Tolkien and the 'other' N-word ;) - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Fordim Hedgethistle · 10-23-2005, 09:21 AM

Well, before Tolkien I didn't know what either a barrow or a downs was...

Kath · 10-23-2005, 10:34 AM

Quote:

Well, before Tolkien I didn't know what either a barrow or a downs was...

Living where I do, only a few miles away from both a barrow and a downs I was aware of those words

We visited them a few years back, after I'd read the books, and it was great fun imagining the Wights and Bombadil and the poor little Hobbits.

Lalwendë · 10-23-2005, 02:06 PM

The strange thing for me when reading Tolkien for the first time was how many of the odd words I was entirely familiar with. I had grandparents who spoke dialect, not mere accent, but a true dialect with its own vocabulary, and Tolkien makes extensive use of dialect in his work. He used the West Midlands dialect, but it's not that far removed from the dialect of where I grew up. I laughed when Tolkien used the word 'Attercop' because knew exactly what that meant, though I tended to pronounce it attercrop. I also knew exactly who a gaffer was and whereabouts yonder might be found.

10-23-2005, 09:21 AM	#1
Fordim Hedgethistle Gibbering Gibbet Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Beyond cloud nine Posts: 1,844	Well, before Tolkien I didn't know what either a barrow or a downs was... __________________ Scribbling scrabbling.

10-23-2005, 02:06 PM	#3
Lalwendë A Mere Boggart Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: under the bed Posts: 4,737	The strange thing for me when reading Tolkien for the first time was how many of the odd words I was entirely familiar with. I had grandparents who spoke dialect, not mere accent, but a true dialect with its own vocabulary, and Tolkien makes extensive use of dialect in his work. He used the West Midlands dialect, but it's not that far removed from the dialect of where I grew up. I laughed when Tolkien used the word 'Attercop' because knew exactly what that meant, though I tended to pronounce it attercrop. I also knew exactly who a gaffer was and whereabouts yonder might be found. __________________ Gordon's alive!