Hammond and Scull point out in
Reader's Companion that
Glóin means
(the) glowing one, while
Gimli means
Little Fire or
Spark. (Notes for “Council of Elrond”) Since Dwarves don’t use their right names in public, perhaps that means his name translates as “Sparky”.
I recently saw that
Óin means “Shy” – and in
The Hobbit, Óin never has a line of his own. In fact, even when he steps into Bag End with his brother Glóin, it could be that Óin never says a word while he bows in greeting. I imagine he shouted with the others while lost in Mirkwood before being captured by the spiders; but nowhere does Tolkien mention that Óin says anything. (Check for yourself.) Óin was killed by the Watcher in the Water at the West Gate of Moria.
As for Glóin – well, “(The) Glowing One” and Óin are the best at making
fire. I thought that was neat.
So I decided to check all the names and match them against characteristics.
- Thorin “Bold”. That’s appropriate for Thorin. Come to think of it, that’s one of his chief characteristics.
- Dwalin “One lying in a trance” or “dawdler”; from dvalen “to sleep” and dvelja “to delay”. When Bilbo scuttles out of Bag End without a pocket-handkerchief, he explains, “I didn’t get your note until after 10:45 to be precise.” Dwalin responds, “Don’t be precise, and don’t worry!” He seems very laid-back throughout the tale. He is also the longest-lived Dwarf Tolkien tells us about: he lived to be 340 years old, much longer than the average 260 years. Ironically, Dwalin was the first to arrive at Bag End. Perhaps they sent him first to be sure he showed up.
- Balin Balin has no Norse etymology, but it rhymes with Dwalin. However in Sanskrit it means “Mighty Soldier”. Besides serving as look-out, Balin was the first to check on Bilbo when the trolls caught him (and first to be captured), and he was the only Dwarf to accompany him (partway) down the passage when Bilbo first entered Smaug’s sumptuous “bedroom”. It was Balin that seized the boat in the Enchanted Stream before it floated away, and Balin who led the Dwarves in their attack on the spiders after Bilbo rescued them. It was also Balin who resolved to help Bilbo when his torch went out in Smaug’s lair on his third visit to the hoard. Those things might be characteristic of a “Mighty Soldier”. His attempt to retake Moria was remarkably courageous. Balin was only four years younger than Dáin Ironfoot, and like Dáin may have fought in the Battle of Azanulbizar.
- K*li “Wedge” or “One who uses a wedge”. The only mention of a wedge is to the door of the secret passage into the Mountain; perhaps K*li put it there. However, when Bilbo complains, “Confusticate and bebother these dwarves!”, K*li and F*li show up “before he could say knife”. Maybe that’s a kind of wedge.
- F*li “File” or “Filer”. I’m pretty sure “file” refers to the tool, not a modern electronic collection or a collection of papers. I can’t find any mention of a file in The Hobbit. However when they came to Lake-town and the guards questioning them said their Master was at feast, an impatient F*li burst out, “Then all the more reason for taking us to him… Now make haste and let us have no more words, or your master may have something to say to you.” Perhaps that is a little grating.
- Dori “Borer” or “auger-man”. Thorin remarked that Dori was strongest. Dori is also mentioned carrying Bilbo most often (and when he hit his head and was lost in the Goblin-tunnels), and helped Bilbo up the tree when the Wolves attacked; but I’m not sure how that might relate to an “Auger” or “Drill”. Exiting the Front Gate of Erebor, he remarked that he felt as if Smaug’s “eyes were on the back of my head.” That might relate to a “drilling glare”, but I can’t find anything else.
- Nori “Little shaver, small bit of something”. The only things I can find about Nori are that he and Dori shared Bilbo’s regard for regular meals, and he teased Dori about “leaving the Burglar behind” when they scrambled up trees to escape Wolves. It sounds like a nickname his father or kinfolk might have given him (and probably was); the book does not say if he was smaller than the other Dwarves.
- Ori “Violent”. I can’t find anything in particular about Ori, and nothing “violent”. He was later the scribe who recorded the ruin of Balin’s ill-fated attempt to retake Moria, where he met a violent end.
- Óin and Glóin are already covered.
- Bifur “Beaver”; by extension, “Hard Worker”. His name is an English homonym. Bifur and Bomber fought hardest against the trolls; but later, when the Dwarves were released from the barrels near Lake-town, Bifur was particularly lazy and refused to help Bilbo release the others: maybe his name was given in irony.
- Bofur “Grumbler”. There is a connection to his name: at Beorn’s house, Bofur tripped over a late-sleeping Bilbo, “and he was grumbling about it”. And like his cousin Bifur, he refused to help Bilbo release the others from the barrels. (All the Dwarves grumbled though, especially Bombur.)
- Bombur “Fat”. Enough said.
03-18-2015, 08:31 PM
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