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Tolkien's "Special" Words

Eljorahir said:
Hue and Cry
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This short opening scene from Hue and Cry seems to end with a bit of political commentary (80 years ahead of its time). Not wanting to lead us down any rabbit holes, but I thought it was too funny to be left unshared. Of course, all are free to empathize with either the master or the youngling.
 
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The meanings of fat and waxed by themselves aren’t very noteworthy. However, I thought the pairing of the two made for a very artful phrase. So, relegated to the list it is.

waxed fat The Children of Hurin: "Now the power and malice of Glaurung grew apace, and he waxed fat, and he gathered Orcs to him, and ruled as a dragon-king, and all the realm of Nargothrond that had been was laid under him.", [Meaning: grew large.]

I wonder if Tolkien borrowed his waxed fat from Deuteronomy:

“But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.”
 
Wax as a verb (as you note, means to grow large) is used all the time along with its opposite wane.
We use it to describe the changing appearance (phases) of the moon. (Venus waxes and wanes also; i.e. goes through phases)
A moon moving from just past new-- as a sliver in the evening western sky--- to full is called a waxing moon.
Once it past full (like a nanosecond past 😄) it begins waning (getting smaller) until it again appears as a sliver in the early morning eastern sky.
A "new moon" has it's dark side totally facing us and even tho' it IS there you normally can't see it.



If the atmosphere is "just right" and the position of the moon relative earth is "just right" and the sunlight still hitting the earth is "just right" you may be able to see the whole darkened disk along with the crescents (evening or morning) lit by "earthshine". It is quite beautiful. (The pic doesn't do it justice).
**Earthshine is a faint shine on the dark side of the Moon, which stems from the reflection of sunlight from the Earth. (Courtesy of Sky and Telescope)



Non astronomically "wax" can be used to describe how someone expresses himself in a very full manner, as in "He waxed poetic".
 
Never having looked it up before, I always pictured Galadriel's "palfrey" being a fancy/dainty white carriage of some sort. Silly me; it's a horse of course.

palfrey The Grey Havens: "But Galadriel sat upon a white palfrey and was robed all in glimmering white, like clouds about the Moon; for she herself seemed to shine with a soft light.", [Definition: a type of horse that was highly valued in the Middle Ages. It was lighter-weight, smooth gaited, and suitable for riding over long distances. Consequently, it was popular with nobles, ladies, and highly ranked knights for riding, hunting, and ceremonial use.]

"My Ladye's Palfrey"
By John Frederick Herring I (1795–1865)
 
I added three more terms.

Tolkien's use of "temple or fane" seems redundant. Maybe I'm missing some nuance of fane.

fane Akallabeth: "…and it was named the Meneltarma, the Pillar of Heaven, and upon it was a high place that was hallowed to Eru Iluvatar, and it was open and unroofed, and no other temple or fane was there in the land of the Numenoreans.", [Archaic meaning: temple.]

hard by Akallabeth: "At the feet of the mountain were built the tombs of the Kings, and hard by upon a hill was Armenelos, fairest of cities…", [Definition: in close proximity to.]

nill Appendix A, ‘The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen’: "There is now no ship that would bear me hence, and I must indeed abide the Doom of Men, whether I will or I nill: the loss and the silence.", [Archaic definition: will not, to be unwilling. (Not to be confused with the more common ‘nil’, meaning nothing or zero.)]
 
bade The King of the Golden Hall “Then my lord bade you choose any horse that you would and be gone; and to the wonder of all you took Shadowfax in your insolence.” [Definition: past tense of bid or order]
 
Bosses The King of the Golden Hall: “Helms too they chose, and round shields: their bosses were overlaid with gold and set with gems, green and red and white.” [Definition: a stud on the center of a shield.]
 
Thanks @Starbrow .

I added a bit extra to boss. Shield boss has its own wikipedia page with some interesting history.

bade The King of the Golden Hall: “Then my lord bade you choose any horse that you would and be gone; and to the wonder of all you took Shadowfax in your insolence.” [Definition: past tense of bid or order.]

boss The King of the Golden Hall: “Helms too they chose, and round shields: their bosses were overlaid with gold and set with gems, green and red and white.” [Definition: a stud on the center of a shield. The boss was originally designed to deflect blows from the center of round shields, though they also provided a place to mount the shield's grip.]

froward The King of the Golden Hall: “Faithful heart may have froward tongue.” [Definition: willfully contrary; not easily managed.]

girt The King of the Golden Hall: “Slender and tall she was in her white robe girt with silver; but strong she seemed and stern as steel, a daughter of kings.” [Definition: past participle of gird. To encircle or bind with belt or band.]

