quote:
Originally posted by Larry_OHF:
Er...is it just as bad to be studying Tolkien's Elvish Language?
I know people who are quite fluent in it, and I have studied it a bit.
That is not totally the same, but close enough...
Yet, I have never heard of anyone actually worshipping a D&D God, unless they are so into their D&D character, that they start to think themselves into the fantasy world...
larry, i dont think its quite the same. i mean, tolkiens languages are based upon deep cultural significance and based on real languages, and have nothing to do with religion. plus the books that give them background are not rpgs, they are real books with meaningful stories. tolkiens languages (there are many, not only elvish) are so complicated, and so well thought out, many experts single them out as a perfect example of a creation of a language from ground zero, from one person. even those that are less developed by tolkien due to lack of time (well, he died) are amazingly complex. take adunaic, for example. he managed to create an entire language set with distinct rules with just a couple of words and phrases. simply genius.
regarding the people that study these languages, the main difference with the person worshipping ad&d gods, is that they dont worship tolkien, nor the languages, nor the gods in lotr. they are just scholars or tolkien fans who took it upon them to study a language that they liked. btw, anyone who wants to know more about this subject, go to this page. its the most complete and serious work on tolkiens invented languages.
http://www.uib.no/People/hnohf