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Huorns

2025-11-19T21:16:56Z

Anar: fix typo

{{race infobox
| name=Huorns
| image = Gail McIntosh - Huorn.jpg
| caption="Huorn" by [[:Category:Images by Gail McIntosh|Gail McIntosh]]
| pronun=
| othernames=
| origin=[[Trees]] and [[Ents]]
| location=[[Fangorn Forest]]
| affiliation=[[Ents]]
| rivalry=
| language=
| people=
| members=
| lifespan=
| distinctions=Semi-sapient, tree-like creatures
| height=
| hair=
| skin=
| clothing=
| weapons=
}}
'''Huorns''' were creatures much like [[Ents]]. However, although they were sentient and capable of feeling and perceiving things, they did not appear to be fully sapient.

==History==

The origin of the Huorns is unknown. It is not clear if Huorns were Ents that had become tree-like, or trees that had become Entish. Perhaps both varieties existed, though the [[Hobbits|Hobbit]] [[Meriadoc Brandybuck]] believed the former was true.<ref name="Flotsam">{{TT|Flotsam}}</ref> Either way it is obvious they were part way between trees and Ents.<ref>[[David Day]] (1996), ''[[A Tolkien Bestiary]]'', p. 142</ref>

In the [[Third Age]], the Huorns lived in [[Fangorn Forest]],<ref name="Flotsam" /> though it is possible that the trees of the [[Old Forest]], especially [[Old Man Willow]], were Huorns as well.

During the [[War of the Ring]], Huorns were aroused by [[Treebeard]] to destroy [[Nan Curunír]].<ref name="Flotsam" /> Gandalf saw the shadow of these Huorns, as he rode with the host from [[Edoras]] to [[Hornburg]].<ref>{{HM|Scheme}}, p. 412</ref><ref>{{TT|III7}}</ref> Directed by the Ents, the Huorns also helped the [[Rohirrim]] to fight the [[Orcs]] at the [[Battle of the Hornburg]].<ref name="Flotsam" />

==Characteristics==

Huorns had great power and could wrap themselves in shadow. When angry, they were able to move with great speed. The Huorns further had voices, as they could speak with the Ents. When no Ents looked after them, the Huorns were "''queer and wild''", a threat to the [[Free peoples]].<ref name="Flotsam" />

==Etymology==

''Huorns'' is a name in the Ent's "short language", given to those creatures because "they still have voices, and can speak with the Ents", according to Merry's account.<ref name="Flotsam" />

In drafts texts they received other names such as ''Galbedirs'', ''Lamorni'' and ''Ornómar'' or ''Ornómi'', with the meaning of "Talking Trees"<ref>{{WR|1|IV}}</ref>. But it is not certain whether the name ''Huorns'' carried that meaning on.

It does have the [[Sindarin]] element ''[[orn]]'' "tall tree", and in an etymological Tolkien gave its first element as derived from ''hō'', with a gloss of uncertain reading: it might be "speak, show" or "spirit, shadow", and could be related to other words associated with "heart".<ref>{{PE|17}}, p. 86</ref> So, ''Huorn'' could mean "speaking tree" or "tree with a spirit" or "with a heart". The first element might also be related to the [[Sundocarme|root]] ''[[KHUG]]'' "bark, bay".<ref>{{HM|RC}}, p. 425</ref>.

==Portrayal in adaptations==
[[Image:Huorns (MERP).jpg|thumb|''Huorns'' in [[Middle-earth Role Playing|MERP]]]]
'''1982-97: ''[[Middle-earth Role Playing]]'':'''
:Huorns are classified as Animate Plants (Monsters). The evil, "blackhearted" ones, went away from Fangorn Forest and the protection of the Ents and settled in Mirkwood. Huorns eat living beings, and they come in as many different forms as trees do. Old Man Willow is a Huorn of the Old Forest.<ref>{{ICE|2012}}</ref>

'''1995-8: ''[[Middle-earth Collectible Card Game]]'':'''
:Huorn is an Awakened Plant (Creature), able to inflict one strike on a player.