A Lombard shield boss from northern Italy, 7th century (Metropolitan Museum of Art)


Two wooden round shields survived at Thorsberg moor (3rd century AD). Including a boss in the center.
 
I added shingle. Thanks @Starbrow .

shingle The Voice of Saruman: “At the rim of the shattered bowl there lay vast mounds and slopes, like the shingles cast up by a great storm; and beyond them the green and tangled valley ran up into the long ravine between the dark arms of the mountains.” [Definition: small, round stones that cover a beach or the ground by the edge of a river.]

Shingle Beach in Hillsburn, Nova Scotia, Canada
 
Two more. Thanks for the amaze @Squint-eyed Southerner .

I wonder if it's a unique peculiarity that amaze and amazement can mean precisely the same thing. I couldn't think of any other examples.

amaze The Passing of the Grey Company: “Then Halbarad lifted a great horn, and the blast of it echoed in Helm’s Deep: and with that they leapt away, riding down the Coomb like thunder, while all the men that were left on Dike or Burg stared in amaze.”, [Definition: (used atypically here as a noun without the suffix “ment”), the quality or state of being astonished, same as amazement.]

noontide Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age: “So great was the power and splendor of the Numenoreans in the noontide of their realm that the servants of Sauron would not withstand them…”, [Definition: high point, climax.]
 
I added one word to the list today:

firmament Ainulindale: "…Iluvatar arose…Then he raised up both his hands, and in one chord, deeper than the Abyss, higher than the Firmament, piercing as the light of the eye of Iluvatar the Music ceased.", [Modern Meaning: the vault or arch of the sky. In biblical cosmology: the firmament is the vast solid dome created by God during the Genesis creation narrative to separate the primal sea into upper and lower portions so that the dry land could appear.]

I wonder if Tolkien’s “The Walls of Night” is more or less the same as “the Firmament”.


A depiction of the early Hebrew conception of the cosmos. The firmament (raqia), Sheol, and Tehom are depicted.



The sun, planets and angels and the firmament. Woodcut dated 1475.
 
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One word added today. This is one of my favorite orcish retorts in the story; it's both menacing and witty at the same time.

string The Uruk-hai: "’Untie our legs!’ said Merry. They felt the Orc’s arms trembling violently…’Untie your legs? I’ll untie every string in your bodies.’”, [Archaic Definition: a cord (such as a tendon or ligament) of an animal body.]

From Doctor Strangelove:
British Person: “The string in my leg’s gone.”
American: “The what?”
 
Another day. Another word.

Somehow, I’ve lived all these years thinking manger is a synonym for barn or stable. Imagine my embarrassment!

manger Minas Tirith: "Shadowfax lifted up his head and neighed, so that the stable shook, and they covered their ears. Then they took their leave, seeing the manger was well filled. ‘And now for our manger,’ said Beregond, and he led Pippin back to the citadel…", [Definition #1: a trough or open box in a stable designed to hold feed or fodder for livestock. Definition #2: a sumptuous meal or a banquet, also figuratively.]

So, given the two definitions, Berogond could be joking in two different ways at the same time: “And now for our food trough” and/or “And now for our sumptuous meal”.

Definition #2 seems to have some sarcasm built in.
 
Quibble.... Beregond has never struck me as the sarcastic type, nor is Pippin such a one.
Perhaps better to describe his reply as droll.
 
Deimos said:
Quibble.... Beregond has never struck me as the sarcastic type, nor is Pippin such a one.
Perhaps better to describe his reply as droll.
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Yep, I think you're right. I suppose droll humor is typically more friendly than sarcastic humor. And, the Pippin/Beregond interactions are some of the friendliest in the story, perhaps.
 
Eljorahir said:
Yep, I think you're right. I suppose droll humor is typically more friendly than sarcastic humor. And, the Pippin/Beregond interactions are some of the friendliest in the story, perhaps.
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They are some of my most-est favorite-est scenes in all three books. 🙂
 
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The Three Bells of Mordor: clang, peal, and knell.
(I like it when they come in 3’s.)
(Assuming I didn’t miss any bells. Maybe there’s more.)

