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Pronunciation
Isengrim is pronounced 'i'zengrim'1
Meaning
Isengrim means approximately 'iron grim'2
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  • Updated 31 January 2011
  • This entry is complete

Isengrim Took II

The founder of Great Smials

Thains of the Shire

The twenty-second Shire-thain, the ninth descendant of Isumbras Took I to hold that title. He lived at the time when pipe-weed was introduced to the Shire; it was first grown just a few years before Isengrim became Thain. He is perhaps best known as the founder of Great Smials, which was to become the ancestral home of the Took family in the Tookland of the Shire.


Notes

1

The correct pronunciation of the initial i in Isengrim is unclear. In Old English, the root word was īsen, with a long initial vowel, so the pronunciation would be something like 'ee'zen'. Since Isengrim's name lacks a macron to emphasise a long vowel, however, a short 'i' (as in whizz) might be preferred instead. Alternatively, given that Old English īsen gave rise to modern 'iron', the same initial vowel might reasonably be preferred (equivalent to the English word 'eye'). An argument could be made for any of these approaches.

2

In Old English grim has a meaning much stronger than its modern usage. It implied fierceness, or even savagery or blood-thirstiness, so Isengrim 'iron grim' would originally have been a warrior's name. Historically, the name Isengrim appears in medieval literature, where it belongs to a greedy and foolish Wolf in various beast fables; this may have been the ultimate source from which Tolkien selected the name.

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About this entry:

  • Updated 31 January 2011
  • This entry is complete

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