Naming patterns and children of Michael Tolkien

From "The Importance of Names and Naming Patterns. Why are Names Important and What Can you Learn from a First Name?" by Donna Przecha

"You will often see the same names used over and over again in families. While certain names are popular in different areas in different times in history, the repetition could represent a pattern. Many cultures believe in honoring their elders and do so by naming children after them. Angus Baxter in "In Search of Your British and Irish Roots" describes a pattern that was popular in England in the 1700-1875 period: 

• The first son was named after the father's father 
• The second son was named after the mother's father 
• The third son was named after the father 
• The fourth son was named after the father's eldest brother 
• The first daughter after the mother's mother 
• The second daughter after the father's mother 
• The third daughter after the mother 
• The fourth daughter after the mother's eldest sister  (...)"

One document from 1744 and two brothers: Michael and Christian Tolkien from Gdańsk, and Euphrosina

If this pattern applied to the Gdańsk family of Michael Tolkien (1708-1795), we could reconstruct the forms of names of the further J.R.R. Tolkien's ancestors. Let us try (using data from my recent research; see "Tolkien's ancestors found..."):

(Johann) Gottfried – Michael Tolkien's father?

(Johann) Daniel – Euphrosina Matthießen's father?

Michael – father's name? (positive!)

Benjamin – father's eldest brother?

Christian – father's second-eldest brother? (positive!)*

Anna Elisabetha – Euphrosina's mother?

Euphrosina Regina – Michael's mother?

Dorothea Constantia – after mother not; maybe after mother's eldest sister?  

But...

This could be a very helpful formula, but many genealogists warn against giving it too much credence. Given human nature, it would be very difficult to follow exactly. It would be pretty hard to convince a new mother of her first-born son to name him after a drunken, abusive father-in-law rather than her own beloved father who had just died.

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* I suppose Christian Tolkien, father of Daniel Gottlieb (and Johann Benjamin?) was Michael Tolkien's brother

Hausmarken (house marks) from St Catharine

 

House marks from St Catharine church in Gdańsk. One of them may be the Tolkien house mark. Which one? My research will answer this question...

1744: Michael, Euphrosina and Christian Tolkien

#TolkienAncestry presents Michael Tolkien, his wife Euphrosina and Christian Tolkien. Michael's brother? Why Daniel Tolkien from London had Christian and Euphrosina Tolkien as his parents? Had Christian another Euphrosina as his wife? There are no traces of another Euphrosina Tolkien in Gdańsk... Something that is a big puzzle for me. What are your ideas?

«auf Weiß eine schwarze Faßleiter»

I have found the source of this coat-of-arms!

The so called "Lehndorff'sche Wappenbuch" (MS. in the Bibl. der K. Deutschen Gesellschaft in Koenigsberg), p. 49. My picture comes from the 19th century version of "Siebmacher Wappenbuch". I would love to see the original picture!!!

"auf Weiß eine schwarze Faßleiter"

– the book probably didn't survive the war... I have read about it in G. A. Mülverstedt. Maybe you have more information about this "Lehndorff'sche Wappenbuch"?

Merklichenrade < Merkelingerode < *Markulfingerode

The Prussian noble family Tolk von Merklichenrade (its branch in the 16th century became the Tolkien family) brought its family name from Harz in Germany (Saxony). It can be derived from the place name Markelingerode (its Low Saxon form is Merklingerode). And the place-name's origin is *Markulfingerode 'Markulf's Clearing; pol. Karczunek Markulfa'. In Latin it was rendered as Novale Marculphi. 

It is a typical name for Harz. See Gerurode (from name Gero), Wernigerode (from Werning), Wernerode (Werner), Herzgerode (Herzecho) etc.

View to the Brocken - the highest mountain in the Harz (Photo: Mirko Lehmann)

The name Harz derives from the Middle High German word Hardt or Hart ('hill forest'), Latinized as Hercynia. And Hercynia Silva is... Mirkwood!

Dlaczego Tolkowie/Tolkienowie są raczej saksońskiego niż pruskiego pochodzenia

Ich ermitteite, dass der Name Tolck zum Bei- und Geschlechtsnamen geworben war, sowohl bei Familien von deutscher als preussischer Ankunst, dass der Orden sich zum Amte eines Dolmetschers mit den Eingeborner als besonders befahigter EinwaGnderer bediente.

I stated that the name Tolck had been used as 
a for- and noble-name, both in the families of 
Germans and Prussians, that German Order used 
as interpreters both the natives and particularly skilled immigrants. 

