|
In Germanic mythology, a dwarf is a being that dwells in mountains and in the earth, and is variously associated with wisdom, smithing, mining, and crafting. Dwarfs are often also described as short and ugly, although some scholars have questioned whether this is a later development stemming from comical portrayals of the beings.〔Simek (2007:67–68).〕 ==Etymology and usage== The modern English noun ''dwarf'' descends from the Old English ''dweorg''. It has a variety of cognates in other Germanic languages, including Old Norse ''dvergr'' and Old High German ''twerg''. According to Vladimir Orel, the English noun and its cognates ultimately descend from Proto-Germanic *''đwerȝaz''.〔Orel (2003:81).〕 Beyond the Proto-Germanic reconstruction, the etymology of the word ''dwarf'' is highly contested. By way of historical linguistics and comparative mythology, scholars have proposed theories about the origins of the being, including that dwarfs may have originated as nature spirits, as beings associated with death, or as a mixture of concepts. Competing etymologies include a basis in the Indo-European root '' *dheur-'' (meaning 'damage'), the Indo-European root '' *dhreugh'' (whence, for example, modern English ''dream'' and German ''Trug'' 'deception'), and comparisons have been made with Sanskrit ''dhvaras'' (a type of "demonic being").〔 Modern English has two plurals for the word ''dwarf''; ''dwarfs'' and ''dwarves''. ''Dwarfs'' remains the most commonly employed plural. While recorded as early as 1818, the minority plural ''dwarves'' was popularized by the fiction of philologist and author J. R. R. Tolkien, originating as a mistake (hypercorrection) and employed by Tolkien since some time before 1917 (for Tolkien's beings, see Dwarf (Middle-earth)).〔Gillver, Marshall, & Weiner (2009:104-108).〕 Regarding the plural, Tolkien wrote in 1937 that "I am afraid it is just a piece of private bad grammar, rather shocking in a philologist; but I shall have to go with it".〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Dwarf (mythology)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|