Gnomes and Fairies

[Mister Underhill]

Interesting thread!

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. The list goes on and on (and on). Names have power. There is nothing quite like the perfect name for a thing. A Christmas Carol is a great story, but I wonder if it would be as enduring without those names. Ebenezer Scrooge. Likewise Sherlock Holmes.

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.

"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.

But for me, aesthetically, even "elf" I'm not wild about. I've always had a bit of a standoffish relationship with elves, but it never occurred to me to wonder if maybe it was simply because they were called elves.

[Inziladun]

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.

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? ).

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.

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.

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.

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.

[Alfirin]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

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? ).

Not to mention Fenrir Greyback (with a first name like Fenrir, he more or less HAS to be the chief werewolf) Or Xenophilias Lovegood, he had to be a collector of curiosities (Xenophilias, "Love of the Strange/Foreign")

[Galadriel55]

Originally Posted by Alfirin

Not to mention Fenrir Greyback (with a first name like Fenrir, he more or less HAS to be the chief werewolf) Or Xenophilias Lovegood, he had to be a collector of curiosities (Xenophilias, "Love of the Strange/Foreign")

Not to mention Professor Sprout.

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Galadriel55

Not to mention Professor Sprout.

And Professor Vector, the Arithmancy teacher. We can do this all day.

Tolkien's names are descriptive enough of their subjects, at times; Gandalf, Celeborn, and Fëanor come to mind. He avoided obvious plot-spoilers though, and that was probably helped by the fact that the origins of the names would mean little to a reader not acquainted with Tolkien's linguistic prowess, he having taken the names from either obscure (to modern readers) historical, real-world languages, or his own invented tongues.

Tolkien was, by his own admission, a bit chafed by the fact that such words as "gnome" and "fairy" had been co-opted by what he considered childish and unworthy literary works, but he was stuck with the realization that no matter how he tried to distinguish his gifted, immortal Eldar from fairy-tale elves, calling them gnomes was ultimately not going to pull the public away from pre-conceived notions of them.

[Mister Underhill]

I have always been a no-spoilers kinda guy, but I must say over the years I've seen the commonly understood definition of a spoiler creep to almost absurd lengths. The color of the new Batman costume, for an example I've seen debated, is decidedly not what I'd consider a spoiler.

To the matter at hand, Rowling, after all, wants you to connect Sirius to the black dog that seems to be haunting Harry. I don't think Lupin's lycanthropy is a huge twist or anything -- it's more like: What is Snape up to and is he responsible somehow? Besides, she probably made a reasonable assumption that a fair portion of her audience would lack the grounding to make the connections in many of those cases. In the parlance of our times, they're more easter eggs than spoilers, methinks. But, you know, your mileage may vary.

I didn't really mean to spark a debate on the finer points of Rowling, but those points do speak to this question of the names of things, the vocabulary employed. Raiding and tweaking ancient or unfamiliar (to the presumed audience) languages and traditions is a time-honored method for inventing names, one that is often preferable to pure invention. We've all suffered through the apostrophe-laden creations of lesser sci-fi and fantasy writers. Sometimes a familiar word or name that's employed in a new context is spot on -- when Lucas made force into The Force, he tapped a deep vein.

Tolkien obviously borrowed names liberally. For me one of the things that makes it work is that we are given to understand that elf or dwarf are rough English translations for the real word. The old translator conceit, cover for many sins. Still, I think if Tolkien could have had it back, he would've renamed the old trio of Bert, Tom, and William, arguably the most discordant naming element in the Legendarium.

EDIT: Whoops, cross-posted with Inzila.

[Alfirin]

Quick Borrowing story from my childhood

When I was a kid I had a copy of an odd little pop-up book called "The Dwindling Party" , a present from a cousin who worked in Publishing (and who was unaware, that, regardless of formal, any book written by Edward Gorey is not exactly a kids book)

Anyhow The opening lines of the book are as follows

"A family once, by the name of McFizzit;
A mother, a father, six children in all;
Put on their best clothing, and went out the visit
The varied diversions of Hickyacket Hall"

The book then follows the family members as they are one by one abducted, eaten etc. by the varios monsters at the hall until only one is left."

The point is as follows, some years later I realized the name of the hall was a clue to what was going to happen (in my defense, I never learned Latin" There's no "k" in classic Latin and the "C" are always hard. And "Y" becomes "I" so the name then would become "HicIacet" or "Hic Iacet", "Here Lies" as in ("Hic Iacet Arturus Regina Temus Regina Mors.")

[jallanite]

Originally Posted by Alfirin

There's no "k" in classic Latin And "Y" becomes "I" so the name then would become "HicIacet" or "Hic Iacet" …

The letter K was used in Old Latin and survived in Classic Latin in the word kalendae, after the 5th century B.C.E., which referred to the first day of each month, and in the praenomen Kaeso, used by the Julian clan. The word and name were both abbreviated as K. Accordingly K remains as a letter in standard Latin, though used seldom.

Y was in origin the Greek letter upsilon ‘plain y’ (Υ) which was originally pronounced in Greek as [u] but later pronounced as [i] but with the lips rounded, like u in modern French and ü in German. The Romans used this letter only when borrowing Greek words and names. Since the Greek sound was not a native Latin sound, the letter was generally pronounced as [i] in late Latin and in Romance languages.

Gorey’s use of the name Hickyacket is an intentional modernized misspelling of Hic iacet, replacing i with y and c with ck.

The supposed quotation Hic Iacet Arturus Regina Temus Regina Mors makes no sense to me. I think the intended quotation is the famous Hic Iacet Arturus, Rex quondam, Rexque futurus to be translated something like “Here lies Arthur, former king, and king to be”.

[Alfirin]

Yes, was quoting from memory, memory failed (as I said, I never learned Latin)

[Tar-Jêx]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

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.

Sounds like the next Air New-Zealand commercial.