A subtle sense but a common word. And we all know what “an oozy smell” smells like!

• 1.001 and an oozy smell,
• 2.043 There was a fine toothsome smell.
• 2.113 and a nasty smell was
• 2.116 “Let’s get out of this horrible smell!” said Fili.
• 3.012 and the smell of the pine-trees made him drowsy,
• 3.013 “Hmmm! it smells like elves!”
• 3.024 “I can smell the wood-fires for the cooking.”
• 4.016 a smell like gunpowder,
• 4.023 and smelt by goblins,
• 5.004 and the smell of tobacco
• 5.038 Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt.
• 5.124 We smells them.
• 5.127 hearing and smell.
• 5.132 If goblins are so near that he smelt them,’
• 6.033 They can smell our footsteps for hours
• 6.050 Wolves of that sort smell keener than goblins,
• 6.060 till they had smelt out every tree that had anyone
• 6.078 till hair smells and skins crack,
• 6.099 and making a fine roasting smell.
• 8.036 and unpleasant smell.
• 8.059 The smell of the roast meats
• 10.014 I hope I never smell the smell of apples again!’ said Fili.
• 10.014 I hope I never smell the smell of apples again!’ said Fili.
• 10.014 To smell apples everlastingly
• 12.043 dragons’ sense of smell.
• 12.045 I smell you
• 12.049 but I don’t seem to remember smelling you before.
• 12.062 I know the smell
• 12.062 that there was one smell he could not make out at all,
• 12.103 I don’t know your smell,
• 13.044 and the air smelt sweeter.
• 18.021 and at length smelling battle from afar

Well goodness. About a hundred and twenty uses of feel including felt which is definitely not used in the sense of a type of cloth, I did check. Definitely of Germanic roots, related to fumble, and — how cool is this? — to the Gothic word for astonished. There’s a possible relation to the Latin word pollex meaning thumb.

