# What Archaic Word would be Useful?



## Eledhwen (Feb 18, 2005)

I was reading 'On Fairy-Stories' in The Monsters and the Critics, and during the lecture, Tolkien said '_they put on the pride and beauty that we would fain wear ourselves.'_

It got me realising what a useful word 'fain' is, and how sad it has been lost in common usage. Then I thought of the subject of this thread:

*Which of the archaic words used in Tolkien's writings would be useful and enriching, if they were brought back into use today?*


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## Hammersmith (Feb 18, 2005)

Doughty.
I wanted to use it for so long, but I couldn't figure how to pronounce it. Awsome word.


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## Eledhwen (Feb 19, 2005)

Hammersmith said:


> Doughty.
> I wanted to use it for so long, but I couldn't figure how to pronounce it. Awsome word.


Dough rhymes with Cow. It's a good word; there isn't another that conjures up the same images.


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## Atanóne (Feb 19, 2005)

I am partial to :

anon (as in soon, immediately)

betide (to befall, to happen).

edited to add... I use them, perhaps because I have been exposed to them in the books I read, but I find that a lot of people I talk to look askance when I do. 
Askance...now there is another one I think would be useful. (Not really sure if Tolkien used it though.)


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## Hammersmith (Feb 19, 2005)

Eledhwen said:


> Dough rhymes with Cow. It's a good word; there isn't another that conjures up the same images.


That's what I discovered. I still keep wanting to say "Doffty"


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## baragund (Feb 22, 2005)

I've alway liked _wroth_, as in "full of wrath" or "really ticked off".

I particularly enjoy Tolkien's use of this word in his writings. He uses it fairly frequently but it's, I dunno, understated yet it's clear that the person he is writing about is *really* ticked off.


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## Annaheru (Feb 24, 2005)

how about _fey_? In Tolkien's works used to indicate someone who isn't concerned with their life any more, only in doing some deed or in death itself (Feanor in Sil, Denethor in RotK). has the idea of temporary insanity, would be quite usefull in describing rage-murderers or suicidal individuals


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## Eledhwen (Feb 24, 2005)

Annaheru said:


> how about _fey_?


It is in current use here, though not very frequent, thanks probably to Morgan le Fey from the King Arthur/Merlin stories. It tends to mean 'otherworldly' or someone with clairvoyant powers.



baragund said:


> I've alway liked wroth, as in "full of wrath" or "really ticked off".


Excellent word - and like other lost words, more economical than the modern alternatives. 'Enraged' isn't a good substitute, as it implies lack of control, a connotation 'wroth' doesn't have.

Talking of economy, I like 'whence', meaning 'from where'. It is often misused in modern attempts at archaic language, with 'from whence', meaning 'from from where'.



Aragil said:


> anon (as in soon, immediately)
> betide (to befall, to happen).


Anon could be usefully added to modern vocablulary. 'betide' has survived in the phrase 'woe betide' - at least in our household - used as a warning to any of the children who are thinking of not doing as they are told.


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## Gilthoniel (Mar 22, 2005)

how abou Fell? As in 'fell beast'?


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## Hobbit-GalRosie (Mar 23, 2005)

I love all the words everyone else has said, and this is a subject near and dear to my heart, so I went and looked at the list of old and rare words on The Encyclopedia of Arda to help me remember some, and these are the ones that really seemed a shame to lose in my opinion, with more forthcoming when I have a chance to browbeat myself into leaving off a few that either aren't actually my personal favorites when compared with others, or have decent enough synonyms in modern use.

afield (Oh that deer off in the distance; my father's away from home...no, the word is afield)
aforetime (All right, so you could just say before in most cases, but it doesn't have the same ring)
aghast (Astonished, amazed, horrified, none of them have anything on aghast)
anon--Kudos to Atanóne for bringing this one up-- (The word soon is so overused due to lack of synonyms that it's getting nauseating!)
apace (A very descriptive word for what it means, don't you think?)
argent (Sounds much more metalic and magical than silver)
assuage (This one can be used in the place of many words that might fit as well or better in any one given situation, but not for all. Becalm, appease, soften, etc.)