Clang is surprisingly interesting. I wonder if Tolkien gave the Watchers “vulture–faces” just so he could plant this little hidden wordplay with clang.

The Watchers clanged (applying definition #2.)
Then the bell clanged (applying definition #1.)

clang The Tower of Cirith Ungol: "…he [Sam] saw the Two Watchers…The heads had vulture-faces, and on their great knees were laid clawlike hands…And from those evil heads there came a high shrill cry that echoed in the towering walls before him. Far up above, like an answering signal, a harsh bell clanged a single stroke.", [Definition #1: a loud metallic ringing sound. Definition #2: a harsh cry of a bird.]

peal The Land of Shadow: “Away behind them, now high above on the mountain-side, loomed the Tower of Cirith Ungol, its stones glowing dully. Suddenly its harsh bell clanged again, and then broke into a shattering peal.”, [Definition: a loud ringing of bells.]

knell Mount Doom: “The clatter of his precious pans as they fell down into the dark was like a death-knell to his heart.”, [Definition: a stroke or sound of a bell especially when rung slowly (as for a death, funeral, or disaster). Also an indication of the end or the failure of something.]


The clang of a vulture…

The clang of a fell beast? ...
 
Thanks @Starbrow for hither. I added two more to make it a set of three.

Most of the time it seems hither, thither, and whither are synonyms with here, there, and where, respectively. But, maybe this is an oversimplification.

hither Journey to the Crossroads: “Frodo could hear its stony voice coming up through the silence; and beside it on the hither side a road went winding down like a pale ribbon, down into chill grey mists that no gleam of sunset touched.” [Definition: situated on this side. Or: to this place, here.]

thither The Field of Cormallen: “…so the creatures of Sauron, orc or troll or beast spell-enslaved, ran hither and thither mindless; and some slew themselves, or cast themselves in pits, or fled wailing back to hide in holes and dark lightless places far from hope.” [Definition: to that place, there.]

whither The Field of Cormallen: “’I would bear you,’ answered Gwaihir, ‘whither you will, even were you made of stone.’” [Definition: to what place, where.]
 
Today, I added one more word to the list at the beginning of this thread.

Beren gets off to a somewhat rocky start with his future father-in-law…

baseborn Of Beren and Luthien: "But Thingol spoke slowly, saying: ‘Death you have earned with these words; and death you should find suddenly, had I not sworn an oath in haste; of which I repent, baseborn mortal, who in the realm of Morgoth has learnt to creep in secret as his spies and thralls.’ Then Beren answered: ‘Death you can give me earned or unearned; but the names I will not take from you of baseborn, nor spy, nor thrall…’", [Definition: of humble birth, deficient in character or status.]

Beren and Luthien in the Court of Thingol and Melian by Donato Giancola
(He doesn't look very baseborn to me.)
 
I added greatheart to the list at the beginning of this thread.

This one’s going in my basket of probable Easter Eggs in the story. Earlier in this thread I posted about muckraker and its linkages to John Bunyan’s 1678 story The Pilgrim’s Progress. And, I was surprised to find myself right back at the same story because of Tolkien’s use of greatheart.

I may look into this one further, but for now I’ll keep it short:

greatheart The Field of Cormallen: "…a minstrel of Gondor stood forth…’Lo! Lords and knights and men of valour unashamed, kings and princes, and fair people of Gondor, and Riders of Rohan, and ye sons of Elrond, and Dunedain of the North, and Elf and Dwarf, and greathearts of the Shire, and all free folk of the West, now listen to my lay. For I will sing to you of Frodo of the Nine Fingers and the Ring of Doom.’”, [Meaning in other literature: Greatheart is the hero of the second part of The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan. Possible meaning within the final chapters of The Lord of the Rings: Greatheart is the Pilgrims’ guide and protector as they journey toward the Celestial City. The story includes a stay at an inn, a conversation with a friendly inn-keeper, the defeat of enemies allowing the release of prisoners from cells, and the conclusion of the story with characters crossing over water to reach their heavenly destination. In LOTRs this sounds reminiscent of The Prancing Pony, Barliman, The Scouring, the releases from The Lockholes at Michel Delving, and Frodo’s final voyage.]

Mr. Great-Heart attacks Giant Grim
 
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