==External links==
*{{webcite|author=[[Mark Fisher]]|articleurl=https://www.glyphweb.com/arda/h/huorns.html|articlename=Huorns|dated=17 May 2003|website=EoA|accessed=10 September 2025}}

{{references}}

[[Category:Other races]]
[[Category:Trees]]

[[de:Huorns]]
[[fr:encyclo/peuples/ents/huorns]]
[[fi:Huornit]]

Huorns

2025-11-19T21:16:28Z

Anar: Extended explanation of the name's etymology

{{race infobox
| name=Huorns
| image = Gail McIntosh - Huorn.jpg
| caption="Huorn" by [[:Category:Images by Gail McIntosh|Gail McIntosh]]
| pronun=
| othernames=
| origin=[[Trees]] and [[Ents]]
| location=[[Fangorn Forest]]
| affiliation=[[Ents]]
| rivalry=
| language=
| people=
| members=
| lifespan=
| distinctions=Semi-sapient, tree-like creatures
| height=
| hair=
| skin=
| clothing=
| weapons=
}}
'''Huorns''' were creatures much like [[Ents]]. However, although they were sentient and capable of feeling and perceiving things, they did not appear to be fully sapient.

==History==

The origin of the Huorns is unknown. It is not clear if Huorns were Ents that had become tree-like, or trees that had become Entish. Perhaps both varieties existed, though the [[Hobbits|Hobbit]] [[Meriadoc Brandybuck]] believed the former was true.<ref name="Flotsam">{{TT|Flotsam}}</ref> Either way it is obvious they were part way between trees and Ents.<ref>[[David Day]] (1996), ''[[A Tolkien Bestiary]]'', p. 142</ref>

In the [[Third Age]], the Huorns lived in [[Fangorn Forest]],<ref name="Flotsam" /> though it is possible that the trees of the [[Old Forest]], especially [[Old Man Willow]], were Huorns as well.

During the [[War of the Ring]], Huorns were aroused by [[Treebeard]] to destroy [[Nan Curunír]].<ref name="Flotsam" /> Gandalf saw the shadow of these Huorns, as he rode with the host from [[Edoras]] to [[Hornburg]].<ref>{{HM|Scheme}}, p. 412</ref><ref>{{TT|III7}}</ref> Directed by the Ents, the Huorns also helped the [[Rohirrim]] to fight the [[Orcs]] at the [[Battle of the Hornburg]].<ref name="Flotsam" />

==Characteristics==

Huorns had great power and could wrap themselves in shadow. When angry, they were able to move with great speed. The Huorns further had voices, as they could speak with the Ents. When no Ents looked after them, the Huorns were "''queer and wild''", a threat to the [[Free peoples]].<ref name="Flotsam" />

==Etymology==

''Huorns'' is a name in the Ent's "short language", given to those creatures because "they still have voices, and can speak with the Ents", according to Merry's account.<ref name="Flotsam" />

In drafts texts they received other names such as ''Galbedirs'', ''Lamorni'' and ''Ornómar'' or ''Ornómi'' ,with the meaning of "Talking Trees"<ref>{{WR|1|IV}}</ref>. But it is not certain whether the name ''Huorns'' carried that meaning on.

It does have the [[Sindarin]] element ''[[orn]]'' "tall tree", and in an etymological Tolkien gave its first element as derived from ''hō'', with a gloss of uncertain reading: it might be "speak, show" or "spirit, shadow", and could be related to other words associated with "heart".<ref>{{PE|17}}, p. 86</ref> So, ''Huorn'' could mean "speaking tree" or "tree with a spirit" or "with a heart". The first element might also be related to the [[Sundocarme|root]] ''[[KHUG]]'' "bark, bay".<ref>{{HM|RC}}, p. 425</ref>.

