Mithe: Difference between revisions

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(Welsh source of the word)
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==Etymology==
==Etymology==
The name is obviously unrelated to the English verb ''[[Wiktionary:mithe|mithe]]'' meaning "hide, conceal, avoid".
The name is obviously unrelated to the English verb ''[[Wiktionary:mithe|mithe]]'' meaning "hide, conceal, avoid".
The Welsh language is the most likely source, and Owen-Pughe's Dictionary (1832), which Tolkien used at times, yields: midde pronounced midhe. The dh denotes a voiced th sound as in though. A midde is a pit or pool in a river, where fish resort to.


[[Andreas Möhn]] has suggested that ''Mithe'' means "Place where two streams meet", derived from [[Old English]] ''[[Wiktionary:muþ|mūþ]]'' or ''[[Wiktionary:gemyþ|ġemȳþ]]'' "river-mouth, meeting of streams". Möhn adds that ''Mithe'' "is evidently related to 'mouth' and probably a derivative surviving in English place-names".<ref>{{webcite|author=[[Andreas Möhn]]|articleurl=http://lalaith.vpsurf.de/Tolkien/Bombadil_in_the_Shire.html|articlename=Bombadil in the Shire|dated=|website=Lalaith |accessed=16 May 2012}}</ref>
[[Andreas Möhn]] has suggested that ''Mithe'' means "Place where two streams meet", derived from [[Old English]] ''[[Wiktionary:muþ|mūþ]]'' or ''[[Wiktionary:gemyþ|ġemȳþ]]'' "river-mouth, meeting of streams". Möhn adds that ''Mithe'' "is evidently related to 'mouth' and probably a derivative surviving in English place-names".<ref>{{webcite|author=[[Andreas Möhn]]|articleurl=http://lalaith.vpsurf.de/Tolkien/Bombadil_in_the_Shire.html|articlename=Bombadil in the Shire|dated=|website=Lalaith |accessed=16 May 2012}}</ref>

Latest revision as of 21:22, 25 December 2016

Mithe was a body of water in the Shire, the outflow of the Shirebourn river into the Brandywine.

At the Mithe there was a landing-stage called Mithe Steps,[1] from which a lane ran to Deephallow and so on to the Causeway road that went through Rushey and Stock.[2]

Etymology[edit | edit source]

The name is obviously unrelated to the English verb mithe meaning "hide, conceal, avoid".

Andreas Möhn has suggested that Mithe means "Place where two streams meet", derived from Old English mūþ or ġemȳþ "river-mouth, meeting of streams". Möhn adds that Mithe "is evidently related to 'mouth' and probably a derivative surviving in English place-names".[3]


References