The Name Nodens

The name "Nodens" ( The name "Nodens" ) is the title of an essay by British writer and philologist JRR Tolkien from the year 1932 is treated in the origin, meaning and the linguistic characteristics of the name of the ancient Celtic deity nodens . A reprint of the publication appeared in 2007 in the fourth volume of the Tolkien Studies series , published by Johns Hopkins University Press , in Project MUSE .

Background and content

Tolkien was asked in 1928 by the archaeologist Sir Robert Eric Mortimer Wheeler and his wife Tessa Verney Wheeler about a so-called " curse stone " found during an excavation in Lydney Park in Gloucestershire , more precisely an " escape tablet ", research on the etymology and meaning of the name mentioned there To carry out "Nodens". It was a stone of Roman origin with inscriptions and probably also a mosaic that bore this name. The inscriptions are about a Senicianus who should be cursed. The originator of the curse was a Silvanius who had lost his golden ring or who had been stolen from him. He offered Nodens half of the ring's value for an incantation or curse to be placed on the thief, or the finder. Tolkien then wrote a treatise that was published in 1932 as an appendix to the report on the excavations.

On the basis of linguistic analyzes, based on the endings of the Indo-European words, Tolkien also mentions in his essay a theory according to which the name Nodens , or Nuada and in other variations, should not only be understood as a sea deity, but also as a fisherman , angler or catcher . Since during the excavation, in addition to depictions of fishermen and ichthyokentaurs (which could indicate Nodens as a sea deity), many depictions of dogs were discovered, Tolkien also considered the mythological figure of the Welsh Gwynn vap Nudd , as Gwynn was also a hunter was known to be superhuman.

He also provided a derivation of the name from the Celtic god Nodens via the Irish demigod and king of Túatha Dé Danann with the name Núadu Argat-Lám ("Nuad Silver Hand ") to the Welsh Lludd Lhaw Ereint ("Lludd Silver Hand "), the legendary founder the city of London , to William Shakespeare's legendary king Lear . Tolkien derived the meaning in particular from the Germanic basic form "nut" with the subsidiary forms "neutan, naut, nutum, nutana", which can mean both to capture, obtain, possess and enjoy or use . This in turn gives rise to a reference to Núadu Argat-Lám , of whom it is said that his right hand was cut off in battle and he then lost all his power until the Túatha Dé Danann made a hand out of silver for him, which he equaled Wise like a natural hand. He also regained his lost power and ruled for another 20 years.

For his remarks in his essay, Tolkien used the specialist literature of the 19th century that was available in his time. Including the German-language standard work by Hjalmar Falk and Alf Torp vocabulary of the Germanic language unit from 1909.

Connection with Tolkien's works

Some sources claim that Tolkien was inspired by the discovery of a gold ring near the Roman town of Silchester in Hampshire by a farmer in 1785 for the story of The One Ring , as it only began after the book The Hobbit to write. Mortimer Wheeler made a connection between the ring and a curse that was found more than 160 kilometers from where the ring was found. So he asked Tolkien to scientifically decipher the name. Tolkien is now said to have inspired by these findings for his own later written works. The background was the two inscriptions: The ring has an engraving that says: SENICIANE VIVAS IIN DE [O]  ((Senicianus live in God's [blessing])). The spell associated with this on a found plaque reads: "Among those who bear the name Senicianus, no health shall be granted until the ring is returned to the Temple of Nodens."

Literature and editions

• John Ronald Reuel Tolkien: Report on the excavation of the prehistoric, Roman, and Post-Roman site in Lydney Park, Gloucestershire . Ed .: Mortimer Wheeler, Tessa Verney Wheeler (=  Reports of the Research Committee . No. 9 ). Oxford University Press, Oxford 1932, OCLC 5866363 , Appendix: The Name “Nodens”.
• John Ronald Reuel Tolkien: The Name “Nodens” . In: Tolkien Studies . tape 4 , no. 1 . West Virginia University Press, Morgantown 2007, ISBN 978-1-933202-26-6 , pp. 177-183 , doi : 10.1353 / tks.2007.0032 .
• Michael DC Drout (Ed.): JRR Tolkien encyclopedia: scholarship and critical assessment . Routledge, New York 2007, ISBN 978-0-415-96942-0 , pp. 563 ( books.google.de ).
• Tom A. Shippey: The Road to Middle-earth. How JRR Tolkien created "The Lord of the Rings" . Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2008, ISBN 978-3-608-93601-8 , pp. 44–45 (English: The Road to Middle-earth . Translated by Helmut W. Pesch).
• Colin Duriez: Amazing & Extraordinary Facts: JRR Tolkien . David & Charles, 2012, ISBN 978-1-4463-5834-4 , Lydney Park excavations - JRR Tolkien and the god Nodens.

Web links

• Rob Cooper: What this 'cursed' novel ring JRR Tolkien's inspiration for The Hobbit? Remarkable story of jewelery found by a farmer in his field told for first time in exhibition. co.uk, April 2, 2013, accessed June 25, 2015 . 

Individual evidence

1. ^ Marie-Noëlle Biemer: The Vyne Ring: The story behind the exhibition. In: tolkiengesellschaft.de. April 15, 2013, accessed June 25, 2015 . 
2. ↑ JRR Tolkien: The Name “Nodens”. In. Tolkien Studies . P. 178.
3. ^ John T. Koch: Celtic culture: a historical encyclopedia . ABC-CLIO, Santa Barbara, Ca. 2006, ISBN 1-85109-440-7 , Nōdons, Nuadu, Nudd , pp. 1359-1360 .
4. ↑ Tom A. Shippey: The Way to Middle-earth. How JRR Tolkien created "The Lord of the Rings" . Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2008, ISBN 978-3-608-93601-8 , pp. 44–45 (English: The Road to Middle-earth . Translated by Helmut W. Pesch).
5. ↑ Hjalmar Falk, Alf Torp: Vocabulary of the Germanic language unit (=  comparative dictionary of the Indo-European languages . No. 3 ). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1909, p. 300 ( books.google.de - reprint 1979, ISBN 3-525-26405-4 ).
6. ↑ JRR Tolkien: The Name “Nodens”. In. Tolkien Studies. P. 179.
7. ↑ Ben Mitchell: So bright, so beautiful ... precious! Cursed ring thought to have inspired JRR Tolkien on display. co.uk, April 2, 2013, accessed June 25, 2015 . 
8. ↑ Michael Martinez: Was Tolkien's One Ring Inspired by the Cursed Ring of Silvianus? xenite.org, October 16, 2013, accessed June 25, 2015 .