The Origins of Captain/Angel Maroni

[Rajah Manchou]

There has been a lot of speculation about the etymology of the name Moroni, also spelled Maroni, in the Book of Mormon. Here's a possibility that seems to fit better than most:

Maroni in Literature Timeline

1690: Maroni, Marong - The History of Japan by Engelbert Kaempfer

1826: Maron - The Mission to Siam, and Hué by Finlayson and Raffles

1836: Maroni, Maron - The American Nations by Constantine Rafinesque

1836: Marong or Maroni - Measures of Time by Thomas Best Jervis
 

The name Maroni/Marong makes an appearance in history one other time, as a warrior king who sails from the Middle East during the reign of King Solomon to the settlement of Kedah on the Malay Peninsula, dated to the 6th century BC.

"Marong is a Siamese word used in their astrological or astronomical works. It is applied to a man who can by supernatural means assume any shape he pleases. A Buddhist Priest of Siam acquaints me that it is a title bestowed on a military chief - and also signifies a person who can preternaturally change his appearance." (source)

"Most historians of Mormonism, whether believing Latter-day Saints or otherwise, agree that Smith was sincere. That is, they agree that whether or not a preternatural being actually appeared to him, Smith believed that this did occur. Even Mark Thomas, who asserts that Smith dishonestly reworked the Moroni story over time, argues that Smith did in fact experience some kind of sensory perception in which he thought he saw “a spirit or angel.” (source)

"For early nineteenth-century Americans, the messenger's name Moroni has several echoes. A simple anagram of Moroni, "Imoron" was a widely published word for a being which poisons, while a poisonous salamander was "Moron" in scientific texts. Centuries before salamander had this scientific name "Moron," occult texts used this animal to illustrate the elemental spirit of fire. "Maron" was also a name of magic invocations." (source)

 

 

Edited February 28, 2017 by Rajah Manchou

[Guest]

Captain Moroni, is not the angel Moroni. 

[Marmonboy]

Moroni may also be a shortened version of Moronihah, which appears elsewhere in the Book of Mormon.

[Duncan]

there is a high school teacher here who\s last name is Moroni but it's pronounced "Moro-knee" the "K" is silent

[Rajah Manchou]

2 hours ago, Bill "Papa" Lee said:

Captain Moroni, is not the angel Moroni. 

And the city of Moroni built by Captain Moroni is not a person. But isn't it possible that the share the same origin?

The Siamese got the word Maron/Maroni from the Kurdish (Iran/Iraq) and Tatar myth of the serpent king (Shah Maran). The Tatars share Haplogroup Q1a with a group that migrated to the New Word around 5500 years ago.

This is evidence in favor of a historical BoM.

Edited March 1, 2017 by Rajah Manchou

[Guest]

18 minutes ago, Rajah Manchou said:

And the city of Moroni built by Captain Moroni is not a person. But isn't it possible that the share the same origin?

The Siamese got the word Maron/Maroni from the Kurdish (Iran/Iraq) and Tatar myth of the serpent king (Shah Maran). The Tatars share Haplogroup Q1a with a group that migrated to the New Word around 5500 years ago.

This is evidence in favor of a historical BoM.

How have you come to believe there is no Captian Moroni? CRF Please. 

[Rajah Manchou]

10 minutes ago, Bill "Papa" Lee said:

How have you come to believe there is no Captian Moroni? CRF Please. 

I should have put a commas in that sentence. The city of Moroni, built by Captain Moroni, is not a person. But that's not my point.

The point is that the name Moroni seems to be related to a very old name given to warriors, kings and preternatural beings.
 

[Freedom]

5 minutes ago, Rajah Manchou said:

I should have put a commas in that sentence. The city of Moroni, built by Captain Moroni, is not a person. But that's not my point.

The point is that the name Moroni seems to be related to a very old name given to warriors, kings and preternatural beings.
 

I understood what you meant. It is an interesting theory, but not not knowing the word origins of your examples I could not comment. 

[theplains]

On 28/02/2017 at 4:22 AM, Rajah Manchou said:

"For early nineteenth-century Americans, the messenger's name Moroni has several echoes. A simple anagram of Moroni, "Imoron" was a widely published word for a being which poisons, while a poisonous salamander was "Moron" in scientific texts. Centuries before salamander had this scientific name "Moron," occult texts used this animal to illustrate the elemental spirit of fire. "Maron" was also a name of magic invocations." (source)

In China, I heard that the pronunciation or meaning of 'Mormon' is also negative.  

Jim

[Rajah Manchou]

1 hour ago, theplains said:

In China, I heard that the pronunciation or meaning of 'Mormon' is also negative.  

Jim

Heard that, but never read much about it.

FairMormon (or should I say the FairGatesOfHell) has an interesting write up about it:

http://www.fairmormon.org/archive/publications/looking-through-the-gates-of-hell-examining-a-curious-linguistic-claim