befall (_So_ much better than the poor overworked "happen")
belie (No better way to give the impression of the multiple layers of a person or situation)
benighted (Darkened just doesn't cut it when you have a word like this)
beset (An extremely useful word, and though I hear it rarely I can't for the life of me think what people could say in its stead)
besotted 1: made drunk
besotted 2: obsessed, entranced (See, not only a great sounding word, but useful in two related cases)
besought (Much more logical _and_ evocative than beseeched)
blazoned (Isn't there an inheirant pride in this word?)
boon (Never ask for favors. That sounds like the talk of a cringing courtier. Ask rather for a boon)
burg (Well, what other word means a fortified town?)
burgeon (Ah, nothing so succintly implies the springing forth, the thriving, the flourishing...actually, those words are good too)
burnished (Polished begins only to refer to the mannerisms of suave politicians *shudder*)

carven (It just makes more sense!)
cataract (You just say that word and you see the torrential waterfall, don't you, don't you?!?!)
circlet (A beautiful _and_ utilitarian word, it just sounds wrong when you call those little things with maybe a few gems on someone's forehead a crown)
clave (I cleave to my opinion that one of my fav words should have a unique past tense)
cloven (This one's gotta be self-explainatory)
comely (Descriptive and since slightly disused without a lot of crazy stereo-types attached)
concourse (Ah, the concourse of people and ideas...)
coomb (If you don't know what I mean by this one I can't think why you're reading this post.)
cozen (It's so sinister...)
craven (Coward's a good word, but if suffers without its companion)
cumbrous (This word _sounds_ like something between a small Hobbit trying to negotiate a large crate down a narrow hall-way and a big clumsy bear with a rolling gait...)
cunning-handed (Are you kidding me?!?! It just sounds so cool! Implying skill and dexterity and an artistic quality all at once)


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## e.Blackstar (Mar 23, 2005)

Fey. Fey is quite amusing. As is fell.


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## Hammersmith (Mar 23, 2005)

Hobbit-GalRosie said:


> argent (Sounds much more metalic and magical than silver)


More magical and metallic than silver??? A word so singularly entrancing it defies rhyme? No!  

Don. _To Don._ A great word.


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## Barliman Butterbur (Mar 23, 2005)

Eledhwen said:


> Which of the archaic words used in Tolkien's writings would be useful and enriching, if they were brought back into use today?



Although I don't recall seeing it used by Tolkien, I like to use "methinks" at times. If not overused, it is indeed a savoury spice in the conversational stew! 

Barley


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## Eledhwen (Mar 24, 2005)

e.Blackstar said:


> Fey. Fey is quite amusing. As is fell.


Yes, I like fey; but 'fells' are hills where I come from, so could be confusing.

The list in the Encyclopaedia of Arda that HGR gives is interesting, as I use about half of the words there in everyday speech (and would love to use the rest!).

I agree with Hammersmith about silver/argent. Silver is a living word; but argent always has connotations of heraldry for me - that sort of poncy French/Norman heraldry. Unfair, probably, but there it is.


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## Hobbit-GalRosie (Mar 26, 2005)

Hmm...I didn't think of that with argent, I've seen it used extremely rarely and in cases where it made sense, but hanging around the edges of them is the possibility that it could come off as a little snobbish. What a shame. It was such a beautiful word until this moment...now it's ruined. AH WRACK AND RUIN AND SHAME!!!!!!! Shame on me for dragging French heraldry into an otherwise interesting thread! Shame, shame, shame.


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## Hammersmith (Mar 26, 2005)

Perhaps in a more medieval context, argent would be appropriate. But "silver"! Silver connotes (to me, anyway) a magical element, sought after by those of base birth and nobility alike, found complementing the most brilliant weapons and forming medallions for the most crooked and foul tricksters. It is universally found, yet where it exists it exhudes power and mystery. Argent connotes to me a high and prestigious commodity, used by the nobility but without the same mystical awe.

And of course, silver doesn't rhyme


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