Talk:Rohirric

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Tolkien never referred to the language of the Rohirrom as "Rohirric". He either referred to it as "Rohan" or "Rohanese". The term "Rohirric" was actually coined by Robert Foster in his book The Complete Guide to Middle-earth. Perhaps a name change on the article is warranted? RashBold 17:39, 13 August 2005 (UTC)

Tolkien actually used the word "Rohirian". Should we move this page? --Urbane legend 17:55, 2 November 2005 (UTC)

The number of Google hits for Rohirric[1] is far greater than the hits for Rohirian[2] or Rohanese[3]. (I get 13,900, versus 338 and 158 respectively.) The information given here should of course be included in the article, but for the name we should follow WP:NC and use the most common name, since in this case it's very clear which one that is. EldKatt (Talk) 16:45, 3 November 2005 (UTC)

I asked the Q&A people at www.theonering.net, a reliable source of Tolkien scholarship. This is the reply I received:

"The word "Rohirric" appears nowhere in Tolkien's published writings, nor "Rohirian", although the latter would parallel forms that do occur, like "Telerian" for the language of the Teleri. In most cases, JRRT simply used "Rohan" as the adjective for the language, parallel to "Hobbit" in Appendix F and the draft for that material in "Peoples of Middle-earth" (History of Middle-earth XII). In an essay on the names of the rivers and beacon-hills of Gondor (published in Vinyar Tengwar #42), he uses "Rohan" the same way, and in a single case, "Rohanese". "Rohirric" appears to be Robert Foster's own coinage; it may date from his 1971 article in _Mythlore_ #1, "The One Inconsistency in LotR", although it may have appeared earlier, in the version of his "Guide" that appeared in The Tolkien Journal (which I cannot check personally)."

Perhaps this page should be moved to Rohan (language) with Rohirric and Rohirian redirecting there? I appreciate that Rohirric is the most common result on Google, but that's not a reason to give a Wikipedia page an inaccurate title. --Urbane legend 03:38, 16 November 2005 (UTC)

Yes, it is. See Wikipedia:Naming conventions (common names). I could argue further, but the guideline and its rationale should be enough to make my point. If you think it worthwhile, I wouldn't mind an explanation of why this title is "inaccurate", aside from the fact that J.R.R. Tolkien didn't use that particular term. It evidently (see Google links above) reflects the current usage splendidly.

A more neutral title (such as your suggestion Rohan (language)) is an idea. I'd certainly consider it if there were any uncertainty as to which of the possibilities to choose. As of yet, I'm far from convinced that there is. EldKatt (Talk) 11:12, 16 November 2005 (UTC)

In deference to arguments already raised, I agree that Rohirric is the appropriate title for this page. As the Rohirric, Rohirian, or Rohanese question is (I feel) noteworthy in relation to Tolkien's own choice, I've put a short paragraph at the bottom of the article explaining the differing uses. --UrbaneLegend 16:46, 15 February 2006 (UTC)