==Portrayal in adaptations==
[[Image:Huorns (MERP).jpg|thumb|''Huorns'' in [[Middle-earth Role Playing|MERP]]]]
'''1982-97: ''[[Middle-earth Role Playing]]'':'''
:Huorns are classified as Animate Plants (Monsters). The evil, "blackhearted" ones, went away from Fangorn Forest and the protection of the Ents and settled in Mirkwood. Huorns eat living beings, and they come in as many different forms as trees do. Old Man Willow is a Huorn of the Old Forest.<ref>{{ICE|2012}}</ref>

'''1995-8: ''[[Middle-earth Collectible Card Game]]'':'''
:Huorn is an Awakened Plant (Creature), able to inflict one strike on a player.

==External links==
*{{webcite|author=[[Mark Fisher]]|articleurl=https://www.glyphweb.com/arda/h/huorns.html|articlename=Huorns|dated=17 May 2003|website=EoA|accessed=10 September 2025}}

{{references}}

[[Category:Other races]]
[[Category:Trees]]

[[de:Huorns]]
[[fr:encyclo/peuples/ents/huorns]]
[[fi:Huornit]]

Gautisk

2024-04-06T10:35:24Z

Anar: fix typos

'''Gautisk''' is a [[Languages|language]] of Germanic type invented by [[J.R.R. Tolkien]] in the early 1910s, which he might have meant to devise as a language for the Gauts of southern Sweden, who are identified as the Geats of ''[[Beowulf]]''.

== Source materials ==
All that is known about Gautisk comes from a few fragmentary and disconnected sources. Tolkien wrote in 1955 to [[W.H. Auden]] that his interest on [[Gothic]] (which he discovered around 1910) moved him "to invent an 'unrecorded' Germanic language", although he gave that attempt up in favor of his "'own language' (...) heavily [[Finnish|Finnicized]] in phonetic pattern and structure" (i.e. [[Quenya]]), after discovering a Finnish Grammar in the Exeter College Library when he was "supposed to be reading for Honour Mods" (between 1912-1913).<ref>[[J.R.R. Tolkien]]; [[Humphrey Carpenter]], [[Christopher Tolkien]] (eds.), ''[[The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien]]'', [[Letter 163|Letter 211]], (dated [[7 June]] [[1955]])</ref>

Tolkien did not give a particular name to that Germanic language in his letter, but this story coincides with the existence of two brief mentions to a tongue called ''Gautisk'' in the notebook that contains the [[Qenyaqetsa]].

One of those notes is a title in the inside back cover of the notebook: ''Ermanaþiudiska razda eþþau Gautiska tungō'', which in Gothic means 'Language of the Great People, or Gautish tongue'.<ref>{{PE|12}}, p. x</ref> The other is a note struck through in the inside front cover, after an alphabet list, which indicates some particular characteristics of the phonetics of "Gautisk".<ref name=":0">{{PE|12}}, p. iv</ref>

[[Arden R. Smith]] commented that the contents of those notes are closely related to the Gothic language, but the vocalization of ''Gautisk(a)'' is different from the form that "Goth" or "Gothic" would adopt its own language, and it may reflect the name of the Gauts of Northern Sweden (Swedish ''Götar'', Old Norse ''Gautar'', Old English ''Géatas''), the people whose last king was Beowulf.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">[[Arden R. Smith]] (2006). «Tolkienian Gothic». In: [[Wayne G. Hammond]] & [[Christina Scull]] (ed), ''The Lord of the Rings 1954-2004. Scolarship in Honor of [[Richard E. Blackwelder]]'', pp. 267‒81. Milwaukee: Marquette University Press.</ref>

== Characteristics==

=== Phonology and grammar ===
According to the extant evidence, the sounds of Gautisk might have been very much like those of Gothic. The alphabet list that precedes the struck note on the phonology of Gautisk was reused for [[Qenya]], but originally it seems to have been associated to Gautisk as well, and it contains most of the sounds used in Gothic. Let aside orthographic conventions, the following correspondences between Gautisk and Gothic sounds can be proposed:<ref name=":1" />

