Demonyms - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Kuruharan · 01-28-2016, 04:13 PM

A very simple question (well, two questions...well, two and a related third).

Why is it Gondorians instead of Gondorrim?

Similarly, why is it Numenorians instead of Numenorrim?

I initially thought it was to avoid being pejorative (i.e. Haradrim) but the greatest allies of Gondor were the Rohirrim, so that might not be the case...at least not directly.

Perhaps it was still a bit of cultural pretension of "-rim" not being used to describe directly Edainic peoples (I say "directly" because the Rohirrim were of ultimate Edainic extraction).

A related question would be...Elves did not generally seem to have "national" demonyms for themselves, at least to my recollection. What would an Elf of Nargothrond have called himself, if anything?

01-28-2016, 04:13 PM	#1
Kuruharan Regal Dwarven Shade Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: A Remote Dwarven Hold Posts: 3,685	Demonyms A very simple question (well, two questions...well, two and a related third). Why is it Gondorians instead of Gondorrim? Similarly, why is it Numenorians instead of Numenorrim? I initially thought it was to avoid being pejorative (i.e. Haradrim) but the greatest allies of Gondor were the Rohirrim, so that might not be the case...at least not directly. Perhaps it was still a bit of cultural pretension of "-rim" not being used to describe directly Edainic peoples (I say "directly" because the Rohirrim were of ultimate Edainic extraction). A related question would be...Elves did not generally seem to have "national" demonyms for themselves, at least to my recollection. What would an Elf of Nargothrond have called himself, if anything? __________________ ...finding a path that cannot be found, walking a road that cannot be seen, climbing a ladder that was never placed, or reading a paragraph that has no...