Ihr x Sie

[hidden whale]

Hi, I have started watching the lord of the rings in german and at the beginning when Frodo speaks for the first time with Aragorn he said "Was wollt ihr" and "wer seid ihr" and later Frodo says "wohin führt Ihr uns" but he speaks only to Aragorn in formal way so it should be Was wollen Sie and so on. What am I missing?

[dark prairie]

Ever read an English fantasy novel where they went "thee" and "thou"? This is its German equivalent. Addressing a single person as Ihr was a thing in the past. So, the answer is "atmosphere". ;)

[uneven root]

But isn't it only done as a sort of formality toward kings, nobles, knights, etc?

[modest sundial]

If you study the romance languages, you'll see the same structure to adressing someone with "ihr/vos/vous/voi/voces". Maybe it comes from there. I'm not pretty sure because I didn't study Latin but perhaps is the reason. In Portuguese and French remains the same structure, but in Italian and Spanish it is quite old saying "vos" or "voi" instead of "usted" "Lei"...

[hidden whale]

ooh it is like "eure kaiserliche Hoheit" I keep forgetting that, thank you!

[dark prairie]

Its use wasn't restricted to the nobility, no. Plus, we're talking about a fantasy novel here, have you forgotten? ;)

[uneven root]

So was it a sort-of veraltetes Sie? In the fantasy book series I'm reading now, I've seen a mixture of Ihrzen and duzen. But I can't recall if there's been any Siezen. 🤔

[dark prairie]

Pretty exhaustive answer here: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Höflichkeitsform#Anrede_in_der_2._Person_Plural_(Ihr)