* Gautisk ''ǽ'' ''(ǣ)’'' for Gothic ''ē''
* Gautisk ''ǫ́ (ō)’'' for Gothic ''ō''
* Gautisk ''e’'' for Gothic ''aí'' (product of breaking)
* Gautisk ''o’'' for Gothic ''aú'' (product of breaking)
* Gautisk *''ai’'' for Gothic ''ái'' (from Germanic diphthong)
* Gautisk ''au’'' for Gothic ''áu'' (from Germanic diphthong)

In addition, ''z'' is absent from the alphabet list, which might be the result of voicing to ''s'' or rhotacism to ''r''; and the voiced stops ''b'', ''d'', ''g'' are only told to occur if preceded by nasal, perhaps becoming fricative in all other environments, as usually assumed for Proto-Germanic.

The same struck note contains a barely legible commentary on the declension of Gautisk, transcribed by the editors as: "''the [?historical] [???] its[?] declensional preservation''". This is interpreted by Arden Smith as a commentary meaning that Gautisk was conservative in its declensional system, preserving case-endings that were lost in later Germanic languages.<ref name=":1" />

=== Vocabulary ===
The extant evidence on Gautisk does not provide any specific vocabulary of that language, unless the Gothic title in the inside back cover is considered to be written in Gautisk itself.

[[John Garth]] mentions two sobriquets invented by Tolkien in Gautisk, from unpublished letters: "Mr. Undarhruiménitupp" for Tolkien himself, and "Haughadel" or "Hawaughdall" for [[Geoffrey Bache Smith]], although "deciphering them is also a matter of guesswork".<ref>[[John Garth]], ''[[Tolkien and the Great War]]'', p. 17</ref>

[[Andrew Higgins|Andrew S. Higgins]] suggests that ''aiþei'', a Gothic word for 'mother' that appears in a two-item list of Tolkien's "own corpus", among the materials of ''[[A Secret Vice]]'', could also be an element of his Gautisk language.<ref>[[Andrew Higgins|Andrew S. Higgins]] (2016) "Tolkien’s ''A Secret Vice'' and ‘the language that is spoken in the Island of Fonway''’''," [[Journal of Tolkien Research|''Journal of Tolkien Research'']]: Vol. 3: Iss. 1, Article 3. Available at: http://scholar.valpo.edu/journaloftolkienresearch/vol3/iss1/3</ref>
{{references}}
{{languages}}
[[Category:Languages]]

Gautisk

2024-04-01T17:39:35Z

Anar: fix typo

'''Gautisk''' is a [[Languages|language]] of Germanic type invented by [[J.R.R. Tolkien]] in the early 1910s, which he might have meant to devise as a language for the Gauts of southern Sweden, who are identified as the Geats of ''[[Beowulf]]''.

== Source materials ==
All that is known about Gautisk comes from a few fragmentary and disconnected sources. Tolkien's wrote in 1955 to [[W.H. Auden]] that his interest on [[Gothic]] (which he discovered around 1910) moved him "to invent an 'unrecorded' Germanic language", although he gave that attempt up in favor of his "'own language' (...) heavily [[Finnish|Finnicized]] in phonetic pattern and structure" (i.e. [[Quenya]]), after discovering a Finnish Grammar in Exter College Library when he was "supposed to be reading for Honour Mods" (between 1912-1913).<ref>[[J.R.R. Tolkien]]; [[Humphrey Carpenter]], [[Christopher Tolkien]] (eds.), ''[[The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien]]'', [[Letter 163|Letter 211]], (dated [[7 June]] [[1955]])</ref>

Tolkien did not gave a particular name to that Germanic language in his letter, but this story coincides with the existence of two brief mentions to a tongue called ''Gautisk'' in the notebook that contains the [[Qenyaqetsa]].

