Tolkien Monologues

Tolkien's novels were inspired by his mom's storytelling, falling in love with another orphan, Edith, forming a brotherhood with 3 other misfits at school, Oxford, the trench war of WWI and later telling stories to his own kids.

I made stories, legends. After all, what is language for? It's not just the naming of things, is it? It's the lifeblood of a culture, a people.

It's about journeys. Adventures. Magic, of course. Treasure. And love. It's about all kinds of things, really. It's hard to say. I suppose - I suppose it's about quests, to a certain extent. The journeys we take to prove ourselves. About courage. Fellowship. It's about fellowship. Friendship.

You are the most remarkable spirit I have ever met. You have courage and resourcefulness, talent, you're proud, maddeningly, wonderfully, so; and you are cunning and vibrant and completely alive. You deserve every happiness you find. No. No, you don't. You don't deserve happiness, that's not what I - What I mean is, you deserve much more. You deserve magic.

To taste it - is to possess the power of sight. Sight beyond sight. Sight into the deepest, darkest parts of the human heart. It's a hungry, potent magic. A magic beyond anything anyone has ever felt before.

There's a word in old German, it has no translation in English; but, it means a gift offered fearfully in the wake of an argument. Drachenfutter. Literally, "Dragon Food."

Professor, since childhood, I have been fascinated with language. Obsessed with it. I've invented my own. Full, complete languages. Look. This is, it's - everything.

From the Breost-hord. My heart. The treasure of the breast.

I made stories. Legends. After all, what is language for? It's not just the naming of things, is it? It's the lifeblood of a culture, a people.

I can't fail it again. And you know what will happen if I don't get into Oxford. I could become a priest, but I don't think a life of celibacy is what either of us had in mind.