john ronald reuel tolkien biography

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Childhood, education, and World War I

Oxford career and the inklings, the hobbit and the lord of the rings, other works.

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J.R.R. Tolkien

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J.R.R. Tolkien (born January 3, 1892, Bloemfontein , South Africa—died September 2, 1973, Bournemouth , Hampshire, England) was an English writer and scholar who achieved fame with his children’s book The Hobbit (1937) and his richly inventive epic fantasy The Lord of the Rings (1954–55).

At age four Tolkien, with his mother and younger brother, settled near Birmingham , England , after his father, a bank manager, died in South Africa . In 1900 his mother converted to Roman Catholicism , a faith her elder son also practiced devoutly. On her death in 1904, her boys became wards of a Catholic priest . Four years later Tolkien fell in love with another orphan, Edith Bratt, who would inspire his fictional character Lúthien Tinúviel. His guardian, however, disapproved, and not until his 21st birthday could Tolkien ask Edith to marry him.

In the meantime, he attended King Edward’s School in Birmingham and Exeter College, Oxford (B.A., 1915; M.A., 1919). During World War I he saw action in the First Battle of the Somme . After the Armistice he was briefly on the staff of The Oxford English Dictionary (then called The New English Dictionary ).

For most of his adult life, Tolkien taught English language and literature , specializing in Old and Middle English , at the Universities of Leeds (1920–25) and Oxford (1925–59). Often busy with academic duties and also acting as an examiner for other universities , he produced few but influential scholarly publications, notably a standard edition of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (1925; with E.V. Gordon) and a landmark lecture on Beowulf ( Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics , 1936). Tolkien had completed a translation of Beowulf in 1926, and it was posthumously published, along with classroom lectures he had given on the subject, some of his notes, and an original short story inspired by the legend , as Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary (2014). He also published an edition of the Ancrene Wisse (1962).

In 1926 Tolkien met C.S. Lewis , a fellow writer and a colleague at Oxford. The two men became friends and began attending meetings of a student literary group called the Inklings . After the student group ceased meeting in 1933, Tolkien, Lewis, and other friends and university colleagues adopted the name for their own literary group, which met informally into the 1940s. According to Tolkien, the group’s name was a pun, meaning both “people with vague or half-formed intimations and ideas” and “those who dabble in ink.” They held meetings at the Eagle and Child pub (commonly known as the “Bird and Baby”) in Oxford, where they shared camaraderie . The group also met in Lewis’s rooms at Magdalen College to read to each other their works-in-progress. Tolkien would dedicate the first edition of The Lord of the Rings to the Inklings, and he credited Lewis and the group with encouraging him to finish it.

In private, Tolkien amused himself by writing an elaborate series of fantasy tales, often dark and sorrowful, set in a world of his own creation. He made this “legendarium,” which eventually became The Silmarillion , partly to provide a setting in which “Elvish” languages he had invented could exist. But his tales of Arda and Middle-earth also grew from a desire to tell stories, influenced by a love of myths and legends . To entertain his four children, he devised lighter fare, lively and often humorous. The longest and most important of those stories, begun about 1930, was The Hobbit , a coming-of-age fantasy about a comfort-loving “hobbit” (a smaller relative of Man) who joins a quest for a dragon ’s treasure.

• “One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
• One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them”
• —J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings (1954–55)

In 1937 The Hobbit was published, with pictures by the author (an accomplished amateur artist), and was so popular that its publisher asked for a sequel. The result, 17 years later, was Tolkien’s masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings , a modern version of the heroic epic . A few elements from The Hobbit were carried over, in particular a magic ring, now revealed to be the One Ring, which must be destroyed before it can be used by the terrible Dark Lord, Sauron, to rule the world. But The Lord of the Rings is also an extension of Tolkien’s Silmarillion tales, which gave the new book a “history” in which Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, and Men were already established.

