Inside Language: Linguistic and Aesthetic Theory in Tolkien

171 Pages·2007·5.53 MB·English

by  Ross Smith

Ross Smith
Inside Language
Linguistic and Aesthetic
Theory in Tolkien
00
HN 8405
s
657
Ross Smith
Inside Language
Linguistic and Aesthetic
Theory in T olkien
2007
Cormare Series
Nol2
Series Editors
Peter Buchs • Thomas Honegger • Andrew Moglestue
Editor responsible for this volume:
Thomas Honegger
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Smith, Ross
Inside Language:
Linguistic and Aesthetic Theory in Tolkien
ISBN 978-3-905703-06-1
Subject headings:
Tolkien, J. R. R. (John Ronald Reuel), I 892-I 973 - Criticism and inter-
pretation
Tolkien, J. R. R. (John Ronald Reuel), I 892-I 973- Language
Fantasy fiction, English- History and criticism
Middle-earth (Imaginary place)
Literature, Comparative.
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, by any
process or technique, without the express written consent of the publisher.
Table of Contents
Series Editor 's Introduction
Introduction and Acknowledgments
Chapter I: Worlds ofL anguage
Chapter II: Telling the Story 25
Chapter III: Linguistic Aesthetics 51
Chapter IV: Language and the Environment 69
Chapter V: Invented Languages 81
Chapter VI: Tolkien 's Languages in Peter Jackson 's
Film Versions ofThe Lord of the Rings 113
Chapter VII: A Tolkienian Philosophy of Language 121
List ofA bbreviations & Main Works Consulted 151

-
I
To Ana

Series Editor's Preface
Tolkien's views on language, though never published as a formalised the
ory, were in some aspects rather 'heretic' (to use Tom Shippey's term) and
seemed to fly into the face of 'established' linguistic theory - most notably
his conception of'native (hereditary) language' and, related to it, the idea of
'linguistic aesthetic' and 'phonetic fitness'. Unfortunately, this aspect of
Tolkien's linguistic work has, as yet, not received the attention it deserves
a first tentative attempt at coming to grips with at least some of the under
1
lying concepts has been made by Bachmann and Honegger in 2006. Ross
Smith, in a series of articles that appeared in English Today and To/kien
Studies, was one of the first Tolkien scholars to investigate the question of
Tolkien's position on language vis-a-vis the then (and even now) dominant
tenet(s) in some depth. That he is able to present the topic in an accessible,
(for laypersons) understandable, and enjoyable form is all the more to his
credit. The following study is thus not aimed so much at the specialist in
Elvish (and other Middle-earth languages), even though s/he may also learn
some new things, but at the general reader who wants an informed intro
duction to Tolkien's views on language and their historical relevance.
Thomas Honegger
Jena, March 07
Dieter Bachmann and Thomas Honegger, "Ein Mythos fllr das 20. Jahrhundert: Blut,
Rasse und Erbgedachtnis bei Tolkien." Hither Shore 2:13-39.

Preface
When C.S. Lewis, in his obituary on his friend and colleague J.R.R.
Tolkien, remarked that Tolkien "had been inside language", he was seeking
to explain the extraordinarily intimate understanding of language and
poetics that Tolkien had achieved during a lifetime devoted to philological
study and linguistic invention.
For Tolkien, language was everything: he was a scholar of language,
a professor of language, and above all a creator of language. His letters and
essays abound in references to the passion he felt for all things linguistic.
He tells us of his secret vice of inventing languages, his acute sensibility
towards the sounds of speech, his joy on discovering the mechanisms and
phonetics of other tongues, and his view of himself, first and foremost, as a
philologist, a lover of words.
It is surprising to discover, therefore, that to date this fundamental
area of Tolkien's life and work has not been adequately addressed in a
single critical work. There are numerous books which discuss language
related issues in Tolkien's writing, of course, but they tend to concentrate
narrowly on the Anglo-Saxon and medieval aspects of his work, or on the
technicalities of his invented languages. This leaves many other areas
unexplored. How exactly did Tolkien's scholarly knowledge of language,
literature and linguistics interact with his works of imaginative fiction?
What did he mean when he referred to Linguistic Aesthetics? How did his
work relate to the broader linguistic currents existing outside the limited
geographical and cultural scope of north-western Europe? How do his
invented languages compare with the other attempts that have been made to
construct artificial languages over the last eight centuries? And finally, to
what extent is it feasible to talk about a specifically Tolkienian philosophy
of language?