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And then there's Ariosto's orcs Larry Send a noteboard - 03/01/2012 07:16:15 PM
Just because it was a loan-word from an earlier era doesn't mean it isn't a loan-word.

In keeping with the feel of his epic I think that using words borrowed from Norse or other Germanic languages wouldn't violate the spirit of his story, but Latin words definitely do.


Which do seem to be based on the Latin word. I noticed that when I first read Orlando Furioso in my early 20s and wondered if that might be the source for Tolkien's orcs.
Illusions fall like the husk of a fruit, one after another, and the fruit is experience. - Narrator, Sylvie

Je suis méchant.
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The OED word of the day - 03/01/2012 12:13:45 PM 535 Views
Very good. - 03/01/2012 02:20:29 PM 502 Views
Tolkien really broke with principles on that one. - 03/01/2012 02:47:27 PM 432 Views
According to him, he was reviving the Old English word for "demon". - 03/01/2012 06:35:49 PM 443 Views
Which, in turn, is from the Latin Orcus. - 03/01/2012 06:49:33 PM 426 Views
And then there's Ariosto's orcs - 03/01/2012 07:16:15 PM 400 Views
I had to buy that in paperback from amazon.it... *NM* - 03/01/2012 10:44:39 PM 149 Views
I got the Italian edition for free on my Kindle for iPad - 03/01/2012 11:01:15 PM 338 Views
Ends up coming from ορκος (Oath) I think. *NM* - 03/01/2012 07:23:42 PM 226 Views
I don't think that's likely. - 03/01/2012 10:44:15 PM 372 Views
And looking at my dictionary... - 03/01/2012 10:47:16 PM 348 Views
Nonetheless, it was a word in Old English. - 04/01/2012 11:12:39 AM 400 Views
Nothing is banned. The point is it wasn't an "English" word. - 04/01/2012 02:38:22 PM 412 Views

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