Re: (TFT) orcs goblins.....

["grabowski" <grabowski@erols.com>]

> Dear JPB, in Tolkien orcs and goblins are synonymous. Goblin is the term
> used in the hobbit (though mountain orcs get mentioned at one point,
> something about being bigger and nastier or something) and orc in LOTR.
> Pre-tolkien, the word Orc was used for a sea monster in old english/norse,
> I htink , hence the latin name of the killer whale is Orcinus orca.
> I was alomst tempted to toss orcs out altogether from my various worlds a
> while back but they're so firmly entrenched that it would be a tad
> difficult.
>
Orca is of course associated with the killer whale.  I believe Orc is either
Latin or Greek for demon or killer.  How appropriate!  Related to this word
history is the word hob.  We all know of the hobgoblin of fantasy but if you
break the word down it looks like this.  Hob in Anglo-Saxon or German means
elf and goblin (Origin uncertain) is historically a evil mischevious spirit
that haunted some French town in the 12th century.  So basically a hobgoblin
is an evil elf spirit.  So in truth a hobgoblin is an evil spirit rather
physical but it eventually gets transferred in the later Middle Ages into
the ugly, physical brute we  know of today.  As far as Tolkien's hobbits, it
more than likely means little elf unlike the typical tall elf from Nordic
myth.

Yours in Cidri and a good dictionary,
Justin

=====
Post to the entire list by writing to tft@brainiac.com.
Unsubscribe by mailing to majordomo@brainiac.com with the message body
"unsubscribe tft"