a philologist got bored and invented an entire mythology just to give his made-up languages somewhere to live.
means j.r.r. tolkien was the english writer and oxford professor who created middle-earth, the hobbit, and the lord of the rings, essentially founding modern fantasy as a genre.
from born 1892 in south africa, orphaned young, obsessed with languages from childhood — he literally invented elvish grammar before he invented elves to speak it, then built a world backward from the words.
the hobbit — 1937 book, started as bedtime stories for his kids
the silmarillion — posthumous 1977 mythology, edited by son christopher
the inklings — oxford writers' group with c.s. lewis, met weekly
peter jackson trilogy — 2001-2003 films, grossed nearly 3 billion dollars