Latest comment: 6 October 2025 by Akhorahil in topic Grindwall etymology
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Grindwall etymology
The current Tolkien Gateway article implies that *Grind* means fence. I’ve not been able to find any support for that etymology in my searching.
Wiktionary, however, gives an Old Norse meaning of ‘haven, dock’.
Would any more learned linguists care to comment before I make an edit? DanW (talk) 19:05, 5 October 2025 (UTC)
- Did you read note 3 of the Preface to the Adventures of Tom Bombadil? J.R.R. Tolkien himself wrote "was well watched and protected by a grind or fence extended into the water", so J.R.R. Tolkien himself implied that a grind is a fence. I edited the Grindwall page and inserted a more precise reference so that it is clear that the source of the information is note 3 of the Preface. Wiktionary is not a reliable source, because is often does not specify the source (reference) where an individual meaning comes from. If you look at the entry for grind in the Cleasby and Vigfusson online Old Norse dictionary https://cleasby-vigfusson-dictionary.vercel.app/word/grind one meaning is "enclosure" and another one is "pens for catching whales". I am not a learned linguist, but J.R.R. Tolkien is sufficient for me as a source for the meaning of the word "grind" in english in that context where it is used. --Akhôrahil (talk) 08:55, 6 October 2025 (UTC)