Sharkey
| Sharkey | |
|---|---|
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| Sharkey, Tyrant of the Shire by Matt Stewart | |
| Biographical Information | |
| Other names | Saruman |
Sharkey was the name that Saruman had used as the Boss of the Ruffians.[1]
History
During his time as the Lord of Isengard, the faithless servant of the Dark Lord Sauron, Saruman, was given the alias Sharkey by all his people in Isengard. Although it was probably an Orkish word in origin,[2] Saruman presumed that it may possibly had been a sign of affection.[1]
During the last stages of the War of the Ring, a group of Ruffians working for "Sharkey" took over the Shire through the manipulation of Lotho Sackville-Baggins. Later, sometime after Saruman was released from the Tower of Orthanc by Treebeard, the ruffians taunted the Shire-hobbits that Sharkey himself had come and would deal with them in time. When the Travellers returned to the Shire, it was discovered after the Battle of Bywater that Sharkey was actually an alias of the corrupted Wizard Saruman, who revealed himself at Bag End.[1]
Etymology
Tolkien attempted to translate the alias into English from the Westron word. The name is not given a direct meaning, but in a footnote to the text, it probably originated as an Orkish word[2] possibly relating to sharkû ("old man").[3]
The word therefore is an Anglicization of sharkû and the -ey is intended to be the English "diminutive and quasi-affectionate ending -ey".[4] A Westron ending of such function is not known.
Other versions of the legendarium
The name was applied to many of the ruffians at various stages of the development of the chapter. At one point, the name Sharkey was previously Long Tom and simply referred to one of the Hobbiton ruffians,[5] before Tolkien changed it to Big Sharkey and applied the name to an Orc-man at Bag-End, who was to be the Boss of the ruffians. Then he changed it again to Ruffian Sharkey before finally making it be a nickname for Saruman.[6]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, "The Scouring of the Shire"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, "The Scouring of the Shire", footnote
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix F, "The Languages and Peoples of the Third Age", "Of Other Races"
- ↑ 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. 763
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Sauron Defeated, "Part One: The End of the Third Age: IX. The Scouring of the Shire: Notes", note 7
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Sauron Defeated, "Part One: The End of the Third Age: IX. The Scouring of the Shire"