George Adalbert Mülverstedt (1825-1914) – wybitny archiwista wschodniopruski – w swoim tekście pt. Ein Geschlecht vom Harze im Deutsch-Ordenslande Preußen (w zbiorach Google Books) pisze, że najwięcej osadników należących do stanu rycerskiego, którzy osiedlili się w państwie zakonnym, pochodziło z Saksonii i Gór Harcu (Gór Smolnych). Uczony archiwista opisuje tę szlachtę jako ludzi pochodzenia niemieckiego i słowiańskiego. Zauważa, że pewne nowo założone osady w państwie krzyżackim miały etymologię słowiańską i wiąże to z obecnością słowiańskich rycerzy-gości. Opisuje też zjawisko, które polegało na tym, że niemieccy i słowiańscy rycerze zakładali nowe odgałęzienia swoich rodów wchodząc w związki małżeńskie z przedstawicielkami miejscowej – staropruskiej – arystokracji. A zatem rycerstwo, a potem szlachta w Prusach od samego początku była niemieckiego, słowiańskiego i bałtyckiego pochodzenia. Mülverstedt zauważa, że rodziną, która odegrała szczególną rolę w Prusach Wschodnich, której potomstwo zasiliło wiele późniejszych rodów szlacheckich na tamtych ziemiach, byli von Merklichenrade, znani też pod nazwą Tolck oraz von Lusian (Luzjański). Opisem pokrewieństw tego rodu zajmowali się już kronikarze w XVII i XVIII wieku. Zachowały się piękne herbarze z tego okresu: w dziele Hartknocha*, w herbarzu Hennenbergera, u Hartunga i Raabe. Merklichenrade zbudowali trwały majątek, znany jako Dobra Tołkińskie. I choć ród wymarł z końcem XVI w., to ich dziedzictwo trwało w gospodarce i pamięci kolejnych pruskich rodzin szlacheckich. Najbardziej znanym i najwybitniejszym przedstawicielem rodu jest książę biskup warmiński, Fabian Luzjański.

Najbardziej znany przedstawiciel rodu Tolck, bp Fabian Luzjański.
Najstarszy portret przedstawiciela rodu Tolkienów? Widać herb Markelingerode

Mülverstedt zauważa, że wcześniejsi genealodzy nie byli w stanie odnaleźć korzeni tego rodu, które sięgałyby dalej niż połowa XV w. Nie było wiadomo, czy rodzina przybyła z Niemiec (np. z Marchii Brandenburskiej), czy może jest lokalnego, staropruskiego pochodzenia. O pruskości mogłoby świadczyć nazwisko Tolk (niem. Tolck), czyli 'tłumacz'. Aby uniknąć takich skojarzeń, ród chętniej używał nazwisk od swoich naczelnych dóbr: von Powarschen (Powiersze) i von Loseinen (Łężany). Mülverstedt doszedł do wniosku, że przydomek oraz szlacheckie nazwisko Tolk nosili tak lokalni, jak i przybyli z Niemiec urzędnicy Zakonu Niemieckiego, którzy zajmowali się pertraktacjami staroprusko-niemieckimi, którzy byli zakonnymi negocjatorami. Kolejnym argumentem za nie-niemieckim pochodzeniem Tolków był ich herb, który na pierwszy rzut oka wydawał się odmienny od herbów niemieckich z tamtego czasu (przedstawia on dwie szczupacze szczęki ułożone symetrycznie wobec siebie). Niemieckie merklichen Rade to 'zauważalne koła' – zabawna etymologia ludowa. Archiwista  zauważył jednak, że nazwisko to brzmi podobnie jak wiele nazw miejscowych w Górach Harcu, jak nazwy z końcówką -ingerode i -rode. Najbardziej znana z nich to Wernigerode, nazwa głównego miasta w tamtym regionie.

I nagle w roku 1853 Mülverstedt odkrywa dokument, który mocno posunął badania do przodu. Pochodzi on z Archiwów Prowincji w Królewcu (Schiebl. LV a N. 18). Relacjonuje wydarzenie z dnia 2 lutego 1379 (święto Ofiarowania Pańskiego, łac. Purificationis Mariae) – gdy krzyżacki komtur pokarmiński (niem. Brandenburg), Günther hrabia von Hohenstein przepisuje trzem ludziom o imionach Clauko, Matthias i Berthold, synom rycerza, który nazywał się "Matthias Tolck von Merchgelyngerode", 93 łany w lesie Milimedien razem z prawem dużego i małego sądu oraz lenno kościelne, graniczące ze wsią rycerza Skomanda, koło Schmodehnen, Schönau, Mechleden i Pasortlack (Smodajny i pozostałe wsie znajdują się w powiecie bartoszyckim, w gminie Sępopol). 

