Lintips
Lintips were mysterious creatures only mentioned in Once upon a Time. They appear at night under the moon, drinking up dew. Tom wondered whether they slide down from the Moon, or come in star-winks.
Tom noticed them from their "mousy smell", ad told them to drunk up the dew, but minding his feet. They just escaped and laughed at him to Tom's dismay, leaving him complaining that they are the "only things that won't talk to me, say what they do or what they be" and wondering if they hide something.[1]
Inspiration
As in the case of the Mewlips, readers have "failed to identify a source of the 'lintips'".[2] Rhona Beare has suggested that the lintips correspond to the "gleaming spirits" that danced and sipped radiance from the buttercups, in Tolkien's earlier poem An Evening in Tavrobel, which was probably the basis of One upon a Time.[3]
External links
References
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, "Once upon a Time", in The Young Magicians (ed. Lin Carter)
- ↑ Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond (2006), The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide: II. Reader's Guide, p. 689
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien; Christina Scull & Wayne G. Hammond (eds), The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, "Once upon a Time and An Evening in Tavrobel", p. 284
Legendary races of Arda | |
Animals: | Dumbledors · Gorcrows · Hummerhorns · Pards · Swans of Gorbelgod · Turtle-fish |
---|---|
Dragon-kind: | Sea-serpents · Spark-dragons · Were-worms |
Evil Races: | Ettens · Giants · Half-trolls · Hobgoblins · Ogres · Snow-trolls · Two-headed Trolls |
Other: | Badger-folk · Great beasts · Lintips · Mewlips · Nameless things · Spectres |
Individuals: | Talking Gurthang · Talking purse · The Hunter · Lady of the Sun · Lonely Troll · Man in the Moon · The Rider · River-woman · Tarlang · Tim · Tom · White cow |