Hillmen - Scottish Gaelic Nomenclature
The developers used the Scottish Gaelic language as the basis for the Hill-men and Angmarim nomenclature in Angmar, and for the Créoth and Corcur.
Tolkien was not very fond of the Gaelic languages. He did not use them as the basis for anything in his legendarium, with one very notable, unintended, exception: the name Nazgûl.
- "...it remains remarkable that nasc is the word for 'ring' in Gaelic (Irish: in Scottish usually written nasg). It also fits well in meaning, since it also means, and prob. originally meant, a bond, and can be used for an 'obligation'. Nonetheless I only became aware, or again aware, of its existence recently in looking for something in a Gaelic dictionary. I have no liking at all for Gaelic from Old Irish downwards, as a language, but it is of course of great historical and philological interest, and I have at various times studied it. (With alas! very little success.) It is thus probable that nazg is actually derived from it, and this short, hard and clear vocable, sticking out from what seems to me (an unloving alien) a mushy language, became lodged in some corner of my linguistic memory." — Letter 297, "The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien", 1981
Note that the Hillmen language in the game is not Scottish Gaelic, only inspired by it. Therefore differences represent choices by the developers not errors. Scottish Gaelic equivalents have been included in this page for general interest, to allow following up, and to show somewhat of the developers' decision making.
In adapting Scottish Gaelic words for the game, the developers made a few consistent changes. The grave accent has been replaced with the acute. Consonant clusters with H (BH, MH, etc.) have mostly been replaced with more familiar English equivalents. Clusters of vowels present to fulfill a characteristic spelling convention have been simplified. All in all, the changes are similar to the way real Scottish Gaelic names have been anglicized.
Places
| Name | Translation and Comments | Scottish Gaelic |
|---|---|---|
| Aughaire | The Lorebook called Aughaire "The Meeting-place". The word is difficult to interpret as such in S.G., but is close to aoghaire, a herdsman. | |
| Bail Boglakh | swamp town | baile boglach |
| Bail Cátharnakh | soldiers town | baile ceatharnaich |
| Bail Dílas | town of the faithful | baile dìleas |
| Bail Grundail | frugal town | baile grunndail |
| Bail Róva | promontory town | baile rubha |
| Búth Luikh | warriors' tent | bùth laoich |
| Búth Sánkhas | history tent | bùth seanchas |
| Donnvail | brown town | donn-bhail |
| Dûn Covád | fortress of watch | dùn coimhid |
| Duvairë | gloom | dubhar |
| Fail-á-Khro | cow enclosures | fàil a' chrò |
| Fasach-falroid | wilderness of the circling road | fàsach fàlròid |
| Fasach-larran | central wilderness? larran is difficult to interpret | fàsach làr-rann |
| Frith-vailë | small village | frith-bhaile |
| Krúslë Lannan | vault of swords | crùisle lannan |
| Nád Nathair | serpent nest | nead nathair |
| Reodh Fuil | freezing blood (a name in an Angmarim-controlled part of Forochel) | |
| Sálgaitë | hunting place | sealg àite |
| Tármunn Súrsa | sanctuary of freedom | tèarmunn saorsa |
| Tór Gailvin | tower of the rocky hill | tùr gail-bheinn |
NPCs and Things
| Peoples | ||
|---|---|---|
| Corcur | crimson | |
| Créoth | hurt | creòth |
| Trév Duvárdain | black hill tribe | treubh dubhàrdain |
| Trév Gállorg | There are various possibilities of interpretation: warband tribe, tribe of the white staff | treubh gal-lorg, treubh geal-lorg |
| Things | ||
| clúcath | chosen of battle | clú catha |
| fém | worth | feum |
| gun ain | nameless | gun ainm |
Individuals often bear the names of ancient monarchs or saints. Some examples are given to show how Turbine chose to adapt the names:
| Hillmen name | Scottish Gaelic |
|---|---|
| Abb | Aebbe |
| Dírdrë | Dèirdre |
| Domongart | Domangart |
| Enan | Énán |
| Guinokh | Guinoch |
| Muiráthakh, Moridac | Muiredach |
| Nekhtan | Nechtain |
| Soltakh | Seòltach |
| Temair | Teamhair |