Etymology
Dwarf:
From the middle English dwerg, dwerf;
from old English dweorg, dweoh, akin to the old high German twerg which
means dwarf (before 12 century). A small legendary manlike being
skilled as an artifaicer.
- Oxford English Dictionary
"To support the heavenly vault, the gods
stationed the strong dwarfs,
Nordri, Sudri, Astri, Westri at its four corners, bidding them sustain
it upon their shoulders, and from them the four points of the compass
received their present names of North, South, East, and West."
- H. A. Guerber The Norsemen (1994) page 6
"Those which were dark, treacherous, and cunning by
nature were
banished to Svart-alfa-heim, the home of the black dwarfs, situated
underground, whence they were never allowed to come forth during the
day, under penalty of being turned into stone. They were called Dwarfs,
Trolls, Gnomes, or Kobolds, and spent all their time and energy in
exploring the secret recesses of the earth. They collected gold,
silver, and precious stones, which they stowed away in secret crevices,
whence they could withdraw them at will."
-
H. A. Guerber The Norsemen (1994) page 10
"The dwarfs, were also known as trolls,
kobolds, brownies, goblins,
pucks, or Huldra folk, according to the country where they dwelt.
-
H. A. Guerber The Norsemen (1994) page 239
"... the Northern race fancied they
[Nightmares] were female dwarfs or
trolls, who crept out of the dark recesses of the earth to torment
them. All magic weapons in the North were said to be the work of the
dwarfs, the underground smiths,..."
-
H. A. Guerber The Norsemen (1994) page 362
Elf:
From middle English from old English aelf, akin to
the old Norse alfr
which is elf, and it is probably from the latin albus which means white
(before 12 century). Some have compared it to the Genii of the seasons
in Hindu Mythology. A small often mischievous fairy.
-
Oxford English Dictionary
"The remainder of these small creatures, including
all that were fair,
good, and useful, the gods called Fairies and Elves, and they sent them
to dwell in the airy realm of Alf-heim (home of the light-elves),
situated between heaven and earth, to attend to the plants and
floweres, sport with the birds and butterflies, or dance in the silvery
moonlight on the green."
-
H. A. Guerber The Norsemen (1994) page 11
"In Scandinavia and Germany sacrifices were offered
to the elves to
make them propitious. These sacrifices consisted of some small animal,
or of a bowl of honey and milk, and were know as Alf-blot."
"Many of the elves were supposed to live and die
with the trees and
planst which they tended, but these moss, wood, or tree maidens, while
remarkably beautiful when seen in from, were hollow like a trough when
viewed from behind. They appear in many of the popular tales, but
almost always as benevolent and helpful spirits, for they were anxious
to do good to mortals and to cultivate friendly relations with them."
-
H. A. Guerber The Norsemen (1994) page 248
Giant:
"There were giants on the earth in those days;
and also after that, for
the sons of god came in unto the daughters of men, and they bore
children to them, and they became giants who in the olden days were
mighty men of renown."
-
Genesis 6:4
Holbytla:
"On a blank leaf I scrawled: 'In a hole in the
ground there lived a
hobbit.' I did not and do not know why."
-
The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, No 163, to W.H. Auden, dated 1955
The word hob (meaning 'sprite' or 'little man', as
in hobgoblin) seems
an obvious solution. It's a mark of Tolkien's attention to detail that
he didn't use it - the word is far too young (less than a thousand
years old) and was unknown to the Anglo-Saxons. The solution he chose
was more sophisticated: he selected the Old English words hol byldan,
or some similar variant, meaning 'to build a hole', and developed the
fictional compound holbytla (plural holbytlan).
The last word on this topic came from the Oxford
English Dictionary,
when they decided to honour Tolkien by including 'hobbit' in their
hallowed pages. For the etymology, they needed to establish
definitively when the word was first used. Their conclusion effectively
closes the matter:
"hobbit n. one of an imaginary race of half-sized
persons in stories by
Tolkien; hence ~RY (5) n. [invented by J.R.R. Tolkien, Engl. writer d.
1973, and said by him to mean 'hole-builder']"
-
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English
Human:
From middle English humain, from middle French, from
Latin humanus;
akin to latin homo which is man (14 century). Having human form or
ability.
-
Oxford English Dictionary
Orc:
Orcneas in beowulf. An Orc-giant derived from the
word orcus.
-
Oxford English Dictionary
"... His term orcneas, a hybrid composed of a Latin
word for "infernal
demon" and a Germanic word for the walking dead, epitomizes the dual
perception of the monsters."
-
Fred C. Robinson Beowulf and the Appositive style 1985 page 83
"eotenas ond ylfe ond orcneas
swylce gigantas" -Old english
"etins and elves and orcs
such giants" -translation
-
Beowulf lines 112-13
"A different word orc, alluding to a demon or ogre,
appears in Old English glosses of about AD 800 and in the compound word
orcneas
("monsters") in the poem Beowulf. As with the Italian orco ("ogre") and
the word ogre itself, it ultimately derives from the Latin Orcus, a god
of the underworld. The Old English creatures were most likely the
inspiration for the orcs that appear in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of
the Rings trilogy."
-
Encyclopedia Britanica
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