One of those notes is a title in the inside back cover of the notebook, which reads: ''Ermanaþiudiska razda eþþau Gautiska tungō'', which in Gothic means 'Language of the Great People, or Gautish tongue'.<ref>{{PE|12}}, p. x</ref> The other is a note struck through in the inside front cover, after an alphabet list, which indicates some particular characteristics of the phonetics of "Gautisk".<ref name=":0">{{PE|12}}, p. iv</ref>

[[Arden R. Smith]] comments that the contents of those notes are closely related to the Gothic language, but the vocalization of ''Gautisk(a)'' is different from the form that "Goth" or "Gothic" would adopt its own language, and it may reflect the name of the Gauts of Northern Sweden (Swedish ''Götar'', Old Norse ''Gautar'', Old English ''Géatas''), the people whose last king was Beowulf.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">[[Arden R. Smith]] (2006). «Tolkienian Gothic». In: [[Wayne G. Hammond]] & [[Christina Scull]] (ed), ''The Lord of the Rings 1954-2004. Scolarship in Honor of [[Richard E. Blackwelder]]'', pp. 267‒81. Milwaukee: Marquette University Press.</ref>

== Characteristics==

=== Phonology and grammar ===
According to the extant evidence, the sounds of Gautisk might have been very much like those of Gothic. The alphabet list that precedes the struck note on the phonology of Gautisk was reused for [[Qenya]], but originally it seems to have been associated to Gautisk as well, and it contains most of the sounds used in Gothic. Let aside orthographic conventions, the following correspondences between Gautisk and Gothic sounds can be proposed:<ref name=":1" />

* Gautisk ''ǽ'' ''(ǣ)’'' for Gothic ''ē''
* Gautisk ''ǫ́ (ō)’'' for Gothic ''ō''
* Gautisk ''e’'' for Gothic ''aí'' (product of breaking)
* Gautisk ''o’'' for Gothic ''aú'' (product of breaking)
* Gautisk *''ai’'' for Gothic ''ái'' (from Germanic diphthong)
* Gautisk ''au’'' for Gothic ''áu'' (from Germanic diphthong)

In addition, ''z'' is absent from the Gautisk alphabet, which might be the result of voicing to ''s'' or rhotacism to ''r''; and the voiced stops ''b'', ''d'', ''g'' only occur when preceded by nasal, perhaps becoming fricative in all other environments, as usually assumed for Proto-Germanic.

The same struck note contains a barely legible commentary on the declension of Gautisk, transcribed by the editors as: "''the [?historical] [???] its[?] declensional preservation''". This is interpreted by Arden Smith as a commentary meaning that Gautisk was conservative in its declensional system, preserving case-endings that were lost in later Germanic languages.<ref name=":1" />

=== Vocabulary ===
The extant evidence on Gautisk does not provide any specific vocabulary of that language, unless the Gothic title in the inside back cover is considered to be in Gautisk itself.

[[John Garth]] mentions two sobriquets invented by Tolkien in Gautisk, from unpublished letters: "Mr. Undarhruiménitupp" for Tolkien himself, and "Haughadel" or "Hawaughdall" for [[Geoffrey Bache Smith]], although "deciphering them is also a matter of guesswork".<ref>[[John Garth]], ''[[Tolkien and the Great War]]'', p. 17</ref>

[[Andrew Higgins|Andrew S. Higgins]] suggests that ''aiþei'', a Gothic word for 'mother' that appears in a two-item list of Tolkien's "own corpus", among the materials of ''[[A Secret Vice]]'', could also be an element of his Gautisk language.<ref>[[Andrew Higgins|Andrew S. Higgins]] (2016) "Tolkien’s ''A Secret Vice'' and ‘the language that is spoken in the Island of Fonway''’''," [[Journal of Tolkien Research|''Journal of Tolkien Research'']]: Vol. 3: Iss. 1, Article 3. Available at: http://scholar.valpo.edu/journaloftolkienresearch/vol3/iss1/3</ref>
{{references}}
{{languages}}
[[Category:Languages]]

Gautisk

2024-04-01T17:32:22Z

Anar: Improve precision of some statements

'''Gautisk''' is a [[Languages|language]] of Germanic type invented by [[J.R.R. Tolkien]] in the early 1910s, which he might have meant to devise as a language for the Gauts of southern Sweden, who are identified as the Geats of ''[[Beowulf]]''.

