I am fascinated! To think of how the sounds of communication mattered to Tolkien… but look!

And to my Word Fans who have noticed the squall, flurry, whirlwind, or gust of words in the last two days, tomorrow morning we get a treat toward which I have been rushing!

• 3.017 to our tune
• 13.034 in tune.

Oooooh, the ends of worms!

• 1.001 filled with the ends of worms
• 1.003 in the end.
• 1.005 and there they remained to the end of their days.
• 1.013 By this he meant that the conversation was at an end.
• 1.092 Gandalf struck a blue light on the end of his magic staff,
• 2.019 To the end of his days
• 2.025 before you get to the journey’s end.
• 2.034 They decided in the end
• 2.079 all on fire at one end;
• 2.079 and Bert got that end
• 2.080 And so the fight ended.
• 2.086 In the end they decided to mince them fine
• 2.107 and made an end of them.
• 3.010 but they seemed no nearer to the end of the search
• 3.017 Till the end of the dark
• 3.033 if we ever get to the end of it.
• 4.001 and led nowhere or to bad ends;
• 4.008 The end of their argument was
• 4.012 and by its light they explored the cave from end to end.
• 4.012 and by its light they explored the cave from end to end.
• 4.013 At one end there was room for the ponies;
• 4.024 and dragged them to the far end of the cavern
• 4.024 with little Bilbo tugging at the end of the row.
• 4.038 at the end of the line,
• 5.009 The tunnel seemed to have no end.
• 5.012 so there their road ended
• 5.014 and at the end of his way
• 5.038 Ends life, kills laughter.
• 5.074 but he did not feel at all sure how the game was going to end,
• 6.020 ended Bilbo;
• 6.080 That would have been the end of him,
• 6.088 The flight ended only just
• 6.100 So ended the adventures of the Misty Mountains.
• 7.007 till your eyries receive you at the journey’s end!’
• 7.009 in at the end of this tale
• 7.010 and near the end of the stony ford.
• 7.066 or it will be supper-time before it is ended.’
• 7.093 while at the far end
• 7.117 ended Gandalf, and he sat a long while silent.
• 7.128 the dragon was waiting at the end.
• 7.130 was overgrown and disused at the eastern end
• 7.142 Think of the treasure at the end,
• 8.004 and it seemed to offer even less hope of any ending.
• 8.017 and on the end of the longest
• 8.040 Is there no end
• 8.042 In the end he poked his head
• 8.043 he could see no end to the trees
• 8.050 without any great hope of ever getting to the end
• 8.057 In the end,
• 8.080 In the end he made
• 8.091 I’ll soon put an end to that,’
• 8.108 But there were still five dwarves hanging at the end of the branch
• 8.109 Bilbo immediately went to the end
• 8.116 In the end Bilbo could think of no plan
• 9.003 and at the far end were gates before the mouth of a huge cave
• 9.017 in the end,
• 9.035 In the end,
• 9.037 as they could not easily be opened at the end without a deal of noise,
• 9.061 and was walled at the eastern end
• 9.063 for now we are drawing near the end of the eastward journey
• 9.063 in the end by his wet footsteps
• 10.001 The trees ended.
• 10.003 and little used end
• 10.004 in the end by the only road that was any good.
• 10.006 but it was so long that its northerly end,
• 10.006 At the southern end
• 10.014 for hours on end –
• 10.030 at the lower end
• 10.041 they will all come to a bad end,
• 10.041 in the end.
• 10.042 At the end of a fortnight
• 11.001 At the end of the third day,
• 11.004 They knew that they were drawing near to the end of their journey,
• 11.004 and that it might be a very horrible end.
• 11.005 which ended
• 11.008 but they went on beyond the end of the southern spur,
• 11.012 They were at the end of their journey,
• 11.012 from the end of their quest.
• 11.014 but at its inner end a flat wall rose up that
• 11.027 in the end.
• 12.007 to some distant end
• 12.012 and you can picture him coming to the end of the tunnel,
• 12.030 That’ll be the end of our poor beasts!’
• 12.054 I came from the end of a bag,
• 12.062 You’ll come to a bad end,
• 12.070 and to keep his end up,
• 12.071 and a nasty end.
• 12.079 but his mistake at the end shook him into better sense.
• 12.090 was more likely to end
• 12.091 and you can trust him to guess where the other end of the tunnel is.
• 12.092 Why has not Smaug blocked the lower end,
• 13.002 But they found that the upper end of the tunnel
• 13.003 This is the end.
• 13.005 when I knew there was a dragon at the other end,
• 13.015 just where he had left them at the end of the tunnel.
• 13.016 in the end,
• 13.039 what the end of it all would be.
• 13.046 at the further end,
• 14.002 at the far end of the lake,
• 14.008 and the northern end of the lake turned golden.
• 14.024 And that was the end of Smaug and Esgaroth,
• 14.044 at the end of the lake
• 16.045 Things are drawing towards the end now,
• 17.037 in the end it must come to unhappy blows.’
• 17.048 round the spur’s end
• 17.060 some last blast of magic before the end.
• 17.061 and all the rest come to a bad end;
• 18.018 if it must end so;
• 18.037 In the end he would only take two small chests,
• 18.043 and round its northern end
• 18.054 and even dragons have their ending!’
• 19.028 As all things come to an end,
• 19.037 and in the end to save time Bilbo had to buy back
• 19.040 he remained very happy to the end of his days,
• 19.044 The old Master had come to a bad end.

It turns out that the “t” in “listen” is a muddling up error from the verb “list, to be pleasing.” It doesn’t belong there. Bless.

