tolke means 'man, knight'! Sir Gawain and the Tolk Knight

By John Howe

See: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (ed. Tolkien-Gordon, Davis 1925, 1967)

1775 and be traytor to þat tolke þat þat telde a₃t

1811 iche tolke mon do as he is tan tas to non ille

1966 and ₃e me take sum tolke to teche as ₃e hy₃t

According to J. R. R. Tolkien and E. V. Gordon the Middle English tolke means 'man, knight'. What is interesting this Middle English word (N. form tulk) is a loan-word from Old Norse and ultimately from Old East Slavic тълкъ (tŭlkŭ) 'interpreter', and this from Proto-Slavic *tъlkъ 'sense, interpretation'. This word is akin to Finnish tulkki

And the readers of my blog know already that J. R. R. Tolkien's family name has the same etymology. Tolkien comes from Old Prussian Tolk-in, 'a descendant of Tolk', while tolk means 'translator, negotiator'. Very distant ancestor of J. R. R. Tolkien was probably Clauko Tolkien, son of Matthis Tolk von Markelingerode. Clauco is an Old Prussian (Baltic) name. See the newest version of the oldest part of the Tolkien Family Tree: