03-17-2002, 03:54 PM | #1 |
Elven Warrior
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The TRUE meaning of Bilbo
While searching through the dictionary today, i happened to glance at two entries for bilbo. Here they are:
bilbo(1)- usu. bilboes. A long iron bar fastened at one end by a lock, with sliding shackles. Bilboes were formerly used to confine the ankles of prisoners. bilbo (2)- Archaic a slender sword or rapier noted for the temper of its blade. The dictionary also said the words probably came from Bilbao, a city in Spain famous for its steel. I thought this was interesting and wanted to share it with the online community. |
03-17-2002, 04:52 PM | #2 |
The Insufferable
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Wow! That's really neat!
Now do you want to tell us the meaning of the word Orc?
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03-17-2002, 05:05 PM | #3 |
'Sober' Mullet Frosh
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Of course what is Bibo's name in Westron?
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03-17-2002, 06:17 PM | #4 |
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That is interesting. Neither of those definitions really makes me think of Bilbo though . . . I wonder if Tolkien knew?
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03-17-2002, 08:06 PM | #5 |
'Sober' Mullet Frosh
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Bilbo's name is meaningless check appendix F
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03-18-2002, 10:00 PM | #6 |
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Yes. Bilbo, Frodo, Peregrin,a nd most other hobbit names were all fairly meaningless.
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03-18-2002, 11:49 PM | #7 |
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Sarcastic and mean as ever Shannon, I congratulate you.
The archaic sense of Bilbo seems to fit, it reminds me of Sting. Though Wayfarer may find your information obvious, it was new at least to me. "Bilbo"'s not exactly "meaningless", which I suppose is what Shannon (Wayfarer) the Insufferable was getting at. It is an anglicisation of a Westron word of forgotton meaning. Bilbo Baggins's genuine Hobbitish name was Bilba Labingi. In Westron "a" was masculine and "o" and "e" were feminine, so Tolkien took the name of forgotton meaning (Bilba), and merely changed the ending letter. That's Tolkien's explanation anyway. I bet originally he simply chose Bilbo for a name because of the meaning set out by Treebeard's apprentice above.
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03-19-2002, 02:11 AM | #8 |
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That makes sense to me. And actually, Wayfarer, the hobbits' names weren't meaningless. They were all anglicized; in each case, the original Westron name had some meaning that Tolkien preserved when he translated the names into Old English equivalents. So if you spoke Old English, I guess the names would mean something to you.
These are what the names mean, as far as I can recall: Frodo = Maura = "wise from experience" Samwise = Banazir = "dim, halfwitted" Pippin = Razarnur (?) = something to do with apples Meriadoc = Kalimac = and Kali, his nickname, means "merry, happy" Peregrin actually means wanderer, I think (as in peregrine falcon).
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03-19-2002, 08:34 PM | #9 |
'Sober' Mullet Frosh
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Kalimac itself is meaningless just like Meriadoc is modern English, its derivative happens to mean Merry.
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03-20-2002, 05:13 PM | #10 |
The Insufferable
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They don't mean much of anything in modern english.
And any homonym's are strictly coincidental. Tolkien took word-forms that appealed to him and joined them with relevant translations. So 'maura', etc. Then he took words with similar meanings in older languages and altered them.
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03-20-2002, 05:43 PM | #11 |
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Orc is an actual word, it's a kind of Dolphin.
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03-20-2002, 06:12 PM | #12 |
The Insufferable
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I know. I Know. That's why I used it.
The word Orc in english and Orcs in tolkien are completely unrelated. Tolkein commented on it himself.
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03-20-2002, 08:41 PM | #13 | |||
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Here's a quote from Tolkien found in Morgoth's Ring, Myths Transformed:
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
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03-22-2002, 11:30 AM | #14 |
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I Like This Thread, its all about ME
I never realised the potential in my steelistic name. (no, I don't understand myself either). I also agree that my name is meaningless, but then again my creator never knew that I meant something in another language. By the way, won't it be weird when I become an elven warrior? I'll stop existing as a hobbit
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03-22-2002, 03:57 PM | #15 |
The Insufferable
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So that's waht happened to bilbo in Aman!
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03-23-2002, 08:58 PM | #16 |
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A bilbo is a traditional Coloniel toy which has a little wooden cup or pedestal on the end of a stick, and a ball on a string attached to the stick, you try to land the ball in the cup by tossing it in the air. (the ball, not the toy)
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03-24-2002, 02:03 PM | #17 | |
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Quote:
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04-05-2002, 01:51 AM | #18 | |
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Quote:
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04-21-2002, 09:27 PM | #19 |
Enting
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I once saw Bilbo on a web page for unusal baby names .
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12-05-2002, 06:26 AM | #20 | |
Elf Lord
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Bilbo the sword?
In the glossary of my 'complete works of Shakespeare' book it give 'Bilbo' as:
Quote:
Okay, not the last two perhaps!
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