In Tudor times, the printing of vernacular Bibles dethroned Latin as the language of Christian faith. In Númenor, too, language is a battleground, with Quenya—which Tolkien called “Elf-latin”—being driven underground in favor of a human language. Tolkien said he found the Thomas More bio...
Another of Tolkien’s strengths is matching the language of dialogues with the speakers. What we may call the “base level” of dialogue is set by the leading characters in the tale, the hobbits (of whom more anon). At its lowest, the tone is rustic: ...
My only quarrel with Wolfe is with his belief that Tolkien also saw change as harmful in the main. I don’t believe that’s true. While Tolkien did experience nostalgia for the past, and mourned for the loss of a mythic time and a world drained of its magic, I would argue ...
In private, Tolkien amused himself bywritingan elaborate series of fantasy tales, often dark and sorrowful, set in a world of his own creation. He made this “legendarium,” which eventually becameThe Silmarillion, partly to provide a setting in which“Elvish” languageshe had invented could exi...