tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7548876397286393746.post356654244104241492..comments2024-03-22T08:47:33.246-04:00Comments on Alas, not me: Etymology is Destiny, Saruman, SarumanThomas Hillmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11645380693097266173noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7548876397286393746.post-50223660272820737482018-01-08T12:49:48.524-05:002018-01-08T12:49:48.524-05:00It looks like Fëanor didn't get the name until...It looks like Fëanor didn't get the name until 1950-1, and the composition of the version of the Annals of Aman published in Morgoth's Ring. But Curufin was called that all the way back to the Book of Lost Tales. And I just noticed that in Old English Quenta fragment from Shaping of M-e (which I think predates The Hobbit), Curufin is called "Cyrefinn Fácensearo" from: "fácen 'deceit, guile, wickedness' (a word of wholly bad meaning); searu 'skill, cunning' (also with bad meaning, 'plot, snare, treachery'); fácensearu 'treachery'".Shawnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04728500226938929498noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7548876397286393746.post-86003514448085811842018-01-07T21:44:45.070-05:002018-01-07T21:44:45.070-05:00It seems that in the early Quenya Lexicon, kuru ha...It seems that in the early Quenya Lexicon, kuru had an association with 'magic', something we can also see in the quote from the Blicking Homilies, since 'searwa' are 'devices' a wizard might use. Even the use of 'devices' there makes me think of Galadriel saying to Sam that he uses the same term for what the elves do and the 'devices of the enemy.' But kuru in the QL doesn't seem to have had that negative connotation since there is a note indicating that it is used 'of the good magic'. It would be interesting to see when it starts to shade negatively. When is Feanor first called Curufinwe?Thomas Hillmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11645380693097266173noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7548876397286393746.post-89468531672735882332018-01-03T12:51:14.332-05:002018-01-03T12:51:14.332-05:00I've just noticed that the equivalent Quenya n...I've just noticed that the equivalent Quenya noun curwë (or kurwë) meaning "craft", "skill of the hand" or "technical skill and invention", also only seems to appear in the names of characters who turn out bad. It appears in Saruman's original Maia name Curumo and his Sindarin name Curunír, as well as the name Curufinwë, which was the father-name of both Fëanor and his son Curufin. The entry for that root in the Etymologies also includes a Noldorin word meaning "wile" or "guile", which I see above.Shawnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04728500226938929498noreply@blogger.com