Mareike Huber

Mareike Huber is a PhD student in English and American Literary and Cultural Studies at the English Department at the University of Freiburg in Germany. She holds a Master of Arts degree in English Literatures and Literary Theory from the University of Freiburg. In her Master thesis, she analysed the functions and effects of J. R. R. Tolkien’s invented languages. For her dissertation, she broadened her scope to adaptations of Tolkien’s novels, as well as works from other authors which include invented languages or so-called conlangs (constructed languages).

She has written several articles and has given talks about the invented languages of J. R. R. Tolkien. She is also interested in the topics of gender, sexuality, disability, and race, and has written about intersectionality in Maria Dahvana Headley’s The Mere Wife (Studies in Medivalism: (En)gendering Medievalism, 2024).

Tolkien-related Publications:
(publication upcoming), ‘The Functions and Effects of the Invented Languages in J. R. R. Tolkien‘s Legendarium and Adaptations Thereof’. Based on a talk given at the ‘Reading Tolkien in the 21st Century’ Conference by University of Bonn, 2023.
(2025), ‘The Moral Function of Invented Languages in J.R.R Tolkien's Legendarium’, Journal of Tolkien Research 21:2.
(2025), ‘Review of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (Amazon Prime, 2022–): The use of Tolkien’s invented languages’, Messengers from the Stars: On Science Fiction and Fantasy 7.