Dokument ma wielkie znaczenie, bo pozwala ustalić czystszą, pierwotną nazwę rodu: Merkelingerode. Pokazuje, że w 1379 nie ma jeszcze nazwiska Lusian i von Powarschen. Jest też mocnym argumentem przeciwko staropruskiemu pochodzeniu rodziny Tolk. Gdyby Tolkowie byli Prusami, nie byłoby potrzebne dodawanie niemieckiego nazwiska Merkelingerode. Dokument pokazuje też, że już w XIV w. w Prusach mieszkało niemieckie rycerstwo, które miało tu ziemię i rodziny. Zdaniem Mülverstedta była to rodzina pochodzenia szwabskiego. Imię w pruskiej formie, Clauco (zapewne związanie z niemieckim Claus, Nicolaus), pokazuje, że być może rycerz Matthias Tolk von Merkelingerode ożenił się z przedstawicielką lokalnej, staropruskiej arystokracji. Mülverstedt uważa, że takie imię mógł nosić jej ojciec (ja zaś się z tym nie zgadzam, bo wiem z innych dokumentów, że Clauko nazywa się gdzie indziej Nitsche i Nickel, a to jest zdrobnienie Mikołaja/Nicolausa).

 _________________________________

* Co ciekawe, książki historyczne Krzysztofa Hartknocha można było kupić w antykwariacie Christiana Tolkiena w 1808 r.

Tolkienowie, panowie na Tolko, Spytajnach i Ardapach (XV-XVI w.)

Siebmacher w swoim słynnym herbarzu (Band PrA, s. 97, il. 71 – ta wersja herbarza pochodzi z XIX w.) wymienia ród szlachecki TOLCK II, TOLKIEN - jako odgałęzienie przybyłych z Harcu do Prus MERKLICHENRADE (w Harcu znani jako Markelingerode). Inne, wymarłe odgałęzienia tego rycerskiego rodu to TOLCK I. oraz LUSIAN (w polskich źródłach Tolk i Luzjański). To mocne, fachowe potwierdzenie informacji znanej z innych źródeł (np. słowników nazwisk pochodzenia staropruskiego), że Tolkienowie wywodzą się od rycerstwa saksońsko-pruskiego (Harc w XIX w. należał do Saksonii) i że mają swój herb.

Herbem TOLCK II, TOLKIEN jest na tarczy, w polu srebrnym – płozy beczkowe czarne (niem. Faßleiter)* – patrz obok

Płozy beczkowe, niem. Fassleiter
Ulrich Windisch, "Ableger", Hausbuch der Mendelschen Zwölfbrüderstiftung, Band 1. Nürnberg 1426–1549

Siebmacher tak pisze o rodzinie TOLCK II, TOLKIEN:

«Druga rodzina szlachecka osiedlona była w Brandenburgu [ros. Uszakowo, pol. Pokarmin] i w Bartenstein [pol. Bartoszyce], a także być może w Labiau [ros. Polessk, pol. Labiawa], i pojawia się w pierwszej ćwierci XVI w. Matthias Tolck (1)  [nosi w dokumentach nazwisko TOLKYNEN – R.D.] jest w 1440 właścicielem Borken, Spittehnen, Ardappen [pol. Borki, Spytajny, Ardapy niedaleko Bartoszyc – R.D.] i innych wsi. Cunz Tolck (2) miał w 1454 dobra w Bartenstein [Bartoszycach]. Jacob (3) w tym mniej więcej czasie posiada Sollden (?) w rejonie Brandenburga [Uszakowa]. Rycerz Nitsche Tolck (4) mieszkał w 1445 w regionie Bartenstein [Bartoszyc], a Mathias Tolck (5) posiadał w 1475 dobra w Labiau [ros. Polessk, pol. Labiawa]. Szlachecka rodzina o tym samym nazwisku mieszkała w XV w. w Liwonii.» 

Przedstawię teraz kilka informacji o poszczególnych przedstawicielach tego rodu, wymienionych przez herbarz (dla potrzeb wywodu wprowadzam numerację poszczególnych Tolków-Tolkienów):

(1) Matthias IV Tolk, pan na Borkach, Spytajnach i Ardapach, zwany w źródle z 1440 "Matz Tolkynen", gdy przyłącza się do polskich sił razem z rycerstwem komornictwa bartoszyckiego (w tym samym roku przedstawiciel innej linii, Peter Tolkynen przyłącza się do Związku Pruskiego po stronie polskiej), syn Matthiasa III Tolcka (który był synem Matthiasa II Tolcka, pana na Tolko, Spytajnach i Ardapach). Jego synem był Fabian "Tolxyn" Tolkien (zm. 1516), który pełnił urzędy w komornictwie iławskim (Iława Pruska, dziś ros. Bagriationowsk). Po tym właśnie stryju Fabianie otrzymał swoje imię słynny warminski biskup Fabian Luzjański. Byłby to zatem kolejny Tolkien w rodzie. Jego żoną była Dorothea von Greyssingen (należąca do rodu burgrabiów zu Dohna). Fabian nie miał męskiego potomka - jego córka, Anna, została żoną Eberharda von Tettau. 25 października 1533 książę pruski Albrecht potwierdził jego dobra (zwane w dokumentach "Tolckschen Güter"; myślę, że to są owe "Tolkynen", czyli 'Tolkienowie'):

koło Kętrzyna: Tołkiny i Płutniki, koło Bartoszyc: Tolko i Kiersity, koło Iławy Pruskiej: Rosity, Powiersze i Barciszewo.

