Editing Warg (section)

== Etymology and origins ==

{{further|Tolkien and the Norse}}

[[File:Rune stone dr 284 of the hunnestad monument in lund sweden 2008 (cropped).JPG|thumb|upright|The [[jötunn]] [[Hyrrokin]] riding a wolf, on an [[image stone]] from the [[Hunnestad Monument]], constructed in 985–1035&nbsp;[[Anno Domini|AD]]<ref name="Welch 2001" /><ref>{{cite web |last=Olsson |first=Göran |title=Hunnestadsmonumentet |trans-title=The Hunnestad Monument |url=https://www.hunnestad.org/byn-hi/runstensmonument |access-date=10 May 2020 |publisher=Hunnestad.org (Village) |language=sv |quote=Hunnestadsmonumentet kom till i en tid då makten centraliserades i Norden. Inristningen bör ha skett under en period, åren 985-1035, då Sven Tveskägg eller Knut den store hade makten i Skandinavien, eller de närmaste åren efter denna period.}}</ref>|left]]

The Tolkien scholar [[Tom Shippey]] states that Tolkien's spelling "warg" is a cross of [[Old Norse]] ''[[wikt:vargr|vargr]]'' and [[Old English]] ''[[wikt:wearg|wearh]]''. He notes that the words embody a shift in meaning from "wolf" to "outlaw": ''vargr'' carries both meanings, while ''wearh'' means "outcast" or "outlaw", but has lost the sense of "wolf".<ref name="Shippey 2005">{{cite book |last=Shippey |first=Tom |author-link=Tom Shippey |title=The Road to Middle-Earth |title-link=The Road to Middle-Earth |date=2005 |edition=Third |orig-year=1982 |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |isbn=978-0261102750 |page=74, note}}</ref> 
In Old Norse, ''vargr'' is derived from the [[Proto-Germanic]] root reconstructed as ''*[[wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/wargaz|wargaz]]'', ultimately derived from the [[Proto-Indo-European]] (PIE) root reconstructed as ''*werg̑ʰ-'' "destroy". ''Vargr'' (compare modern Swedish ''[[wikt:varg|varg]]'' "wolf") arose as a [[noa-name|non-taboo name]] for ''[[wikt:úlfr|úlfr]]'', the normal Old Norse term for "[[wolf]]".<ref>{{cite dictionary |last=Zoëga |first=Geir T. |author-link1=Geir T. Zoëga |title=vargr |dictionary=A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic |year=1910 |publisher=[[Clarendon Press]] |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2003.02.0002:entry=vargr}}</ref> 
Shippey adds that there is also an Old English verb, ''[[wikt:awyrgan|awyrgan]]'', meaning both "to condemn [an outcast]" and "to strangle [an outcast to death]"; he adds that a possible further sense is "to [[wikt:worry|worry]] [a sheep], to bite to death".<ref name="Shippey 2001">{{cite book |last=Shippey |first=Tom |author-link=Tom Shippey |title=J. R. R. Tolkien: Author of the Century |title-link=J. R. R. Tolkien: Author of the Century |date=2001 |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |isbn=978-0261-10401-3 |pages=30–31}}</ref> He writes that 

{{quote|Tolkien's word 'Warg' clearly splits the difference between Old Norse and Old English pronunciations, and his concept of them – wolves, but not just wolves, intelligent and malevolent wolves – combines the two ancient opinions.<ref name="Shippey 2001"/>}}

In [[Norse mythology]], wargs are in particular the mythological wolves [[Fenrisulfr|Fenrir]], [[Sköll]] and [[Hati Hróðvitnisson|Hati]]. Sköll and Hati are wolves, one going after the Sun, the other after the Moon.<ref>{{cite book |last=Simek |first=Rudolf |year=2007 |translator=Angela Hall |title=Dictionary of Northern Mythology |publisher=[[D.S. Brewer]] |isbn=978-0-85991-513-7 |page=292}}</ref> Wolves served as mounts for more or less dangerous humanoid creatures. For instance, ''[[Gunnr]]'s horse'' was a [[kenning]] for "wolf" on the [[Rök runestone]].<ref name="Larrington1999">{{cite book |last=Larrington |first=Carolyne |title=The Poetic Edda |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nBzuQZ4MCPIC |year=1999 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-283946-6 |page=121}}</ref> In the ''[[Lay of Hyndla]]'', the eponymous [[völva|seeress]] rides a wolf.<ref name="AckerAcker2002">{{cite book |last1=Acker |first1=Paul |last2=Acker |first2=Paul Leonard |last3=Larrington |first3=Carolyne |title=The Poetic Edda: Essays on Old Norse Mythology |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j4bufbA_UpQC&pg=PA265 |year=2002 |publisher=[[Psychology Press]] |isbn=978-0-8153-1660-2 |page=265}}</ref> To [[Baldr]]'s funeral, the [[jötunn]] [[Hyrrokkin]] arrived on a wolf.<ref name="Welch 2001">{{cite book |last=Welch |first=Lynda C.|title=Goddess of the North: A Comprehensive Exploration of the Norse Goddesses, from Antiquity to the Modern Age |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yfugwhC2qIAC&pg=PA220 |year=2001 |publisher=[[Weiser Books]] |isbn=978-1-60925-312-7 |page=220}}</ref>

The medievalist and Tolkien scholar [[Marjorie Burns]] writes that Tolkien uses the fact that wolves were among the Norse god [[Odin]]'s war beasts "in a particularly innovative way".<ref name="Burns 2005">{{cite book |last=Burns |first=Marjorie |author-link=Marjorie Burns |title=Perilous Realms: Celtic and Norse in Tolkien's Middle-earth |title-link=Perilous Realms |year=2005 |publisher=[[University of Toronto Press]] |isbn=978-0802038067 |page=103}}</ref> Odin kept two wolves, Freki and Geri, their names both meaning "Greedy"; and in the final battle that destroys the world, [[Ragnarök]], Odin is killed and eaten by the gigantic wolf Fenrir. Thus, Burns points out, wolves were both associates of Odin, and his mortal enemy. She argues that Tolkien made use of both relationships in ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]''. In her view, both the dark lord [[Sauron]] and the evil Wizard [[Saruman]] embody "attributes of a negative Odin".<ref name="Burns 2005"/> She points out that Saruman has wargs in his army, while Sauron uses "the likeness of a ravening wolf"<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955}}, book 5, ch. 4, "The Siege of Gondor"</ref> for the enormous battering ram named Grond which destroys the main gate of [[Minas Tirith]]. On the other side, the benevolent Wizard [[Gandalf]] leads the fight against the wargs in ''[[The Hobbit]]'', using his ability to create fire, and understands their language. In ''[[The Fellowship of the Ring]]'', Gandalf again uses magic and fire to drive off a great wolf, "The Hound of Sauron",<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954a}}, book 2, ch. 4, "A Journey in the Dark"</ref> and his wolf-pack; Burns writes that the wolves' attempt "to devour Gandalf hints at Odin's fate", recalling the myth of Fenrir and Odin.<ref name="Burns 2005"/>

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