Talk:Trāgu

trâgu is clearly a fan-derived word, and I therefore suggest that we delete this page (no need on TG to have articles on fanon words). If we still find the derivation worthy of mention, I would rather recommend to add something like: "It has been suggested..." in the etymology section in the article on Smaug.

The original source seems to be Moehn's article (link in the article). Letter 31 has nothing to do with the name of Smaug (the mis-conception seems to stem from the appearance of the "squeeze through a hole"-part on page 31 in The Letters; the correct reference is Letter 25). Note that Wikipedia also reproduces the error of trâgu as "Smaug's original Dalish name".--Morgan 19:56, 31 March 2011 (UTC)

Oh, maybe I was wrong. I searched more on internet, and found this statement by Fauskanger:

In Tolkien's draft for Appendix F (where the "real" names [of Sméagol and Déagol] appeared as Trahand and Nahand), they were translated "apt to creep into a hole" and "apt to hide, secretive", respectively (PM:54). In the same source, Tolkien added that "Smaug, the Dragon's name, is a representation in similar terms, in this case of a more Scandinavian character, of the Dale name Trâgu, which was probably related to the trah- stem in the Mark and Shire". Thus, the made-up names Sméagol (pseudo-Old English) and Smaug (pseudo-Scandinavian) involve the same original stem, representing the relationship between the actual Middle-earth names Trahald and Trâgu. Since Trahald is said to mean "burrowing, worming in" or "apt to creep into a hole", it is interesting to notice that Tolkien stated that the name Smaug (representing Trâgu) is "the past tense of the primitive Germanic verb Smugan, to squeeze through a hole" (Letters:31)

I'll have a look in Peoples of Middle-earth.--Morgan 20:23, 31 March 2011 (UTC)