== Source materials ==
All that is known about Gautisk comes from a few fragmentary and disconnected sources. Tolkien's wrote in 1955 to [[W.H. Auden]] that his interest on [[Gothic]] (which he discovered around 1910) moved him "to invent an 'unrecorded' Germanic language", although he gave that attempt up in favor of his "'own language' (...) heavily [[Finnish|Finnicized]] in phonetic pattern and structure" (i.e. [[Quenya]]), after discovering a Finnish Grammar in Exter College Library when he was "supposed to be reading for Honour Mods" (between 1912-1913).<ref>[[J.R.R. Tolkien]]; [[Humphrey Carpenter]], [[Christopher Tolkien]] (eds.), ''[[The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien]]'', [[Letter 163|Letter 211]], (dated [[7 June]] [[1955]])</ref>

Tolkien did not gave a particular name to that Germanic language in his letter, but this story coincides with the existence of two brief mentions to a tongue called ''Gautisk'' in the notebook that contains the [[Qenyaqetsa]].

One of those notes is a title in the inside back cover of the notebook, which reads: ''Ermanaþiudiska razda eþþau Gautiska tungō'', which in Gothic means 'Language of the Great People, or Gautish tongue'.<ref>{{PE|12}}, p. x</ref> The other is a note struck through in the inside front cover, after an alphabet list, which indicates some particular characteristics of the phonetics of "Gautisk".<ref name=":0">{{PE|12}}, p. iv</ref>

[[Arden R. Smith]] comments that the contents of those notes are closely related to the Gothic language, but the vocalization of ''Gautisk(a)'' is different from the form that "Goth" or "Gothic" would adopt its own language, and it may reflect the name of the Gauts of Northern Sweden (Swedish ''Götar'', Old Norse ''Gautar'', Old English ''Géatas''), the people whose last king was Beowulf.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">[[Arden R. Smith]] (2006). «Tolkienian Gothic». In: [[Wayne G. Hammond]] & [[Christina Scull]] (ed), ''The Lord of the Rings 1954-2004. Scolarship in Honor of [[Richard E. Blackwelder]]'', pp. 267‒81. Milwaukee: Marquette University Press.</ref>

== Characteristics==

=== Phonology and grammar ===
According to the extant evidence, the sounds of Gautisk might have been very much like those of Gothic. The alphabet list that precedes the struck note on the phonology of Gautisk was reused for [[Qenya]], but originally it seems to have been associated to Gautisk as well, and it contains most of the sounds used in Gothic. Let aside orthographic conventions, the following correspondences between Gautisk and Gothic sounds can be proposed:<ref name=":1" />

* Gautisk ''ǽ'' ''(ǣ)’'' for Gothic ''ē''
* Gautisk ''ǫ́ (ō)’'' for Gothic ''ō''
* Gautisk ''e’'' for Gothic ''aí'' (product of breaking)
* Gautisk ''o’'' for Gothic ''aú'' (product of breaking)
* Gautisk *''ai’'' for Gothic ''ái'' (from Germanic diphthong)
* Gautisk ''au’'' for Gothic ''áu'' (from Germanic diphthong)

In addition, ''z'' is absent from the Gautisk alphabet, which might be the result of voicing to ''s'' or rhotacism to ''r''; and the voiced stops ''b'', ''d'', ''g'' only occur when preceded by nasal, perhaps becoming fricative in all other environments, as usually assumed for Proto-Germanic.

