Bindbole Wood
Bindbole Wood was a small wood in the southern part of the Northfarthing in the Shire.[1]
Etymology
The name presumably contains bind and bole "trunk of a tree".[2] In dutch it was translated (after Tolkien's suggestion) as Pakkebaal Bos.[3]
Misspelling
The name appears in the map of the Shire, but the letter o in the 1954 edition was not very clear; thus the name has been rendered Bindbale in many later maps (e.g. by Barbara Strachey and Karen Wynn Fonstad), and elsewhere, like in Robert Foster's The Complete Guide to Middle-earth (s.v. Bindbale).
Even Tolkien himself referred to Bindbale in a manuscript note when he was preparing the document later known as Nomenclature.[3]
Inspiration
Christopher Tolkien would reminisce that there is an actual English place named "Bindbole Wood", being one of the real place-names borrowed while drawing A Part of the Shire map with his father. However this must be a false memory as there is no trace of such a place, not even Christopher himself was able to find any information afterwards.[3]
References
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, "A Part of the Shire" map
- ↑ David Salo, "Hobbitish Place-names" dated 23 November 1998, Elfling (accessed 9 October 2014)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull (eds), The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion, p. lvii