troll

Hell

lfsaldenbirch , ,

Isn’t it fascinating to find a word from Christian cosmology and wonder?  Is this translation-from-Westron just a figure of speech “the emphatic thing that one says to punch up ‘what William was thinking'”?  Does it mean “absence of grace”?  “Place of punishment”  Where does it lie in between?

  • 02.045 “What the ‘ell William was a-thinkin’ of

Troll dialect

lfsaldenbirch ,

The trolls have quite a few words which slipped through the “Ten Thousand” filter, but which turn out only to be dialect or accent variations on common words.  I present them for your curiosity as a table for ease of reading

anyways anyway 02.056 anyways?” said William.
a-arguing argue 02.084 “Who’s a-arguing?” said William,
ain’t be 02.087 We ain’t got no water,
afore before 02.067 “as I’ve said afore this evening.”
blimey blind 02.051 “Blimey, Bert,
d’yer’ do you 02.046 How much more d’yer want?
d’yer’ do you 02.062 How much more d’yer want?
gettin’ get 02.105 “The night’s gettin’ on,
ell hell 02.045 “What the ‘ell William was a-thinkin’ of
ere here 02.050 “‘Ere,
liar lie 02.086 “You’re a liar,” said William;
lumme love 02.053 “Lumme, if I knows!
nassty nasty 02.060 yer nassty little rabbit,” said he looking at the hobbit’s furry feet;
praps perhaps 02.060 “P’raps there are more like him round about,
runnin’ run 02.045 and the drink runnin’ short,
a-sneakin’ sneak 02.060 are there any more of your sort a-sneakin’
a-talkin’ talk 02.104 “Who are you a-talkin’ to?”
a-thinkin’ think 02.045 “What the ‘ell William was a-thinkin’ of
tomorrer tomorrow 02.044 if it don’t look like mutton again tomorrer,”
oo who 02.050 oo are you?” it squeaked,
yer you 02.046 “Shut yer mouth!”
yer you 02.046 “Yer can’t expect folk to stop here for ever
yer you 02.046 and a half between yer,
yer you 02.046 when yer’d have said ‘thank yer Bill’
yer you 02.053 What are yer?”
yer you 02.103 so shut yer mouth!” said Bert.
yer you 02.057 “And can yer cook ’em?” said Tom.
yer you 02.058 “Yer can try,” said Bert,
yer you 02.060 yer nassty little rabbit,” said he looking at the hobbit’s furry feet;
yer you 02.088 and yer can fetch the water yerself,
yer you 02.088 if yer say any more.”
yer you 02.100 “Then what did yer say
yer’d you 02.046 when yer’d have said ‘thank yer Bill’
yerself you 02.095 “Don’t talk to yerself!” said Tom.
yerself you 02.088 and yer can fetch the water yerself,
yerself you 02.089 “Shut up yerself!” said Tom,
yerself you 02.091 “Booby yerself!” said Tom.

Manflesh

lfsaldenbirch , , , ,

The Oxford English Dictionary has man-flesh (hyphenated so) as a word attested since the seventeenth century.  Tolkien does not hyphenate it and only Tom the troll says it.  More on hyphenated words hereafter.  I merely observe my own little shudder to learn that the trolls have a word for this particular variety of meat.

  • 02.045 “Never a blinking bit of manflesh

Update 2015.06.08: I’m adding the tag “high” to this word to be consistent with later use of the tag – indications of danger are adventurous and thereby earn this tag.

“man, n.1 (and int.).” OED Online. Oxford University Press, March 2015. Web. 9 May 2015.

Lout

lfsaldenbirch , , ,

Lout is another Troll-only word.  Its meaning of clown or bumpkin seems to come from a Middle English verb louten, to bow down, and is related to “lurk” and “little”.

  • 02.068 “And you’re a lout!”

“lout, n.1.” OED Online. Oxford University Press, March 2015. Web. 9 May 2015.

Cop

lfsaldenbirch , ,

Cop – to grab, from Germanic roots to do with stealing or buying – is only said by a troll:

  • 02.051 look what I’ve copped!” said William.

Please note that it’s a different root from “attercop“!

Update 2015.10.05 – or is it?  OED and Merriam Webster dictionary seem to be in conversation about whether a “cobweb” is a “grab-web” and which came first, “cobweb” or “cob”.  I’ll update you when I know more, Word Fans!

Booby

lfsaldenbirch , , ,

Booby, which comes not only from the gannet family of ungainly seabirds but from a Latin root meaning “to stammer” (and therefore presumed dull-witted), is used only by our trolls.

  • 02.090 “You’re a booby,” said William.
  • 02.091 “Booby yerself!” said Tom.

Harper, Douglas. “Booby”.  Online Etymology Dictionary.  Web.

Blight

lfsaldenbirch , , ,

Only the Trolls use the word “blight”.  Both times, William refers to Bilbo as “blighter”, a chiefly British derogatory term for “fellow” from the negative connotation of a disease.

02.064 “Poor little blighter,” said William.
02.064 “Poor little blighter!

Harper, Douglas. “Blight”.  Online Etymology Dictionary. Web.

Blink

lfsaldenbirch , , ,

Blink, to shine briefly or to briefly close one’s eyes (as though something just shone in them) occurs a handful of times in the work.  It may come through Old English blican.  Yet there is a different meaning.  The Online Etymology Dictionary explains that Tom the Troll’s use of “blinking” in Chapter 2 “as a euphemism for a stronger word” is attested by 1914.

  • 01.044 he said, blinking.
  • 02.045 “Never a blinking bit of manflesh
  • 04.044 The blink of red torches could be seen
  • 05.087 and made his eyes blink
  • 05.136 Bilbo blinked,
  • 06.067 that could look at the sun unblinking,
  • 08.042 and blink.
  • 10.028 and stood blinking

Harper, Douglas. “Blinking”.  Online Etymology Dictionary. Web.