The same struck note contains a barely legible commentary on the declension of Gautisk, transcribed by the editors as: "''the [?historical] [???] its[?] declensional preservation''". This is interpreted by Arden Smith as a commentary meaning that Gautisk was conservative in its declensional system, preserving case-endings that were lost in later Germanic languages.<ref name=":1" />

=== Vocabulary ===
The extant evidence on Gautisk does not provide any specific vocabulary of that language, unless the Gothic title in the inside back cover is considered to be in Gautisk itself.

[[John Garth]] mentions two sobriquets invented by Tolkien in Gautisk, from unpublished letters: "Mr. Undarhruiménitupp" for Tolkien himself, and "Haughadel" or "Hawaughdall" for [[Geoffrey Bache Smith]], although "deciphering them is also a matter of guesswork".<ref>[[John Garth]], ''[[Tolkien and the Great War]]'', p. 17</ref>

[[Andrew Higgins|Andrew S. Higgins]] suggests that ''aiþei'', a Gothic word for 'mother' that appears in a two-item list Tolkien's "own corpus", among the materials of ''[[A Secret Vice]]'', could also be an element of his Gautisk language.<ref>[[Andrew Higgins|Andrew S. Higgins]] (2016) "Tolkien’s ''A Secret Vice'' and ‘the language that is spoken in the Island of Fonway''’''," [[Journal of Tolkien Research|''Journal of Tolkien Research'']]: Vol. 3: Iss. 1, Article 3. Available at: http://scholar.valpo.edu/journaloftolkienresearch/vol3/iss1/3</ref>
{{references}}
{{languages}}
[[Category:Languages]]

Gautisk

2024-04-01T10:08:43Z

Anar: Created page with "'''Gautisk''' is a language of Germanic type invented by Tolkien in the early 1910s, which he might have meant to devise as a language for the Gauts of southern Sweden, who are identified as the Geats of Beowulf. == Source materials == Tolkien's wrote in 1955 to W.H. Auden that his interest on Gothic (which he discovered around 1910) moved him "to invent an 'unrecorded' Germanic language", although he gave that attempt up in favor of his "'own language' (......"

'''Gautisk''' is a language of Germanic type invented by Tolkien in the early 1910s, which he might have meant to devise as a language for the Gauts of southern Sweden, who are identified as the Geats of [[Beowulf]].

== Source materials ==
Tolkien's wrote in 1955 to [[W.H. Auden]] that his interest on [[Gothic]] (which he discovered around 1910) moved him "to invent an 'unrecorded' Germanic language", although he gave that attempt up in favor of his "'own language' (...) heavily Finnicized in phonetic pattern and structure" (i.e. [[Quenya]]), after discovering a Finnish Grammar in Exter College Library when he was "supposed to be reading for Honour Mods" (between 1912-1913).<ref>[[J.R.R. Tolkien]]; [[Humphrey Carpenter]], [[Christopher Tolkien]] (eds.), ''[[The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien]]'', [[Letter 163|Letter 211]], (dated [[7 June]] [[1955]])</ref>

Tolkien did not gave a particular name to that Germanic language in his letter, but this story coincides with the existence of two brief mentions to a tongue called ''Gautisk'' in the notebook that contains the [[Qenyaqetsa]].

One of those notes is a title in the inside back cover of the notebook, which reads: ''Ermanaþiudiska razda eþþau Gautiska tungō'', which is a Gothic phrase meaning 'Language of the Great People, or Gautish tongue'.<ref>[[J.R.R. Tolkien]], "Qenyaqetsa: The Qenya Phonology and Lexicon", in [[Parma Eldalamberon 12|''Parma Eldalamberon'' XII]] (edited by [[Carl F. Hostetter]], [[Christopher Gilson]], [[Arden R. Smith]], and [[Patrick H. Wynne]]), p. x.</ref> The other is a note struck through in the inside front cover, after an alphabet list, which indicates some particular characteristics of the phonetics of "Gautisk".<ref name=":0">[[J.R.R. Tolkien]], "Qenyaqetsa: The Qenya Phonology and Lexicon", in [[Parma Eldalamberon 12|''Parma Eldalamberon'' XII]] (edited by [[Carl F. Hostetter]], [[Christopher Gilson]], [[Arden R. Smith]], and [[Patrick H. Wynne]]), pp. iv</ref>

