The private mythology that was never meant for the public eye
Before the fame of Middle-earth, J.R.R. Tolkien was engaged in a private, lifelong project. He wasn't just writing stories; he was inventing entire languages and a complex cosmology, driven by a desire to create a foundational mythology for England.
Tolkien's legendarium began in 1914, sparked by his reading of the Old English manuscript Christ I. His earliest work, such as "The Voyage of Earendel, the Evening Star," served as a linguistic foundation for his invented Elvish languages. For decades, this remained a private endeavor, a 'sub-creation' that he frequently revised, rewritten, and even abandoned. He was a perfectionist who, according to biographer Humphrey Carpenter, may have been hesitant to finish the work because he feared the end of the creative process itself.
The relationship between his famous novels and this deeper mythology is complex. While The Hobbit (1937) was not originally part of the larger mythos, it eventually became linked to it. Later, The Lord of the Rings (1954, 1955) utilized ancient tales from the legendarium to provide a sense of historical depth. However, the larger body of work—comprising the Silmarillion and the 12-volume History of Middle-earth—remained largely unpublished during his lifetime, consisting of a 'jumble' of overlapping annals, drafts, and lexicons.
After Tolkien's death in 1973, his son Christopher Tolkien undertook the monumental task of shaping these vast, fragmented materials. He published The Silmarillion in 1977, using portions of his father's unpublished notes to create a semi-chronological narrative. This process involved navigating various 'phases' of writing, from the early 'Book of Lost Tales' to later theological inquiries into the nature of evil and the transition from a flat world to a globe. Through this editorial work, Christopher realized his father's mythopoeic vision, presenting the legendarium as a collection of recovered historical texts.
Source: Tolkien's legendarium
