Editing Mercia (section)

== Mercian Old English ==
{{Main article|Mercian Old English|Old English|Anglic languages}}

The name 'Mercia' is a [[Latinisation (literature)|Latinisation]] of an [[Old English]] word derived from the [[Mercian Old English]], {{lang|ang|Merce}}, meaning "borderland".<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Mercia |title=Mercia {{!}} historical kingdom, England |website=[[Encyclopedia Britannica]] |language=en |access-date=2018-12-28 }}</ref> The dialect thrived between the 8th and 13th centuries and was referred to by [[John Trevisa]], writing in 1387:<ref name="Elmes">{{harvp|Elmes|2005}}{{pages needed |date=September 2019}}</ref>

{{blockquote|For men of the est with men of the west, as it were undir the same partie of hevene, acordeth more in sownynge of speche than men of the north with men of the south, therfore it is that Mercii, that beeth men of myddel Engelond, as it were parteners of the endes, understondeth better the side langages, northerne and southerne, than northerne and southerne understondeth either other...}}

[[J. R. R. Tolkien]] is one of many scholars who have studied and promoted the Mercian dialect of [[Old English]] and introduced various Mercian terms into his [[Tolkien's legendarium|legendarium]] – especially in relation to the [[Rohan (Middle-earth)|Kingdom of Rohan]], otherwise known as the ''Mark'' (a name cognate with ''Mercia'').   The Mercian dialect is the basis of Tolkien's language of Rohan,<ref>{{cite book | last = Tolkien | first = J. R. R. | title = [[The Lord of the Rings]] | publisher = Houghton-Mifflin | year = 2005 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780618640157/page/1133 1133–1138] | isbn = 978-0-618-64561-9 }} For more on Tolkien's "translation" of the language of Rohan into [[Old English]], see especially page 1136.</ref> and a number of its kings are given the same names as monarchs who appear in the Mercian royal genealogy, e.g., Fréawine, Fréaláf and [[Éomer]] (see [[List of kings of the Angles]]).<ref>{{cite book |last=Shippey |first=Prof. Tom |title=The Road to Middle Earth |date=2005 <!-- (1982) --> |publisher=HarperCollins |isbn=0-261-10275-3 |pages=139–140}} Shippey notes that Tolkien uses 'Mercian' forms of Anglo-Saxon, e.g., "''[[Saruman]]'', ''[[Hasufel]]'', ''[[Herugrim]]'' for 'standard' [Anglo-Saxon] ''Searuman'', ''Heasufel'' and ''Heorugrim''" Footnote page 140</ref>