# Lord of the Rings Names



## Scott (Feb 11, 2008)

I was researching some old Norse (eg. middle ages Viking) names and came accross a couple that were interesting in relation to the Lord of the Rings. The first is Gandálfr. Anglicized a bit and you have "Gandalf." Here is the meaning:


> The first element in this name, Gand- is from OW.Norse gandr, a word of obscure origin that means "anything enchanted; an object used by sorcerors;" by extension it can mean "monster, fiend."


Anyway, the connection is sorcery is appropriate for the Gandalf of the LOTR books.

A second name is Grima. It means this:


> From OW.Norse gríma "mask", with a secondary meaning as "a helm which hides the face". Found in the runic accusative form [krimu].


Anyway, again appropriate for Grima Wormtongue, who masked his true intentions.

It is amazing how deep Tolkien's work goes. I did not realize until afterward how much of the Hobbit mirrored a section of Beowulf.


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## MrMerlin777 (Feb 11, 2008)

Interesting.

Tolkien was a linguist. So it's possible that he knew the meanings he wanted to convey in the names of his characters.


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## Puritan Sailor (Feb 11, 2008)

He was also a Norse expert.


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## Zenas (Feb 11, 2008)

Not a linguist, a philologist.


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## turmeric (Feb 11, 2008)

What does Attercop mean? Apparently, giant hobbit-eating spiders hate it!!


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## VirginiaHuguenot (Feb 11, 2008)

turmeric said:


> What does Attercop mean? Apparently, giant hobbit-eating spiders hate it!!



In The Hobbit, Bilbo called the spiders Attercop, Lazy Lob, Crazy Cob, and Old Tomnoddy. What do the words mean?


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## Thomas2007 (Feb 11, 2008)

His works were written to create "worlds" for his languages to have life within, Quenya is one of his languages, the original language of the Elves.

I'm not sure and haven't finalized my opinion on all of this, but I find it odd that a man would spend his life, in this level of detail based upon fantasy.


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## turmeric (Feb 11, 2008)

He was a Classics professor. Apparently a writer as well.


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## FenderPriest (Feb 12, 2008)

For those interested:

Beor (the Man-Bear of The Hobbit) is Old English for "bear" - the same goes for "deor" - "deer".

Also, "Sting" is Middle English for "sword".

In order to more effectively understand the language you use, that shapes how you think, and what you think, it's always a good idea to know where it came from. Hence, Tolkien's obsession (and mine as well). It might seem strange to pick at philology, and to learn all these obscure languages from our past - but the more you learn it, the better you understand your present language, and effectively, why its so weird and screwed up.


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