<P> Tolkien was a professional philologist of ancient Germanic languages, specialising in Old English . He was also interested in many languages outside his field, and developed a particular love for the Finnish language . He described the finding of a Finnish grammar book as "entering a complete wine - cellar filled with bottles of an amazing wine of a kind and flavour never tasted before". </P> <P> Glossopoeia was Tolkien's hobby for most of his life . At a little over 13, he helped construct a sound substitution cypher known as Nevbosh,' new nonsense', which grew to include some elements of actual invented language . Notably, Tolkien claimed that this was not his first effort in invented languages . Shortly thereafter, he developed a true invented language called Naffarin which contained elements that would survive into his later languages, which he continued to work on until his death more than 65 years later . Language invention had always been tightly connected to the mythology that Tolkien developed, as he found that a language could not be complete without the history of the people who spoke it, just as these people could never be fully realistic if imagined only through English and as speaking English . Tolkien therefore took the stance of a translator and adaptor rather than that of the original author of his works . </P> <P> Tolkien was of the opinion that the invention of an artistic language in order to be convincing and pleasing must include not only the language's historical development, but also the history of its speakers, and especially the mythology associated with both the language and the speakers . It was this idea that an "Elvish language" must be associated with a complex history and mythology of the Elves that was at the core of the development of Tolkien's legendarium . </P> <P> Tolkien wrote in one of his letters: "what I think is a primary' fact' about my work, that it is all of a piece, and fundamentally linguistic in inspiration . (...) It is not a' hobby', in the sense of something quite different from one's work, taken up as a relief - outlet . The invention of languages is the foundation . The' stories' were made rather to provide a world for the languages than the reverse . To me a name comes first and the story follows . I should have preferred to write in' Elvish' . But, of course, such a work as The Lord of the Rings has been edited and only as much' language' has been left in as I thought would be stomached by readers . (I now find that many would have liked more .) (...) It is to me, anyway, largely an essay in' linguistic aesthetic', as I sometimes say to people who ask me' what is it all about' ." </P>

How many imaginary languages appear in the lord of the rings movies