NaBloPoMo: Day 30

[lady_branwyn]

And I made it to the end of National Blog Posting Month! *throws confetti*
A question for you Tolkienists--any suggestions for the term for an individual from Harad? I could not find an attested singular form for Haradrim (or for other plurals of that declension, like Galadhrim). Some gamers use "Harad" which sounds a little silly since it means simply "South." I'm tempted to create my own word following the form of Dunadan/Dunedain (West Man/ West Men). The singular form "Haradan" would be a shortened version of the original (and difficult to say) "Haradadan." Though I could always fall back on "Southron." Thoughts?

Comments

[lady-branwyn.livejournal.com]

Do you know whether Tolkien used the term "Rohir"? Fan writers use it all the time, and it actually makes sense because it means "horse lord". That is an interesting idea that it might be the same in both singular and plural. That would explain why Tolkien didn't bother telling us the singular form.

[azalaisdep.livejournal.com]

I've never seen it used by him, but since he stated quite clearly in the Letters (when explaining to someone the etymology of Elrohir's name) that it meant horse-lord, I've always felt quite comfortable using it for one of the Rohirrim (we do know, though I forget where he says it, that the -rim suffix specifically means "a host of", hence Rohirrim, Gondorrim. So if I wanted to refer to an individual, male member of the Galadhrim he'd probably be a Galadhir...)