jim@randvax.UUCP (Jim Gillogly) (08/17/85)
There I was, reading Snorri Sturluson's "The Prose Edda" (Translated from
Icelandic by Jean I. Young; originally written in the 13th century) and
minding my own business, when I ran across the following section, where
Snorri is quoting from the Sibyl's Vision:
There many dwarfs
resembling men
they made in earth
as Durin said.
And the sibyl gives these as their names:
Nyi, Nidhi, (I'm using dh for a d with slash through it)
Nordhri, Sudhri,
Austri, Vestri,
Althjof, Dvalin,
Nar, Nain,
Niping, Dain,
Bifur, Bafur,
Bombor, Nori,
Ori, Onar,
Oin, Mjodhvitnir,
Vig and Ganndalf, [Footnote on Ganndalf: "Sorcerer-elf"]
Vinndalf, Thorin,
Fili, Kili,
Fundin, Vali,
Thror, Throin,
Threkk, Lit, Vit,
Nyr, Nyradh,
Rekk, Radhsvidh,
And these too are dwarfs and they live in rocks, but the above-
mentioned live in the earth:
Draupnir, Dogthvari,
Haur, Hugstari,
Hledhjolf, Gloin,
Dori, Ori,
Duf, Andvari,
Heptifili,
Har, Sviar.
The following, however, came from Svarin's grave-mound to
Aurvangar in Joruvellir, and from these have sprung Lovar; their
names are
Skirvir, Virvir,
Skafidh, Ai,
Alf, Ingi,
Eikinskjaldi, [Footnote on this says "With-oak-shield"]
Fal, Frosti,
Fidh, Ginnar.
------
There were footnotes on some of the others, but these were the only ones
that seemed to have meaning to Tolkien fans. So if any of you want to
write about more dwarves, here are some likely ones... Dennis McKiernan,
are you in need of any for your world?
Funny thing ... each time I read "The Hobbit" it seems that the dwarf
names are silly and invented for their alliteration and rhyming. Little
did I know!
--
Jim Gillogly
{decvax, vortex}!randvax!jim
jim@rand-unix.arpabarnett@ut-sally.UUCP (Lewis Barnett) (08/23/85)
> There I was, reading Snorri Sturluson's "The Prose Edda" (Translated from > Icelandic by Jean I. Young; originally written in the 13th century) and > minding my own business, when I ran across the following section, where > Snorri is quoting from the Sibyl's Vision: ...here followed a list of Dwarf names, many identical or very similar to the names Tolkien used for his dwarves. > Jim Gillogly > {decvax, vortex}!randvax!jim > jim@rand-unix.arpa For those interested in etymology, Lin Carter wrote a pretty interesting book about the Lord of the Rings trilogy; don't quote me, but I think the title was "Tolkien: Behind LOTR," or something like that. There is a chapter devoted entirely to names and where JRR got them (including the dwarf names mentioned in the referenced article above...) and one on great swords, etc. There's probably some stuff on heroic fantasy in general, and how it relates to the classic epics, but it's been seven or eight years since I read the book. No guarantees that it's still in print. I don't recall seeing it in stores lately. Lewis Barnett,CS Dept, Painter Hall 3.28, Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX 78712 -- barnett@ut-sally.ARPA, barnett@ut-sally.UUCP, {ihnp4,harvard,seismo,gatech,ctvax}!ut-sally!barnett
emery@gypsy.UUCP (08/26/85)
Oh, yes, shades of Freshman English!!! I made the same discovery when I was doing a paper on Tolkein's sources for Freshman Comp. The Lin Carter book was very helpful, some of my paper tended to be collaborative of the Carter book, rather than "original research", but what can you expect from a Freshman? I'll have to dig up this paper, and maybe post some of my "findings", but if you are interested in Tolkein's sources, there are some strong similarities with Gilgamesh. In fact, R. Silverberg has just published his telling of this legend. After I move, I'll list some more 'sources' from my paper. Dave Emery Siemens Research ...princeton!siemens!emery
platt@spar.UUCP (John Platt) (08/26/85)
If anyone is interested in the origin of many of the names in Lord of the Rings, you might want to track down "Languages of Middle-Earth" by Ruth Noel. Or "Mythology of Middle-Earth", also by Ruth Noel. She mentions the dwarf names, and other interesting stuff, too. john platt decwrl!spar!platt (UUCP) or platt@sri-kl (ARPA)