[[Arden R. Smith]] comments that the contents of those notes are closely related to the Gothic language, but the vocalization of ''Gautisk(a)'' is different from the form that "Goth" or "Gothic" would adopt its own language, and it may reflect the name of the Gauts of Northern Sweden (Swedish ''Götar'', Old Norse ''Gautar'', Old English ''Géatas''), the people whose last king was Beowulf.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">[[Arden R. Smith]] (2006). «Tolkienian Gothic». In: [[Wayne G. Hammond]] & [[Christina Scull]] (ed). ''The Lord of the Rings 1954-2004. Scolarship in Honor of [[Richard E. Blackwelder]]'', pp. 267‒281. Milwaukee: Marquette University Press.</ref>

== Characteristics of Gautisk ==

=== Phonology and grammar ===
According to the extant evidence, the sounds of Gautisk might have been very much like those of Gothic. The alphabet that precedes the struck note on its phonology, if originally mean to be associated to Gautisk, contains most of the sounds used in Gothic. Let aside orthographic conventions, the following correspondences Gautisk and Gothic sounds can be found:<ref name=":1" />

* Gautisk ''ǽ'' ''(ǣ)’'' for Gothic ''ē''
* Gautisk ''ǫ́ (ō)’'' for Gothic ''ō''
* Gautisk ''e’'' for Gothic ''aí'' (product of breaking)
* Gautisk ''o’'' for Gothic ''aú'' (product of breaking)
* Gautisk *''ai’'' for Gothic ''ái'' (from Germanic diphthong)
* Gautisk ''au’'' for Gothic ''áu'' (from Germanic diphthong)

In addition, ''z'' is absent from the Gautisk alphabet, which might be the result of voicing to ''s'' or rhotacism to ''r''; and ''b'', ''d'', ''g'' are only stops when preceded by nasal, becoming fricative in all other environments, as usually asummed for Proto-Germanic.

The same struck note contains a barely legible commentary on the declension of Gautisk, transcribed by the editors as: "''the [?historical] [???] its[?] declensional preservation''". This is interpreted by Arden Smith as a commentary meaning that Gautisk was conservative in its declensional system, preserving case-endings that were lost in later Germanic languages.<ref name=":1" />

=== Vocabulary ===
The extant evidence on Gautisk does not provide any specific vocabulary of that language, unless the Gothic title in the inside back cover is considered to be in Gautisk itself.

[[John Garth]] mentions two sobriquets invented by Tolkien in Gautisk (from an unpublished source): "Mr. Undarhruiménitupp" for Tolkien himself, and "Haughadel" or "Hawaughdall" for [[Geoffrey Bache Smith]], although "deciphering them is also a matter of guesswork".<ref>[[John Garth]], ''[[Tolkien and the Great War]]'', p. 17</ref>

[[Andrew Higgins|Andrew S. Higgins]] suggests that ''aiþei'', a Gothic word for 'mother' that appears in a two-item list Tolkien's "own corpus", among the materials of [[A Secret Vice]], could also be an element of his Gautisk language.<ref>[[Andrew Higgins|Andrew S. Higgins]] (2016) "Tolkien’s A Secret Vice and ‘the language that is spoken in the Island of Fonway''’''," [[Journal of Tolkien Research|''Journal of Tolkien Research'']]: Vol. 3: Iss. 1, Article 3. Available at: http://scholar.valpo.edu/journaloftolkienresearch/vol3/iss1/3</ref>