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tolkiens legendarium - Is the fictional etymology of Uruk-Hai a reference to the Uriankhai?




By the early 17th century the term Uriankhai was a general Mongolian term for all the dispersed bands to the north-west, whether Samoyed, Turkic, or Mongolian in origin.



I was wondering if there was any link or inspiration for the name Uruk-Hai to the name for the dispersed bands of peoples from Mongolia? The only other allusion is the siege on Helm's Deep to the great wall of China, and though tenuous that and the similarity in the name has my curiosity piqued.


Now, there is some etymology for the name Uruk-hai



The name "Uruk-hai" has the element Uruk, which is a Black Speech word related to Orc, related to the word "Urko" in Tolkien's invented language of Quenya. The element hai means "folk", so "Uruk-hai" is "Orc-folk".



But it's not to say that the idea of Uruk-Hai as being a group of 'barbarians' (orcs) storming a large fortification couldn't hgave been some basis for the use of the word Uruk-hai with meaning added on after wards.


Is there any fictional etymology to go with Uruk-Hai, a word or group that inspired the name or was it simply a consequence of Tolkien developing the Quenyan language and then assigning a name form that?



Answer




In letter 210 Tolkien does describe Orcs as



squat, broad, flat-nosed, sallow-skinned, with wide mouths and slant eyes: in fact degraded and repulsive versions of the (to Europeans) least lovely Mongol-types.



However elsewhere he consistently describes the word Orc as being of old English derivation. According to Tolkien in letter 144,



the word [Orcs] is as far as I am concerned actually derived from Old English orc 'demon', but only because of its phonetic suitability



This usage of Orc then flowed through to his invented Elven and Black Speech languages, with roots invented accordingly - ruk, meaning fear and horror, derives to orko as the Quenyan word for Orc. This then informs uruk, the Black Speech term for Orc.


There is no indication that Tolkien considered any Mongolian in his invention of languages, in contrast there are a number of references indicating his consideration of both English and Finnish as sources for some of his work (probably informed by his study of both these languages).



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