“The Old English word is wyrd, which most glossaries and dictionaries translate as ‘fate’. Tolkien knew that the etymologies of the two words were quite different, ‘fate’ coming from the Latin fari, ‘to speak’, so ‘that which has been spoken’, sc. by the gods. The Old English word derives from weorÞan, ‘to become’: it means ‘what has become, what’s over’, so among other things, ‘history’ – a historian is a wyrdwritere, a writer-down of wyrd.” LanguageMythologyOld EnglishOld NorseWyrd Book:J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century Source: J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century
“Man deÞ swa he byÞ Þonne he mot swa he wile, ‘A man does as he is when he can do what he wants’, and what this means is that power reveals character, not that it alters it.” LanguageLord Of The RingsTolkienOld English Book:J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century Source: J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century
