A Secret Vice: Tolkien on Invented Languages
A Secret Vice: Tolkien on Invented Languages is a book edited by Dimitra Fimi and Andrew Higgins, published in 2016. The work is an extended edition of J.R.R. Tolkien's acclaimed lecture "A Secret Vice", in which he first revealed his "vice" of inventing languages in his fantasy fiction.
Overview
"A Secret Vice" is the title of a lecture by Tolkien on the subject of constructed languages and world-building. Together with "On Fairy-Stories", it is one of the most important insights into Tolkien’s sub-creative methodology.
First delivered in November 1931 to a literary society at Pembroke College, Oxford, it underwent subsequent revision and was eventually published by his son in The Monsters and the Critics, and Other Essays in 1983.
A Secret Vice: Tolkien on Invented Languages prints the original essay alongside previously unpublished drafts and notes, together with a substantial introduction on Tolkien’s linguistic invention and editorial notes throughout.
It also see the publication of "Essay on Phonetic Symbolism" — in which Tolkien ponders the idea that the sounds of words may fit their meanings — for the first time.
Publication history and gallery
In July 2020, a revised paperback was published. According to editor Dimitra Fimi, the new edition "incorporates some revisions, including restoring a previously illegible name to the text".
Referencias
1. Esta ficha se ha importado inicialmente de TolkienGateway.net el día 20/05/2026.
