As an academic writing about Tolkien, how important is his own academic background in philology?
Very important. Tolkien’s interest in the history of languages and the changes it undergoes throughout time is one of the leading reasons why his characters, although at times may seem one-dimensional, still have ‘fullness’ to them. Middle-earth after all was created to house the languages Tolkien invented. Whoever they may be, a passing name like Frár the Dwarf or a nameless orc, Tolkien’s created races have a history, a culture and a land that they belong to which in turn, gives them depth in the reader’s mind. How well do you think Tolkien’s characters work in his books, as opposed to other fantasy writers who have published since? Tolkien has an amazing ability to balance all the races in Middle-earth as the Self and Other when they interact with each other. In my opinion, I do not think that any other fantasy writer has since managed that sense of ‘alien’ that Tolkien so effortless conjures up when two different races come into contact. A good example is when Éomer and his éored e
