I mean, that’s the point. J.R.R. Tolkien was fascinated with linguistics and wanted to create his own languages, and all his novels are written to justify the world in which his invented languages exist. He wrote them as if they’re actual historical records.
The only reason The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings are so readable is because they were written like journal entries, tracking the adventures of an individual and his friends on a dangerous quest. Most of his other works are literally just fantasy reference books, defining and expanding the world of Middle Earth.
That might be an understatement. He was a philologist and a professor for Anglo-Saxon (during which he wrote an important article on Beowulf, apparently still highly influential today) and a professor for the English language and literature after that.
I mean, that’s the point. J.R.R. Tolkien was fascinated with linguistics and wanted to create his own languages, and all his novels are written to justify the world in which his invented languages exist. He wrote them as if they’re actual historical records.
The only reason The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings are so readable is because they were written like journal entries, tracking the adventures of an individual and his friends on a dangerous quest. Most of his other works are literally just fantasy reference books, defining and expanding the world of Middle Earth.
That might be an understatement. He was a philologist and a professor for Anglo-Saxon (during which he wrote an important article on Beowulf, apparently still highly influential today) and a professor for the English language and literature after that.