Languages of Middle-earth The Common Speech and its speakers in The Lord of the Rings Nikolas Koravos ll the writers of fantasy sto­ others as a second language. In their native language, the Westron ries who want to create particular, it is strange that the Ores tongue (LOTR 1163). The Common credible secondary worlds adopted Westron, which was after Speech was the variety of Westron A are faced with the same all the language of their enemies, that spread throughout Middle-earth problem: the languages spoken by and spoke it in such a manner that during the Nümenorean era. The the inhabitants of their world. It is Pippin found much of their talk intel­ official status of the Westron played clear to everyone that in any ‘possi­ ligible (LOTR 466). It is these prob­ and important part in its expansion ble’ world nations, tribes or states lematic areas that will be discussed among the native population. The should have their respective lan­ in this paper. linguist Janet Holmes mentions that guage or languages. This need is in Despite the existence of these "where one group abrogates politi­ conflict with basic narrative necessi­ problems it should not be forgotten cal power and imposes its language ties: how will the characters of each that Tolkien had studied linguistics along with its institutions - govern­ story interact with people from other and paid exceptional attention to the ment, administration, law courts, regions? And if the main characters credibility of his fantasy or ‘second­ education, religion - it is likely that come from different linguistic back­ ary’ world. If the origins and history minority groups will find themselves grounds, how will the author min­ of the Common Speech, as Tolkien under increasing pressure to adopt imise the difficulties this fact cre­ presents them, are analysed, then the language of the dominant ates? Each writer provides his or most of the problems will disappear. group" (Holmes 60). Historically, her own solution to this problem. In there are many examples of lan­ The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien Numenorean ascendancy guage shift towards the language of resolved the issue by postulating a The first thing to point out is that the dominant group. The most rele­ ‘lingua franca’ for the area in which Westron was originally the speech vant ones here are the spread of his story takes place: the Common of the people of Numenor, who had Greek throughout the empire of Speech or Westron. Most readers ruled the Northwest of Middle-earth Alexander the Great and the spread accept this as a clever technique on for many years. It is therefore quite of Latin throughout the Roman his part, but from a linguistic point of natural that their language was spo­ empire. It therefore seems entirely view it should be investigated ken in all the lands that were part of logical that in many areas of Middle- whether it is indeed justifiable for so their empire, and also in many near­ earth the local languages were many different groups of people to by areas. In the appendices of The gradually displaced by the Westron. use the same language in order to Lord of the Rings we learn that the In some other areas, however, communicate with each other. The Numenoreans started their imperial especially in places where strong final question is the following: is the expansion in the year 1800, Second nationalist feelings existed or in idea really credible? Age (LOTR 1172). The end of the cases of isolated groups, the local The first impression is that the kingdom of Arnor and the beginning languages survived and the use of the Common Speech in so of the decline of Gondor - the two Common Speech was learned only many lands by so many people is Numenorean centres of power in as a second language. This seems not quite convincing with respect to Middle-earth - came more then to be the case with the Rohirim, and particular cases. For instance, it three thousand years later (LOTR also with the Elves and Dwarves. seems strange that the Hobbits 1123). Even at the time that the These groups never abandoned speak the same language as the story of The Lord of the Rings takes their native languages, although people of Gondor since the two place it is clear that the kingdom of many individuals, especially the nations had virtually no contact for Gondor is the most powerful and most educated ones, had good hundreds of years. Amor, the North prestigious state in the area. command of the Common. Among kingdom where Westron was spo­ During the years of Numenorean the Dmedain and the Dunlendings, ken, was dissolved in the year 1974, supremacy the Westron tongue was on the other hand, it seems possible Third Age (LOTR 1123). From that the language of the most presti­ that only very few people could time and for over a thousand years gious ethnic group in the north-west speak the Common Speech with the Hobbits had little contact with of Middle-earth. In addition, the fluency. people from other areas. During Numenorean empire and later the this time, it seems unlikely that kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor Hobbit isolation Hobbit and Gondorian varieties of apparently used the Westron as the Although it is logical that the people the Westron should remain mutually language of administration, educa­ of Middle-earth adopted the intelligible. There is also the ques­ tion and perhaps religion. Tolkien Common, it is not as easy to explain tion of how and why Hobbits and explains that the Numenoreans, the fact that varieties spoken in dif­ other Middle-earth nations adopted who at first used the Elvish lan­ ferent regions remained mutually the Common speech - in many guage Quenya as the official, later intelligible after the Nümenorean cases as their native language, in abandoned it and replaced it with power waned. The Hobbits in partic­

