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<blockquote data-quote="Desdichado" data-source="post: 135357" data-attributes="member: 2205"><p></p><p>This isn't really what the thread is about, but I'll indulge here for just a moment (besides, it's late at night for me, and I should be in bed: cut me some slack! <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite7" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue :p" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":p" />)</p><p></p><p>I'd reorder those as such:</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Elves: just as much Celtic Sidhe as Norse Alf, although the word is very definately an English cognate of alf, and it is probably largely based on native Anglo-saxon elfin folklore.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Dwarves: again, native Germanic, not so much just Norse. I don't recall that turning to stone was typical in any folklore I read, though. They were often more tricksters in later folklore as well, until Tolkien tried to redefine them based largely on older mythology.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Gnomes: I don't know that they are elemental. In folklore there is little difference between elfs and gnomes. However, the word gnome is based on an old word meaning knowledge, so gnomes as sages of some kind is not unheard of.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Kobold: just a germanic linguistic variant of the same word as goblin. Like the original goblins, they were trickster almost poltergeist-like creatures rather than lizards that lived underground. Certainly not much in common with gnomes, as you suggest.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Orcs: nope, these are really invented by Tolkien in any recognizable form. Likely the word came from a Latin demon named Orcus (sound familiar?) and Tolkien's more immediate source was the use of Orc-neas in Beowulf to indicate 'death-corpses' or some such. Any connection to orcas is coincidental linguistics, not real useful roots searching.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Giants: I can't think of a mythology or folklore that doesn't feature them. Norse barbarians have nothing to do with them, although jotuns did feature strongly in Norse mythology, at least.</li> </ul></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Desdichado, post: 135357, member: 2205"] [i][/i][color=silver][/color] This isn't really what the thread is about, but I'll indulge here for just a moment (besides, it's late at night for me, and I should be in bed: cut me some slack! :p) I'd reorder those as such: [list] [*]Elves: just as much Celtic Sidhe as Norse Alf, although the word is very definately an English cognate of alf, and it is probably largely based on native Anglo-saxon elfin folklore. [*]Dwarves: again, native Germanic, not so much just Norse. I don't recall that turning to stone was typical in any folklore I read, though. They were often more tricksters in later folklore as well, until Tolkien tried to redefine them based largely on older mythology. [*]Gnomes: I don't know that they are elemental. In folklore there is little difference between elfs and gnomes. However, the word gnome is based on an old word meaning knowledge, so gnomes as sages of some kind is not unheard of. [*]Kobold: just a germanic linguistic variant of the same word as goblin. Like the original goblins, they were trickster almost poltergeist-like creatures rather than lizards that lived underground. Certainly not much in common with gnomes, as you suggest. [*]Orcs: nope, these are really invented by Tolkien in any recognizable form. Likely the word came from a Latin demon named Orcus (sound familiar?) and Tolkien's more immediate source was the use of Orc-neas in Beowulf to indicate 'death-corpses' or some such. Any connection to orcas is coincidental linguistics, not real useful roots searching. [*]Giants: I can't think of a mythology or folklore that doesn't feature them. Norse barbarians have nothing to do with them, although jotuns did feature strongly in Norse mythology, at least. [/list] [/QUOTE]
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