released 10/23/2026
Tolkien scholar Michael D. C. Drout, author of The Tower and the Ruin: J. R. R. Tolkien’s Creation (W. W. Norton, 2025), discusses the languages and mythologies that influenced J. R. R. Tolkien’s creation of the world of Middle-earth. Of particular interest to Tolkien were the Finnish language and the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala. Drout explains how Tolkien drew from the sound structure of the Kalevala to create at least one of his Elvish languages. He also argues that Tolkien’s use of heterotextuality in his fantasy gives readers the impression of a work that is in conversation with other ancient historical and literary texts. This is one reason why The Lord of the Rings feels like a real, old text and not a mid-20th-century creation. Drout also discusses Tolkien’s fascination with the melancholic and romantic quality of “northernness,” a love he shared with his friend and fellow Inkling, C. S. Lewis. Much more from this interview can be heard on Volume 169 of the Journal.
17 minutes
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