Pincup

From Tolkien Gateway
Pincup
Village
General Information
LocationSouthfarthing, the Shire
TypeVillage
InhabitantsHobbits

Pincup was a small village of the Shire. It lay in the northern corner of the Southfarthing, some miles south of the Three-Farthing Stone, in that hilly part of the Shire known as the Green Hill Country. It seems to have been built in the southern slopes of the Green Hills, and was reached by only a single road, apparently leading from the larger settlement of Longbottom to the south.[1]

Etymology[edit | edit source]

Concerning the origin of Pincup's name, the first element is pinnuc or pink, finch or sparrow, and the second element is hop, recess, retreat. Tolkien had said that it emulates "a well-known pattern" of English place-names, "containing bird/animal name and hop|.[2]

Before the above publication, David Salo had suggested a derivation from a speculative Old English *Pincopp "pine-hill", among other possibilities.[3]

References