observation

Forest compounds

lfsaldenbirch

Tolkien uses nine “forest-” compound words, of which three are attested in OED – forest-floor, forest-path, and forest-road.

OED has  61 “forest-” compound words, by the way:

forest-bred
forest-brother
forest-brown
forest-clad
forest-court
forest-craft
forest-crowned
forest-deep
forest-dove
forest-dweller
forest-dwelling
forest-feller
forest-felling
forest fire
forest-floor
forest-fly
forest-folk
forest-frowning
forest-fruit
forest-glade
forest-green
forest-hearse
forest-house
forest-kangaroo
forest-land
forest-lawn
forest-laws
forest-leaf
forest-life
forest-like
forest-lodge
forest-lord
forest marble
forest-matter
forest-nymph
forest-oak
forest-path
forest pathology
forest-peat
forest-pony
forest red gum
forest reserve
forest-ridge
forest-rights
forest-road
forest-rustling
forest-school
forest-shade
forest-sheriff
forest shrew
forest-side
forest-skirt
forest-sport
forest-steading
forest-stone
forest stream
forest-top
forest-tree
forest-walk
forest-wards
forest-wood

“forest, n.” OED Online, Oxford University Press, June 2017, http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/73187. Accessed 13 September 2017.

Elf compounds

lfsaldenbirch , ,

In comparing the hyphenated words, I have reached the elf compounds.  OED attests all of the words below.  Only “elf-fire” and “elf-friend” overlap with the elf compounds of The Hobbit!

I am particularly intrigued by words of elven persons.  OED has the compound with folk, girl, kingdom, lady, queen, and woman, while The Hobbit has guard, host, king, lord, maiden, and prince.

Now… you know me, Word Fans.  I dug a little deeper.  “Elven” is a noun, obviously, meaning a female elf, like fox/fixin and monk/minchin.  In its second meaning, however, it is a combining appositive or attributive form:

 2. Comb. (referring to a kind of imaginary being in the works of J. R. R. Tolkien).

and Elf-king is attested therein.

To be thorough, “elvish” is the OED’s adjective for elf, also spelled “elfish”.  Not “elven”.  That’s pure JRRT.

elf-arrow
elf-bolt
elf-bore
elf-castle
elf-child
elf-craft
elf-cup
elf-dance
elf-dart
elf-dock
elf-fire – found in The Hobbit
elf-flame
elf-flower
elf-folk
elf-friend – found in The Hobbit
elf-girl
elf-god
elf-horn
elf-house
elf-key
elf-kingdom
elf-knight
elf-knot
elf-lady
elf-land
elf-light
elf-like
elf-lock
elf-queen
elf-rod
elf-shoot
elf-shot
elf-speech
elf-stone
elf-stricken
elf-striking
elf-struck
elf-taken
elf-twisted
elf-wing
elf-woman
elf-wort

“elf, n.1.” OED Online, Oxford University Press, June 2017, http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/60431. Accessed 13 September 2017.

“elf-lock, n.” OED Online, Oxford University Press, June 2017, http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/60439. Accessed 13 September

“ˈelf-shoot, v.” OED Online, Oxford University Press, June 2017, http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/60441. Accessed 13 September 2017.

“ˈelf-shot, n.” OED Online, Oxford University Press, June 2017, http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/60442. Accessed 13 September 2017.

“ˈelven, n.” OED Online, Oxford University Press, June 2017, http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/60661. Accessed 13 September 2017.

“elvish, adj.” OED Online, Oxford University Press, June 2017, http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/60664. Accessed 13 September 2017.