"
Hound is hungry, hare is fearful..."
Larger relatives of rabbits, noted for their proverbially rapid movement and the fact that, unlike their cousins the rabbits, they live above ground in nests rather than in underground burrows. Hares were widespread in Middle-earth: they were known to the Shire-hobbits, and the Eagles of the Misty Mountains hunted them for food. They were also known among the Ents of Fangorn Forest, whose lore of the Living Creatures recounted by Treebeard included a line describing a hare.
Notes
1 |
There are more than thirty different species of hare from around the world, but there can be little doubt that Tolkien had in mind the European hare (also called the brown hare), the kind that is by far the most commonly found in the British Isles.
|
2 |
'Hare' is an old word, with similar cognates in many languages. Its origins are uncertain, but it has been speculated that it may ultimately derive from a root-word *khas- meaning 'grey'.
|
Indexes:
About this entry:
- Updated 23 November 2024
- This entry is complete
For acknowledgements and references, see the Disclaimer & Bibliography page.
Original content © copyright Mark Fisher 2012, 2024. All rights reserved. For conditions of reuse, see the Site FAQ.
SHARE
