| − | Though Tolkien was an excellent writer, his primary interest was [[The Languages of Tolkien|languages]]. Tolkien originally came up with Middle-earth as a world in which his languages could be spoken. {{Fact}} In an interview with the BBC in 1972, shortly before his death, Tolkien said that he came up with the concept of a hobbit in part because he had been embarrassed about his own below-average height in his early childhood, and liked to imagine a world where he could be "normal" or even possibly "a hero". {{Fact}} | + | Though Tolkien was an excellent writer, his primary interest was [[The Languages of Tolkien|languages]]. Tolkien originally came up with Middle-earth as a world in which his languages could be spoken. {{Fact}} In an interview with the BBC in 1972, shortly before his death, Tolkien said that he came up with the concept of a hobbit in part because he had been embarrassed about his own below-average height in his early childhood, and liked to imagine a world where he could be "normal" or even possibly "a hero". {{Fact}} Tolkien based his fictional languages largely in the [[Norse mythology]] and languages. His fictional languages bear resemblances to Old Norse and other non-indoeuropean languages. Other strong linguistic influences include Basque and Russian. |