A Secret Vice

From Tolkien Gateway

A Secret Vice is the title of a lecture written by J.R.R. Tolkien around the autumn of 1931.[1] The lecture deals with constructed languages in general, and the relation of a mythology to its language. Tolkien contrasts auxiliary languages (like Esperanto) with artistic languages constructed for aesthetic pleasure.[2]

The title (consisting of a phrase occurring in the lecture) was created by Christopher Tolkien for the publication of the lecture manuscript in The Monsters and the Critics.[3] Tolkien himself referred to the lecture as "A Secret Vice" in a letter.[4] In 2016, it was published as an expanded edition book

In 2016, it was published as a separate book A Secret Vice: Tolkien on Invented Languages, edited by Dimitra Fimi and Andrew Higgins. It incorporates the previously unseen drafts and notes, together with a substantial introduction and commentaries.

Summary[edit | edit source]

Tolkien begins by briefly discussing Esperanto but states that the topic of his lecture rather concerns "secret" languages. As an example of such a language, he first recalls an incident where he overheard a man working on his own "secret grammar" while Tolkien was in the army in the First World War. He then continues by mentioning and analysing two constructed languages: the children's play-languages Animalic and Nevbosh. The next constructed language discussed is Naffarin, a more advanced, private language "partly overlapping the last stages of Nevbosh". Finally, Tolkien discusses the languages he created for his mythology and gives examples of his Elvish poetry (with translations in English).[2]

Included in the lecture are:

External links[edit | edit source]

References