(2) Cunz Tolck (żył w XV w.; Kunz to zdrobnienie imienia Konrad); w 1421 jako rycerz z okręgu bartoszyckiego (opisany jako Kuntze Tholg) pomaga komturowi Bałgi w walce z husytami; w tym samym dokumencie znajdujemy jego kuzyna, Petera Powerse (Tolkynen); 1454

(3) Jakob Tolck

(4) Nitsche Tolck

(5) Matthias Tolck

c.d.n.

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*O ile "Nowy Siebmacher" się nie myli (bo znając herb Markelingerode oraz Tolck I., wiemy, że pierwotnie w tarczy herbowej na polu czerwonym widniały zęby rybie srebrne), to mamy tu herb o charakterze wybitnie hobbickim; piwo, beczka, płozy dla beczki

St Mary Church, Gdańsk – and Tolkiens' baptisms

At least eight Tolkiens were baptized here – St Mary Church in Gdańsk (Marienkirche, Danzig)

Tolkien's ancestors found in St. Mary's Church, Gdańsk: Daniel, Johann and Christian!

It has been an important day in Wroclaw. I visited the Mormon center where I could make my research in the church books from St. John, St. Cathrine and St Mary from the years 1700-1770. I wanted to find the baptism acts of Daniel Gottlieb Tolkien, Johann Benjamin Tolkien and Christian Tolkien. I have found much more. I met nice people with the same genealogical passion. And I have new puzzles.

I was looking for Daniel Gottlieb, Johann Benjamin and Christian, possible sons of Christian and Euphrosina Tolkien.

I found eight children of Michael Tolkien (famous Gdańsk furrier) and Euphrosyne Tolkien (sic!), I also found one Christian – possibly Michael's brother.

The Tolkien records can be found in the church books from the main Gdańsk church (before 1945 Lutheran, after the war the Catholic cathedral; on the left its sign) – St Mary (Bazylika Mariacka, Marienkirche). Fortunately there are indexes in these books. All Tolkien records are related to Master Furrier, Michael Tolkien (1708-1795) and his wife Euphrosyna, neé Matthissen (ok. 1727-1783):

(1) 13 October 1744, baptism of Anna Elisabetha from Michael Tollkien & Euphrosina, acomp. Christian Tolkien

(2) 22 March 1746, bapitism of Euphrosyna Regina, from Michael Tolckien & Euphrosyna

(3) 30 January 1748, baptism of Dorothea Constantia, from Michael Tollkühn & Euphrosina

(4) 11 October 1750, baptism of Johann Gottfried, from Michael Tolckien & Euphrosina

(5) 22 June 1752, baptism of Johann Daniel, from Michael Tolkien & Euphrosina

(6) 8 December 1757, baptism of Michael, from Michael Tollkühn & Euphrosina

(7) 8 October 1760, baptism of Benjamin, from Michael Tollkühn & Euphrosina, neé Matthissen 

(8) 9 May 1762, baptism of Christian, from Michael Tollkühn & Euphrosina, neé Matthissen

Eight names and eight puzzles. The last Christian is most likely Christian Tolkien (1762-1821), the Gdańsk antiquarian and clerk buried on the St Mary cemetery. Dorothea Constantia is most probably Constantia Dorothea who in 1766 became wife of Andreas Übelin (from the furriers' family in Gdańsk). 

The most important question is if we can see here Johann Benjamin Tolkien (1752-1719), Professor's great-great-grandfather. And where is Daniel Gottlieb Tolkien (1746-1813)?

In 1794 in London Daniel wrote that his father was Christian Tolkien and mother was Euphrosina (see Act of Naturalization). Was he son of Christian Tolkien who was a witness during Anna Elisabetha's baptism? Was that Christian, Michael's brother who had also wife of the same name Euphrosina? Or maybe Daniel Gottlieb's mother died giving birth to Daniel and his father died after 1746 and Daniel was adopted by Michael Tolkien, a Gdańsk Furrier? 

If this this John Benjamin Tolkien's act of baptism from 1752
I have found really important document!

Is our Johann Benjamin Tolkien this Johann Daniel Tolkien from 1752? It is not rare that people receive diffrent names during baptism and use another ones in their family life. The name Benjamin has special significance ("The «Benjamin of the family» is a phrase used in several languages to refer to the youngest son - especially when he is much younger than his brothers; sometimes the name is chosen for a son born to mature parents unlikely to have more children, especially if he has several older siblings. Both of these usages derive from the biblical son of Jacob of that name, who occupied that position in his family." – Wikipedia). Maybe Benjamin Tolkien, born in 1760 died soon and the parents started to call Benjamin their John Daniel – especially if they adopted another Daniel?

