History Creator / JRRTolkien

At the same time, claims that he invented multiple languages are also exaggerated. Two of them were developed enough to be semi-functional (Quenya and Sindarin), but they were never "complete," by his own admission, and many of his other invented languages consist only of a few fragments. Nevertheless they were labours of love, and, in contrast to many other invented languages, were highly complex. Yet his languages and Middle Earth Legendarium were all primarily written for his own amusement. He was never a professional author (someone who's only job is to write and publish novels), and his ''actual'' job was as a linguist and professor of philology and literature at Oxford University. Let's just say there aren't many authors who kept interfering with the foreign translations of their books (correctly, see for instance the article on translator Creator/AkeOhlmarks) to point out how the translators aren't translating things properly into ''their own languages''...

Exactly how many languages Tolkien knew is up for debate. Claims that he was "fluent" in up to two or three dozen languages are grossly exaggerated. As far as speaking, in addition to English he spoke German fluently, and had some limited fluency in French. He had reading proficiency in up to a dozen other languages (including extinct languages like Latin, Middle English, Old English, and Old Norse), and dabbled in yet a dozen more. He even [[{{Conlang}} made up a few of his own.]]

Exactly how many languages Tolkien knew is up for debate. Claims that he was "fluent" in up to two or three dozen languages are grossly exaggerated. As far as speaking, in addition to English, he spoke German fluently, and had some limited fluency in French. He had reading proficiency in up to a dozen more (including extinct languages like Latin, Middle English, Old English, and Old Norse), and dabbled in about a dozen others. He even [[{{Conlang}} made up a few of his own.]] Let's just say there aren't many authors who kept interfering with the foreign translations of their books (correctly, see for instance the article on translator Creator/AkeOhlmarks) to point out how the translators aren't translating things properly into ''their own languages''...

Exactly how many languages Tolkien knew is up for debate. He spoke at least German fluently, and had reading comprehension of up to a dozen more (including extinct languages like Latin, Middle English, Old English, and Old Norse). He even [[{{Conlang}} made up a few of his own.]] Let's just say there aren't many authors who kept interfering with the foreign translations of their books (correctly, see for instance the article on translator Creator/AkeOhlmarks) to point out how the translators aren't translating things properly into ''their own languages''...

Exactly how many languages Tolkien knew is up for debate. He spoke at least German fluently, and had reading comprehension of up to a dozen more (including extinct languages like Latin, Middle English, Old English, and Old Norse). He even [[{{Conlang}} made up a few of his own.]] Let's just say there aren't many authors who kept interfering with the foreign translations of their books (correctly, see for instance the article on translator Creator/AkeOhlmarks) to point out how the translators aren't translating things properly into ''their native languages''...

-->'' He gazed at the Tree, and slowly he lifted his arms and opened them wide.''
\\
--> ''"It's a gift!" he said.''

'' He gazed at the Tree, and slowly he lifted his arms and opened them wide.''

''"It's a gift!" he said.''
----

* CanonWelding: Up until after beginning to write ''The Hobbit'', Tolkien considered the mythology of ''Literature/TheBookOfLostTales'' and ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'' as a completely separate project. Only while writing that book he picked up the idea that Bilbo's quest took place in the same world as the War of the Silmarils. The ''Lord of the Rings'' first dubbed this world "Middle-earth" and furthermore integrated Tom Bombadil, another unconnected character invented much earlier.

* ArtifactOfDoom: The One Ring and the Nine Rings.

-->'''J.R.R. Tolkien''': ''We were all Orcs in the Great War''.

%%* FiveRaces

John Ronald [[OddNameOut Reuel]] Tolkien (January 3, 1892 – September 2, 1973). English linguist (born in Bloemfontein, Orange Free State), university professor (Leeds and Oxford), Anglo-Saxon historian, [[UsefulNotes/KnightFever CBE]], and writer. The man who brought HighFantasy (and, it could be argued, literary SpeculativeFiction as a whole) to the modern public. He is mainly known for his tales of "Middle-earth", most famously ''Literature/TheHobbit'' and its sequel ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''.

John Ronald [[OddNameOut Reuel]] Tolkien (3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973). English linguist (born in Bloemfontein, Orange Free State), university professor (Leeds and Oxford), Anglo-Saxon historian, [[UsefulNotes/KnightFever CBE]], and writer. The man who brought HighFantasy (and, it could be argued, literary SpeculativeFiction as a whole) to the modern public. He is mainly known for his tales of "Middle-earth", most famously ''Literature/TheHobbit'' and its sequel ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''.