Contrary to statements often made by critics, The Lord of the Rings was not written specifically for children, nor is it a trilogy, though it is often published in three parts: The Fellowship of the Ring , The Two Towers , and The Return of the King . It was divided originally because of its bulk and to reduce the risk to its publisher should it fail to sell. In fact it proved immensely popular. On its publication in paperback in the United States in 1965, it attained cult status on college campuses. Although some critics disparage it, several polls since 1996 have named The Lord of the Rings the best book of the 20th century, and its success made it possible for other authors to thrive by writing fantasy fiction . It had sold more than 50 million copies in some 30 languages by the turn of the 21st century.

A film version of The Lord of the Rings by New Zealand director Peter Jackson , released in three installments in 2001–03, achieved worldwide critical and financial success. Jackson then adapted The Hobbit as a trilogy comprising the films An Unexpected Journey (2012), The Desolation of Smaug (2013), and The Battle of the Five Armies (2014). In 2004 the text of The Lord of the Rings was carefully corrected for a 50th-anniversary edition.

Several shorter works by Tolkien appeared during his lifetime. These included a mock-medieval story, Farmer Giles of Ham (1949); The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Other Verses from the Red Book (1962), poetry related to The Lord of the Rings ; Tree and Leaf (1964), with the seminal lecture “ On Fairy-Stories ” and the tale “Leaf by Niggle”; and the fantasy Smith of Wootton Major (1967).

“ Fantasy remains a human right: we make 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, “ On Fairy-Stories ” (1964)

Tolkien in his old age failed to complete The Silmarillion , the “prequel” to The Lord of the Rings , and left it to his youngest son, Christopher, to edit and publish (1977). Subsequent study of his father’s papers led Christopher to produce Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth (1980); The History of Middle-earth , 12 vol. (1983–96), which traces the writing of the legendarium, including The Lord of the Rings , through its various stages; and The Children of Húrin ( Narn I Chin Hurin: The Tale of the Children of Hurin ), published in 2007, one of the three “Great Tales” of The Silmarillion in longer form. Christopher also edited Beren and Lúthien (2017), which centers on the romance between a man and an elf and was inspired by Tolkien’s relationship with his wife, and The Fall of Gondolín (2018), the third of the “Great Tales,” about an Elvish city resisting the reign of a dark lord; both books contain various retellings of the stories, including the original versions that were written in 1917.

Among other posthumous works by Tolkien are The Father Christmas Letters (1976; also published as Letters from Father Christmas ), The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien (1981), the children’s stories Mr. Bliss (1982) and Roverandom (1998), and The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún (2009), two narrative poems drawn from northern legend and written in the style of the Poetic Edda . The Fall of Arthur (2013) is an unfinished verse exploration of Arthurian legend inspired by the Middle English Morte Arthure .

J.R.R. Tolkien

(1892-1973)

Who Was J.R.R. Tolkien?

J.R.R. Tolkien was an English fantasy author and academic. Tolkien settled in England as a child, going on to study at Exeter College. While teaching at Oxford University, he published the popular fantasy novels The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The works have had a devoted international fan base and been adapted into award-winning blockbuster films.

Early Life and Family

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa, on January 3, 1892, to Arthur Tolkien and Mabel Suffield Tolkien. After Arthur died from complications of rheumatic fever, Mabel settled with four-year-old Tolkien and his younger brother, Hilary, in the country hamlet of Sarehole, in Birmingham, England.

Mabel died in 1904, and the Tolkien brothers were sent to live with a relative and in boarding homes, with a Catholic priest assuming guardianship in Birmingham. Tolkien went on to get his first-class degree at Exeter College, specializing in Anglo-Saxon and Germanic languages and classic literature.

World War I

Tolkien enlisted as a lieutenant in the Lancashire Fusiliers and served in World War I, making sure to continue writing as well. He fought in the Battle of the Somme, in which there were severe casualties, and was eventually released from duty due to illness. In the midst of his military service, he married Edith Bratt in 1916.

Continuing his linguistic studies, Tolkien joined the faculty of the University of Leeds in 1920 and a few years later became a professor at Oxford University. While there he started a writing group called The Inklings, which counted among its members C.S. Lewis and Owen Barfield. It was also at Oxford, while grading a paper, that he spontaneously wrote a short line about "a hobbit."