18.048 I mean even a burglar has his feelings.

• 1.009 or that you feel good this morning;
• 1.058 who was feeling positively flummoxed,
• 1.083 the hobbit felt the love of beautiful things
• 1.092 he began to feel a shriek coming up inside,
• 1.096 He suddenly felt he would
• 1.119 feeling all confused
• 1.131 and Bilbo felt he would have liked to say the same.
• 2.001 and yet in a way he could not help feeling
• 2.001 The feeling surprised him.
• 2.027 but still he began to feel that adventures were not so bad after all.
• 2.116 By that time they felt like breakfast,
• 2.126 “I immediately had a feeling
• 3.001 They had begun to feel that danger was
• 3.004 and just at that moment he felt more tired
• 3.004 than he ever remembered feeling before.
• 3.012 and there was a comfortable feeling
• 4.007 who was feeling very grumpy,
• 4.012 and to feel safe from the giants
• 5.001 and he could feel nothing except the stone of the floor.
• 5.002 what felt like a tiny ring of cold metal lying on the floor of the tunnel.
• 5.002 for he could feel inside that it was high time for some meal or other;
• 5.004 After some time he felt for his pipe.
• 5.004 Then he felt for his pouch,
• 5.004 Then he felt for matches
• 5.004 Still at the moment he felt very crushed.
• 5.004 and feeling all round himself for matches
• 5.007 and one hand feeling the wall,
• 5.009 or could feel with his hand on the wall.
• 5.012 for they had a feeling that something unpleasant was lurking down there,
• 5.038 It cannot be seen, cannot be felt,
• 5.056 He had a feeling that the answer was quite different
• 5.062 he even felt
• 5.074 but he did not feel at all sure how the game was going to end,
• 5.077 But he felt he could not trust this slimy thing
• 5.094 and he had a feeling that anything Gollum wanted so much
• 5.104 and feeling it with his left hand.
• 5.105 The ring felt very cold
• 5.127 Bilbo could see or feel that he was tense as a bowstring,
• 5.144 or caught by feel.
• 6.003 and very miserable he felt about it –
• 6.007 I feel responsible for him.
• 6.035 His stomach felt all empty
• 6.043 were feeling far from happy,
• 6.064 and to feel that they were
• 6.072 he could feel the heat of the flames;
• 6.087 He felt sick.
• 6.088 He was feeling very queer indeed
• 6.088 Now I know what a piece of bacon feels like
• 6.100 Soon Bilbo’s stomach was feeling full
• 6.100 and he felt he could sleep contentedly,
• 7.024 and then Bilbo felt so hungry that he would have eaten acorns,
• 7.120 The hobbit felt quite crushed,
• 7.128 and they all felt
• 7.146 Bilbo sat on the ground feeling very unhappy
• 7.146 and waiting feeling,’
• 8.004 and longed for the feel of wind on their faces.
• 8.004 Even the dwarves felt it,
• 8.004 felt that he was being slowly suffocated.
• 8.043 and enjoyed the feel of the breeze
• 8.043 and the feel of the wind,
• 8.045 which they were too heavy to climb up and feel.
• 8.047 nor why he felt so hungry;
• 8.048 for he felt very weak
• 8.073 while people he could not see or feel
• 8.074 when he felt something touch him.
• 8.075 but he could feel its hairy legs
• 8.076 He felt a different person,
• 8.078 Bilbo felt that it was unsafe to shout,
• 8.104 and before the spider knew what was happening it felt his sting
• 8.107 although he was feeling very sick
• 8.118 but at last Bilbo felt he could delay no longer –
• 8.123 just when Bilbo felt
• 8.125 that Bilbo began to feel
• 8.125 though he would have felt a lot bolder still,
• 8.143 until he feels inclined to tell the truth,
• 9.003 Nor did they hear or feel him trotting along
• 9.017 did not feel nearly so hopeful as they did.
• 9.032 but he did not feel at all sure
• 9.034 even if I feel inclined to try.’
• 9.047 in the feeling of weight
• 9.057 Bilbo wondered what the dwarves were feeling
• 9.064 He was no longer dripping but he felt cold all over.
• 10.016 No doubt we shall feel properly grateful,
• 10.039 the dwarves’ good feeling towards the little hobbit
• 10.039 for he was not feeling particularly cheerful.
• 11.028 He had a queer feeling that he was waiting for something.
• 12.003 but Bilbo felt impatient.
• 12.010 Soon he thought it was beginning to feel warm.
• 12.018 in the feel of the fresh air again,
• 12.020 He had never felt quite happy about it,
• 12.034 as Bilbo felt inclined to point out.
• 12.042 and he was inclined to feel a bit proud of himself
• 12.045 and I feel your air.
• 12.064 to feel really uncomfortable.
• 12.079 He had been feeling rather pleased
• 12.087 that he had a nasty feeling
• 12.087 and I have a horrible feeling
• 12.091 But I feel it
• 12.095 or at least that he could feel quite certain
• 12.100 gave the dwarves an uncomfortable feeling.
• 12.103 in this way he felt better
• 13.002 I must feel the wind on my face soon or die.
• 13.004 Bilbo felt a strange lightening of the heart,
• 13.021 All the same he had an uncomfortable feeling
• 13.038 I feel magnificent,’
• 13.044 and Bilbo was just feeling that he could go on no longer,
• 13.050 and to feel the wind on my face.
• 13.052 But I don’t feel that Smaug’s front doorstep
• 13.061 I feel as if his eyes were on the back of my head.’
• 15.024 In any case he felt that the adventure was,
• 16.011 I would give a good deal for the feel of grass at my toes.’
• 16.012 I would give a good deal for the feel
• 16.039 personally I never really felt like one –
• 16.047 (which he felt he had hardly earned).
• 17.026 felt shame
• 18.004 feeling his aching head.
• 18.011 All the same I feel sick
• 18.048 I mean even a burglar has his feelings.
• 19.001 and they all felt

There are nearly two hundred instances of can, can’t, cannot in our text, so I’ve chosen not to list them here. From Germanic roots and back to Proto Indo European, it meant primarily to know and the sense of to know how led to our most common meaning, to be able. But, dang, check this out:

An Old English preterite-present verb, its original past participle, couth, survived only in negation (see uncouth), but compare could. The present participle has spun off with a deflected sense as cunning.

Thank you, EtymOnLine.com!

Nine different entries in the OED for high. Goodness. But as far as I can tell, it is all the same word high which JRRT uses, meaning both far from bottom to top and elevated in social stature — even “5.002 for he could feel inside that it was high time for some meal or other”. High is a Germanic word and its earlier origins are debated and if you want to wander down a rabbit hole of Tocharian A and Tocharian B and their friends, do spend a pleasant hour with this word’s etymology!

