Some things are just going to appeal to a certain group of players, and that's fine. If you're enjoying Lord of the Rings Online for game design, class balance, or the like, then you might not be terribly concerned with the nuances of the functional languages that Tolkien developed for the original books. But if you really care about giving your Dwarf weapons with more resonant names than "Foe-hewer," you probably would be interested in A Casual Stroll to Mordor's latest post about expanding the rather anemic Dwarven tongue.
Using the Hebrew linguistic structure as a base, the article goes into depth about making logical alterations to existing words, and from there, creating new words that fit into the established structure. It's a fascinating post for Lord of the Rings Online players as well as anyone who likes developed in-game lore, as it shows just how much can be done within the given setting. And if you're a player in LotRO who'd like to use some more Dwarven names, there are interesting charts available along with some example names.
Reader Comments (6)
Posted: Jan 21st 2011 2:41PM aurickle said
This is one of the things I love about LotRO. I can't think of any MMO with so much lore, such overall care for adhering to the lore, and so many opportunities for the player base to indulge themselves in this area.
Posted: Jan 21st 2011 3:22PM cowboyhugbees said
@aurickle Agreed. It may not have the artistic diversity of an EQ2 or a WoW, but it more than makes up for it in it's remarkable attention to detail and lore. It gets the basics RIGHT. Nothing feels superfluous.
Maybe I'm just a fanboy, but meh.
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Maybe I'm just a fanboy, but meh.
Posted: Jan 21st 2011 4:13PM Angn said
@cowboyhugbees Artistic "diversity"? The notion you're looking for, that identifies what WoW has, is artistic mediocrity hiding behind bright colors and genre mashups. It's tantamount to a truism in MMO design that being "cool" and humorous is the poor man's lore trump card. Artistic diversity belongs in a gallery.
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Posted: Jan 21st 2011 4:53PM aurickle said
@Angn
I've never liked how WoW's graphics bounce from theme to theme as you go between zones with no real sense of continuity or reality. Nor, for that matter, with anything other than a jarring demarkation line. WoW's idea of a realistic transition is for the border line to be on top of a mountain or under a river.
LotRO's graphics aren't everyone's cup of tea, but I've always thought the environments are some of the most beautiful in any MMO. And probably THE most beautiful vs. system demands to run it.
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I've never liked how WoW's graphics bounce from theme to theme as you go between zones with no real sense of continuity or reality. Nor, for that matter, with anything other than a jarring demarkation line. WoW's idea of a realistic transition is for the border line to be on top of a mountain or under a river.
LotRO's graphics aren't everyone's cup of tea, but I've always thought the environments are some of the most beautiful in any MMO. And probably THE most beautiful vs. system demands to run it.
Posted: Jan 21st 2011 3:04PM KDolo said
I have been doing this for quite some time, since I noticed the similarity between the first words in the Dwarven phrase "Baruk Khazad" and the Jewish "Baruch atah adonai." There are actually a lot of things that Dwarves have in common with Jewish culture and religious history. Putting aside any anti-Semitic connotation dumb people might make of such a statement, you'd notice:
-They have a language they use amongst themselves, but rarely with outsiders.
-They take great pride in their works, history and themselves in general
-They were the first people, adopted by Iluvatar or "chosen" perhaps?
-Simultaneously familiar yet isolated and alien
-Greedy, though this is the opinion of outsiders. I prefer to think of Durin VI's fall was from his misguided industriousness
Some of these things might seem anti-Semitic until you consider that JRR Tolkien created his mythos and modeled Dwarven culture at a time when being sympathetic to Jews meant you didn't want them all dead. Tolkien by all accounts had great admiration for Jews and likely borrowed from their culture respectfully.
Two things; 1 - Tolkien had said on at least two occasions that Dwarven and Jewish culture share similarities and 2 - any argument about negative Dwarven physical characteristics in relation to Jews using this argument should be considered null, as Tolkien's Dwarves got their start from Scandinavian folklore
-They have a language they use amongst themselves, but rarely with outsiders.
-They take great pride in their works, history and themselves in general
-They were the first people, adopted by Iluvatar or "chosen" perhaps?
-Simultaneously familiar yet isolated and alien
-Greedy, though this is the opinion of outsiders. I prefer to think of Durin VI's fall was from his misguided industriousness
Some of these things might seem anti-Semitic until you consider that JRR Tolkien created his mythos and modeled Dwarven culture at a time when being sympathetic to Jews meant you didn't want them all dead. Tolkien by all accounts had great admiration for Jews and likely borrowed from their culture respectfully.
Two things; 1 - Tolkien had said on at least two occasions that Dwarven and Jewish culture share similarities and 2 - any argument about negative Dwarven physical characteristics in relation to Jews using this argument should be considered null, as Tolkien's Dwarves got their start from Scandinavian folklore
Posted: Jan 21st 2011 6:38PM Liltawen said
The magazines 'Parma Eldalamberon' and' Vinya Tengwar' are all about the various Tolkien languages and are 'semi-official' in that Christopher Tolkien has given them access to his father's writings.
There is rumored to be a great deal of so-far unpublished content on the dwarven languages but as those magazines only publish once or twice a year it may be awhile before any of it comes out. Very good magazines tho if you're interested in this stuff.
There is rumored to be a great deal of so-far unpublished content on the dwarven languages but as those magazines only publish once or twice a year it may be awhile before any of it comes out. Very good magazines tho if you're interested in this stuff.








