Re: Possible self-mockery in LotR?

Bobbie Sellers <bliss-sf4ever@dslextreme.com> writes:

On 10/20/24 22:34, The Horny Goat wrote:

On Thu, 17 Oct 2024 07:54:38 -0500, "Michael F. Stemper"
<michael.stemper@gmail.com> wrote:
 

In LotR, Book V, Chapter 8, Aragorn says (in part) the following to
Meriadoc:
>
   [...] If your pack has not been found, then you must send for
   the herb-master of this House. And he will tell you that he
   did not know that the herb you desire had any virtues, but
   that it is called _westmansweed_ by the vulgar, and _galenas_
   by the noble, and other names in other tongues more learned,
   and after adding a few half-forgotten rhymes that he does not
   understand, he will regretfully inform you that there is none
   in the House, and he will leave you to reflect on the history
   of tongues. [...]
>
Whew! That's quite a sentence.
>
Is it possible that JRRT was indulging in a bit of self-mockery here,
given his main area of study, as well as one of his reasons for writing
LotR in the first place, was "the history of tongues"?
>

An alternate explanation is that JRRT was being paid by the word....

>
That would be a losing deal for a publisher hiring a
Philogist. There is always a longer and more confusing way
to say so.
I think the self-deprecatory jib at the learned is
is just that for the sake of humor.

bliss

Actually, I think Aragorn was simply poking fun at the herb-master. A
few pages before, Aragorn had asked for "kingsfoil" to treat the Black
Breath in Faramir, and:

     Thereupon the herb-master entered. 'Your Lordship asked for
   "kingsfoil", as the rustics name it,' he said; or "athelas" in the
   noble tongue, or to those who know somewhat of the Valinorean...'

     'I do so,' said Aragorn, 'and I care not whether you say "asea
   aranion" or "kingsfoil", so long as you have some.'

The herb-master goes on to babble some more, even reciting a verse about
the "black breath" until:

   'Then in the name of the king, go and find some old man of less lore
   and more wisdom who keeps some in his house!' cried Gandalf.

  -Don-