View Single Post
Old 04-10-2007, 04:10 PM   #19
davem
Illustrious Ulair
 
davem's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: In the home of lost causes, and forsaken beliefs, and unpopular names,and impossible loyalties
Posts: 4,240
davem is battling Black Riders on Weathertop.davem is battling Black Riders on Weathertop.
And its all very well dismissing a reader who reacts to the word 'Nazgul' by conjuring up connections with 'Nazis', but some words beg such connections, & they are perfectly understandable - in the context of that particular reader. Tolkien may or may not have noticed the similarity in appearance between the words, but many readers cannot help but do so. Some unintended/unwished for 'connections' will happen in the reader's mind & there is nothing the author or reader can do about it. No English speaker encountering the Telerin version of Celeborn's name for the first time can avoid a smirk without a great effort of will.
davem is offline   Reply With Quote