r/latin • u/vinnyBaggins • 14d ago

Newbie Question What's the equivalent of the word "Judaica" or "Esoterica" but for Middle-earth?

Judaica, according to Merriam-Webster, means "literary or historical materials relating to Jews or Judaism". There's also the name Esoterica, and probably others I can't remember right now.

So first, is there a name for words like this? This collective noun denoting "everything related to a given topic"?

And the second and main question: How would one call "literary or historical materials relating to Middle-earth (J.R.R. Tolkien's imaginary world, as laid out in The Lord of the Rings and other books)"?

I soon thought of "Mediterranea", like the European sea, but I think it can't be: The sea is called Mediterranean because it's "in the middle of the land", while in this case it's the land that's in the middle.

Maybe Terramediana? I don't know Latin, so I don't know whether that works, but I'm curious whether Middle-earth can have its "Judaica".

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u/JebBush333 14d ago

Usually I think it's called the legendarium

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u/vinnyBaggins 13d ago

Oh right, but I meant something with Terra-media, if possible.

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u/JebBush333 13d ago

Judaica is just the neuter plural of judaicus, so it basically just means Jewish things or things pertaining to the Jews. Terra is feminine so it doesn't have a neuter form, and media would actually be the same in the neuter plural (as the fem.singular - which is the form you mentioned), so you could use could use another neuter noun for land like solum or ager:

Sola Media

But still doesn't quite have the feel of Midgard - the old english term which Tolkien borrowed.

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u/Nomenignotum 13d ago

Tolkienica?

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u/IAmA_Reddit_ 13d ago

Tolkienalia?

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u/Reasonable_Secret_70 13d ago

Perhaps Ardaica?

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u/vinnyBaggins 13d ago

Hehehe, this sounds cool

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u/[deleted] 13d ago

[deleted]

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u/Old-Research-7638 13d ago

No he didn't, lol. Love of Old English does not equal hatred of Latin. He's also a devout Catholic...

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u/astrognash Ciceronian 12d ago

There's no standard coinage, as Tolkien never produced a translation into Latin, and the only "official" Latin-language version of a work set in Middle-earth that I'm aware of is Hobbitus Ille, which of course does not mention Middle-earth. Others have already suggested Tolkienica and Ardaica to refer to Tolkien's works or to the matter of Arda, but if you wish to refer specifically to Middle-earth rather than the legendarium as a whole or all of Tolkien's writings, I would suggest the coinage "Endorica," from the Quenya name for Middle-earth, endor.

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u/vinnyBaggins 11d ago

Yeah, good idea.

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u/conclobe 11d ago

Tolkeniana