Word Etymologies

[Joy]

Here are a couple of words that have a realtion to The Hobbit and to LotR. This is interesting to see how these words have progressed to what we have today.

Berserk
The Old Norse berserkr is a compound of ber-, the root of bjorn, 'bear', plus serkr, 'shirt' (related to the English dialect word sark). Thus a Norse berserkr was a warrior who wore a bearskin shirt. In battle these warriors would work themselves into a frenzy and, according to popular belief, at such times they even became invulnerable to the effects of steel and fire. The word was borrowed into English in the early nineteenth century when literary interest in Scandinavian history and myth was high, and from the sense of a Scandinavian warrior frenzied in battle the word became a general term for someone whose actions are marked by reckless defiance.


Eavesdrop
The verb eavesdrop first appeared in the seventeenth century and is probably a back-formation by subtraction of its agent ending from the noun eavesdropper, which in turn is derived from the Middle English noun evesdrop, now spelled eavesdrop. Dating from the ninth century, eavesdrop and its variant eavesdrip referred to the water that falls in drops from the eaves of a house. Later the term was also applied to the ground on which water falls from the eaves. In English law the term came to denote a special permit that was formerly required before one could build so that water from one's eaves could fall directly on the land of another.
The original meaning of eavesdropper, as it was used in the fifteenth century, was 'one who stood within the eavesdrop of a house to overhear what is going on inside', as is evident in the following passage from Termes de la Ley, first compiled by John Rastell in 1527: "Evesdroppers are such as stand under walls or windows by night or day to hear news, and to carry them to others, to make strife and debate amongst their neighbours: those are evil members in the commonwealth, and therefore . . . are to be punished." From such beginnings sprang the word which has come to be applied to the sophisticated electronic eavesdropping carried on by governmental agencies today.

[Elven-Maiden]

cool! thanks for sharing! [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

[Turambar]

Joy - is berserk used in Hobbit or LotR?

[Joy]

Turambar - look at the meaning of berserk. It has it's roots in bjorn, 'bear'. I was thinking of Beorn in the Hobbit. He took the form of a bear.

[Gorin Icearms]

Quite interesting Joy. Thank you for imparting your vast knowledge upon us. [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

[Joy]

I was an English major for a time, but I switched to Foreign Lanagues after a while. I have a love for all lanagues, I guess that is one thing that attracted me to Tolkien's works. As I read, I am constantly finding interesting stories behind the names of people and places in the story and how it relates to their character.

I'll have to get the Hobbit and LotR out again to find some of them. I even noticed one to have a connection to a word in Japanese.

[ March 12, 2002: Message edited by: Joy ]

[Joy]

Here's a name that I just remembered has having duel meanings.

Curunír - it is an alternate name for Saurman. His name was given to him by the Elves and it means "Skillful Man." I notice that the word is made up or "Cur" which means a mongrel or inferior dog; a surly or cowardly fellow.

It comes from the Middle English word curren to growl (perhaps from Old Norse kurra to grumble).

[ March 13, 2002: Message edited by: Joy ]

[Joy]

One that was previously mentioned here was Beorn. His name is related to the Old Norse word bjorn which means bear. Beorn was a skin-changer who took the form of a bear.

Another is Kalimac - or Merry Brandybuck. The old name Kalimac is similar to the Hindu goddes Kali - which is the goddess of destruction. She is pictured as holding the severed head of a demon and she weilds a sword. This reminds me of the combo of Merry and Eowny slaying the Lord of the Nazgul. It is Merry that wounds him to the point so that Eowyn can slay him.

Another is Beren - his name is the root word in Old English meaning to carry, to bear. He was the one to take the oath to bring the Silmaril to King Thingol.

Interesting stuff.

[Kalimac]

Wasn't Frodo/Froda related to an Old English word for heroic or manly? Something along those lines anyway.

As for Kalimac (you knew I had to talk about this one [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]) I actually had wondered about that one, but I'm not sure that Tolkien intended the etymology there; Kali was plain nasty and almost a demon herself, nothing remotely admirable about her. The followers of Kali's cult were the Thugs, whose main ritual activities consisted of waylaying travelers "while making every pretense of friendship" as Fraser said, and then at a prearranged signal setting on them, killing them and stealing their goods. It's quite the opposite of Merry and Eowyn; although they do kill the Witchking as a team effort (like the Thugs) they're doing it in self-defense and had also declared their intentions openly (at least Eowyn had). It's kind of a leap from that to garroting a defenseless traveler on the sly. Didn't Tolkien give the Westron meaning of "kali" as "cheerful"? That would be a little sick if he was really playing on the Kali/kali dual meaning like that.

OTOH maybe he did do it on purpose; Merry was at least partially responsible for the death of an old and terrible being and the image of the fierce woman holding the demon's vanquished head would work for Eowyn (though how you could hold a Nazgul's head is another matter).

OK, enough lecturing. Are there any other etymologies out there? [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

[ March 14, 2002: Message edited by: Kalimac ]

[Joy]

Actually Kalimac, I didn't know the whole story of Kali... Whoa!
My friend caught the connection as I was telling her of the names in the appendics. Most people don't read those [img]smilies/eek.gif[/img] I would have thought that people would read them to gleen more information about the characters.

When she showed me a picture of Kali, I thought of Merry/Eowyn and the Lord of the Nazgul. Though now I seriously doubt that Tolkien would have used that play on words.

[Joy]

Here's one more.

The Wood-Elves are also called Silvan-Elves. The Latin word for forest or woods is silva.

[Halbarad]

Joy, have you read Tolkien's essays on the epic poem Beowulf? I think you will be interested- he was THE expert. Also, check out the ancient Icelandic poem the Elder Edda- you might find something noteworthy in there with regard to names...

[Joy]

Thank you so much Halbarad. As for Tolkien's essay on Beowulf, I have not been able to find it. I read Beowulf back in college and fell in love with myth and lore. I just haven't had the time to pursue it.

I didn't know so many names were used. Just look at this guys. These are the names of the linage of Durin from The Elder Edda from Iceland.
"Nyi and Nidi, Nordri, Sudri, Austri and Vestri, Althjof, Dvalin(just change v to w and you have Dwalin), Bivor (just change v to f and you have Bifor), Bavor Bombur, Nori, An and Anar, Ai, Mjodvitnir, Veignr and Gandalf, Vindalf, Thorin, Thror and Thrain, Thekkur, Litur, Vitur, Nar and Nyradur,Fili, Kili, Fundin, Nali Hefti, Vili, Hanar, Sviur, Billing, Bruni, Bildur,and Buri, Frar, Hornbori Fraegur, Loni, Aurvangur, Jari, Eikinskjaldi: (All Durin's folk I have duly named,)"

Völuspá or "Prophecy of the Vala"

I also found Strider in Baldur's Dream.

[Turambar]

The name Gandalf was also taken from Voluspa.

[Joy]

Where can I find the whole text of the Elder Edda and Völuspá?

[Sharkû]

The Poetic Edda

[Joy]

Just bringing this back to the top.

Does anyone have any other words that they have found to be interesting?