I have been browsing through A Glossary of Tudor and Stuart Words, Especially from the Dramatists by Walter W. Skeat (completed by A. L. Mayhew and published in 1914). It contains several entries that should sound familiar to readers of J. R. R. Tolkien's work. For example:

azoch, ‘azoth’, the alchemist's name for quicksilver. B. Jonson, Alchemist, ii. 1 (Surly). Also spelt assogue. F. assogue; Span. azogue, quicksilver; Arab. az-zāūq; zāūq is adapted from Pers. zhiwah (jivah), quicksilver. See NED., Ducange, and Dozy, Glossaire (s.v. Azogue).

bilbo, a sword of excellent quality. Merry Wives, iii. 5. 112. Hence, one who wears a bilbo, id. i. 1. 165. From Bilbao (E. Bilboa) in Spain.

One easily recognizes the names Azog and Bilbo. (Azog is actually white in the film version; his role in the novel is much smaller.) Tolkien was professor of Anglo-Saxon, but the above example don't derive from Old English (Old English origins of dictionary entries are always mentioned in Skeat's Glossary).

So my question is: did J. R. R. Tolkien, or possibly his son Christopher Tolkien, ever write about how he drew inspiration for certain character names from literature written in Early Modern English?

I have been browsing through A Glossary of Tudor and Stuart Words, Especially from the Dramatists by Walter W. Skeat (completed by A. L. Mayhew and published in 1914). It contains several entries that should sound familiar to readers of J. R. R. Tolkien's work. For example:

azoch, ‘azoth’, the alchemist's name for quicksilver. B. Jonson, Alchemist, ii. 1 (Surly). Also spelt assogue. F. assogue; Span. azogue, quicksilver; Arab. az-zāūq; zāūq is adapted from Pers. zhiwah (jivah), quicksilver. See NED., Ducange, and Dozy, Glossaire (s.v. Azogue).

bilbo, a sword of excellent quality. Merry Wives, iii. 5. 112. Hence, one who wears a bilbo, id. i. 1. 165. From Bilbao (E. Bilboa) in Spain.

One easily recognizes the names Azog and Bilbo. (Azog is actually white in the film version; his role in the novel is much smaller.) Tolkien was professor of Anglo-Saxon, but the above example don't derive from Old English (Old English origins of dictionary entries are always mentioned in Skeat's Glossary).

So my question is: did J. R. R. Tolkien, or possibly his son Christopher Tolkien, ever write about how he drew inspiration for certain character names from literature written in Early Modern English?

I have been browsing through A Glossary of Tudor and Stuart Words, Especially from the Dramatists by Walter W. Skeat (completed by A. L. Mayhew and published in 1914). It contains several entries that should sound familiar to readers of J. R. R. Tolkien's work. For example:

azoch, ‘azoth’, the alchemist's name for quicksilver. B. Jonson, Alchemist, ii. 1 (Surly). Also spelt assogue. F. assogue; Span. azogue, quicksilver; Arab. az-zāūq; zāūq is adapted from Pers. zhiwah (jivah), quicksilver. See NED., Ducange, and Dozy, Glossaire (s.v. Azogue).

 

bilbo, a sword of excellent quality. Merry Wives, iii. 5. 112. Hence, one who wears a bilbo, id. i. 1. 165. From Bilbao (E. Bilboa) in Spain.

One easily recognizes the names Azog and Bilbo. (Azog is actually white in the film version; his role in the novel is much smaller.) Tolkien was professor of Anglo-Saxon, but the above example don't derive from Old English (Old English origins of dictionary entries are always mentioned in Skeat's Glossary).

So my question is: did J. R. R. Tolkien, or possibly his son Christopher Tolkien, ever write about how he drew inspiration for certain character names from literature written in Early Modern English?

I have been browsing through A Glossary of Tudor and Stuart Words, Especially from the Dramatists by Walter W. Skeat (completed by A. L. Mayhew and published in 1914). It contains several entries that should sound familiar to readers of J. R. R. Tolkien's work. For example:

azoch, ‘azoth’, the alchemist's name for quicksilver. B. Jonson, Alchemist, ii. 1 (Surly). Also spelt assogue. F. assogue; Span. azogue, quicksilver; Arab. az-zāūq; zāūq is adapted from Pers. zhiwah (jivah), quicksilver. See NED., Ducange, and Dozy, Glossaire (s.v. Azogue).

bilbo, a sword of excellent quality. Merry Wives, iii. 5. 112. Hence, one who wears a bilbo, id. i. 1. 165. From Bilbao (E. Bilboa) in Spain.

One easily recognizes the names Azog and Bilbo. (Azog is actually white in the film version; his role in the novel is much smaller.) Tolkien was professor of Anglo-Saxon, but the above example don't derive from Old English (Old English origins of dictionary entries are always mentioned in Skeat's Glossary).

So my question is: did J. R. R. Tolkien, or possibly his son Christopher Tolkien, ever write about how he drew inspiration for certain character names from literature written in Early Modern English?