Lincoln Alpern
Active Member
In the latest recording session, Corey opined the word "ranger" as applied to the Dunedain is most comparable to the "g" often used for Romani peoples and frequently considered a slur, and that were the people of Bree to be transported to present day Earth, their use of the word "ranger" would be similarly criticized and rejected in polite company. This logic doesn't ring true to me.
My understanding for why the "g" word is considered offensive and taboo, along with similar words for other marginalized peoples, is that they have a close association with long histories of persecution. I don't know if there are any Latin slurs for Christians or Jews from circa 2nd or 3rd century Rome, CE, but that seems to be a more accurate parallel.
To my knowledge, the Dunedain have no particular history of persecution - except, I suppose, by Sauron, but in that they're hardly unique. While I can imagine them suffering being cussed out, being spat upon, and perhaps having to dodge the odd hurled stone from Bree-landers or similar folk, I can't conceive of them suffering anything close to the kind of abuse experienced by Romani peoples or monotheists under the Roman Republic and Empire at the hands of simple townsfolk. Indeed, Aragorn implies as much, with his characterization of the Bree-landers at the Council of Elrond, using descriptions we would probably consider patronizing from a modern perspective, and speaking of them in a way that is almost indulgent.
I preferred @ForthDauntless3's suggestion of "vagabonds" as an equivalent term, but perhaps that isn't strong enough. We're looking for a word that applies to a group of people who are historically distrusted and looked down upon, and may at times be shunned, but haven't been historically persecuted per se.
I admit I'm drawing a blank here. I know there's a slightly rude word for East Germans that came into parlance after the Berlin Wall fell thirty years ago - I'm only passingly familiar with that situation, though, and what little I do know indicates it's a shaky comparison at best.
Can anyone else here come up with a closer parallel for the word "ranger" as the Bree-landers use it?
My understanding for why the "g" word is considered offensive and taboo, along with similar words for other marginalized peoples, is that they have a close association with long histories of persecution. I don't know if there are any Latin slurs for Christians or Jews from circa 2nd or 3rd century Rome, CE, but that seems to be a more accurate parallel.
To my knowledge, the Dunedain have no particular history of persecution - except, I suppose, by Sauron, but in that they're hardly unique. While I can imagine them suffering being cussed out, being spat upon, and perhaps having to dodge the odd hurled stone from Bree-landers or similar folk, I can't conceive of them suffering anything close to the kind of abuse experienced by Romani peoples or monotheists under the Roman Republic and Empire at the hands of simple townsfolk. Indeed, Aragorn implies as much, with his characterization of the Bree-landers at the Council of Elrond, using descriptions we would probably consider patronizing from a modern perspective, and speaking of them in a way that is almost indulgent.
I preferred @ForthDauntless3's suggestion of "vagabonds" as an equivalent term, but perhaps that isn't strong enough. We're looking for a word that applies to a group of people who are historically distrusted and looked down upon, and may at times be shunned, but haven't been historically persecuted per se.
I admit I'm drawing a blank here. I know there's a slightly rude word for East Germans that came into parlance after the Berlin Wall fell thirty years ago - I'm only passingly familiar with that situation, though, and what little I do know indicates it's a shaky comparison at best.
Can anyone else here come up with a closer parallel for the word "ranger" as the Bree-landers use it?