Bair (Skinchanger)

A Bair is a shapeshifter of the Beornings and a member of the Order of the Bair who is chosen to teach the ways of Orome to a young apprentice, the so called Tirbair.There are eight Bairs in the Cult of the Bear.

outer history and criticism
Like all old rhovanian languages Atliduk, the tongue of the Beijabar is represented by latinized gothic.However gothic bair seems to stem from the verb bairan (to bear) a gothic word for the bear is unattested but would have been *baira, *bera, *bere.However it seems unlikely that the later beornings would still have used the old rhovanian terms of their Beijabar forefathers and would most likely have used a dialect closely akin to the language of the Rohirrim.Since Beorn´s name is an anglo-saxon form it seems appropiate to represent the later beorning dialect with Anglo-saxon too.The anglo-saxon term for a bearer is Berend so at later times a Bair might have been called a Berend.

Literature

 * Beornings and Woodmen (Essay), by Anna Arquette 1995, originally conceived as a contribution to Rohirrim and Other Northmen, a projected volume in ICE's "Peoples of Middle-earth" series which never reached completion.