Tolkiens bruk av ordet riven
Det engelska ordet
rive är ingalunda något obskyrt dialektord - så som
rift är och alltid tycks ha varit i Sverige (om man inte räknar den
nationella tillämpningen som
geologisk term i modern tid) - utan ett ord i det engelska standardspråket. I
Lord of the Rings t.ex. hittar jag
riven använt på följande ställen (förutom i namnet
Rivendell):
Tolkien (i Lord of the Rings, bok III, kap. 7 Helm's Deep) skrev:
The men of Rohan grew weary. All their arrows were spent, and every shaft was shot; their swords were notched, and their shields were riven.
Tolkien (i Lord of the Rings, bok III, kap. 8 The Road to Isengard) skrev:
There stood a tower of marvellous shape. It was fashioned by the builders of old, who smoothed the Ring of Isengard, and yet it seemed a thing not made by the craft of Men, but riven from the bones of the earth in the ancient torment of the hills.
Tolkien (i Lord of the Rings, bok V, kap. 4 The Siege of Gondor) skrev:
And suddenly upon the last stroke the Gate of Gondor broke. As if stricken by some blasting spell it burst asunder: there was a flash of searing lightning, and the doors tumbled in riven fragments to the ground.
Tolkien (i Lord of the Rings, bok VI, kap. 3 Mount Doom) skrev:
... the earth shook, the plain heaved and cracked, and Orodruin reeled. Fire belched from its riven summit.
Tolkien (i Lord of the Rings, bok VI, kap. 4 The Field of Cormallen) skrev:
... a great smoke and steam belched from the Sammath Naur, and the side of the cone was riven open, and a huge fiery vomit rolled in slow thunderous cascade down the eastern mountain-side.