There are many more possiblities. Who knows, maybe Daniel Gottlieb was illegal son of Michael's brother, Christian and Michael's wife, Euphrosina? (dear Euphrosina Tolkien, forgive me if it is not true!) If so there is a possibility of the conflict in the Tolkien family in Gdańsk: adult Daniel Gottlieb discovers he was not Michael's son and he flees with his brother Johann to England to start new life far from the family...

Many questions, new things to study...

What happened to the children of Daniel G. Tolkien?

As J.R.R. Tolkien's fans we are more interested in the history of the descendants of John Benjamin Tolkien (born in Gdańsk, being J.R.R.T.'s great-great-grandfather). But what happened with Daniel Gottlieb (1746-1813) and Ann (?-1828) Tolkien's children?

Let us start with his sons:

(1) Daniel George Tolkien (1784-1815). He was his father's apprentice and he was admitted into the freedom of the Leathermen Company in 1799. Extracted from the books of the Company in March 1809. He died in his 31 on 7 January 1815 and is buried in the family grave of his father by the Wesleyan Chapel at City Road (Piece 4333). We still don't know who were his children.

(2) Charles Tolkien (1789-?). We still don't know when he died and who were his children.

(3) John Henry Tolkien (1795-1820) from 60 Cheapside was admitted into the freedom of the Leathermen Company by patrimony on 21 January 1819. Probably he is the "Mr. Tolkien" from the Evening Mail article (see here) during the coronation of Queen Caroline (January 1820). He died in his 24 in October 1820. He is buried next to his uncle John Benjamin Tolkien (1753-1819). I have just discovered that John Henry's grave has No. 3995 – next to the No. 3994 of John Benjamin's!(*) Another proof that Daniel and John were brothers!

(4) James Tolkien (1800-?). We still don't know when he died and who were his children.

Daniel and Ann Tolkien's daughers were:

Maria Tolkien (?-?). In 1816 she became David Wotherspoon's wife and became Presbyterian. The Wotherspoons came from Glasgow. Her son was Daniel Tolkien Wotherspoon (1817-?) who later emmigrated to Quebec, Canada where he got married in 1844. He probably was also a furrier.

Martha Tolkien (1788-1819)

Charlotte Tolkien (1797-1817)

Ann Tolkien

We can see that this branch of the Tolkien family in England was not very long living. And we don't know if Daniel Tolkien had any grandchildren.

To be continued

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(*)  John Benjamin Tolkien, Bunhill Fields Burial Ground, piece 3995 (grave 11 feet, E&W 106:107, N&S 60), burial 4 February 1819

John Henry Tolkien, Bunhill Fields Burial Ground, piece 3995 (grave 10 feet, E&W 106:107, N&S 60), burial 4 October 1820

– Ancestry.co.uk: The National Archives of the UK; Kew, Surrey, England; General Register Office: Registers of Births, Marriages and Deaths surrendered to the Non-parochial Registers Commissions of 1837 and 1857; Class Number: RG 4; Piece Number: 3994 and 3395

Evening Mail from 15 November 1820 and Mr. Tolkien!

Michael Flowers from the Tolkien Society has provided me today with this interesting entry from the Evening Mail from 15 November 1820:

CHEAPSIDE

We never saw this wealthy neighbourhood more generally or more splendidly lighted up. The inhabitants seemed emulously to vie with each other in giving the best and most brilliant effect to the illumination. Paynter and Co. displayed a transparency of the Queen, drawn by four white coursers, in a triumphal car. In her hand she bore a scroll, with the words: "God defend my rights." The front of Saddlers'-hall presented the letters "C.R." beneath a triumphal arch in brilliant yellow lamps. The house of Mr. Tolkien was ornamented with a transparency representing the Thistle, the national emblem of Scotland; and, on a tablet near it was the inscription– "Scotia, the land of Wallace, Bruce, and Knox" – "Nemo me impune lacessit."

All this was on the occasion of the coronation of Caroline (Caroline of Brunswick), Queen of the United Kingdom as the wife of King George IV (she reigned from 29 January 1820 until her death in 1821). Michael Flowers described the events at Cheapside as "the sycophantic preparations". This is of course something many individuals and businesses did at the time.

"Mr Tolkien" was probably Charles Tolkien (born 1789), son of Daniel Tolkien (born 1746 in Gdańsk). His house was probably 60 Cheapside where Master Daniel Tolkien had his "Skinner and Furrier" shop.

 

Max Gotschald on Toll|kiehn, -kühn as Old Prussian name (1942)

In older German dictionaries of the family names we can find the etymology of Tolkien! Today I have read Max Gotschald's Deutsche Namenkunde: unsere Familiennamen nach ihrer Entste hung und Bedeutung (J. F. Lehmanns Verlag, München/Berlin, 1942, p. 463) where we can find:

Toll|kiehn, -kühn wohl pruss. O.N.

It means: "perhaps Old Prussian place-name''.

I wonder which German dictionary was J.R.R. Tolkien's source of the information about the etymology from German adjective tollkühn.

