“It was just as the 1914 War burst on me that I made the discovery that "legends" depend on the language to which they belong; but a living language depends equally on the "legends" which it conveys by tradition. (For example, that the Greek mythology depends far more on the marvellous aesthetic of its language and so of its nomenclature of persons and places and less on its content than people realize, though of course it depends on both. And vice versa. Volapuk, Esperanto, Ido, Novial, &C. are dead, for deader than ancient unused languages, because their authors never invented any Esperanto legends.). (letter 180)”
Quote by J.R.R. Tolkien
Work
The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
This book includes letters written by J.R.R. Tolkien, covering a wide range of topics including his writing process, personal life, and thoughts on various subjects. more
Author
You May Also Like
“How do you know, what you claim to know?”
Source: Your Mind at Siege : Exploring the Conundrum of Consciousness, Artificial Intelligence through the Lens of The Diamond Sutra
Source: Unrequited Echoes
Source: From Far Away To Very Close
Source: Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer
Source: The Sacredness of Questioning Everything: Is Your God Big Enough to Be Questioned?
Source: Standing by Words
Source: Just This