“Fantasy remains a human right. We make it in our measure and in our derivative mode because we are made, and not only made, but made in the image and likeness of a Maker.” - J.R.R. Tolkien
We are the only begotten child of God, endowed with the same sovereign divine creatorhood. To create worlds, to be a creator - this is our birthright.
We, as children of God, are also creators—we are sub-creators under the divine, and through our imagination, we participate in the Great Story of existence.
Every human has the power to build worlds, shape stories, and reveal hidden truths through art, language, and vision.
Tolkien believed that when humans create fairy stories, they engage in "sub-creation"—a form of creation under God, the ultimate Creator.
Through sub-creation, humans reflect their divine nature and their desire to emulate God's creative work by inventing worlds, creatures, and narratives.
Tolkien was very interested in the idea of sub-creation, a concept he outlined in his famous essay "On Fairy Stories" (1939). He believed that humans, as creations of God, have the ability to create secondary worlds of their own, a process he called "sub-creation." In this context, Tolkien saw himself as a sub-creator of Middle-earth—a world that, while fictional, could still convey deep truths about the human experience, morality, and the nature of existence.
To engage in sub-creation is to participate in the divine act of meaning-making.
Tolkien saw his work as "sub-creation" under God—language was his divine tool for revealing an already-existing mythic reality.
Tolkien’s Theory of Imagination: Primary & Secondary Creation
A. Coleridge’s Two Forms of Imagination
Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s distinction between:
- Primary Imagination – The divine creative force that brings all reality into being.
- Secondary Imagination – The human participation in that divine creation, through art, myth, and storytelling.
- Tolkien saw himself as a secondary creator, channeling a world that already existed in the realm of myth and archetype.
- His process was not pure invention but a mystical act of discovery.
B. Sub-Creation: The Sacred Art of World-Building
- Tolkien coined the term sub-creation to describe how humans, as divine image-bearers, have the power to create worlds.
- Sub-creation is not making something from nothing, but revealing what already exists in the archetypal realm.
- He saw his role as a myth-maker akin to a prophet or seer, bringing forth a reality from the unseen.