Author: lfsaldenbirch

Aback

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The OED calls this a rare word, not archaic, when used in its figurative sense, as here:

  • 12.068 but poor Bilbo was really very taken aback.

“Aback” is “backward from the action” and to take aback, therefore, is to discomfit.  The “a-” prefix here is a descendant of the unaccented prefix “on-“, a particle which forms verbs, adverbs, and prepositions with the sense of “on”.

“a-, prefix3.” OED Online. Oxford University Press, March 2015. Web. 16 May 2015.

“aback, adv.” OED Online. Oxford University Press, March 2015. Web. 16 May 2015.

“take, v.” OED Online. Oxford University Press, March 2015. Web. 16 May 2015.

Food words

lfsaldenbirch ,

I hope you have enjoyed today’s run through the uncommon food words of The Hobbit.  “Cold” and “chicken”  and others were among The Ten Thousand most common words, so we don’t have the entire food picture of the book.  I have tagged all the food words, and I hope to use some of the techniques of lexomics in coming months to graph the progress from the unexpected party further and further away from The Shire until it’s nothing but cram as far as the eye can see.

Will one of my fellow scholars take on the challenge of charting all of the food words?  Possibly caloric intake versus miles  hiked as documented by the fabulous Karen Wynn Fonstad?  I hope you do – and I hope our little Concordance is of great use!

Toast

lfsaldenbirch , ,

In Chapter 8, Bilbo’s daydreams of toast make him nod off, allowing the great spider to approach and be-web him.  This is the moment that he remembers his little sword, takes it in hand, and changes his destiny.

  • 02.043 They were toasting mutton on long spits of wood,
  • 02.116 and bacon to toast
  • 06.078 Bake and toast ’em, fry and roast ’em!
  • 06.100 better than bits of meat toasted on sticks.
  • 07.001 nor tea nor toast nor bacon for his breakfast,
  • 08.074 and toast

Thyme

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Thyme, along with sage and marjoram, grow wild in Chapter 6, but they disappear in frequency as Thorin and Company hike on.  While these particular plants are not eaten by the characters, they are common culinary herbs and they disappear as the company faces their massively depleted resources following the goblin escapade.  Their good fortune in staying with Beorn ameliorates this particular round of hunger.

  • 06.040 the thyme

Strawberry

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Bilbo managed to find wild strawberries – small but oh so flavorful! – when he tried to feed himself in the wild.  Blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, and elder-berries are all specifically mentioned in the book, although we are setting elder-berries aside for another day as they are indicated by a hyphenated word.

  • 06.039 and he ate three wild strawberries that he found on its bank,

Sorrel

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Bilbo nibbled a bit of sorrel after the goblin and Gollum adventures to try to feed himself.  It’s edible but sour and is more of a salad garnish than the whole dish.

  • 06.039 He nibbled a bit of sorrel,

“sorrel, n.1.” OED Online. Oxford University Press, March 2015. Web. 13 May 2015.