Apr 24th 1-2-3: What Is A ‘Hobbit’ Anyways
1: A Strike of Linguistic Inspiration ( 2 minute read )
“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.”
J.R.R Tolkien had just been grading exam papers as an external examiner for an English class at the University of Oxford when this inspiration struck. He was grading a particularly dull student essay when the sentence came to him. He turned over the blank exam booklet page and wrote down the first sentence, the opening to a now world-renown book.
It isn’t any wonder that names and words would flow from John, for he had always been a Philologist even in his younger years (a specialist in language and literature, with a particular focus on their history, structure and use.)
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born in 1892 in Bloemfontein in the then Orange Free State (then an independent Boer Republic, now a part of South Africa.) He lived there for three years until his mother moved him and his younger brother back to England. Soon after, his father died.
And so it was, that John, his younger brother, Hilary, and his mother, Mabel, settled in Sarehole. This was a rural village near Birmingham. This was John’s “lost paradise” as a child and would later become the influence for the Shire, the place where the hole in the ground would house the titular hobbit, Bilbo Baggins.
During his time in Sarehole, John and his brother Hilary would be homeschooled by their mother. Amongst topics such as drawing and botany, she taught them languages. Latin and French were the first languages he learned, and would form the backbone to not only his classical education, but also his first invented language, Quenya.
In school, he would be taught German, Old English (Anglo-Saxon), and outside of school he taught himself Gothic, Old Norse, and Icelandic.
By the time he was working on his Academic studies, he learned Middle English, Finish, Welsh, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Spanish, Russian and Serbian. Some of those he learned as part of his studies, others he learned out of pure linguistic curiosity.
Across all of his time studying languages, Tolkien came to believe that language and mythology are inseparable.
Languages were the entry-way for Tolkien to develop his love for etymology (the study of the origin of words), sounds, and ancient cultures.
So what was a “hobbit” to Tolkien when he wrote that line on the back of that student’s exam?
It meant, well, nothing. At least not yet.
“Names always generate a story in my mind. I thought I’d better find out what hobbits were like.” - Tolkien
This sentence was a rather routine, common act for Tolkien to do. As a lover of languages, he had a habit of making up words and languages just for fun. While this sentence was a rather whimsical creative output for Tolkien, he later said he felt compelled to discover exactly what a hobbit was, who this hobbit was, and what kind of hole he lived in.
There was never an intent on the outset for him to create a novel, let alone an entire mythology, history, and world that we would later know to become The Lord of the Rings.
Just a random, fun, tiny act of boredom-fueled doodling that would become the unlikely seed for one of the most beloved series and worlds of the 20th Century.
A singular mundane task of grading papers, sparking an entire mythos.
So what mundane tasks are you avoiding and what random thoughts are you not writing down?
You never know what they may become.
2: Creative Prompts From Us (ex. Write a short story, a poem, a song, or draw a quick illustration of these! Let your imagination run free.)
I. As we’ve talked about in the past, make sure to participate in mundane, easy tasks throughout your week. Allowing your mind to wander while being preoccupied with mildly and even lowly stimulating tasks can be excellent for creativity.
II. Carry a notebook with you everywhere. This is a practice I have learned to do, a pen/pencil and some sort of paper. When an idea comes to you no matter how tiny, write it down.
3: Inspirational Quotes From J. R. R. Tolkien
I. “I had the sense of recording what was already ‘there’, somewhere.”
II. “I find that stories make themselves, and that the writer is only a sort of amanuensis.”
III. “Once the hobbit had found the Ring, it was bound to take the central place.”
Thank you so much for reading!