Northern (Mannish)

NorthernThe Lord of the Rings, Appendix F, I: "The Languages and Peoples of the Third Age", Of Other Races: Dwarves, "are of Northern (Mannish) origin" was a term used to refer to the languages spoken by the Northmen of Rhovanion and their descendants in Dale, in Lake-town, and the Vales of Anduin.The Lord of the Rings, Appendix F, II: "On Translation"
==History==
With the first raising of the Sun in the West, Men awoke in Hildórien. However, Morgoth acted in order to corrupt Men when they were still in the east of Middle-earth, thus some of them chose to move westward seeking the rumored Great Sea and the Light found there.The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter XVII: "Of the Coming of Men into the West" During the migration these Men separated in two hosts: one moved north and reached the Sea of Rhûn, while the other moved southwest.The History of Middle-earth, Vol. XII: The Peoples of Middle-earth, Part Two: Late Writings, chapter X: "Of Dwarves and Men"
Taliska was the language spoken by the first host, while the second host spoke a different language. However, Tolkien never explained if the two language were completely different or if they had a distant common ancestor. While the etymologic origin of Taliska is unknown, contact between the Atanatári, the Elves and the Dwarves before the former's arrival in Beleriand left strong influences on Taliska.The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter XII: "Of Men"The History of Middle-earth, Vol. XI: The War of the Jewels, Part Two: The Later Quenta Silmarillion, chapter XIII: "Concerning the Dwarves" When the first host split again in two groups, the Lesser Folk and the Greater Folk, their languages started to diverge, but they continued to remain in kinship.The History of Middle-earth, Vol. XII: The Peoples of Middle-earth, Part Two: Last Writings, chapter XII: "The Problem of Ros" From the Hadorian language descended the languages of Northmen of Rhovanion such as Rohanese and the language of Dale.The History of Middle-earth, Vol. XII: The Peoples of Middle-earth, Part Two: Late Writings, chapter X: "Of Dwarves and Men", "The Atani and their Languages"Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth, Part Two: The Third Age, Chapter II: "Cirion and Eorl and the Friendship of Gondor and Rohan"
The language of the Dale-men was akin to the speech of the Men of Lake-town and had an ancient common ancestor with Westron. The language, particularly personal names, bore a close resemblance to the names of the Woodmen as well as a loose resemblance to the names of the Rohirrim and some noble-sounding names in the Shire and Bree. For instance, this relation can be seen in the Dale name Brand, the Hobbit-speech name Ferdibrand, and the Rohanese name Erkenbrand. The Dwarves of the Lonely Mountain spoke this language, translating their own names into the language to make outer names for use when interacting with others so as to not reveal their true language, Khuzdûl.The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter 144 Additionally, some Hobbits utilized a variant of the language of Dale in certain circumstances.The Lord of the Rings, Appendix F, "On Translation" The corresponding writing system was an old form of Cirth that was simplistic.The Lord of the Rings, Appendix E, II: "Writing"
The Hobbits spoke a language strictly related to Northern tongues. When the Shire-folk established themselves in the Shire they rapidly adopted Westron as their own language. However, they kept some features of their original tongue and for this reason the variant of Westron spoken by Hobbits was called Shire-speech. The Bucklanders spoke a dialect called Bucklandish that shared elements with Dunlendish in addition to Westron and Hobbit-speech.
During the Seventh Age, Tolkien translated the Northern languages into archaic Germanic languages. In particular, he used Gothic for the language of the Northmen of Rhovanion, Old English for Rohanese, and Old Norse for the languages of Dale and Lake-town.
==Background==
The Old Norse names of Thorin and Company as well as Gandalf were pulled from the Dvergatal, a section of the Völuspá, the first poem in the Poetic Edda. Other Old Norse names, such as Durinn, Þrór, Eikinskjaldi, Jarknasteinn, Beorn, Bard, Smaug and Golfimbul were pulled from a list of Dwarves in the Gylfaginning.James D. Allan, An Introduction to Elvish and to Other Tongues It had been speculated by Christopher Tolkien that "those Dwarf-names in The Hobbit [from Völuspá] provided the whole starting-point for the Mannish languages in Middle-earth".The History of Middle-earth, Vol. XII: The Peoples of Middle-earth, II: "The Appendix on Languages", Commentary to §58
While the original forms of the Dwarf-names are never given in the language of Dale directly, the Norse translations may fit their meaning; family relations, rhyming, similar names (ie. Glóin-Gróin-Óin, Thrór-Frór-Grór, Fíli-Kíli, etc).
==References==
Category:Mannish Languages