Old English scholar needed; Eomer and Eowyn's salutes

[Eothain Elfwine]

In TTT, toward the end of "The King of the Golden Hall," Eomer says to Theoden, "Westu Theoden hal!" and later Eowyn says, "Ferthu Theoden hal!" I am guessing that these are in Old English, which was the language that Tolkien drew all of his Rohan names from, and I'm also guessing that they might be a quote from Beowulf or a common (ish) Old English salute, but does anyone know what they mean?

[Lalaith]

I'm not an old English scholar - I kind of muddle along. But I'm guessing the first one is "Be thou hale (ie healthy, well) Theoden"
and the second one is "Go/fare thee well, Theoden."
But I would be happy for anyone better versed in old English to correct me if I'm wrong.

[Finwe]

I believe you are correct. It may have been a traditional sort of greeting that the Rohirrim used.

[littlemanpoet]

I'm the happy owner of Bright's Old English Grammar & Reader, 3rd edition,

From it I've garnered the following out of the glossary:

ferð = mind, soul, spirit
hal = whole, sound
thu = thou or you
West = west (fancy that! smilies/smile.gif)

Though I am no Anglo-Saxon scholar myself, I do like to play around a bit, so thanks for the opportunity! smilies/biggrin.gif

Regarding "Westu Theoden hal", it could be that, like the Gondorians, the West was used as a metaphor for goodness, blessedness, and so on.

Eowyn's "Ferth Theoden hal!" is more obvious: "Be thou whole in spirit/soul/mind, Theoden!"

So yes, I agree with the educated guesses so far proferred.

For example:

In The Wanderer, line 54 reads, "fleotendra ferð no Þær fela bringeð", which according to the notes, "fleotendra ferð" = minds of the floating ones, which means 'the minds of birds'.

In The Blickling Homily - The End of the World is at hand, line 6 reads in part, "ealle men syn hale and gesunde..." which pretty clearly means, 'all men were hale and sound...'

Thanks for the fun! smilies/smile.gif

[Sharkû]

I don't know Anglo-Saxon, but judging from the little Old High German/Old Saxon, _westu_ is definitely a form of the OE variant of _wesan_, 'to be', whereas _ferþu_ would be related to _faran_, 'go, travel'. I don't see how these are related to _ferð_ or _west_ respectively.

[The Squatter of Amon Rûdh]

In which case I presume that Westu Théoden hál means 'Be thee well, Théoden', and Ferthu Théoden hál 'Fare thee well, Théoden'. In more modern terms, wishing Théoden good health and a safe journey respectively.

[littlemanpoet]

Thanks for correcting my wild guess, Sharku.

[Eothain Elfwine]

Thank you all for your knowledge!