Epessë

Epessë, Quenya for after-name, is a nickname or honorific given to an elf at some point in his or her life. It is one of the anessi, or given names, of High Elves, along with the father-name and amilessë ("mother-name"). The epessë was a public name, and the person it was given to sometimes adopted it as one of his or her actual names.

An example is Gil-galad ("Star of Radiance"), by which the last High King of the Noldor Ereinion ("Scion of Kings") was chiefly remembered in legend. This eponymous epithet was given to him because his armour and shield were overlaid with silver and set with a device of white stars, shone from afar like a star in sunlight or moonlight and could be seen by Elvish eyes at a great distance if he stood upon a height. The element 'galad' also appears in an epessë Galadriel, which is a Sindarin name that belonged to Ereinion's kinswoman Artanis and translated as "maiden crowned with a garland of bright radiance".