In The Silmarillion's account, Arminas vanishes from the narrative shortly before the Fall and Sack of Nargothrond, leaving a natural impression that he, and his companion Gelmir, might have been lost in the destruction of the city. In fact this is not the case, as the extended version of the story in The Children of Húrin makes clear. According to that fuller tale, Arminas and Gelmir departed from Nargothrond before its Fall, and made their way safely back to Círdan.

The Ar- element of Arminas' name literally meant 'outside' or 'beside' (though in later use it could also mean 'noble' or 'high') and the -minas element name is presumably 'tower'. The literal meaning of Arminas' name, then, is 'outside the tower', or possibly 'noble tower', though it's far from clear what significance these interpretations might hold. Perhaps the implication is that Arminas was a particularly tall Elf (rather as the name Halbarad can be interpreted as 'tall tower', presumably meant in a comparable metaphorical vein).