How did J. R. R. Tolkien's background as a philologist influence his writing of Middle-earth?
J. R. R. Tolkien was both a philologist and an author of high fantasy who stated that all his work was fundamentally linguistic in inspiration. The invention of languages served as the foundation for his stories rather than the other way around. He believed human sub-creation mirrored divine creation through thought and sound bringing a new world into being.