Tolck II, Tolkien (coat-of-arms)

I would like to remind you my study of the Tolkien family coat-of-arms (see here). Today I am more sure than ever that TOLCK II, TOLKIEN is the coat-of-arms of the ancestors of J.R.R. Tolkien who were a noble family in East Prussia in the sixteenth century (according to J. Siebmacher's Wappenbuch. Ausgestorbener Preussischer Adel, Vienna 1878):

Can you help me to describe it according to the art of blazoning? The shield is white, the figure is "Fassleiter" or barrel racks. A very Hobbit-like coat-of-arms, isn't it?

Of course the coat-of-arms of Tolck II., Tolkien is a variation of the older coat-of-arms Tolck I. and Marklingerode. Its oldest known form comes from the 14th century:

I have not found any legend connected with these barrel racks... (or fish teeth). And I want to remind that the family of Marklingerode came to Prussia from Harz in the 14th century, and Harz was part of... SAXONY in the 19th century!

Tulkas is rashbold!

"He was however mindless and did not learn from the past;
always quick in action" (Tolkien Gateway)

How do you think, is Tulkas rashbold?

Tulkas Astaldo... Tolkien Arcastar...

Of course Tulkas has his established Quenya etymology. And Astaldo too. But I wonder how many inklings and impressions emerge when we compare Quenya Tulkas with Baltic tulkas 'translator'... with Tulkas' own rushness and crazy boldness... when we compare Astaldo and Arcastar (common element ast-).

I see Tulkas as one of the hidden alter egos of Tolkien himself. And I think his name is similar to Tolkien's surname not by accident. Nothing in Middle-earth happens by accident! 

P.S. Is it only me who sees Risen Christ in the image of Tulkas above? And do you know that the Lord's Day, our Christian Sunday was Tulkas' day in the early Elvish calendar from the time of the Lost Tales?

About tollkühn in Tolkien's letters

Letter #165 (1955)

„My name is TOLKIEN [not -kein]. It is a German name [from Saxony], an anglicization of Tollkiehn, i.e. Tollkühn” 

Letter #324 (1971):

„Possibly the reason why my surname is now usually misspelt TOLKEIN in spite of all my efforts to correct this – even by my college-, bank-, and lawyer's clerks! My name is Tolkien, anglicized from Tol(l)kiehn = tollkühn, and came from Saxony in the 18th century. It is not Jewish in origin, though I should consider it an honour if it were”

Unpublished letter to H. Cotton Michin (1956 – source):

„But names are often not derived from what seem obvious sources. My own name comes ultimately and long ago from German tollkühn, and perhaps a trace of the remote ancestral 'rashness' has been inherited. But I am a Westmidlander”

NOTE: Tolkien might have not known the works of the "Baltists" like Trautmann or Gerullis who wrote about the personal- and place-names with the Baltic element tolk- (it might have been the reason why he was so surprised when Mrs. Edit R. Ehrhrardt wrote to him about this etymology in 1973). Maybe in a German source the Tolkien family name was labelled "Low Saxon" (this is the equivalent of the linguistic term "Low German") and Tolkien found it and for the rest of his life claimed that his family came to England from Saxony? In fact Gdańsk and East Prussia are the areas of the Low Saxon (= Low German) dialects.

Daniel Gottlieb Tolkien's Act of Naturalization (1794) (A transcript)

Source: The National Archives (Kew), Private Act, 34 George III,
c.17-ref. HL/PO/PB/1/1794/34G3n49 date:1794
(found by Jerry Aurand; photo by J. Aurand)

[Page 1]

1794 Feb. 14

An Act for Naturalizing

Daniel Tolkien

14 February 1794

Presented by the L. Bishop of S. David's
(puronant to a Bider of Leave)
and read the first time

20 February 1794
Read the second time and
commited for Monday nopt. [?]

25 Febry 1794

Comittee Revived and 

bid. to meet to Morrow

26 February 1794
Reported from the Comittee

with Amendm. and bidered [?]

to be Ingrofs'd [?]

__________________________

[Page 2]

1794 Feb. 14

Petition of 

Daniel Tolkien for a
Naturalization Bill

14. February 1794

Presented and Read and
Leave given as desired

__________________________

[Page 3]

To the Right Honourable the Lords
Spiritual and Temporal in Parliament
Assembled

The humble Petition of Daniel Tolkien of
Bedford Street in the Parish of Saint Paul –
Covent Garden in the County of Middlessex –
– Furrier

Sheweth

[and stamp of House of Lords]

That your Petitioner was born out of your Majesty's
Allegiance but hath constantly professed the true –
Protestant Religion and given Testimony of his –

Loyalty and Fidelity to His Majesty and the good of –

this Kingdom

Your Petitioner therefore humbly pray

Your Lordship's that leave be given –

to bring in a Bill of his Naturalization.

And your Petitioner will ever Pray[..?]

