This word is onomatopoeic from the sound of words which carry no meaning to the listener.
- 04.036 croaking, jibbering and jabbering;
“jabber, v.” OED Online. Oxford University Press, March 2015. Web. 3 June 2015.
Author: lfsaldenbirch
Icy
Much of our story takes place in the mountains, but we only hear about ice in Gollum’s underground lake and the river from Mirkwood to Lake-town.
- 05.010 it was icy cold.
- 09.055 in icy water,
Hail
While the literal hail falls in the stone-giants’ game in chapter 4 and a metaphorical hail of arrows comes ten chapters later, most uses of “hail” are not about weather but the homophone meaning to call out in address. The original call was an interjection wishing the addressed person good health. Waes hael!
- 04.005 and the hail about
- 10.009 and voices hailed the raft-steerers.
- 11.031 and hailed the dwarves,
- 13.041 Then he hailed the others,
- 14.013 A hail of dark arrows leaped up
- 15.032 Thorin hailed them:
- 15.045 Again Thorin hailed them
- 15.046 Hail Thorin!
- 17.001 and hailed them,
- 17.004 Hail Thorin!’
- 18.015 Hail! Thorin,’
Harper, Douglas. “Hail”. Online Etymology Dictionary. Web.
Gall
The figurative use of the verb “gall” as “to annoy” rather than its literal use “to cause a sore” dates from the sixteenth century.
- 05.086 till it galled him;
Harper, Douglas. “Gall”. Online Etymology Dictionary. Web.
Fable
Only the accumulated treasure of Smaug is fabulous enough to be “fabled”.
- 14.035 of the fabled treasure of the Mountain
Earnest
Only Bilbo is “earnest” in the work, and that only when quite afraid that he and his dwarf friends will be attacked by Smaug.
- 12.094 in earnest that the dwarves at last did as he said,
Dwell
The meaning of “Dwell” has wandered in a tricksy manner from “deceive and lead astray” in Old English through “hinder and delay” to “linger” and finally to “make a home” by the year 1300. Now your “dwelling” is less likely to be your homemaking than the house in which you make your home.
- 08.131 They dwelt most often by the edges of the woods,
- 10.007 who still dared to dwell here
- 10.003 when dwarves dwelt
- 14.040 that dwelt on the borders of the Desolation of the Dragon.
- 15.002 and these are birds that dwell always
- 15.009 in their dwellings.
- 15.020 that once dwelt here,
- 15.048 the dwellings of the men of Esgaroth,
- 15.021 and dwells nearest to this place.
- 18.031 May it bring good fortune to all his folk that dwell here after!’
Dainty
The dainties of a well-filled larder are related, through ideas of worth, to dignity! Because of its use in this sentence, “dainty” has earned the Food tag!
- 09.062 in the dainties
Harper, Douglas. “Dainty”. Online Etymology Dictionary. Web.
Calamity
As unique as Smaug himself is the appearance of “calamity” in the work.
- 12.048 and Greatest of Calamities,’
Bob
Bobbing – it’s undignified, but sometimes it’s your only option. Bilbo tries to bow graciously and misses, it come out as bobbing on the mat. Fili or Kili in a spider’s web bob like a toy on a wire. Barrels bob in water, and it is the natural walking gait of elderly ravens.
- 01.095 bobbing and puffing on the mat
- 01.096 As for little fellow bobbing on the mat
- 08.106 bobbing on a wire.
- 09.020 bobbing along,
- 09.050 and bobbing away down the current.
- 09.056 of a bobbing
- 09.057 Some of those that bobbed along by him
- 15.013 and bobbed towards Thorin.
words that you were saying 