Mississippi State University’s Inklings Club is hosting a talk by history professor Christopher Snyder about J.R.R. Tolkien’s concept of sub-creation at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday at Umble Coffee Co. on Industrial Park Road.
The Inklings at Mississippi State University is a club devoted to reading works by J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams and the other members of the Inklings and discussing these authors’ impacts on literature, philosophy, education, religion and film.
A distinguished scholar and author, Snyder has dedicated much of his academic career to studying Tolkien’s works and the deeper philosophical and theological implications behind them.
Snyder was first drawn to Tolkien’s works through his interest in C.S. Lewis and Tolkien’s scholarship, eventually leading him to explore more of Tolkien’s fiction writing. His deep dive into Tolkien’s world led him to the concept of sub-creation, which Tolkien first references in his essay “On Fairy-Stories.”
In this essay, Tolkien argues that fantasy literature allows for the exploration of sub-creation, a concept that Snyder sums up in one sentence.
“We create because we were created,” Snyder said.
Snyder explains that while Tolkien did not coin the term sub-creation, he solidified its use, particularly in a theological sense. The concept aligns with romantic notions of the artist as a special being, but for Tolkien, it was also deeply tied to faith and literature. Sub-creation is not an act of challenging divine creation but rather an extension of it, a way for humans to participate in the divine impulse to create.
“He is ultimately explaining why he writes fiction: He is a sub-creator who was created by a god who put some of his creative impulse into his creatures,” Snyder said.
This is the concept Snyder intends to illustrate through a passage from “The Silmarillion,” in which Aulë, a divine figure, creates the dwarves out of impatience to see new beings come into existence. When confronted by Ilúvatar, the supreme deity, Aulë defends himself, saying that the desire to create was placed in him by Ilúvatar himself.
Amanda Whitehead, a junior anthropology major at Mississippi State and member of the Inklings Club, explained how she views sub-creation and humans’ impulse for artistic creation.
“When given the opportunity, most people will create or express themselves in one way or another, whether this expression produces art, music, poetry, dance or even just completion of a job they can call ‘good work’ or ‘well done.’ If we are made in the image of a divine Creator, then, of course, I believe we’re going to want to create,” Whitehead said. “It’s in our nature. And since nothing new can be created that wasn’t created by God, then our ability to create would be sub-creation. It makes perfect sense to me: humanity’s sub-creations within God’s creation.”
Tolkien also emphasizes world-building: the process of creating a fictional world for a story.
“World-building is a very common practice nowadays. It can also be very hard,” Whitehead said as she explained the concept. “What makes Tolkien’s world-building special is that he created languages and used his story to complement and express those languages and their history. Most people today who world-build create the world to complement the story they want to tell. Their world serves the story, whereas Tolkien’s story was to showcase his world, particularly the languages.”
This is the legacy that Tolkien has left behind, with most writers using the format that Tolkien laid forth in his stories. However, Snyder warns that some modern fantasy has strayed from Tolkien’s ideals by focusing on moral ambiguity and the glorification of violence. While Tolkien acknowledged the presence of evil, his narratives ultimately emphasized the triumph of good and the importance of hope.
“The fantasy writers that emphasize the violence and the monstrous are getting excited about the wrong thing, and lots of people put the emphasis on that,” Snyder said. “We have fighting in Tolkien’s Middle Earth, but the good fight against evil. The morally grey is not part of Tolkien’s work.”
Snyder hopes that his talk will encourage attendees to explore other Tolkien works, and for those who are unfamiliar with sub-creation, Snyder offers a simple challenge.
“I would ask them to ask themselves why they love Marvel movies, why they love Harry Potter, why they love the fiction of Tolkien or the movies and to then ask what is it that those things offer them that the rest of our culture doesn’t, and if they come to my talk, hopefully they will find an answer to their question,” Snyder said.
As an Inklings fellow, Snyder is dedicated to fostering discussions about Tolkien and Lewis, ensuring that their works continue to be studied and appreciated in academic settings. Whether one is a lifelong Tolkien fan or new to his writings, Snyder’s talk at Umble Coffee promises to be an engaging exploration of modern fantasy’s biggest influencer.