Daniel Tolkien 

[seems to be Daniel Tolkien's own signature]

__________________________

[Page 4 and 5]

HUMBLY BESEECHETH your most 

excellent Majesty,the Lords Spiritual and 

Temporal and Commons in this present
Parliament Assembled, Daniel Tolkien, son 

of Christian Tolkien by Euphrisina his Wife 

born at Dantzig out of your Majesty's 

Allegiance, having constantly professed 

the true Protestant Religion and given 

Testimony of his Loyalty and Fidelity

to his Majesty and the good of this 

Kingdom that it may be Enacted AND 

be it ENACTED by the King's most Excellent 

Majesty by and with the Advice and 

Consent of the Lords Spiritual and 

Temporal and Commons in this present

Parliament Assembled and by the 

authority of the same that he the said

Daniel Tolkien shall be and is hereby 

from thereforth Naturalized and shall be 

adjudged and taken to all Intents and 

Purposts to be Naturalized and as a

free born Subject of this Kingdom of

Great Britain and he is and shall be 

from thereforth adjudged, reputed and

taken to be in every Condition Respect

and Degree free to all [...] Purposts.

Tolkien surname older than adjective tollkühn and the problem of "Saxony"

Source: DWDS - tollkühn

The first time we can find the Tolkien family name in the sources is 1378 (Heynike Tolkyn) and 1418 (Ritter... Tolkin) (1).

The first time we find the adjective tollkühn 'sehr kühn, verwegen; foolhardy, rashbold' in the sources is much later, in the seventeenth century. From the sixteenth century there come the form ein toller küner man. What is interesting in the Middle Low German (2) from the fifteenth century there can be found the form dulkȫne 'unüberlegt, unbesonnen' so different from the name Tolkin and Tolkyn of that time (3). Middle Low German was also used on the same territory where the first Tolkiens lived (we can find links between the first Tolkins and Tolkyns, and the Tolkiens from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries).

We can assume that in the time where we find the name Tolk/Tolkin/Tolkyn (the 14th-15th c.) there is also the noun tolk 'translator', but the adjective 'foolhardy' has the form dulkȫne which is very different from the personal name Tolk/Tolkin/Tolkyn.

The map shows the territory where Low German was used historically. And because Low German is also called Low Saxon, maybe Tolkien's words about "Tolkiens coming from Saxony" refer to the linguistic territory of the "Saxon" language? 

What is your idea?

_____________________________

(1) Regesta Hist. Dipl. Ord. S. M. Theut., II 1052 and II 1934

(2) Middle Low German served as the international lingua franca of the Hanseatic League. It was spoken from about 1100 to 1600. Traces of the importance of Middle Low German can be seen by the many loanwords found in the Scandinavian, Finnic, and Baltic languages, as well as standard German and English.

(3) In Middle Low German there is a noun of the Baltic-Slavic origin: tolk, tollik (Schiller-Lübben 3, 571ᶜ), 'dolmetsch, interpres; translator, interpres'; (Dief. 305ᵃ. nov. gl. 219ᵇ. Stieler 2249, pers. reisebeschr. 1, 4, 6, entlehnt aus lit. tulkas, lett. tulks Kluge⁵ 74ᵇ. vgl. Freytag ges. werke 16, 429).

A missing book! Deutsche Familiennamen prussischer Herkunft

Thanks to my Old Prussian and Tolkienian research I have already these books in the pdf or paper forms:

• Gerullis, G., Die altpreußischen Ortsnamen, Berlin, Leipzig 1922
• Palmaitis, Letas, Prussian Reconstructions (...)
• Podehl, Hans Georg, 4444 ostpreußische Namen prußisch erklärt, Rautenberg Leer 1987
• Trautmann, Reinhold, Die altpreußischen Personennanmen, Göttingen 1974 

I wonder if Tolkien ever met works by Gerullis or Trautmann, if he was interested in the Baltic and Balto-Slavic linguistics.

My dear Readers and Friends, if you have the access to the last book I need in my research, can you please provide me with the page with the TOLKIEN family name (or with the whole book)? I mean this book:

Mechow, Max: Deutsche Familiennamen prussischer Herkunft, Tolkemita, Dieburg 1994

 

 

Rev. Arnold and Edit R. Ehrhardt

Thanks to the #TolkienAncestry studies we can find so many interesting stories...

I have probably found Mrs. E. R. Ehrhardt from J.R.R. Tolkien's letter #349 (from 1973; in the Letters her surname is mistyped as Ehrardt). She was Rev. Arnold Ehrhardt's wife. Her full name was Edit R. Ehrhardt, née Hahn (1905-1997). Rev. Arnold Ehrhardt (1903-1965) was an anti-Nazi pastor of half-Jewish ancestry. The Ehrhardts emmigrated to England in 1939 because of the Nazi terror. Mrs E. R. Ehrhardt was an editor and author in England. Arnold Ehrhardt was born in Konigsberg, East Prussia.

