Sharkey
Sharkey was the name that Saruman had used as the Boss of the Ruffians.
History[edit]
The alias Sharkey was given to the corrupted Wizard Saruman, the faithless servant of the Dark Lord Sauron, by his minions in Isengard. Later, he assumed it as an identity, in the Shire after taking it over with a group of Ruffians during the last stages of the War of the Ring.
Etymology[edit]
Tolkien attempted to translate the alias into English from the Westron word. The name is not given but it was actually based on the Orkish sharkû ('old man').
The word therefore is an Anglicization of sharkû and the -ey is intended to be the English "diminutive and quasi-affectionate ending -ey".[1] A Westron ending of such function is not known.
Other versions of the legendarium[edit]
The name was applied to many of the ruffians at various stages of the development of the chapter. At one point, the name Sharkey was previously Long Tom and simply referred to one of the Hobbiton ruffians,[2] before Tolkien changed it to Big Sharkey and applied the name to an Orc-man at Bag-End, who was to be the Boss of the ruffians. Then he changed it again to Ruffian Sharkey before finally making it be a nickname for Saruman.[3]
References
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, "Nomenclature of The Lord of the Rings" in Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull (eds), The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion, p. 763
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Sauron Defeated, "Part One: The End of the Third Age: IX. The Scouring of the Shire: Notes", note 7
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Sauron Defeated, "Part One: The End of the Third Age: IX. The Scouring of the Shire"
