Quote:
Originally Posted by Mister Underhill
So I have this theory that names and words in fiction -- especially fantasy and sci-fi -- are far more important to the overall effect of the fiction than is generally recognized. Take J.K. Rowling. My theory is that her most prodigious gift, and her most important talent in terms of accounting for her outrageous success, is her Dickensian flair for names. Muggle. Hogwarts. Dumbledore. Severus Snape.
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I agree, though I think Rowling has a tendency toward spoilers with the names (d'ya think a guy named
Lupin might have something to do with wolves, or
Sirius could be connected with dogs?
).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mister Underhill
I think the most important word in Tolkien is probably hobbit. In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Great word. It's most readers' introduction to the professor and Middle-earth. If it were The Gnome ("In a hole in the ground there lived a gnome."), I don't know, man. There is strong magic in the exact right word.
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When I think on it,
hobbit has been known to be for so long that it's merely another word. I can't conceive of how those reading about Bilbo when that book was first released might have taken it. I've read ideas that it conjures in a child's mind
rabbit, reinforced by the fact that Bilbo lives in a hole, but I don't recall ever thinking that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mister Underhill
"Gnome" to me conjures a much different set of associations than "elf". Garden gnomes have been with us for quite some time apparently, per Wikipedia. That's probably the primary association there. "Elf" on the other hand has a more variable feel. Of course I grew up in the 70s so it's hard to say how much the Professor's elves had already impacted the associations connected with that word. Nowadays it's inextricably bound up with Tolkien-influence.
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Gnome I will admit, now is even more tainted than before thanks to
advertising. However, I can see Gil-galad handing out brochures with coupons to Aldarion to give to his countrymen.
