quote:

J.R.R. Tolkien

Did you know that J.R.R. Tolkien immortalised a number of local myths and place names from Syddjurs in his literary masterpieces The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion?

Tolkien was a linguist at Oxford University and studied Jutland's oldest history through his passion for languages, cartography and Old Norse texts, which he also translated into English.

In his search for the origins of the English folk, Tolkien spent much of his professional life researching the history and language of the oldest Jutes. He became so fascinated by Jutland's history that he ended up learning Danish, just so he could read the old writings by Saxo and Aggersen among others.

Tolkien regarded Jutland as a lost mythical kingdom which history had disappeared throughout the time. His lifelong research led him to conclude that the original Jutes emigrated to the British Isles, where they established a new Jutlandic region in Kent.

Toggerbo

You are now on the outskirts of the abandoned village of Toggerbo, which is mentioned for the first time in the 1.400s. A tokke denotes a piece of land outside the village's measured land, which is why many believe that the name Toggerbo can be freely translated into the place outside the country's law and order.

When the agricultural land became too poor during the 19th century, the villagers left after which Toggerbo stood empty for many years. Only in recent times have people moved back to the area again. The actual landscape around the village has been sacred since the Bronze Age, as both the Bronze Age tombs Trehoje not far from here and the sacred springs in the area testify.

The name Toggerbo may have helped inspire Tolkien with the name Tookland, home of the Took clan.

The Tooks

In Tolkiens Middle-earth the Took clan is among the more dominant of the Hobbit clans, known to be more adventurous, foolhardy and irreverent than the rest of the Hobbits. Which correlates well with the fact that a tokke is also an older Danish friendly insult used about a person who behaves in a silly or foolish manner.

Bilbo Baggin's mother was of the Took clan and Peregrin "Pippin" Took, who participates in Frodo's epic journey in The Lord of the Rings, is a full-blooded Took.

Pippin is described in the trilogy as slightly immature, silly and unlucky, and as an ongoing annoyance to Gandalf, who amongst other things calls Pippin "a fool of a Took".

Tolkien described Tookland and The Shire as picturesque and scenic with its hilly landscape, rippling streams and small villages inhabited by the hobbits. Tolkien never visited Syddjurs, which can seem strange, when you walk through the hills at Toggerbo, where you will witness a landscape reminiscent of Tookland in The Shire in Tolkien's books.

indigi posted:

what's the name for that syntax Tolkien uses in battle/dramatic scenes where he puts the descriptor before the described, ie "fey, he seemed" or "swift was Fingolfin"

I remember reading he did it cause it was a common feature in old English battle poetry

Edgar Allen Ho posted:

It might be because old english used the German thing where the verb comes first?

My latest tolkien kick has me wanting to order an oe textbook just as a hobby

feedmegin posted:

The German thing is the verb comes last isn't it?

But yeah it could just be a poetic thing. Messing with word order to emphasise different things in that context is a well known, well, thing.

indigi posted:

what's the name for that syntax Tolkien uses in battle/dramatic scenes where he puts the descriptor before the described, ie "fey, he seemed" or "swift was Fingolfin"

I remember reading he did it cause it was a common feature in old English battle poetry

quote:

Hige sceal þē heardra, heorte þē cēnre,
mōd sceal þē māre, þē ūre mægen lytlað.

Edgar Allen Ho posted:

RandolphCarter posted:

And he did, that’s why he’s the king.

quote:

About This Content
The Sindarin VO DLC adds even more authenticity to the game experience by having the Elves speak in Sindarin, the Elvish language created by J. R. R Tolkien.

quote:

J.R.R. Tolkien
Did you know that J.R.R. Tolkien immortalised a number of local myths and place names from Syddjurs in his literary masterpieces The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion?
Tolkien was a linguist at Oxford University and studied Jutland's oldest history through his passion for cartography, the Scandinavian languages and Old Norse texts, which he also translated into English. Tolkien regarded Jutland as a lost mythical kingdom which history had disappeared throughout the time.

His lifelong research led him to conclude that the original Jutes emigrated to the British Isles, where they established a new Jutlandic region in Kent.
In Tolkien's own mythology, Middle-earth is divided by the River Aros. The sea which separates Syddjurs from Samso and Tune in the East, and the East Jutland Coast to the West, is called Aarhus Bay today, but the viking name for Aarhus is Aros.

Frodo
Here by the shores of Kalø Vig stands one of Denmark's most beautiful castle ruins. Built by the Danish king Erik Menved after his victory in the Jutland Peasant Uprising in 1313. For centuries, the castle has been a symbol of the monarchy's presence in Jutland.
The Danish monarchy has had a great influence on all of Scandinavia and Northern
Europe. The line of Danish kings dates even further back than Gorm the Old and the Jellinge Dynasty. The Beowulf poem tells of Danish kings in the 5th century AD, who at this time ruled Denmark from the Royal Hall in Lejre. This story caught Tolkien's atten-tion.