38 The Common Speech ular, being isolated from the outer and trade between the North and Westron? Two problems exist here. world after the fall of the kingdom of the South and some travellers, The first is related to the fact that Arnor, should have developed (in especially Dwarves, passed through the contact between the two races the one thousand years of their The Shire (LOTR 56). The Common was minimal; the second is that, seclusion), a variety which should Speech was therefore still a useful according to Tolkien, Sauron had not be easy for a Gondorian speak­ lingua franca and there was motiva­ developed his own ‘Black Speech’ er to understand easily, even if the tion for Hobbits to preserve a style and tried to teach it to his Orcish two varieties had common origins. which would be intelligible to for­ subjects but failed. Why did the Ores This seems to be the case with such eigners. It seems that Hobbits, adopt the Common instead of the languages as French and Italian in especially the most educated, culti­ Black Speech? the real world - both had Latin as vated and reproduced a relatively Let us begin the discussion with their ancestor, but still they are not formal style of speaking, one that the first problem. In order for the mutually intelligible and are consid­ remained close to ‘book language’, Ores to have developed a version of ered to be different languages. How a style which might also serve as the Common they must have had in is it possible that the Hobbits in the means of communication with for­ the past some kind of contact with it. story could communicate so easily eigners. This style was probably The book provides us with little infor­ with Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, king prestigious, as Gaffer Gamgee’s mation. It is nowhere mentioned that Theoden, Beregond, Treebeard and comments on Bilbo’s ‘educated’ Ores had diplomatic or trade rela­ so many characters coming from speech implies: "a very nice well- tions with Human kingdoms. The different regions? spoken gentlehobbit is Mr. Bilbo" only way to address this problem is The best explanation for this (LOTR 34). It therefore seems that a therefore by making certain hypothe­ phenomenon is that the language form of ‘standard’ Westron remained ses, for some of which evidence can used by Hobbits and people in other influential among Hobbits, some­ be drawn from the texts of The areas had been standardised and thing which explains why Hobbits Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. codified long before the story took had few communication problems in First of all, it is possible that Ores place, so that many aspects of the story: they were familiar with this occasionally came in contact with the speech, and most notably syntax, kind of language. It should not be Common Speech through Human basic vocabulary and morphology, forgotten that with the exception of captives who worked as slaves in remained unaffected. Indeed, Sam, the other Hobbits who appear Orcish dungeons. There is some evi­ Tolkien mentions in his prologue in the story - Frodo, Merry and dence that Ores did use prisoners in that at the time Hobbits started Pippin - belong to 'noble', aristo­ such a way. In The Hobbit, Tolkien making settlements within cratic families and were therefore mentions that (non-Orcish) prisoners Numenorean territory, they "learned members of the educated middle or and slaves were forced to work "till their letters and began to write after upper classes. This means that they they die for want of air and light" in the manner of the Dunedain" (LOTR were knowledgeable of ‘book lan­ goblin dungeons (69). It is therefore 16). The writing system was proba­ guage’, of low frequency, archaic a possibility that Ores learned how to bly similar in Arnor and in Gondor at and formal vocabulary and therefore use the Common from these slaves. that time. Its existence made the they had a larger linguistic reper­ This hypothesis is, however, weak. It language spoken throughout former toire than ordinary Hobbits, a reper­ is far more likely that the slaves, Numenorean territories immune to toire which they could exploit effec­ being the subordinate group both in dramatic changes and makes credi­ tively when interacting with foreign­ status and numbers, would be forced ble the fact that Hobbit and other ers. to learn whatever language the Ores varieties of the Common remained might be using rather than the oppo­ mutually intelligible after so many Speaking with the enemy site. There would be no motivation for years. The most profound differ­ All these factors provide an expla­ the Ores to adopt ‘slave-language’. ences should exist in pronunciation, nation for the relative hompgeneity Furthermore, the interaction which is less influenced by the writ­ of the Common Speech varieties between the two groups would prob­ ing system, and indeed Beregond spoken by the "good" races of ably amount to no more than a few tells Pippin that "strange accents do Middle-earth. These races, Elves, commands, threats and curses. This not mar fair speech" (LOTR 792). Dwarves, Hobbits and Humans, are could not result in the adoption of the Phonological differences, however, in some way allied and share the Common Speech by the Ores. do not necessarily make two vari­ desire to defeat Sauron and expel A place in Middle-earth where eties unintelligible to each other. the Ores from the territories they the Ores definitely came under the Interlocutors have the ability to ‘con­ occupy in Middle-earth. It is natural influence of the Common Speech is verge’ towards the speech of anoth­ that they share a language as well. Saruman’s Isengard. It is known er person, especially when commu­ But what about Ores? In the text, that Saruman’s Uruk-hai were an nication is important (Holmes). This Ores also speak a variety of the Orcish race that he bred in Isengard may be the case with the speakers Common Speech, as Tolkien men­ (LOTR 560). Since Saruman himself of the Common Speech in The Lord tions in the Appendices of The Lord spoke the Common and since it of the Rings. of the Rings (1165). Ores have would be desirable for him to have An additional factor should be almost no contact with humans and servants that could use it, it is high­ taken into account in explaining the there is a strong hatred and aver­ ly likely that he taught the language mutual intelligibility of Hobbit and sion between the two races. How is to the Uruk-hai, who learned it as Gondorian speech: there was travel it possible that the Ores adopted the their ‘Mother Tongue’. This may

