Post by Andorinha on Apr 22, 2011 8:01:45 GMT -6
Excellent, Fan, should have know you would have the basics on this one!
But, Darn! I was hoping someone would have further knowledge of this term, maybe even an etymology. "Lintips," sounded at first like some kind of flower, and that would fit in with the rest of the poem, but these would have to be night blooming plants, with a "mousey smell" to them. LOL, not sure what the Old Boy means by that, "mousey smell." Had a pet rat for a while, noticed no odour other than the same rancid urine smell I associated with my numerous little brothers. Is that "mousey?"
Lintips also "walk," though that may be meant figuratively as "the daisies nodded, and waved to the sun?" They also "drink" dew, flower-like enough, but these Lintips seem ambulatory, as they move away from Tom... Hmm, animal or vegetable?
I think, Shippey felt them to be animal? "Incidentally, speaking of 'lintips' and Prof. Shippey - I once asked the professor if he knew what lintips were - that is, are they known in literature? No, was the reply - as far as he knew, lintips were an invention of Tolkien's, like mewlips." cf online discussion of Lintips at Hobbit-Plaza.
Thanks for the source reference, Fan, additionally the Bombadil poem "Once Upon a Time" was published in "The Young Magicians," ed. Lin Carter (Ballantine, 1969, pp.254-6)
This may have been one of the poems Tolkien said he cut from the reader "The Adventures of Tom Bombadil."
A review essay that I found interesting:
sacnoths.blogspot.com/2009/07/new-arrival-winters-tales-for-children.html
Alas, as you state Fan, no etymology yet, not even sure if we are dealing with animal or vegetable.
Regarding sources. Scull and Hammond II 689:
"Readers have failed to identify a source of the 'lintips', which may be no more than undefined invented creatures like those in The Mewlips."
Online copy of the poem:
tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Once_upon_a_time
But, Darn! I was hoping someone would have further knowledge of this term, maybe even an etymology. "Lintips," sounded at first like some kind of flower, and that would fit in with the rest of the poem, but these would have to be night blooming plants, with a "mousey smell" to them. LOL, not sure what the Old Boy means by that, "mousey smell." Had a pet rat for a while, noticed no odour other than the same rancid urine smell I associated with my numerous little brothers. Is that "mousey?"
Lintips also "walk," though that may be meant figuratively as "the daisies nodded, and waved to the sun?" They also "drink" dew, flower-like enough, but these Lintips seem ambulatory, as they move away from Tom... Hmm, animal or vegetable?
I think, Shippey felt them to be animal? "Incidentally, speaking of 'lintips' and Prof. Shippey - I once asked the professor if he knew what lintips were - that is, are they known in literature? No, was the reply - as far as he knew, lintips were an invention of Tolkien's, like mewlips." cf online discussion of Lintips at Hobbit-Plaza.
Thanks for the source reference, Fan, additionally the Bombadil poem "Once Upon a Time" was published in "The Young Magicians," ed. Lin Carter (Ballantine, 1969, pp.254-6)
This may have been one of the poems Tolkien said he cut from the reader "The Adventures of Tom Bombadil."
A review essay that I found interesting:
sacnoths.blogspot.com/2009/07/new-arrival-winters-tales-for-children.html
Alas, as you state Fan, no etymology yet, not even sure if we are dealing with animal or vegetable.
Regarding sources. Scull and Hammond II 689:
"Readers have failed to identify a source of the 'lintips', which may be no more than undefined invented creatures like those in The Mewlips."
Online copy of the poem:
tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Once_upon_a_time