Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2021/01/20/a-look-at-the-languages-of-jrr-tolkien-and-their-influence.html
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Man, that t-shirt…
Haven’t thought of that wonderfully twisted Cooks video in so long!
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This was a really interesting video.
After reading The Silmarillion I understood that he co-developed the languages with the mythological stories. But I didn’t realize that it was his love of creating those languages that was the seed that grew into creating the mythologies.
I always imagined it was the other way around: he liked creating the mythologies, and framed them in the languages.
One thing is clear, though, and that the stories in The Silmarillion and The Tolkien Reader were no ordinary writers’ notes. Usually you’ll see authors maintaining detailed (ahem) character sheets about who the characters are, a timeline of where they are, who they’re with, what MacGuffins they’re carrying; loves, hates, and other motivations, etc. As far as the worlds go, it’s usually a map with notes about mundane things like weather, hazards, twisty little caves, etc. Tolkien’s posthumous books are far evolved beyond that. Yes, I know his son did a lot of work to wrap them up and polish them, but it’s the fact that he wrote deeply interrelated stories about other stories, and not just “here’s the backstory for Sauron”, that’s what makes them stand out even today.
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