Lake-men: Difference between revisions

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The people of [[Lake-town]] on the [[Long Lake]], to the south of [[Erebor]]. A trading people, they dealt with Erebor and [[Dale]] in the times before [[Smaug]]'s coming, and with the [[Wood-elves]] of [[Mirkwood]].
[[Image:John Howe - Alert the Folk.jpg|thumb|250px|Lake-men defending their [[Esgaroth|town]] against [[Smaug]]]]
The '''Lake-men''' were the people of [[Esgaroth]] upon the [[Long Lake]], south of [[Erebor]]. They were a trading people and before [[Smaug]]'s coming they dealt with Erebor and [[Dale]], and with the [[Wood-elves]] of [[Mirkwood]].  


The civil leader of the Lake-men was The Master of Esgaroth and he was chosen from among the old and wise.
As a trading people, the Lake-men knew the Common Speech, [[Westron]]. However, amongst themselves they spoke an ancient form of it, which was loosely related to but distinct from the also-ancient language of the [[Rohirrim]]. [[J.R.R._Tolkien|Tolkien]] "translated" Westron into English in his text, so to represent the ancient relative of it that the Rohirrim spoke, he substituted Old English. Thus, Tolkien substituted Old Norse for the language of the Lake-men (in person and place names, etc.) because it is an ancient relative of English that is related to Old English.
[[Category:Men]]
[[Category:Men]]

Revision as of 20:04, 13 August 2008

Lake-men defending their town against Smaug

The Lake-men were the people of Esgaroth upon the Long Lake, south of Erebor. They were a trading people and before Smaug's coming they dealt with Erebor and Dale, and with the Wood-elves of Mirkwood.

The civil leader of the Lake-men was The Master of Esgaroth and he was chosen from among the old and wise.

As a trading people, the Lake-men knew the Common Speech, Westron. However, amongst themselves they spoke an ancient form of it, which was loosely related to but distinct from the also-ancient language of the Rohirrim. Tolkien "translated" Westron into English in his text, so to represent the ancient relative of it that the Rohirrim spoke, he substituted Old English. Thus, Tolkien substituted Old Norse for the language of the Lake-men (in person and place names, etc.) because it is an ancient relative of English that is related to Old English.