The Encyclopedia of Arda - Oliphaunts (original) (raw)

ALPHABETICAL RACES PLACES MISCELLANEOUS REFERENCE INTERACTIVE SHARE User guide Latest entries FAQ and e-mail Disclaimer and bibliography Awards Old and rare words Lexicon of names Excyclopedia of Arda Movie-goer's Guides: • The Fellowship of the Ring • The Two Towers • The Return of the King The Hobbit Viewer's Companions: • An Unexpected Journey • The Desolation of Smaug • The Battle of the Five Armies Tolkien links Book news Latest Chronicle Calendar Old and rare words Lexicon of names Links Random
Dates Apparently became extinct after the end of the Third Age1 Location Originated in the southern lands of the Harad Species Evidently related to modern elephants Meaning Ultimately from Old High German olbenta, meaning 'camel'2 Other names Mûmakil Indexes: Alphabetical: O Animals and Plants About this entry: Updated 19 June 2003 Updates planned: 2 The monstrous elephants of the Third Age Years of the Trees First Age I Second Age II Third Age III Fourth Age IV "Oliphaunt am I,Biggest of all,Huge, old, and tall." from Sam's rhyme of the oliphaunt_The Two Towers_ IV 3_The Black Gate is Closed_ A word for the southern monsters also known as Mûmakil, evidently gigantic cousins of the modern elephant. Oliphaunt is a real word from ancient English. Notes 1 The last documented oliphaunts were seen in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields on 15 March III 3019. We have to assume that they died out some time after that battle, because (as far as we know) they no longer exist anywhere in the world. 2 It should be emphasised that this derivation from the Germanic word for camel is Tolkien's own theory, and is not supported by all etymologists. Others link the word to the Greek elephantos (meaning both 'ivory' and 'elephant'). While Tolkien acknowledged this connection, he thought olbenta to be a more likely direct ancestor of oliphaunt, which is just one of many variant spellings of the word going back into history. Tolkien's choice of this word was perhaps influenced by the character of Sir Olifaunt, a giant knight who appears in Chaucer's 'Sir Thopas' among the Canterbury Tales. See also... Bays, Last Desert, Men out of the South, Mice, Sunlands, Swertings, The South Indexes: Alphabetical: O Animals and Plants About this entry: Updated 19 June 2003 Updates planned: 2 For acknowledgements and references, see the Disclaimer & Bibliography page. Original content © copyright Mark Fisher 1999, 2001, 2003. All rights reserved. For conditions of reuse, see the Site FAQ. Website services kindly sponsored by myDISCprofile, the free online personality test.How do your personal strengths fit in with career matching? How can you identify them? Try a free personality test from myDISCprofile.

The Encyclopedia of Arda - an interactive guide to the world of J.R.R. Tolkien

ALPHABETICAL RACES PLACES MISCELLANEOUS REFERENCE INTERACTIVE

SHARE User guide Latest entries FAQ and e-mail Disclaimer and bibliography Awards Old and rare words Lexicon of names Excyclopedia of Arda Movie-goer's Guides: • The Fellowship of the Ring • The Two Towers • The Return of the King The Hobbit Viewer's Companions: • An Unexpected Journey • The Desolation of Smaug • The Battle of the Five Armies Tolkien links Book news Latest Chronicle Calendar Old and rare words Lexicon of names Links Random

Dates Apparently became extinct after the end of the Third Age1 Location Originated in the southern lands of the Harad Species Evidently related to modern elephants Meaning Ultimately from Old High German olbenta, meaning 'camel'2 Other names Mûmakil Indexes: Alphabetical: O Animals and Plants About this entry: Updated 19 June 2003 Updates planned: 2 The monstrous elephants of the Third Age

Years of the Trees First Age I Second Age II Third Age III Fourth Age IV "Oliphaunt am I,Biggest of all,Huge, old, and tall." from Sam's rhyme of the oliphaunt_The Two Towers_ IV 3_The Black Gate is Closed_ A word for the southern monsters also known as Mûmakil, evidently gigantic cousins of the modern elephant. Oliphaunt is a real word from ancient English. Notes 1 The last documented oliphaunts were seen in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields on 15 March III 3019. We have to assume that they died out some time after that battle, because (as far as we know) they no longer exist anywhere in the world. 2 It should be emphasised that this derivation from the Germanic word for camel is Tolkien's own theory, and is not supported by all etymologists. Others link the word to the Greek elephantos (meaning both 'ivory' and 'elephant'). While Tolkien acknowledged this connection, he thought olbenta to be a more likely direct ancestor of oliphaunt, which is just one of many variant spellings of the word going back into history. Tolkien's choice of this word was perhaps influenced by the character of Sir Olifaunt, a giant knight who appears in Chaucer's 'Sir Thopas' among the Canterbury Tales. See also... Bays, Last Desert, Men out of the South, Mice, Sunlands, Swertings, The South Indexes: Alphabetical: O Animals and Plants About this entry: Updated 19 June 2003 Updates planned: 2 For acknowledgements and references, see the Disclaimer & Bibliography page. Original content © copyright Mark Fisher 1999, 2001, 2003. All rights reserved. For conditions of reuse, see the Site FAQ. Website services kindly sponsored by myDISCprofile, the free online personality test.How do your personal strengths fit in with career matching? How can you identify them? Try a free personality test from myDISCprofile.