Books: 'The Hobbit' and 'The Lord of the Rings'

The award-winning fantasy novel The Hobbit — about the small, furry-footed Bilbo Baggins and his adventures — was published in 1937, and was regarded as a children’s book, though Tolkien would state the book wasn’t originally intended for children. He also created more than 100 drawings to support the narrative.

Over the years, while working on scholarly publications, Tolkien developed the work that would come to be regarded as his masterpiece — The Lord of the Rings series, partially inspired by ancient European myths, with its own sets of maps, lore and languages.

Tolkien released part one of the series, The Fellowship of the Ring in 1954; The Two Towers and The Return of the King followed in 1955, finishing up the trilogy. The books gave readers a rich literary trove populated by elves, goblins, talking trees and all manner of fantastic creatures, including characters like the wizard Gandalf and the dwarf Gimli.

While Rings had its share of critics, many reviewers and waves upon waves of general readers took to Tolkien’s world, causing the books to become global bestsellers, with fans forming Tolkien clubs and learning his fictional languages.

Tolkien retired from professorial duties in 1959, going on to publish an essay and poetry collection, Tree and Leaf , and the fantasy tale Smith of Wootton Major . His wife Edith died in 1971, and Tolkien died on September 2, 1973, at the age of 81. He was survived by four children.

Legacy and New Adaptations

The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings series are grouped among the most popular books in the world, having sold tens of millions of copies. The Rings trilogy was also adapted by director Peter Jackson into a highly popular, award-winning trio of films starring Ian McKellen , Elijah Wood, Cate Blanchett and Viggo Mortensen , among others. Jackson also directed a three-part Hobbit movie adaptation starring Martin Freeman, which was released from 2012 to 2014.

Tolkien's son Christopher has edited several works that weren't completed at the time of his father's death, including The Silmarillion and The Children of Húrin , which were published posthumously. The Art of the Hobbit was published in 2012, celebrating the novel's 75th anniversary by presenting Tolkien's original illustrations.

Underscoring the enduring popularity of Tolkien's famed fantasy world, in November 2017, online retail and entertainment behemoth Amazon announced that it had acquired the TV rights for the book series. In its statement, the company revealed plans to "explore new storylines preceding Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring, " with the potential for a spinoff series, thereby exciting fans with the promise of a prequel to the familiar deeds of Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf and the rest.

The author's life was the subject of the 2019 feature Tolkien , a biopic starring Nicholas Hoult and steeped with references to The Lord of the Rings .

QUICK FACTS

• Name: John Ronald Ruel Tolkien
• Birth Year: 1892
• Birth date: January 3, 1892
• Birth City: Bloemfontein
• Birth Country: South Africa
• Gender: Male
• Best Known For: J.R.R. Tolkien is an internationally renowned fantasy writer. He is best known for authoring 'The Hobbit' and 'The Lord of the Rings' trilogy.
• Writing and Publishing
• Fiction and Poetry
• Astrological Sign: Capricorn
• Exeter College
• King Edward's School
• Death Year: 1973
• Death date: September 2, 1973
• Death City: Bournemouth, Dorset
• Death Country: England

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CITATION INFORMATION

• Article Title: J.R.R. Tolkien Biography
• Author: Biography.com Editors
• Website Name: The Biography.com website
• Url: https://www.biography.com/authors-writers/jrr-tolkien
• Access Date:
• Publisher: A&E; Television Networks
• Last Updated: September 11, 2019
• Original Published Date: April 2, 2014
• If you really want to know what Middle-earth is based on, it's my wonder and delight in the earth as it is, particularly the natural earth.
• Children aren't a class. They are merely human beings at different stages of maturity. All of them have a human intelligence which even at its lowest is a pretty wonderful thing, and the entire world in front of them.
• The hobbits are just what I should like to have been but never was—an entirely unmilitary people who always came up to scratch in a clinch.

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J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biographical Sketch By David Doughan MBE

Who was tolkien.

