Esperanto is a widely spoken constructed language, the words of which were derived from European roots.[1]
As a teenager, Tolkien learned the language. He wrote notes about it in the Book of the Foxrook in 1909, and it inspired his first script, Privata Kodo Skauta.[2] In 1932, Tolkien wrote a letter which was published in The British Esperantist, detailing his opinions on the language.[3] By 1956, his opinion on the language had soured, concluding that "Volapük, Esperanto, Ido, Novial, &c &c are dead, far deader than ancient unused languages, because their authors never invented any Esperanto legends".[4]
William Auld, who primarily wrote in the language, translated The Lord of the Rings as La mastro de l' ringoj, and contributed to La hobito. In 2015, the book J.R.R. Tolkien the Esperantist: Before the Arrival of Bilbo Baggins was published.
References
- ↑ "Esperanto". Britannica.com
- ↑ Arden R. Smith, Patrick Wynne, "Tolkien and Esperanto", in SEVEN, Volume 17, p. 29
- ↑ "Tolkien the Esperantist?". TolkienBooks.net
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien; Humphrey Carpenter, Christopher Tolkien (eds.), The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter 180, (dated 14 January 1956)