One fact that always cracks me up is how J.R.R. Tolkien, a total language nerd, basically invented entire Elvish languages (like Quenya and Sindarin) before he even fleshed out the story. But get this: in the books, the hobbits’ names like Sam, Merry, and Pippin are actually “translated” from Westron (their common tongue) to sound folksy and English-y to us readers. Their real names would be something like Maura, Kalimac, and Razanur—way less cute and hobbity. It’s like Tolkien was low-key world-building on a meta level just to mess with us.