Q: Are There Frankish Influences on Middle-earth?
ANSWER: There are, actually, a few Frankish elements in some of the Brandybuck names and even in the place-name Marish (which while derived from Middle French has not — to my knowledge — been explicitly traced back to Frankish but is nonetheless thought to have a Proto-Germanic root).
The Franks were a confederation of tribes who conquered the former Roman province of Gaul, seizing the land from the Visigoths and establishing various kingdoms. In the lat 5th Century CE Clovis, one of the Frankish kings, conquered all the other Frankish groups and united them in a single realm. However, it was the custom of Frankish kings to divide their kingdoms among their sons, so Clovis’ kingdom was sub-divided and reunited through numerous wars across several centuries.
It is possible, perhaps probable, that Tolkien was influenced by Frankish history when he wrote a passage where Faramir shares Boromir’s frustration at not being allowed to claim the throne of Gondor with Frodo and Sam. The fierce loyalty of the Stewards of Gondor to the ancient tradition of holding the rule of Gondor “until the King returns” seems to be a not-so-subtle poke at the Frankish nobles’ choosing Charles Martel, an illegitimate heir of Pepin II, over his legitimate half-brother.
The Brandybucks — descended from Bucca of the Marish — appear to be a Stoorish family in origin. The Stoors had a largely separate history from other Hobbits, and they even entered Eriador by a different path. Many Stoors had, in fact, settled in Dunland, where they picked up odd words and customs (as compared to the vocabularies and customs of Harfoots and Fallohides). But Tolkien never hints or suggests that the Frankish words (such as Pippin) are associated with Dunland (or Dunlendish), whereas names such as Meriadoc (in reality said to be of Cornish or Welsh origin) appear to be derived from Dunland.
It is simple enough to infer that the Stoors of the Marish and Buckland may have preserved some ancient Mannish words from the Vales of Anduin longer than the Hobbits throughout other parts of the Shire — and that these Frankish-style names and words are remnants of a Northman language similar to the language of Rohan, the Beornings, and Dale. Meriadoc Brandybuck even identifies a number of similar words between Shire-speech and the speech of Rohan.
Hence, we can argue somewhat inconclusively that Tolkien intended Frankish or similar Germanic dialects to represent the ancient language of the Northmen of the Vales of Anduin, somewhat contemporary with the Gothic he used to represent the language of the Northmen of the Kingdom of Rhovanion. Such an identification, however, is never explicitly supported by either J.R.R. Tolkien or his son Christopher. Perhaps someone with a more professional linguistic background than my own can identify and analyze the Frankish-style words in Tolkien’s published lexicon and put forth an argument for such a putative “ancestor language”; but it may be there are simply too few examples of such words to build any conclusive arguments.
Although archaeology is fairly certain about where the Franks originated (northwestern Europe), the Franks themselves were not so clear on the matter. Within a few hundred years of settling in the former Gaul they had developed several outrageous legends or myths about their origins, ultimately tracing the lineages of their kings back to Priam of Troy. This style of “lost history” is very similar to the lost origins of Hobbits, who only became a historical people in Middle-earth after entering Eriador in the 11th century of the Third Age.
The Hobbits of the Shire could trace their own history no farther back than Bree and Dunland, neither of which region was a “first settlement” for Hobbits in Eriador. Like the Franks, the Hobbits of the Shire were divided into four political or administrative regions (the Farthings of the Shire); and like the Frankish kings of the House of Merovech the Thains of the Oldbuck Line were replaced by another family, the Thains of the Took Line; the Merovechian kings were formally deprived of their power after essentially abandoning their responsibilities.
However interesting all these comparisons may be, they are not really supported by substantive evidence in the text or statements from the Tolkien family. While J.R.R. Tolkien certainly drew upon many influences in developing the cultures of Middle-earth, there are sufficient parallels among other peoples (including the Anglo-Saxons, who had their share of dispossessed kingly lines and shifting administrative boundaries) to render any pro-Frankish arguments weak if not unsupportable. I think only a true expert in Frankish history, language, and customs might be able to write a credible essay on the topic, if it can be done at all.
# # #
Have you read our other Tolkien and Middle-earth Questions and Answers articles?
