The Encyclopedia of Arda - Voles (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
Location Found most commonly along the banks of rivers Species Arvicola amphibius is the water vole, also sometimes called the water rat1 Settlements Glaurung used the name for Mablung as he approached the ruins of Nargothrond Meaning Probably from Old Norse völlr, 'field'2 Indexes: Alphabetical: V Animals and Plants About this entry: Updated 28 December 2023 This entry is complete "There you lie like a vole under the bank, Mablung the mighty!" From Glaurung's mockery of MablungThe Children of Húrin XIV_The Journey of Morwen and Niënor_ Small and timid burrowing rodents. The only reference we have to them in Tolkien's works is in Glaurung's words quoted above, though if Glaurung had heard of them in the depths of Angband, we must assume that they were fairly commonplace in Middle-earth. In context, Glaurung spoke these words after he discovered Mablung hiding under the banks of the river Narog before the Doors of Nargothrond, and so the specific reference seems to be to the Water Vole (or Water Rat), which makes its home in burrows under the banks of rivers. Notes 1 There are actually dozens of different related species that are broadly known as 'voles', but in context, Tolkien clearly has in mind the river-dwelling water vole. 2 This animal was traditionally called a 'vole-mouse' (that is, a 'field mouse'), but over time the 'mouse' part of its name was lost, so that the vole was left with a name that literally means 'field'. Related to the Old Norse völlr or 'field' that gave the vole its name was Old English wald for an area of wild land. From that came the name Wold for an untamed region of the land of Rohan, which therefore, by a circuitous linguistic route, shares its distant origins with the word 'vole'. Indexes: Alphabetical: V Animals and Plants About this entry: Updated 28 December 2023 This entry is complete For acknowledgements and references, see the Disclaimer & Bibliography page. Original content © copyright Mark Fisher 2011, 2023. All rights reserved. For conditions of reuse, see the Site FAQ. Website services kindly sponsored by Discus from Axiom Software Ltd.Discus provides a host of free and unlimited features to help manage your DISC assessments.

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

Location Found most commonly along the banks of rivers Species Arvicola amphibius is the water vole, also sometimes called the water rat1 Settlements Glaurung used the name for Mablung as he approached the ruins of Nargothrond Meaning Probably from Old Norse völlr, 'field'2 Indexes: Alphabetical: V Animals and Plants About this entry: Updated 28 December 2023 This entry is complete "There you lie like a vole under the bank, Mablung the mighty!" From Glaurung's mockery of MablungThe Children of Húrin XIV_The Journey of Morwen and Niënor_ Small and timid burrowing rodents. The only reference we have to them in Tolkien's works is in Glaurung's words quoted above, though if Glaurung had heard of them in the depths of Angband, we must assume that they were fairly commonplace in Middle-earth. In context, Glaurung spoke these words after he discovered Mablung hiding under the banks of the river Narog before the Doors of Nargothrond, and so the specific reference seems to be to the Water Vole (or Water Rat), which makes its home in burrows under the banks of rivers. Notes 1 There are actually dozens of different related species that are broadly known as 'voles', but in context, Tolkien clearly has in mind the river-dwelling water vole. 2 This animal was traditionally called a 'vole-mouse' (that is, a 'field mouse'), but over time the 'mouse' part of its name was lost, so that the vole was left with a name that literally means 'field'. Related to the Old Norse völlr or 'field' that gave the vole its name was Old English wald for an area of wild land. From that came the name Wold for an untamed region of the land of Rohan, which therefore, by a circuitous linguistic route, shares its distant origins with the word 'vole'. Indexes: Alphabetical: V Animals and Plants About this entry: Updated 28 December 2023 This entry is complete For acknowledgements and references, see the Disclaimer & Bibliography page. Original content © copyright Mark Fisher 2011, 2023. All rights reserved. For conditions of reuse, see the Site FAQ. Website services kindly sponsored by Discus from Axiom Software Ltd.Discus provides a host of free and unlimited features to help manage your DISC assessments.