Quote:
Originally Posted by Huinesoron
But going straight back to Appendix E, is it Old English or modernised Old English? The note at the end of part II starts:
The sounds he names are from the Old English "translated" forms: Éomer's Rohirric name does not begin éo. So he's distinguishing here between Old English forms and modernised Old English.
Appendix F calls out Snowbourn as a fourth word where he "modernised the forms and spelling", and cites Edoras as one he didn't. It also explains the rationale:
I would argue that "Isen", specifically, counts as an "element that they recognised", because it appears in the name of Pippin's direct ancestor: Thain Isengrim II. Pippin, Merry, and Frodo actually share two great-uncles whose names use "Isen-": Thain Isengrim III, and his youngest brother, Isengar, who went to Sea in his youth.
On the basis of Appendix F, "Isengard" is a perfect example of a name Merry and/or Pippin would have "modernised", which - per Appendix E - means it would be pronounced as if it were modern English.
hS
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Ah, but I would submit that
Isengard is not modernized at all; you could show it to Alfred the Great and he would recognize it immediately, or at least its compound meaning (since it isn't an attested OE word). This would put it in the same categort as Orthanc, Meduseld and Firienholt (this last was altered from
Firgenholt, but for the purpose of
preserving the original pronunciation) As to the Hobbits and their familiarity:
Isengrim is borrowed from Old Flemish and thus Frankish which had the same I-sounds as Anglo-Saxon (A-S, Old Saxon and Frankish were very closely related).
Isengar seems to be an invened name based on it.