Wk. 3 Ch. 4 - Vocabulary Words

[Sparrow]

Define and discuss the following words as used in the story:

1. Paraphernalia

2. Quaff

3. Lair

Feel free to add other vocabulary words to the list!

[Stormrider]

After the Dwarves, Bilbo, and Gandalf find the cave so they can get out of the thunderstorm, the Narrator comments:

and so they dropped off to sleep one by one. And that was the last time that they used the ponies, packages, baggages, tools, and paraphernalia that they had brought with them.

PARAPHERNALIAfrom Webster's online Dictionary and Thesaurus:
1: the separate real or personal property of a married woman that she can dispose of by will and sometimes according to common law during her life
2: personal belongings
3 a: articles of equipment : furnishings
b: accessory items : appurtenances

As used in the Narrator's comment, it is definately NOT #1. All of the other definitions could fit (with the exception of furnishings which would be to large to haul on an adventure)

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QUAFFfrom Webster's online Dictionary and Thesaurus:
intransitive verb: to drink deeply
transitive verb: to drink (a beverage) deeply

Off the top of my head, without any sentence for context to get an idea of what it means, I thought QUAFF meant to subdue or stop, nip it in the bud. I skimmed through Chapter Four and didn't see quaff used. I will need to look again. Maybe even read the chapter entirely!

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LAIRfrom Webster's online Dictionary and Thesaurus:
1 dialect British: a resting or sleeping place : bed
2 a: the resting or living place of a wild animal : den
b: a refuge or place for hiding

I can't find lair in the chapter either! I can see how Tolkien may have used the word LAIR to mean a resting or sleeping place for the Dwarves, Bilbo, and Gandalf when they set up in the cave found by Fili and Kili. I can also see how it would mean a refuge or place for hiding the the Goblins (or as the living place of a wild animal if you wanted to compare Goblins to wild animals).

[Andorinha]

RE: Quaff

Chpt IV. p. 58 my edition, uses this word in the initial Goblin's poem, third stanza, fourth line:

"While Goblins quaff, and Goblins laugh,"

As for "lair," lol, I've skimmed through the chapter twice without finding anything closer than "liar" on page 60... hope I don't obsess on this point of detail! Where is that dratted "Lair!?"

[Stormrider]

Oh, the poem! ha ha! I skipped that completely. Reading quaff in that context still does not give me a clue that it means "drinking deeply". It is not like they are in a pub or dining environment as the goblins drag their captives down to their king. So why would drinking deeply during the poem fit in? I can see how drinking ale, wine, or liquor would make goblins laugh. Could they have been toting pints of ale along with them?

Yes, LIAR is the closest thing to LAIR that I could find, too.

[Andorinha]

RE Stormrider's: "Reading quaff in that context still does not give me a clue that it means 'drinking deeply'."

As I read the poem it refers to the goblins telling the dwarves (and Bilbo) just what they can expect as a result of their capture. The dwarves and hobbit will be enslaved, forced to work, sweat, and suffer while the goblins relax, drinking deeply of cool sweet beverages, all the time laughing at their victims'. Goblins are not very nice...

The main reason for using the archaic word "quaff" was, I imagine, the bare fact that it rhymes nicely with "laugh."

Still looking for the elusive "lair."