XPost: rec.arts.sf.written, rec.arts.books.tolkien
From: le@main.lekno.ws
In rec.arts.books.tolkien Paul S Person wrote:
> On Thu, 17 Oct 2024 07:54:38 -0500, "Michael F. Stemper"
> wrote:
>
>>In LotR, Book V, Chapter 8, Aragorn says (in part) the following to
>>Meriadoc:
>>
>> [...] If your pack has not been found, then you must send for
>> the herb-master of this House. And he will tell you that he
>> did not know that the herb you desire had any virtues, but
>> that it is called _westmansweed_ by the vulgar, and _galenas_
>> by the noble, and other names in other tongues more learned,
>> and after adding a few half-forgotten rhymes that he does not
>> understand, he will regretfully inform you that there is none
>> in the House, and he will leave you to reflect on the history
>> of tongues. [...]
>>
>>Whew! That's quite a sentence.
>>
>>Is it possible that JRRT was indulging in a bit of self-mockery here,
>>given his main area of study, as well as one of his reasons for writing
>>LotR in the first place, was "the history of tongues"?
>
> He would certainly have been familiar with the type.
>
> But the stated reason for /LOTR/ is to follow up on the success of
> /The Hobbit/. At his publisher's urging, IIRC.
>
> And the purpose of the entire legendarium (of which the novels were
> offshoots) was to provide England with a mythology. This was, of
> course, when he was a young man and just starting out with /The Book
> of Lost Tales/.
It has also been said that he came up with the languages first and
the legends were a background made to suit them.
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