Sophia, one of the main reasons I'm surprised at the lack of sub creators in ME is that Tolkien was THE great subcreator.
I'm not sure what Tolkien meant by the creation of Jewels being a sub creative act, as in other writings Tolkien was clear that sub creation is the creation of a 'Secondary world' in the mind, which is often, but not always set down in some physical form. There is just no sub creation of that kind in ME.
Niggle sub creates a secondary world in his painting of the Tree. Maybe you could even see Smith's productions as attempts at subcreation ('essays in the craft', if you like). But the peoples of ME seem to restrict themselve to re-creation of their own world/experiences/history, rather than sub creation of other worlds/experiences/histories. Was there no desire to sub create in that way? And if not, how does that fit in with Tolkien's own views on sub creation being an essential 'drive' in all of us? Is it deliberate on Tolkien's part to exclude sub creation in his subcreated world, or did he just forget? Could he really have considered such sub creation 'unnecesary'?
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