Linguistic puns, riddles, and jokes in LotR, etc. - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

***Sharkû*** · 07-09-2003, 02:28 PM

That's because the name is just a translation of a real Westron hobbit name, cf. Appendix F II:
"In some old families, especially those of Fallohide origin such as the Tooks and the Bolgers, it was, however, the custom to give high-sounding first-names. Since most of these seem to have been drawn from legends of the past, of Men as well as of Hobbits, and many while now meaningless to Hobbits closely resembled the names of Men in the Vale of Anduin, or in Dale, or in the Mark, I have turned them into those old names, largely of Frankish and Gothic origin, that are still used by us or are met in our histories."

The fact that everything in the books which is English, or in a language related to it, is just supposed to be a translation should always be considered.

07-09-2003, 02:28 PM	#23
*Sharkû* Hungry Ghoul Join Date: Jun 2000 Posts: 1,719	That's because the name is just a translation of a real Westron hobbit name, cf. Appendix F II: "In some old families, especially those of Fallohide origin such as the Tooks and the Bolgers, it was, however, the custom to give high-sounding first-names. Since most of these seem to have been drawn from legends of the past, of Men as well as of Hobbits, and many while now meaningless to Hobbits closely resembled the names of Men in the Vale of Anduin, or in Dale, or in the Mark, I have turned them into those old names, largely of Frankish and Gothic origin, that are still used by us or are met in our histories." The fact that everything in the books which is English, or in a language related to it, is just supposed to be a translation should always be considered.