Trolls' slang in "The Hobbit" by J. R. R. Tolkien, chapter 2 "Roast Mutton" Hello, everyone! Happy New Year! I've got some questions about trolls' slang. I managed to find some words in the dictionary

Timur Zhukov

Trolls' slang in "The Hobbit" by J. R. R. Tolkien, chapter 2 "Roast Mutton" Hello, everyone! Happy New Year! I've got some questions about trolls' slang. I managed to find some words in the dictionary, but there are some that I didn't find. So I tried to guess their meaning. For example, ['ell] means [hell], right? And [a-thinkin'] means [thinking]? [et] means [eaten]? By the way, what's the meaning of this "a-" before the verbs? For example, in the song of elves in the chapter 3 it appears again, in this context: "O! Where are you going With beards all a-wagging? No knowing, no knowing What brings Mister Baggins" Trolls' context: "What the ’ell William was a-thinkin’ of to bring us into these parts at all" And could you please explain the meaning of the underlined phrase in this context: "You’ve et a village and a half between yer, since we come down from the mountains. How much more d’yer want? AND TIME'S BEEN UP OUR WAY, when yer’d have said ‘thank yer Bill’ for a nice bit o’ fat valley mutton" Thank you very much in advance!

Jan 1, 2014 4:56 PM

Answers · 6

First, the poem: Tolkien added the "a-" to give that line the same number of syllables. If you count them, each of those lines has six, with the stress on syllables 2 and 5. Adding the "a-" makes the phrase a little more rustic. It makes it very informal. (Perhaps someone else can explain this better.) Second, the phrase "And time's been up our way...": It means "There was a time when..." Third, you are correct on your assumptions of the definitions.

January 1, 2014