of advice I came here for! I was leaning toward ‘The Old Forest’ as a potential patrol area but I love the suggestion you have to include our Dwarven companion.

Much to consider. Thanks all!

Or you could just make one from scratch. "The Magic Dragons", or "Rogue Rangers", or "Routing Travelers".