• 2.108 listening to the trolls making plans for roasting them
• 3.017 And listen and hark
• 3.031 and not much to listen to;
• 5.010 when he listened hard,
• 5.112 and gurgling sound horrible to listen to.
• 6.004 He stopped and listened.
• 6.063 This was dreadful talk to listen to,
• 6.064 listening to their growling
• 6.094 As Bilbo listened to the talk of Gandalf
• 7.095 The dwarves listened
• 8.001 and listened.
• 8.071 and listening for a while,
• 9.019 listening to the talk of the king’s servants,
• 10.003 As he listened to the talk of the raftmen
• 12.082 listening to all
• 12.083 I believe he is listening,
• 12.090 All the while they talked the thrush listened,
• 12.098 he was only half listening to them.
• 13.008 and listened,
• 13.042 listening
• 15.004 as if to listen;
• 15.004 and again he listened.
• 15.018 and listen to the raven’s news.
• 15.020 If you will listen to my counsel,
• 16.047 without listening to the old dwarf’s thanks
• 17.001 asking whether Thorin would now listen to another embassy,
• 17.016 and listen first to what he has to say!’
• 19.005 and listen,

Though there are seventeen different instances of the syllable “fool,” there’s only one “folly.”

• 3.017 To fly would be folly,

Oooh, a tiny one! “Day light” and “day’s light” were the most common way to spell this concept; Shakespeare was a very early hyphenator (remember what Michael Drout said about a hyphen stage on the way to compound worddity). Google’s n-gram viewer give us this:

• 3.017 The daylight is dying!
• 9.066 in the daylight,

To fly through the air and to fly as movement in a rush even if on the ground are the same word. Fly and “flee” are so very interconnected that … well. Let’s just say that many and many a happy moment were spent reading the very fine print.

• 1.123 with the dwarves flying south or getting killed,
• 1.123 One day he flew up into the air
• 2.031 between the flying rags.
• 2.042 any more than fly like a bat.
• 3.017 Or will you be flying?
• 3.017 To fly would be folly,
• 5.130 and grabbed as the hobbit flew over him,
• 6.069 and they flew away from the mountains,
• 6.075 Fly away little birds!
• 6.075 Fly away if you can!
• 6.082 Other birds flew to the tree-tops
• 6.092 Soon another eagle flew up.
• 6.092 and flew away with him into the night leaving Bilbo all alone.
• 6.093 This time he flew only a short way.
• 6.093 There was no path down on to it save by flying;
• 7.003 What is finer than flying?’
• 7.031 The noise of the giant bees flying to
• 7.102 and flying smoke was in the air.
• 8.029 There was a flying sound of hooves on the path ahead.
• 8.029 Out of the gloom came suddenly the shape of a flying deer.
• 10.018 that they had seen him flying
• 12.027 or fly whirling round
• 12.029 They had barely time to fly back to the tunnel,
• 12.031 they could hear the roar of the flying dragon grow
• 12.084 to fly to the Men of the Lake
• 12.090 and flew away.
• 14.001 and flew off
• 14.020 as he flies
• 14.021 flying low,
• 14.040 and their swift-flying messengers flew
• 15.001 Their companies came flying from the South;
• 15.004 he flew towards them
• 15.011 and immediately flew away.
• 15.013 he could hardly fly,
• 15.022 Then off he slowly flew.
• 15.053 Begone now ere our arrows fly!
• 17.046 flying lower,
• 17.049 nor does it stop flying arrows
• 17.052 Already many of the goblins were flying

The verb “stay” meaning to cease movement and the verb “stay” meaning to stop movement, and the noun stay meaning a support are all from French and ultimately Latin stare, to stand. Not so nautical stays, which are also supports, but they’re of German root stock and related to “steel.”

• 1.046 and whether they would all stay to supper.
• 1.061 I suppose you will all stay to supper?’
• 1.063 and stayed talking to Gandalf –
• 3.017 O! Will you be staying,
• 3.017 To stay would be jolly
• 3.024 Are you going to stay a bit
• 3.025 Bilbo would have liked to stay a while.
• 3.026 and would not stay.
• 3.031 They stayed long
• 3.031 Yet there is little to tell about their stay.
• 8.113 Don’t stay up there
• 9.051 and have to stay lurking as a permanent burglar
• 10.040 about keys or barrels while the dwarves stayed
• 11.001 but none of the men of the town would stay with them
• 12.009 and the whole lot could stay here for ever,
• 12.030 and here we shall have to stay,
• 12.039 but stay where we are.
• 14.031 The wise will stay here
• 17.016 Stay! Your wish is granted!’
• 18.027 They would not stay here,
• 18.043 even though the king bade them stay a while
• 18.051 and there for a while they both stayed.

Though the adventure begins in 2941, April 25 and ends 2942, June 2 , there are only three named months in the work: April, May, and June.

My mother knew a sibb of triplets named April, May, and June.

Thank you to the LotR Project for the timeline! I might quibble with the dates in late 2941, however because “last moon of autumn on the threshhold of winter” [03.047], but they might have more nformation about lunar eccentricies than my back of the envelope calculation — the detail is that the sun and moon are in the sky together which is not guaranteed on any particular full moon, though it is usually so. Of course is it a full moon that is implied? Ahhhh, calendars. They are like warm baths.

April • 1.071 it was April –
April • 1.128 And Thrain your father went away on the twenty-first of April,
May • 2.026 just before May,
May • 2.028 Mostly it had been as good as May can be,
June • 2.029 “To think it will soon be June!” grumbled Bilbo,
June • 3.016 in June
June • 3.025 in June under the stars,
May • 8.047 since they started their journey that May morning long ago.
June • 11.012 Only in June they had been guests
May • 16.026 under the clock on his mantelpiece in May!
May • 19.001 It was on May the first
June • 19.027 for now June had brought summer,
June • 19.03 And through the merry flowers of June,
June • 19.036 on June the Twenty-second