Based on their names, that is. In Old Norse, there is a masculine name, Gandálfr. According to the Viking Answer Lady’s page on Old Norse Names, the name breaks down like this:
The first element in this name, Gand- is from OW.Norse gandr, a word of obscure origin that means “anything enchanted; an object used by sorcerors;” by extension it can mean “monster, fiend.”
The word alfr is Old Icelandic for elf. So, Gandalf = an enchanted elf? Clever.
There’s also the name Fróði (the ð is pronounced like th in there), meaning “the wise one.” One of the Anglicized versions of it is Frodo. One of the most exact name references is with Beorn, the man in The Hobbit who can transform into a bear. The Old Norse name Björn (the j is like a y) translates literally as “bear”.
I’m sure there’s a lot of other names in Tolkien’s book that are based on Old Norse (along with Finnish, seeing as it was one of his favorite languages). These are just a few fairly obvious examples that popped out at me while browsing the Old Norse names page.
Edit and Update: Just a question to you folks, in particularly the couple of German readers I have (hi Kathrin and Marcel): why was Bilbo Baggins’ last name translated in the German version of the book to Beutlin? I thought with names, they didn’t normally translate them.
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November 9, 2006 at 4:35 pm
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November 9, 2006 at 3:01 pm
Kristin K. W.
All names in LotR and the Hobbit are translated because they are made to give specific meanings which would be lost if you didn’t translate them.
Btw; all the names of the dwarfs in the Hobbit including Gandalv is from an islandic story/ saga about 14 dwarfs.
November 9, 2006 at 3:09 pm
Kristin K. W.
And; “Gand” may mean spell as well. We (Norwegain) use ‘gand’ as casting a spell on someone.
November 9, 2006 at 4:48 pm
Josh
Kristin: Thanks for the info about the word.
Also, in regards to the translation, I was mostly referring to Bilbo Baggins, which in the German versions of the books, is translated to Bilbo Beutlin.
And, speaking of, I just found out why here. Apparently his last name has been translated in just about ALL foreign editions of the book. The last name has generally been translated to use a word from the language that means something like ‘bag’, i.e.:
Beutlin is from German Beutel, which means bag. In the Spanish version, he was Bilbo Bolsón, bolso meaning handbag.
Neat.
November 9, 2006 at 4:58 pm
Kristin K. W.
We have two different translations of ‘Baggins’ in Norway: Sekker (the old one) which is taken from ‘Bag’ and then the new one ‘Lommelun’ which is more of the feeling to ‘Baggins’, cozy place.
November 9, 2006 at 8:25 pm
Paul Croushore
Professor Tolkien was an Oxford man, but I recall a National Review tribute to him just after he died that mentioned that the hobbits were largely based on what a friend during WWI had told him of life in Kentucky. It took some searching, but I found it on EBSCOHost database. The memorium is by G. Davenport “J. R. R. Tolkien, RIP” Source: National Review; 9/28/1973, Vol. 25 Issue 39, p1042-1043, 2p
If you have access you really should read it; this truly was a delightful man.
November 9, 2006 at 9:02 pm
Josh
Paul: Thanks for the heads up. I have access to EBSCOHost’s databases, but when I checked on this, it shows that they only have archives back to 1975.