Sûza is the Westron word for "province, sphere of occupation, division of a realm",[1] visible in Sûza-t, "The Shire".[2]
Etymology
Andreas Möhn suggested that perhaps the second element -za was related to the Adûnaic word zâyan ("land").[3]
Inspiration
"[...] actually the Old Norse and mod. Icelandic sýsla (Swed. syssla, Dan. syssel, now obsolete in sense amt, but occurring in place-names) was in mind when I said that the real untranslated name of the Shire was Súza [...] hence it was also said [...] that it was a 'district of well-ordered business'."[4]
References
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix F, "On Translation"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Peoples of Middle-earth, "II. The Appendix on Languages", p. 45
- ↑ Andreas Möhn, "Etymologies of the Atani languages", entry ZAY'N
- ↑ 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. 775 (entry for Shire)