Tolkien vocabulary I (serious) - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Sparrow · 01-16-2004, 12:27 PM

The word 'fell' in the context of its use in the works of Tolkien is probably best described by the 'admittedly American' definitions you provided, particularly '2 Deeadly; archaic except in the phrase "one fell swoop."' Tolkien often uses the word to describe the agents of evil (e.g. a "felll blade," "fell beast," "fell host," "the fell captain of Mordor," etc.), although I believe he also uses it occassionally in a way that connotes ferocity, prowess and/or power when referring to the actions of the 'good guys' of Middle-earth.

01-16-2004, 12:27 PM	#31
Sparrow Animated Skeleton Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Paris Herself Posts: 28	The word 'fell' in the context of its use in the works of Tolkien is probably best described by the 'admittedly American' definitions you provided, particularly '2 Deeadly; archaic except in the phrase "one fell swoop."' Tolkien often uses the word to describe the agents of evil (e.g. a "felll blade," "fell beast," "fell host," "the fell captain of Mordor," etc.), although I believe he also uses it occassionally in a way that connotes ferocity, prowess and/or power when referring to the actions of the 'good guys' of Middle-earth. __________________ Were kisses all the joys in bed, One woman would another wed. -Bill Shakespeare