Thread: Greenleaf?
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Old 04-25-2004, 12:18 PM   #2
Legolas
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As interesting as the thought might be, Tolkien specifically stated the meaning of Legolas and the manner in which he arrived at that spelling. The meaning of the name is explicitly explained in two of the Prof.'s letters and the statements don't really leave much room for interpretation. Legolas lived in Mirkwood. He was of Sindarin lineage and lived among Silvan elves - even if Tolkien hadn't spelled out the meaning for us, the usage of the Noldorin terms you mentioned isn't probable (as Tolkien himself subsequently points out in the second quote by explaining the Sindarin). Tolkien's Elvish vocabulary was always changing - it had changed quite a bit from the material in the earlier HoME volumes to the time of The Lord of the Rings, especially with the development of the Silvan subculture that came to exist east of the Misty Mountains after the First Age.

Quote:
Legolas means 'green-leaves', a woodland name – dialectal form of pure Sindarin laegolas: *lassē (High-elven lasse, S. las(s)) 'leaf'; *gwa-lassa/*gwa-lassiē 'collection of leaves, foliage' (H.E. olassiē, S. golas, -olas); *laikā 'green' – basis LAY as in laire 'summer' (H.E. laica, S. laeg (seldom used, usually replaced by calen), woodland leg).
Quote:
Legolas is translated Greenleaf (II 106, 154) a suitable name for a Woodland Elf, though one of royal and originally Sindarin line. 'Fiery locks' is entirely inappropriate: he was not a balrog! I think an investigator, not led astray by my supposed devotion to A-S, might have perceived the relation of the element -las to lassi 'leaves', in Galadriel's lament, lasse-lanta 'leaf-fall' = autumn. III 386; and Eryn Lasgalen III 375. 'Technically' Legolas is a compound (according to rules) of S. laeg 'viridis' fresh and green, and go-lass 'collection of leaves, foliage'.
Having said that, this speculative topic is better suited for the Novies and Newcomers forum...you can continue discussion on there.
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Last edited by Legolas; 06-06-2004 at 04:16 PM.
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