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (1892–1973) was a major scholar of the English language, specialising in Old and Middle English. Twice Professor of Anglo-Saxon (Old English) at the University of Oxford, he also wrote a number of stories, including most famously The Hobbit (1937) and The Lord of the Rings (1954–1955), which are set in a pre-historic era in an invented version of our world which he called by the Middle English name of Middle-earth. This was peopled by Men (and women), Elves, Dwarves, Trolls, Orcs (or Goblins) and of course Hobbits. He has regularly been condemned by the Eng. Lit. establishment, with honourable exceptions, but loved by literally millions of readers worldwide.

In the 1960s he was taken up by many members of the nascent “counter-culture” largely because of his concern with environmental issues. In 1997 he came top of three British polls, organised respectively by Channel 4 / Waterstone’s, the Folio Society, and SFX, the UK’s leading science fiction media magazine, amongst discerning readers asked to vote for the greatest book of the 20th century. Please note also that his name is spelt Tolkien (there is no “Tolkein”).

Childhood and Youth

The name “Tolkien” (pron.: Tol-keen; equal stress on both syllables) was believed by the family (including Tolkien himself) to be of German origin; Toll-kühn: foolishly brave, or stupidly clever—hence the pseudonym “Oxymore” which he occasionally used; however, this quite probably was a German rationalisation of an originally Baltic Tolkyn, or Tolkīn. In any case, his great-great grandfather John (Johann) Benjamin Tolkien came to Britain with his brother Daniel from Gdańsk in about 1772 and rapidly became thoroughly Anglicised. Certainly his father, Arthur Reuel Tolkien, considered himself nothing if not English. Arthur was a bank clerk, and went to South Africa in the 1890s for better prospects of promotion. There he was joined by his bride, Mabel Suffield, whose family were not only English through and through, but West Midlands since time immemorial. So John Ronald (“Ronald” to family and early friends) was born in Bloemfontein, S.A., on 3 January 1892. His memories of Africa were slight but vivid, including a scary encounter with a large hairy spider, and influenced his later writing to some extent; slight, because on 15 February 1896 his father died, and he, his mother and his younger brother Hilary returned to England — or more particularly, the West Midlands.

The West Midlands in Tolkien’s childhood were a complex mixture of the grimly industrial Birmingham conurbation, and the quintessentially rural stereotype of England, Worcestershire and surrounding areas: Severn country, the land of the composers Elgar, Vaughan Williams and Gurney, and more distantly the poet A. E. Housman (it is also just across the border from Wales). Tolkien’s life was split between these two: the then very rural hamlet of Sarehole, with its mill, just south of Birmingham; and darkly urban Birmingham itself, where he was eventually sent to King Edward’s School. By then the family had moved to King’s Heath, where the house backed onto a railway line — young Ronald’s developing linguistic imagination was engaged by the sight of coal trucks going to and from South Wales bearing destinations like” Nantyglo”,” Penrhiwceiber” and “Senghenydd”.

Then they moved to the somewhat more pleasant Birmingham suburb of Edgbaston. However, in the meantime, something of profound significance had occurred, which estranged Mabel and her children from both sides of the family: in 1900, together with her sister May, she was received into the Roman Catholic Church. From then on, both Ronald and Hilary were brought up in the faith of Pio Nono, and remained devout Catholics throughout their lives. The parish priest who visited the family regularly was the half-Spanish half-Welsh Father Francis Morgan.

Tolkien family life was generally lived on the genteel side of poverty. However, the situation worsened in 1904, when Mabel Tolkien was diagnosed as having diabetes, usually fatal in those pre-insulin days. She died on 14 November of that year leaving the two orphaned boys effectively destitute. At this point Father Francis took over, and made sure of the boys’ material as well as spiritual welfare, although in the short term they were boarded with an unsympathetic aunt-by-marriage, Beatrice Suffield, and then with a Mrs Faulkner.

By this time Ronald was already showing remarkable linguistic gifts. He had mastered the Latin and Greek which was the staple fare of an arts education at that time, and was becoming more than competent in a number of other languages, both modern and ancient, notably Gothic, and later Finnish. He was already busy making up his own languages, purely for fun. He had also made a number of close friends at King Edward’s; in his later years at school they met regularly after hours as the “T. C. B. S.” (Tea Club, Barrovian Society, named after their meeting place at the Barrow Stores) and they continued to correspond closely and exchange and criticise each other’s literary work until 1916.

