[The Squatter of Amon Rûdh]

Indeed Rim; only if it is achieved. Perhaps many of those who try (and fail so miserably) to don Tolkien's mantle would do well to read the lines that you have just quoted. I do hope that you have more of the same up your not inconsiderable amphibious sleeves.

Whilst Tolkien is famous for inventing languages, such as Quenya and Sindarin, it is often forgotten that he also enjoyed the study of natural languages. The obvious example is Anglo-Saxon, but he was even more fond of Welsh. On 21st October 1955 (the day after The Return of the King was first published) he delivered an O'Donnell Lecture at Oxford entitled English and Welsh, which I strongly urge you all to read. Below I shall show Tolkien expounding his personal theory on languages, which I find absolutely fascinating; but first I wish to quote a charming passage from the introduction:

In a missionary enterprise a converted heathen may be a good exhibit; and as such, I suppose, I was asked to appear. As such anyway I am here now: a philologist in the Anglo-Saxon and Germanic field. Indeed a Saxon in Welsh terms, or in our own one of the English of Mercia. And yet one who has always felt the attraction of the ancient history and pre-history of these islands, and most particularly the attraction of the Welsh language in itself.

Having thus set the scene, Tolkien launches into a breathtaking examination of the relationship between English and Welsh, and the history of the English suppression of the Welsh language; at all points demonstrating a deep love and understanding of his subject, and a staggering erudition. Anyone who is struck, as I am, by the wild beauty of the Welsh language will be enthralled by his chosen quotations, as he switches effortlessly between English, Welsh, Latin and various other tongues with bewildering speed. As the lecture progresses it becomes increasingly personal, and eventually we are granted an insight into Tolkien's most fundamental theory of language, which explains his fascination with words perfectly:

If I were to say 'Language is related to our total psycho-physical make-up', I might seem to announce a truism in a priggish modern jargon. I will at any rate say that language - and more so as expression than as communication - is a natural product of our humanity. But it is therefore also a product of our individuality. We each have a native language. But that is not the language that we speak, our cradle-tongue, the first learned. Linguistically we all wear ready-made clothes, and our native language comes seldom to expression, save perhaps by pulling at the ready-made till it sits a little easier. But though it may be buried, it is never wholly extinguished, and contact with other languages may stir it deeply.

As Frederick Wheelock says in the introduction to his famous Latin textbook: Apprendre une langue, c'est vivre nouveau

I don't care who you have to kill: read this essay as soon as you can.