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noWizardme
Half-elven
Oct 28, 12:09pm
Post #1 of 6
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*** Wormtongue character study - 3: Wormtongue's odd nickname
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What is suggested by Grima’s unusual nickname?
Gilliver et al on the word ‘worm’.
Worm: …Although the use of this word has belittling overtones for the modern reader, it need not be taken as ironic at all. In Old English, the word worm was applied to various kinds of animal that creep or crawl, including reptiles and caterpillars as well as what we now call worms, and one of its specific uses was for 'a serpent, snake, dragon' (OED: WORM n, sense 1. This particular use of the word is an ancient Germanic one, found also in related languages. In Old Norse, for example, ormr is prominent in heroic poetry as the word for a dragon, just as Old English wyrm is in Beowulf.
A dragon's power lies not only in fiery breath and bodily strength, but also in the ability to trap a victim into suspicion and delusion with cunning words. This characteristic is displayed both by Glaurung, entrapping Túrin in a web of lies (Silmarillion, ch. xxi), and by Smaug, who raises suspicions in Bilbo's mind about his companions the dwarves (Hobbit, ch. xii). This meaning also underlies the significance of Grima's nickname Wormtongue, which is intended to liken the evil counsellor not to a paltry earthworm, but to a deceitful reptile. Tolkien explains it as a 'modernized' form of the Rohan word wyrmtunga snake-tongue, which is clearly Old English in form ('Guide to the Names in LR'). Although wyrmtunga is not attested in the Old English manuscripts, it can hardly be a coincidence that Old Norse Ormstunga 'Worm's tongue' is found as a nickname-in particular as the nickname of the subject of Gunnlaugssaga Ormstungu (The Saga of Gunnlaugr Wormstongue), one of the sagas translated by William Morris in his Three Northern Love-Stories (1875).
The Ring of Words: Tolkien and the Oxford English Dictionary
Gilliver, Marshall and Weiner, Oxford University Press 2006, 2009
I think we might add to that the idea that worm --> snake--> the Edenic serpent.
And – a contrasting association – if in Tolkien’s time and in British English you called someone ‘a worm’ it meant a weak and contemptable person (no backbone, I suppose). The idiom “even a worm will turn” means “Even the humblest will strike back if harassed or imposed upon too far.” (Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs 6e ) And that is certainly how it ends for Saruman and Wormtongue.
How if at all do these possible meanings chime with your understanding of Wormtongue? Dragon-like cunning? Spineless? Both at once?
~~~~~~
"I am not made for querulous pests." Frodo 'Spooner' Baggins.
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oliphaunt
Lorien
Oct 30, 11:14pm
Post #2 of 6
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Gandalf's become witless and a worm implies Worntongue was not previously witless and maybe not previously a worm. Also "Once it was a man" indicates he has fallen from a better state. Since dragons/snakes are devious and crafty with words, "witless worm" would be an oxymoron used as criticism. And yes the spinless association is present, he's a coward.
I've never made any links to the serpent in Eden. Theoden's problem is not temptation as much as fear, insularity and inaction. The Ring is in the temptation business.
*** Middle Earth Inexpert ***
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Felagund
Rohan
Oct 31, 5:33pm
Post #3 of 6
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A brilliant character study, noWiz - congrats!
Just a short reply for starters, with a silly title (apologies!). I'm reporting in on how your study got me to thinking about the confrontation between Gríma and Gandalf in Edoras, as well as Gríma's agnomen, in comparison to Bilbo's exchange with Smaug - as set out in the chapter 'Inside Information' (The Hobbit). Random, I realise, and two scenes not even remotely connected in the author's mind, I'm sure! Anyway, going with the random thought, it's along the lines of Gandalf not wanting to waste time bandying words with our 'witless worm', Gríma, contrasted with Bilbo, who had very much to gain by bandying words with an 'old Worm', as Smaug is called by Balin just after the encounter. In the case of the latter, Bilbo's wits and smooth-talking - dragon-like cunning? - certainly saw him pull off an unlikely victory / escape from an real live worm :)
Welcome to the Mordorfone network, where we put the 'hai' back into Uruk
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Ethel Duath
Half-elven
Nov 6, 8:25pm
Post #4 of 6
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Dragon-like cunning? Spineless? Both at once?
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I would say yes, certainly both.
"This meaning also underlies the significance of Grima's nickname Wormtongue, which is intended to liken the evil counsellor not to a paltry earthworm, but to a deceitful reptile." Exactly. "See, Theoden, here is a snake." "Here is an earthworm" just wouldn't have quite the same effect (or meaning!).
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Morthoron
Gondor
Nov 9, 1:16am
Post #5 of 6
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Gríma's dear old dad's name has an interesting etymology as well...
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Gríma's father was Gálmód. The word Gálmód derives from the Old English word for "light-minded, licentious"or wanton."
Seems dad was an unsavory character as well. Given the pernicious connotation of the name, it may well be that Gríma was a bastard.
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Ethel Duath
Half-elven
Nov 9, 11:03pm
Post #6 of 6
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Nothing much accidental in Tolkien.
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