Annette V Hart's Blog: The ramblings of Annette Hart, page 12

whortle - what?

I was convinced Tolkien had made up 'whortlberry' but no it's in the dictionary (my big one, at least). Apparently it is another name for a bilberry - although that doesn't help me much either!

n. wreckage, remnant of something destroyed...

I love the word 'wrack'; there's something descriptive purely in the sound of it. Tolkien used it to describe the left over fragments of dispersed cloud and fog. And, of course, is used in the phrase 'wrack and ruin'.

What glorious spring weather! And it's set to stay for the weekend - a wonderful chance to read and write in the garden!

adj. twisted, distorted...

Ooh, another interesting adjective! I love all these archaic words and finding where they came from. Tolkien used 'writhen' to describe trees; obviously it comes from 'writhe' and paints a vivid picture.

(Mother's Day) n. a deep wooded valley...

What a lovely Mother's Day! The weather might not have been consistently sunny but I had a great day which included reading in the garden for hours with a glass of fizz while my hubby sorted the house and kids.

And I came across the word 'dingle' which means a deep wooded valley. A great place for a troop of soldiers to sleep.

n. magic, sorcery, spell...

Not long into "The Two Towers" and I have found a word that not only I don't know but is obsolete and hard to find in dictionaries. Eomer describes Gandalf as 'dwimmer-crafty'; apparently dwimmer means magic and sorcery, even occult art, and comes from the Old English gedwimor. The only citation anyone has from it is Tolkien!

adj. crooked or twisted...

Having just finished my re-read of "The Fellowship of the Ring", I'm pleased to have found at least one word I had to look up! That word was 'thrawn' which means crooked or twisted; what a great way to describe trees growing in rock crevices! I am looking forward to finding more 'new' words in Book 2.

That b****y letter e...

A few friends have started asking after my third book: it's nearly finished and ready for my publishers I promise! I've been busy trying my hand at writing an adult fantasy story but everything has been hampered by problems with my keyboard. The cover to letter e (of course it would be the most used letter!) has broken. I can still use it but the toggle is hard to press and tempramental; every so often it jumps the cursor and you suddenly find yourself adding to the middle of a word several sentences before. With all the extra corrections it is very frustrating and time consuming!

Back to the school run...

Back to normality and a dramatic scene for the school run: the oak trees have been cut to look like twisted, stunted limbs flailing against a fiery sky.

I have avoided doing anything over the Christmas holidays with one exception: I have knuckled down to lots of writing. Hopefully this is a good sign for the new year.

Another beautiful, cold and frosty morning...

Yet another cold school run and as beautiful as that at the beginning of the week. A glorious, golden sun glowed across the landscape, making the wet leaves sparkle, silhouetting the cows and brightening the frosty fields.

Oh, what a beautiful morning...

I know it was very cold but the countryside looked so beautiful as I did the school run this morning. Looking across the fields ahead of us, into the low, veiled sun, the meadows, trees and hedges were covered in frost and wreathed in whispy mist, all in various shades of grey and white.