• 1.004 about half our height,
• 1.079 The pines were roaring on the height,
• 1.109 “Five feet high the door
• 2.028 rising higher
• 2.028 and higher,
• 3.035 very old swords of the High Elves of the West,
• 3.040 beside the plain runes which say ‘five feet high the door
• 4.003 in the high hope of a midsummer morning,
• 4.005 They were high up
• 5.002 for he could feel inside that it was high time for some meal or other;
• 5.035 “But in low place/ Not in high place.'”
• 5.055 And beats high mountain down.
• 6.003 out of the little high valley,
• 6.034 And we are still pretty high up.
• 6.052 and up they went as high as ever they could trust the branches.
• 6.070 It was high summer,
• 6.080 as he got ready to spring down from on high
• 6.084 above the highest branches.
• 6.085 and they were high up
• 7.002 and saw that the birds were already high up
• 7.005 even from their great height,
• 7.009 except high
• 7.029 and beyond these to a high thorn-hedge
• 7.031 high
• 7.055 We were crossing by the High Pass
• 7.106 a splash of white on the floor came from the high moon,
• 7.130 As soon as they left his high hedges
• 7.151 high in the East,
• 8.028 and as high as he could throw it.
• 8.029 High it sprang
• 8.041 and so he must be light enough for the highest
• 8.088 in a row from a high branch.
• 8.131 They differed from the High Elves of the West,
• 8.132 at the feet of the high wooded lands.
• 9.015 a very high opinion indeed)
• 10.006 over high waterfalls
• 10.009 and towed away round the high shoulder of rock
• 10.034 and high over the lake.
• 10.036 Even Bilbo was given a seat at the high table,
• 11.005 and ever higher above them.
• 11.005 in a height called Ravenhill.
• 11.013 somewhere high above the cliff at the valley’s head
• 11.017 while Bofur was hauled up to the higher camp.
• 11.019 that led higher
• 11.019 and higher on to the mountain;
• 11.032 who had been watching from a high perch
• 11.038 A door five feet high
• 12.007 at the height of their wealth
• 13.044 when suddenly the roof sprang high
• 13.064 and climbed the high bank.
• 14.002 Only its high peak could they see
• 14.013 the dragon’s wrath blazed to its height,
• 14.014 He circled for a while high
• 14.015 Flames unquenchable sprang high into the night.
• 14.023 and crashed down from on high
• 14.025 The waxing moon rose higher
• 14.025 and higher
• 14.043 higher up the shore;
• 15.010 This very height was once named Ravenhill,
• 15.028 But now their hopes were higher;
• 15.028 and high,
• 17.031 The dwarves are exceedingly strong for their height,
• 17.048 climbed to the height of the Eastern shoulder
• 17.056 Rocks were hurled down from on high
• 18.052 in high summer.
• 18.053 But they came to that high point at morning,
• 18.053 On its highest peak

A common word, but so very much loved by Tolkien who bemoaned the encroachment of grey-brown smokestacks into the green countryside. Green is from roots which denote the growing and life of plants. Thank you, plants, for our oxygen.

• 1.002 like a porthole, painted green,
• 1.004 (chiefly green and yellow);
• 1.006 and more green,
• 1.008 and the grass was very green.
• 1.021 and scuttled inside his round green door,
• 1.023 on the hobbit’s beautiful green front-door.
• 1.032 he said when he caught sight of Dwalin’s green hood hanging up.
• 1.047 but a hard rat-tat on the hobbit’s beautiful green door.
• 1.050 and a pale green one;
• 1.068 Then Gandalf’s smoke-ring would go green
• 1.070 in a green cloth.
• 1.094 in the Battle of the Green Fields,
• 2.010 and shall await your respected person at the Green Dragon Inn,
• 3.008 some of them green pleasant places to look at,
• 3.012 The last green had almost faded out of the grass,
• 5.035 Saw an eye in a green face.
• 5.103 in Gollum’s eyes had become a green fire,
• 5.106 and saw Gollum’s eyes like small green lamps
• 5.127 and his eyes went green.
• 6.064 another in green.
• 7.014 and then began to march through the long green grass
• 7.116 green, blue, red, silver-grey, yellow, white;
• 8.002 in a sort of darkened green glimmer.
• 8.005 and sometimes pairs of yellow or red or green eyes
• 8.041 he was greened
• 8.042 he saw all round him a sea of dark green,
• 8.058 in green
• 8.071 green and white gems
• 8.124 At any rate here the light was greener,
• 11.004 it had been green
• 11.007 The mountain’s sides were green with woods
• 12.022 in a spout of green
• 12.091 The dragon has withered all the pleasant green,
• 12.096 green as grass,
• 14.031 to the green shores of the lake.
• 15.044 They bore with them the green banner of the Elvenking
• 18.053 and darkly green at the nearer edge
• 19.027 But the land was green
• 19.032 Look at last on meadows green

I am gobsmacked by how rare this word is in our story! Etymonline.com says:

from PIE *bhle-was “light-colored, blue, blond, yellow,” from root *bhel- (1) “to shine, flash, burn,” also “shining white” and forming words for bright colors.

