Abstract:
J.R.R. Tolkien, high fantasy writer, poet and philologist, as well as Oxford professor of linguistics,
created over 14 languages in the development of the background of his stories. From the
cosmogonical creation myth of "The Silmarillion", to the fairy-story lightness of "The Hobbit" and the
quest fantasy of "The Lord of the Rings", Tolkien’s fiction has its roots in the mythopoetic logics of
his theory of creative writing (or myth-making). This dissertation will seek to understand Tolkien’s
linguistic creation and his experiment of Quenya in particular, first in its historical and literary
context, and then assess its linguistic merit and behaviors.
In the first introductory chapter, Tolkien’s linguistic and academic background will be
investigated, along with mythopoetic construction in the author’s legendarium, setting the scene
for further linguistic analysis. In the second chapter, the timeline of Tolkien’s linguistic creation will be
traced, starting from the delineation of the different Middle-earth languages, to the development of the more
complex and articulated Quenya. The third and last chapter will deeply analyze Quenya language, focusing on its internal and external development.
This thesis aims to explore how the authentic nature of the language is developed and evoked through
the phonetics and phonology of Tolkien’s Quenya, using the poem “Namárië” from The Fellowship
of the Ring for analysis. Smith (2010:7) argues that Tolkien created a “flowing,” “light and
melodious” language, designed much like a Romance language, with no “potentially harsh”
phonemes or “brusque English consonant clusters.” But with such claims must come evidence.
This thesis provides the background research Smith (2010) lacks behind these claims, defining
Quenya as a functional language, with clear patterns and tendencies towards particular phonetic
and linguistic behaviors.