»I do not understand why you should wish to associate my name with TOLK, an interpreter or spokesman. This is a word of Slavonic origin that became adopted in Lithuanian (TULKAS), Finnish (TULKKI) and in the Scand. langs., and eventually right across N. Germany (linguistically Low German) and finally into Dutch. It was never adopted into English.«

(J.R.R. Tolkien, letter #349 to Mrs. E. R. Ehrhardt

Saying the truth I understand why Mrs. Ehrhardt associated the Tolkien family name with the element TOLK, 'an interpreter, spokesman'. More about Rev. Arnold Ehrhardt can be found on Wikipedia (here).

Arcastar means 'Translator'?

Arcastar (pron. [arˈkastar]) is the Quenya rendition of the surname Tolkien. J.R.R. Tolkien signed as Arcastar Mondósaresse 'Tolkien in Oxford' in a 1968 letter to the producer of the BBC documentary (see Tolkien Gateway). Most Tolkien scholars suppose that arcastar is simply a Quenya translation of the German adjective tollkühn 'foolhardy, reckless, desperately brave, rushbold'.

In my project #TolkienAncestry I claim that the Tolkien family name comes from the Prussian dialect of German and that it means 'descentant of Tolk', tolk being the Prussian term meaning 'translator, interpreter'. 

Latin translator means 'one who transfers or interprets, one who carries over,' and it is the agent noun from transferre. English interpreter means 'one who translates spoken languages; a translator of written texts,' and ultimately it is derived from Latin interpres 'agent, translator,' from inter 'between' + second element probably from PIE *per- 'to traffic in, sell.'

In my opinion the Quenya name Arcastar from 1968 may be interpreted as 'Translator' (or 'One who carries across'). The word arcastar seems to be an agent noun from *arcasta- (cf. Telcontar < *telconta- + -r). And *arcasta- may be interpreted as ar- 'outside' + casta- *'carry'). 

Who knows, maybe in 1968 J.R.R. Tolkien supported the Prussian and German etymology of his surname which was alternative to the tollkühn interpretation?
 _________________________________________

Note: My another theory is that Arcastar is an agent noun of hypothetic verb *arcasta- 'to show head out' (AR- + KAS-) and this could be metaphoric rendering of the German tollkühn.

Daniel Tolkin, London needlemaker (1726)

Source: Ancestry.com. London, England, Freedom of the City Admission Papers, 1681-1930 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

Tolkien and Tolkin are extremely rare family names in London before the Tolkien brothers, Daniel Gottlieb and Johann Benjamin came there from Polish Gdańsk before 1777. I am always very excited when I find a Tolkien in the London records from before 1777.

The only other Tolkin I found in London at that time is Daniel Tolkin from 1726 who was made "free to this City"* on 19 October 1726. He cannot be the same Daniel Gottlieb Tolkien who immigrated to London from Gdańsk, because the last one was born in 1746 or 1747. Our Daniel Tolkin from 1726 became a member of the Company of Needlemakers.

This Daniel Tolkin is not necessarily an immigrant from Gdańsk or Germany. As we could see below (see my last post) the Tolkyn/Tolkin family lived in Kent (Rye, Snorgate, Lydd, Canterbury) since the 15th century (I have not yet estimated their roots).

_____________________________

* This database contains papers associated with application for "Freemen" status. Historically, freedom papers go back to royal charters granted for the privilege to market, trade, or conduct business. Livery Companies (which originated in guilds) are associations of craftsmen whose members can earn Freemen status and who regulated their trade by controlling wages, labor conditions, and admission by apprenticeship. When an individual is granted Freedom papers they are made "Free of the City of London." (from Ancestry.co.uk)

English Tolkiens in the 16th century?

Source: Prerogative Court of Canterbury: Wills of Selected Famous Persons. Digitized images. Records of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, Series PROB 1. The National Archives, Kew, England.

I have already proved that J.R.R. Tolkien's family came to England from Gdańsk, Poland before 1777. But the people with the Tolkien-like family names can be found in England even earlier!

Canterbury is the town where I have found some Tolkin/Tolkyn family members in the 15th and 16th centuries! Is it possible that the Tolkiens from Prussia immigrated to England more than one time? Yes, why not? And maybe these Tolkins are of different origin (English, French, Dutch)? This is also possible. There is new matter to study in my #TolkienAncestry research. 

Would you like to be a detective and could you transcribe this 16th century document for my blog? Your transcription will be published with credits.

This is the last will of a William [?] Tolkyn from 1518, from the Canterbury court. It can be found at Ancestry.co.uk (link):

In the name of God amen. The ffifteenth of November in the
yere of oure Lord one thousand five hundred and eighteene I William Tolkine Saylor in the
Inne [?] beyng in perfect memory thoughe yf hath pleased God so [?] my bodye with
disabilitie and weakned do make this my last will and testament in manner and forme
following: ffirst I give and begneathe my soule to almighty God resting my only [...]