Definitely sky colors, and definitely slippery to modern English speakers — but I’ve seen the sky be salmon, gold, white, so very blue that it makes me weep. Now I’m fascinated to look at all the color words. After the poetry words.

• 1.007 He had a tall pointed blue hat,
• 1.017 and lasses going off into the Blue for mad adventures?
• 1.026 with a blue beard
• 1.038 both with blue hoods,
• 1.040 and they both swept off their blue hoods
• 1.092 Gandalf struck a blue light on the end of his magic staff,
• 3.013 and blue.
• 3.050 blue sky
• 4.002 where things were blue
• 4.035 into a tower of blue glowing smoke,
• 4.041 now it was bright as blue flame
• 5.035 in a blue face
• 6.064 Then he set one alight with bright blue fire,
• 6.064 one in blue flames,
• 7.116 green, blue, red, silver-grey, yellow, white;
• 8.106 by the tip of a blue hood sticking out at the top.
• 11.022 but of what lay beyond the blue distance,
• 15.044 and the blue banner of the Lake,
• 18.053 blue

More muttering going on than I had imagined! Apparently this one is nearly the four thousandth most common word in the Project Gutenberg corpus.

• 2.031 and Thorin muttered something about supper,
• 2.036 and muttering,
• 5.033 Mouthless mutters.
• 7.083 and muttered:
• 8.068 he muttered,
• 8.126 he kept on muttering
• 9.033 they muttered.
• 10.012 where they sat or lay muttering
• 15.034 and they muttered
• 17.035 muttering

We do already have mouthful, since we broadly didn’t lemmatize in the first go-round, but now that I’m adding common words, here it is again in context of other mouths!

• 1.090 who was wagging his mouth
• 1.100 and when Bilbo tried to open his mouth to ask a question,
• 1.100 till Bilbo shut his mouth tight with a snap.
• 1.110 so that he forgot to keep his mouth shut.
• 2.046 “Shut yer mouth!”
• 2.059 “He wouldn’t make above a mouthful,”
• 2.103 so shut yer mouth!” said Bert.
• 4.034 with his mouth open.
• 5.033 Mouthless mutters.
• 5.056 in his mouth;
• 5.130 The cry brought Bilbo’s heart to his mouth,
• 5.148 Bilbo’s heart jumped into his mouth.
• 7.092 in their mouths,
• 7.153 and put his hands to his mouth
• 8.142 At that Thorin shut his mouth
• 9.003 and at the far end were gates before the mouth of a huge cave
• 9.018 beyond the steep slope out of which the main mouth opened.
• 9.026 in his mouth,
• 10.006 There it had a wide mouth with stony clifflike gates at either side
• 10.007 Not far from the mouth of the Forest River
• 11.038 a yawning mouth leading

Poor Gollum has only six.

• 2.080 in his teeth for that,
• 4.033 and all his soldiers gnashed their teeth, clashed their shields,
• 5.032 Teeth!
• 5.032 teeth!
• 5.033 Toothless bites,
• 5.070 goblins’ teeth,
• 6.082 and gnashed their teeth;
• 12.072 my teeth are swords,
• 14.030 but the Master ground his chattering teeth.

Fish, dwarves, eagles, houses, Smaug himself, things on the borders of the Desolation of the Dragon, the thrush, Roäc, ravens, and bats!

• 5.033 Wingless flutters,
• 6.074 But, funny little birds, they had no wings!
• 6.082 the dark rush of their beating wings smote them to the floor
• 7.002 and cling between his wings.
• 7.008 May the wind under your wings bear you
• 7.034 and its two long wings.
• 12.014 with wings folded like an immeasurable bat,
• 12.016 Smaug stirred a wing,
• 12.029 beating his great wings
• 12.072 my wings a hurricane,
• 12.090 it silently spread its wings
• 14.011 beneath the awful beating of his wings.
• 14.021 and silvered his great wings.
• 14.040 among all things with wings
• 15.004 Then he fluttered his wings
• 15.013 Before long there was a fluttering of wings,
• 15.013 slowly flapped his wings,
• 15.021 and strong of wing,
• 17.040 so dense that no light could be seen between their wings.