Wormtongue a cannibal?

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Snowdog

I'm sure Wormtongue thought about eating Eowyn back in his days at Meduseld....

That is all.

[Encaitare]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

That is all.

I poke my head in to the forums after a long time away and THIS is what I see? For shame, 'Downers, this used to be a family-friendly establishment!

[Galadriel55]

I would say Wormtongue at that stage was capable of cannibalism but only as a last resort, and once the murder victim disintegrates enough to be unrecognisable. I see him more as feeding on rotten stuff, being forbidden to touch Saruman's food, which would prompt the comment.

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Galadriel55

I would say Wormtongue at that stage was capable of cannibalism but only as a last resort, and once the murder victim disintegrates enough to be unrecognisable. I see him more as feeding on rotten stuff, being forbidden to touch Saruman's food, which would prompt the comment.

And a nice little means for Saruman to assert his superiority in a twisted way. Wormtongue was already debased in having that as his new name. Leave it to Saruman to find a way to further knock him down.

[Galadriel55]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

And a nice little means for Saruman to assert his superiority in a twisted way. Wormtongue was already debased in having that as his new name. Leave it to Saruman to find a way to further knock him down.

Actually, now I begin to wonder how much my interpretation was influenced by the Russian translation of his name, Rot-mouth (and Saruman calls him Rot at the end). But in any case I still imagine him feeding off inedible quality food.

[Kuruharan]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

Granted, he'd been ordered apparently to stay out of sight and do his dirty work at night, but surely there was some sort of wretched food he could subsist on. There were the Shirrif-houses, and local Hobbit-holes and houses would have had gardens he could raid.

Originally Posted by Boromir88

And in this wonderful thread, SpM and I have it out, where I and a few others again put on a defense attorney hat and try to get Gollum off baby-eating charges.

The parallel to Gollum really is quite striking.

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Kuruharan

The parallel to Gollum really is quite striking.

The degree of desire is not comparable, since the One Ring had a power to cause obsession beyond one's ability to resist, but it seems greed and a wanting for something he did not have (Éowyn) could indeed have put Wormtongue into a similar state as Gollum.
Bending all one's will toward "possession" has a degrading effect, regardless of the initial motives behind the want.

[HerenIstarion]

Originally Posted by Galadriel55

Actually, now I begin to wonder how much my interpretation was influenced by the Russian translation of his name, Rot-mouth (and Saruman calls him Rot at the end). But in any case I still imagine him feeding off inedible quality food.

On a veeery veeery offtopic trend, my apologies, - so your first was Muraviev-Kistiakovsky translation, then? I remember Гнилоуст was theirs

[Galadriel55]

Originally Posted by HerenIstarion

On a veeery veeery offtopic trend, my apologies, - so your first was Muraviev-Kistiakovsky translation, then? I remember Гнилоуст was theirs

Yes, it was.

Out of curiosity, were there other variations of the name in other translations (if you know of any)? I've seen two variants on Glorfindel (Gorislav and Vseslavur), and the "C" names are wonky (Celeborn, Cirdan, Celebrian...). But I haven't come across a second Wormtongue.