Tolkien made an interesting comment when he tried, early on, to try and explain his new mythology.
He soon came to feel that the composition of occasional poems without a connecting theme was not what he wanted. Early in 1915 he turned back to his original Earendel verses ad began to work their theme into a larger story. He had shown the original Earendel lines to G.B. Smith, who had said that he liked them but asked what they were really about.
Tolkien had replied: ‘I don’t know. I’ll try to find out.’
Not try to invent: try to find out. He did not see himself as an inventor of story buy as a discoverer of legend. And this was really due to his private languages.
-Humphrey Carpenter, J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography, p.83
The language was what was invented, though still based on a deep knowledge of linguistics. Then the mythology came later as a way of explaining how the words developed (and they were already developed). The language poured a huge slab of concrete for him to build his cathederal upon.
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July 3rd, 2009 at 9:04 AM
It is fascinating how the mind works.
While reading Charles Williams’ novel All Hallows Eve, one particular scene made me think, “‘Trying To Remember What Evelyn Said’, would be a cool title for a song.” And that title kind of hung around in my head. Then, a couple of years later, I was suddenly struck with a line (accompanied by a vision of sorts) that I had to write down. One line became two — and as I was completing the second verse, I suddenly realized, “Oh, this is ‘Trying To Remember What Evelyn Said’!” And so it was.
Of course, Tolkein was brilliant — I’m not. But creativity is still a very wonderful and mysterious thing. And I’ve always worried that, if I tried too hard to find out how it works, I might kill it.