Creation and sub-creation : divine and human authorship in the works of J.R.R. Tolkien

Abstract

J.R.R. Tolkien spent the greater part of his adult life constructing an imaginary world; its cosmology, history, legends, and languages. He described this process as 'sub-creation', a definition embodying the connection Tolkien saw between human creativity and the divine act of creation. God creates the primary world and human artists within it, who then engage in sub-creation, which both changes the primary world and makes secondary, fictional worlds. All acts of human artistic creativity derive from, and imitate, divine creativity. This concept is central to Tolkien's understanding of the role, ability, and limitations of artistic creativity. He incorporated it into both the themes and structures of his works; sub-creating a world that was itself both a work of art and a meditation on the dependent, collaborative nature of art.