Tark: Difference between revisions

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:Tharzog mentions Tarks in Fornost.
:Tharzog mentions Tarks in Fornost.


'''2014: ''[[Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor]]'':'''
'''2014: ''[[Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor]]'':'''
:Orcs and Orc Captains refer to Talion, a ranger of the Black Gates as "the Tark".
:Orcs and Orc Captains refer to Talion, a ranger of the Black Gates as "the Tark".



Revision as of 02:41, 6 October 2014

"There's a great fighter about, one of those bloody-handed Elves, or one of the filthy tarks."
Snaga, The Return of the King, The Tower of Cirith Ungol

Tark is an Orkish word that was often used by the Orcs of the later Third Age to describe a Man of Númenórean heritage (such as the Gondorians). Considering the enmity between the Orcs and the Men of Gondor, the word tark tended to be used in an insulting way.[1][2]

Etymology

There exists at least two, only slightly different, etymological explanations of tark:

  1. a corrupted version of tarkil, a Westron borrowing from Quenya that literally meant "High Man".[3][4]
  2. unknown etymology, but "possibly a mere abbreviation of tarkil".[2]

Portrayal in Adaptations

2007: The Lord of the Rings Online:

Whenever a keep is flipped in favor of the Servants of the Eye, an orc calls out "look at the feeble târks run!"

2011: The Lord of the Rings: War in the North:

Tharzog mentions Tarks in Fornost.

2014: Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor:

Orcs and Orc Captains refer to Talion, a ranger of the Black Gates as "the Tark".

References

  1. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, "The Tower of Cirith Ungol"
  2. 2.0 2.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, "Words, Phrases and Passages in Various Tongues in The Lord of the Rings", in Parma Eldalamberon XVII (edited by Christopher Gilson), p. 101
  3. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix F, "The Languages and Peoples of the Third Age"
  4. Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull (eds), The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion, p. 603