Several independent languages were drafted as well, for example the Khuzdul language of the Dwarves. Most Mannish tongues showed influences by Elvish, as well as some Dwarvish influences. In addition to that, there is a separate language family that is spoken by Men, the most prominent member of which was Westron (derived from the Númenórean speech Adûnaic) or the "Common speech" of the peoples of The Lord of the Rings. They belong to a family of Elvish dialects, that originate in Common Eldarin, the language common to all Eldar, which in turn originates in Primitive Quendian, the common root of Eldarin and Avarin languages. Tolkien therefore took the stance of a translator and adaptor rather than that of the original author of his works.Īlthough the Elvish languages Sindarin and Quenya are the most famous and the most mature languages of those that Tolkien invented for his mythology, they are by no means the only ones. Language invention had always been tightly connected to the mythology that Tolkien developed, as he found that a language could not be complete without the history of the people who spoke it, just as these people could never be fully realistic if imagined only through the English and as speaking English. He is known to have constructed his first languages ( Animalic and Nevbosh) at a little over thirteen and he continued to ponder upon his creations up until his death more than sixty-five years later. Language-making was Tolkien's hobby for most of his life. Numerous words were borrowed from existing languages, but less and less obviously as Tolkien progressed, so that attempts to match a source to a particular Elvish word or name in works published during his lifetime are often very dubious. Another of Tolkien's favorites was Welsh - and features of Welsh phonology found their way to Sindarin. Tolkien, number 214).įinnish morphology (particularly its rich system of inflection) in part gave rise to Quenya. He was also interested in many languages outside his field and developed a particular love for the Finnish language (he described the finding of a Finnish grammar book as "entering a complete wine-cellar filled with bottles of an amazing wine of a kind and flavour never tasted before", The Letters of J.
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And, as some creatures are exceptionally powerful for their species, we'll be including a mixture of collective and individual entries.Tolkien was a professional linguist and a specialist in the Old English language. The definition of "creature" can be pretty broad, so for this list, we're throwing in everything save for the most human races in Arda: Men, Elves, Dwarves and Hobbits. Middle-earth is populated by a lot of the same animals you'd find in our world, but Tolkien borrowed a lot of classic critters from folklore like dragons and werewolves and even invented a lot of his own. The beasts and monsters we encounter during the Third Age are pretty fantastical, but if you journey back to the Second and First Ages you'll find even bigger, badder and stronger creatures capable of ransacking cities and terrorizing entire armies. (Arda, for the non-book folk, is what the author calls his fictional version of Earth, encompassing both Middle-earth and Valinor, the mysterious Eastern realm that the Elves depart to at the end of Return of the King.) That means centuries' worth of history has already taken place by the time most of us become first acquainted with Arda and its peoples.
For context, Bilbo and Frodo Baggins- the comfort-loving Hobbits who get sucked into the vortex of power rings, dragons and wizards- are around in what Tolkien defines as the Third Age.
While the wider world might be more familiar with Peter Jackson's film adaptations, the War of the Rings saga that spans The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy is really just the tip of the iceberg. J.R.R Tolkien was responsible for crafting one of the most epic and intricate universes in all of literature.
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