Although he regarded himself as an amateur artist[[note]]when the publisher who'd accepted ''The Hobbit'' asked him to send illustrations, he did so, accompanied by a letter stating "The pictures seem to me mostly only to prove that the author cannot draw."[[/note]], many of his story notes were accompanied by drawings and paintings. His focus was on landscapes and maps of the setting. He allowed many of his works to be published with his books, including the cover art, maps, and full-page illustrations for the early editions of ''Literature/TheHobbit''. One of the best collections of his artwork can be found in ''[[Literature/JRRTolkienArtistAndIllustrator J. R. R. Tolkien: Artist and Illustrator]]'', published in 1995. In 2019, the Morgan Library & Museum in New York presented an exhibition of his art, ''[[https://www.themorgan.org/exhibitions/tolkien Tolkien: Maker of Middle-Earth]]''.

The collective term for all the stories about the world of Middle-earth (not actually the world's name, but the name of a super-continent in a world generally referred to as "Arda" by the peoples therein; it is used here for convenience's sake, being the name far better known to the general reader).

* OurElvesAreBetter:
** Very much not, [[TheThemeParkVersion even if many people mistakenly think so]]. Yes, Elves are in many ways more powerful, "magical" and skilled than mortals (they had better be, as they have long enough to practice), and they are less susceptible to corruption, but corrupted they can be. They are quite capable of stupidity, chauvinism, and screwing up monumentally -- possibly ''more'' than humans in fact, as greater power can have bigger results. In addition, humans were created to be ImmuneToFate, with the ultimate destiny of ourselves and the world left undetermined.

John Ronald [[OddNameOut Reuel]] Tolkien (3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973). English linguist (born in Bloemfontein, South Africa), university professor (Leeds and Oxford), Anglo-Saxon historian, [[UsefulNotes/KnightFever CBE]], and writer. The man who brought HighFantasy (and, it could be argued, literary SpeculativeFiction as a whole) to the modern public. He is mainly known for his tales of "Middle-earth", most famously ''Literature/TheHobbit'' and its sequel ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''.

* ProphecyTwist: No man can kill the Lord of the Ringwraiths? Good thing men aren't the only ones with swords, then. (As with WhenTreesAttack below, this came from his disappointment with ''Theater/MacBeth''.)

** Very much not, [[TheThemeParkVersion even if many people mistakenly think so]]. Yes, Elves are in many ways more powerful, "magical" and skilled than mortals (they had better be, as they have long enough to practice), and they are less susceptible to corruption, but corrupted they can be. They are quite capable of stupidity, chauvinism, and screwing up monumentally –- possibly ''more'' than humans in fact, as greater power can have bigger results. In addition, humans were created to be ImmuneToFate, with the ultimate destiny of ourselves and the world left undetermined.

* YouShallNotPass: Gandalf's speech in the movie ''Film/TheFellowshipOfTheRing'', while a slightly paraphrased variation of the speech in the book, is the TropeNamer.

** [[Film/TheTwoTowers The second film]] seemed to interpret Orthanc as this.

* RealJokeName: After ''The Lord of the Rings'' was published, Tolkien received a letter from a real person named Sam Gamgee, who hadn't read the books but heard that there was a character who shared his name. Tolkien was delighted and sent Mr. Gamgee a signed copy of the trilogy. However, he later remarked in a letter, "For some time I lived in fear of receiving a letter signed 'S. Gollum'. That would have been more difficult to deal with."

* AttentionDeficitCreatorDisorder: Not so much because there were too many projects, but because Tolkien was a perfectionist and had a day job as a university professor. Christopher Tolkien, who is now in his ''90s'', only retired in 2018 after decades of publishing the works never released in his father's lifetime.
** He also famously wrote the opening lines for Literature/TheHobbit in an examination booklet while grading tests.

** ''Literature/TheHistoryOfMiddleEarth'' is basically a multi-volume manual of his creative process, covering the evolution of the Middle-earth setting over several decades. Full of rejected, superseded and abandoned details and plot threads, it shows WhatCouldHaveBeen all too often. For instance, he started but ultimately abandoned a sequel to ''The Lord of the Rings'' called ''The New Shadow''. Tolkien made three attempts at developing the story, but eventually dropped it entirely due to a lack of interest.