Puns by Tolkien

[Bêthberry]

I have a very simple sense of humour.

Tolkien's quite modest description of himself, among the probably better known phrase, "I am a Hobbit (in all but size)" in Letter #213.

A simple sense of humour quite obviously would include puns; a love of puns was something Tolkien never lost. It was evident in his adolescent adventures with early language creation, animalic, where he puns upon the meaning of donkey, the "converse meaning" as he politely puts it, of *** (A Secret Vice). It is evident in his naming of his favourite tree, the pinus nigra in the Oxford Botanical Garden, as "Laocoon", for its twisted shape, which completely undercuts the very serious critical discussions of the sublime in the famous statue of the same name. As these examples suggest, Tolkien's puns were not limited to his philological bent.

As William Cloud Hicklin has said, Farmer Giles of Ham is loaded with puns. Names in particular are exceedingly punned upon. Galatea the cow being one (mythological sea nymph), Giles' wife's name Agatha another (a shrew rather than godly woman), and Garm, hardly the ferocious watchdog at the gate of Hell in Norse mythology, the points being incongruity between name and character, ludic fun pricking pomposity, subversion.

There is something of that in the choice of the name Nokes for the antagonist character in Smith of Wootton Major. The name has a philological history, which Tolkien remarks upon in his Guide to Names in The Lord of the Rings when discussing old Noakes of The Shire. But the significance for SWM also lies in Tolkien's personal symbolism. Historically the surname Nokes involves the adding of N (a linguistic property) to the Old English name meaning 'by the oaks'. But in Tolkien's private symbolism, oaks was a pejorative term for critics who could not see the value or worth of artistic or literary imagination. (In the symbolism, those who could see the value of literature, like that in Beowulf, were identified by birch). So the character who is utterly unable to appreciate or see anything fay is an oak. Tolkien makes the distinction clear when he has Nokes use the word 'fairy' while Alf the Prentice and Smith use 'fairie'. The pun of course goes to Tolkien's effort in SWM to theorise fairie.

A fair simpler use of names and punning is in Leaf by Niggle. I think most readers understand 'Niggle' to refer to the character's habit of excessive attention to trifling doubt. Yet the original meaning of 'niggle' is stingy or miserly and Niggle the character does resent the intrusions of people upon his time. The other pun belongs to the other character, Parish, when his name literally becomes the region that the two end up in, "Niggle's Parish".

What's in a name? A good giggle.

[Morthoron]

Originally Posted by Bêthberry

Tolkien's quite modest description of himself, among the probably better known phrase, "I am a Hobbit (in all but size)" in Letter #213..

Nice to see you around Bêth.

I am surprised Tolkien didn't honor the Hobbits as inventors of the "dad joke". And in that vein. it's the surprise asides as you are casually reading the books that I find hilarious.

Out of nowhere, you get Bullroarer Took swinging his wooden club and decapitating the Goblin King's head, which proceeded to fly 100 yards and land in a rabbit hole. According to Gandalf, "thus the battle was won and the game of Golf invented at the same time," with the name "golf" coming from the dead goblin king -- Golfimbul.

It's one of those, "wait...what?" moments that happen throughout The Hobbit, LoTR and Farmer Giles of Ham.