As part of his research, Tolkien studied Denmark's earliest royal families. His extensive knowledge of the Danish Iron Age and Viking families eventually formed the framework for Tolkien's own tales. One of the ancient legendary Danish kings in the mythical Scyldingas family line is Frode Fredegod. In the Anglo-Saxon sources Frode is called Frodo. He may possibly have been the name-sake for Tolkien's hobbit Frodo Baggings.

The letter from the Crown Princess
J.R.R. Tolkien's relationship with the Danish Royals suddenly became more close and contemporary in 1969, when he received a letter from none other than Crown Princess Magrethe I of Denmark. The Crown Princess wrote about her great fascination with his works, whic she first read in her youth. She explained that she too had always loved fairy tales, sagas and legends, and believed that Tolkien had written a series of new fairy tales that were at least as good as the classics. The letter also contained the princess's own drawings of the Lord of the Rings.
Tolkien replied telling the princess that she drew his characters with just the right childlike wisdom. He highlighted the illustrations to his own son as some of the best depictions of his work. At the new release of The Lord of the Rings in 1977, the now Danish queen was therefore asked if she would like to illustrate the trilogy. Queen Margrethe said yes, provided she was credited as Ingahild Grathmer. A pseudonym which contains letters from the queen's full name: Margrethe Alexandrine Pórhildur Ingrid.

Queen Magrethe is today an honorary member of The Tolkien Society and has repeatedly exhibited her collection of personal illustrations of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. She has also created plays for the performance of Tolkien's stories in theatres across Denmark.

quote:

Norsemen called it the Peace of Froði. No man injured another, even although he was confronted with the slayer of his father or brother, free or in bonds. Neither were there any thieves or robbers, so that a gold ring lay untouched for a long time on the Heath of Jelling.

Prof. Tolkien posted:

Bilbo. The actual H. name was Bilba, as explained above.

Frodo. On the other hand the H. name was Maura. This was not a common name in the Shire, but I think it probably once had a meaning, even if that had long been forgotten. No word maur- can be found in the contemporary C.S., but again recourse to comparison with the language of Rohan is enlightening. In that language there was an adjective maur-, no longer current at this time, but familiar in verse or higher styles of speech; it meant 'wise, experienced'. I have, there- fore, rendered Maura by Frodo, an old Germanic name, that appears to contain the word frod which in ancient English corresponded closely in meaning to Rohan maur.

Baggins. H. Labingi. It is by no means certain that this name is really connected with C.S. labin 'a bag'; but it was believed to be so, and one may compare Labin-nec 'Bag End' as the name of the residence of Bungo Baggins (Bunga Labingi). I have accordingly rendered the name Labingi by Baggins, which gives, I think, a very close equivalent in readily appreciable modern terms.

keep punching joe posted:

Do game developers just shovel poo poo out the door without bothering to test it these days?

keep punching joe posted:

Do game developers just shovel poo poo out the door without bothering to test it these days?

Zesty posted:

Anyone could have told them, though, that this character that is repulsive in all ways, would make a bad central character for a game. And that a company that has no experience in this would be a bad choice.

Cease to Hope posted:

plenty of games have protagonists that are weird monsters, antiheroes, or both.

Cease to Hope posted:

the developers are experienced, and even if they weren't, there's only one way to start becoming experienced.

Cease to Hope posted:

it wasn't that it was buggy or broken, it was just a bad game. it happens.

Zesty posted:

Come on.

Oh there are monstrous heroes in games. They're just out of frame over here. Nevermind they did their damndest to try and cutesy him up compared to every other adaptation.

Actually, this company was experienced. And even if they weren't, how are they supposed to get experienced?

Also holy poo poo it's the Deponia folks? The game series where you can sell a black woman into slavery because it's convenient to the protagonist? With the awful writing in general? loving christ.

Zesty posted:

Yes, I'm the one being weird about this mess.

skasion posted:

Never bet against Tolkien knowing about Scyldings. John Rateliff in History of the Hobbit agrees with this source for the name of Frodo, citing the following fun passage about King Frodo’s mythical reign:

He also mentions that there is another legendary character by this name: Elgfrothi, or Moose-Frodo, an outlaw and bandit cursed to be a moose from the waist down because his mother conceived him with a werebear whose meat she was then forced to eat!

Zesty posted:

Anyone could have told them, though, that this character that is repulsive in all ways, would make a bad central character for a game. And that a company that has no experience in this would be a bad choice.

Zesty posted:

You're embarrassing defense of it against all reason

Zesty posted:

Yes, I'm the one being weird about this mess.