PRONOUNS

[roselightfairy]

***Cross-posted to Tumblr***

okay, lemme be a pronoun nerd here for a sec.*

we all know the Common Tongue of Middle-earth has a formal and an informal version of you, which let’s be real, Tolkien didn’t use as much as he wanted to (how can a linguistics nerd like him NOT have been sad at having to cut 17,000 uses of “thou/thee” from his story because it would just be too foreign for his modern English readers). so he only used it in important moments like to show the relationship between Aragorn and Eowyn, or Galadriel’s messages, etc.

BUT let’s think of the pronoun dynamics between the members of the Fellowship for a second. the hobbits are informal you-ing everyone from the get-go, because the Shire dialect doesn’t have it, right? Maybe Frodo starts off with some formality towards Boromir, Legolas, and Gimli, but drops it pretty quickly. and any of those distinctions would be gone after a couple of weeks, anyway, right? I mean, after weeks of camping next to each other and having stupid fights over who took the last piece of bread, how can you NOT be on informal terms?

the sole holdouts are Legolas and Gimli, who are DETERMINEDLY and POINTEDLY using only formal “you” with one another for the entire first leg of the journey.** They’re not overtly sniping at each other, maybe, but making it subtly but BLATANTLY clear that there is a Line drawn between them, that they are Not Friends, that they are Distant.

…and then Lothlorien happens, and they start going on long unsupervised walks in the woods, leaving the rest of the Fellowship for longer and longer periods of time.

and one day they return and they’re all eating dinner together and Gimli casually says “Legolas, wouldst thou pass me the salt” or whatever

and everyone STARES

and NO ONE CAN ASK because it would be so rude

but EVERYONE WONDERS

and then they get married and live happily ever after and whatnot but ANYWAY. talk to me about the linguistic dynamics of the Fellowship. TALK TO ME.

*disclaimer: this post was made with NO EXTRA RESEARCH DONE WHATSOEVER.

**I don’t typically get behind FULL DISLIKE FROM THE GET-GO for the two of them, but I’m making an exception for the amusement factor.

Comments

[bunn]

I'm fully in favour of this. They would SO not use thou to one another, though I'm not sure if they would make a point of formal you: they might just increasingly awkwardly not refer to one another in the second person...

I can totally see Frodo the grammar nerd carefully using 'you' until they ask him not to and Pippin side-eying him.

[roselightfairy]

I also like that idea! Maybe it's sort of both... like they keep with the formality longer than any other member of the Fellowship but realize that it's making everyone else feel awkward, so they stop using second person at all.

Or maybe they use it even though it's awkward because they're trying so hard to deny their growing respect and fondness for one another... ;)

Also YES FRODO THE GRAMMAR NERD.

[elwinfortuna]

Oh god, I love this whole scenario just too much! :D :D :D

[roselightfairy]

I kind of want to write it, except I'm completely tapped out as far as writing goes and I'm not very good with intra-Fellowship dynamics. But it would be SO entertaining to read, if done well.