39 Mallorn XLI explain why Ugluk’s speech was Second Age of Middle-earth. Tolkien points out that "after the first comprehensible to Pippin (LOTR Apparently, they occupied important overthrow of Sauron this language 466). Yet, there is no explanation and strategic posts in Sauron’s in its ancient form was forgotten by about the adoption of the Common regime. In addition, as Robert all but the Nazgul" (LOTR 1165). by other groups of Ores, those com­ Foster mentions in The Complete It is possible that the Westron ing from Mordor and the Misty Guide to Middle-earth, three of the started to spread among the Ores Mountains, for example. Nazgul (probably the Black Captain long before the development of the It may be assumed that only the himself), were also initially Black Black Speech. If this is true, then at Ores that were high in the hierarchy Numenoreans (282-3). It therefore the time the Black Speech was could use the Common. It would be seems likely that these Westron introduced the Ores were already natural for Orcish officials, favoured speakers introduced the Common using the Common as a lingua fran­ by Sauron, to have a language with Speech to Orcish dialect speakers ca. Sauron’s attempt to introduce which they could communicate with through a direct chain from leader to the Black Speech was probably dis­ both Ores from other regions and subordinate. It is not unlikely that rupted when in the year 3262 other races. This hypothesis is, how­ Ores adopted the Common initially (Second Age), he was defeated by ever, undermined by several ‘facts’. by imitating their Numenorean the Numenorean army and taken For one thing, it seems that even superiors, thinking that in this way prisoner to Numenor (LOTR 1120). simple Orcish soldiers had knowl­ the other Ores would fear and During the years of his captivity it is edge of the Common. This is evi­ respect them. highly likely that his subjects were dent in the case of Merry and The above hypothesis is very ruled by the Nazgul, who were only Pippin’s guards when they were strong, as it agrees with the princi­ nine, and a larger number of Black captives. One of them says to Pippin ple that dominant group language is Numenoreans, who might still be in the Common: "Rest while you much more likely to spread to mem­ using the Westron. In this way, the can, little fool", and the other adds: bers of subordinate groups rather Westron became once again the "If I had my way, you’d wish you than the opposite. Once the Ores "official" language for Ores. There were dead now" (LOTR 466). In learned the language, they found followed the War of the Last Alliance addition, Tolkien explicitly mentions that it was a useful tool for commu­ and the defeat of Sauron. These in the Appendices that many Orcish nicating with other tribes, and in events resulted in the gradual tribes in the Third Age "had long some cases the new language grad­ decline of the Black Speech in used the Westron as their native ually displaced older ones. In other Orcish communities. language" (1165). Finally, even if cases, a situation of bilingualism In conclusion, during the Third the hypothesis was correct, there was established. Soldiers and offi­ Age the Ores retained the Common would still be no explanation for the cials should have a knowledge of as a useful instrument of communi­ fact that low-standing Ores chose the Common Speech as well as the cation. The need to preserve this the Common instead of the Black tribal language. language was strong, not only as Speech as their native language. an Orcish lingua franca but also as To solve these riddles, it must be the means through which the Ores accepted as an axiom that in order The Black Speech would occasionally come in contact for the Ores to adopt any language The only question that still remains with Humans or other races. Wars it should be a language of some sta­ unanswered is the failure of Sauron were quite frequent, and captives tus within their community. The to impose his own ‘Black Speech’ on were taken as prisoners to Orcish Westron must have been the lan­ his Orcish subjects. It seems that dungeons. Thus, although the guage of a major Orcish tribe - this speech never acquired native Orcish varieties of the Common which it was not - or it must have speakers, and although it remained were indeed different from the been used by high officials in a prestigious language variety ‘Standard Common’, they never Sauron’s regime. It should be a lan­ among the Ores it was not spoken. became totally Incomprehensible guage connected with social Of course, it left its trace on Orcish to ‘outsiders’. This means that advancement and power. There is a language. Tolkien mentions that even Ores were capable of pre­ strong possibility that the answer to "from the Black Speech were serving a language and not only of the riddles is found in these last derived many of the words that were "corrupting" it. It is therefore doubt­ observations. We know, for exam­ in the Third Age wide-spread among ful whether their race is as evil and ple, that the lieutenant of Sauron’s the Ores, such as gash, fire” (LOTR ‘irredeemably wicked’ as present­ fortress, ‘the Mouth of Sauron’, was 1165). This means that for some ed by members of the ‘Good’ a renegade who came from the race time the Ores were exposed to this races, most notably by the Elves. of those that are known as ‘the language, but its influence was lim­ And, as a final comment, it should Black Numenoreans’ (LOTR 922). ited for some historical or other rea­ be noted that language change is These were Numenoreans - there­ son. It may be that the retreat of the totally natural and there is no rea­ fore speakers of the Westron - who Black Speech was connected to the son at all to label language change entered Sauron’s service during the historical events of the Second Age. as ‘corruption’.

Works cited Foster, Robert. The Complete Guide to Middle-Earth. HarperCollins Publishers. London, 1993. Holmes, Janet. An Introduction to Sociolinguistics.Longman. London and New York, 1992. Tolkien, John Ronald Reuel. The Hobbit. HarperCollins Publishers. London, 1993. Tolkien. John Ronald Reuel. The Lord of the Rings. HarperCollins Publishers. London, 1991.

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