However, another complication had arisen. Amongst the lodgers at Mrs Faulkner’s boarding house was a young woman called Edith Bratt. When Ronald was 16, and she 19, they struck up a friendship, which gradually deepened. Eventually Father Francis took a hand, and forbade Ronald to see or even correspond with Edith for three years, until he was 21. Ronald stoically obeyed this injunction to the letter. In the summer of 1911, he was invited to join a party on a walking holiday in Switzerland, which may have inspired his descriptions of the Misty Mountains, and of Rivendell. In the autumn of that year he went up to Exeter College, Oxford where he stayed, immersing himself in the Classics, Old English, the Germanic languages (especially Gothic), Welsh and Finnish, until 1913, when he swiftly though not without difficulty picked up the threads of his relationship with Edith. He then obtained a disappointing second class degree in Honour Moderations, the “midway” stage of a 4-year Oxford “Greats” (i.e. Classics) course, although with an “alpha plus” in philology. As a result of this he changed his school from Classics to the more congenial English Language and Literature. One of the poems he discovered in the course of his Old English studies was the Crist of Cynewulf — he was amazed especially by the cryptic couplet:

Eálá Earendel engla beorhtast Ofer middangeard monnum sended

Which translates as:

Hail Earendel brightest of angels, over Middle Earth sent to men.

(“ Middangeard ” was an ancient expression for the everyday world between Heaven above and Hell below.)

This inspired some of his very early and inchoate attempts at realising a world of ancient beauty in his versifying.

In the summer of 1913 he took a job as tutor and escort to two Mexican boys in Dinard, France, a job which ended in tragedy. Though no fault of Ronald’s, it did nothing to counter his apparent predisposition against France and things French.

Meanwhile the relationship with Edith was going more smoothly. She converted to Catholicism and moved to Warwick, which with its spectacular castle and beautiful surrounding countryside made a great impression on Ronald. However, as the pair were becoming ever closer, the nations were striving ever more furiously together, and war eventually broke out in August 1914.

War, Lost Tales and Academia

Unlike so many of his contemporaries, Tolkien did not rush to join up immediately on the outbreak of war, but returned to Oxford, where he worked hard and finally achieved a first-class degree in June 1915. At this time he was also working on various poetic attempts, and on his invented languages, especially one that he came to call Qenya [ sic ], which was heavily influenced by Finnish — but he still felt the lack of a connecting thread to bring his vivid but disparate imaginings together. Tolkien finally enlisted as a second lieutenant in the Lancashire Fusiliers whilst working on ideas of Earendel [ sic ] the Mariner, who became a star, and his journeyings. For many months Tolkien was kept in boring suspense in England, mainly in Staffordshire. Finally it appeared that he must soon embark for France, and he and Edith married in Warwick on 22 March 1916.

Eventually he was indeed sent to active duty on the Western Front, just in time for the Somme offensive. After four months in and out of the trenches, he succumbed to “trench fever”, a form of typhus-like infection common in the insanitary conditions, and in early November was sent back to England, where he spent the next month in hospital in Birmingham. By Christmas he had recovered sufficiently to stay with Edith at Great Haywood in Staffordshire.

During these last few months, all but one of his close friends of the “T. C. B. S.” had been killed in action. Partly as an act of piety to their memory, but also stirred by reaction against his war experiences, he had already begun to put his stories into shape, “ … in huts full of blasphemy and smut, or by candle light in bell-tents, even some down in dugouts under shell fire ” [ Letters 66]. This ordering of his imagination developed into the Book of Lost Tales (not published in his lifetime), in which most of the major stories of the Silmarillion appear in their first form: tales of the Elves and the “Gnomes”, (i. e. Deep Elves, the later Noldor), with their languages Qenya and Goldogrin. Here are found the first recorded versions of the wars against Morgoth, the siege and fall of Gondolin and Nargothrond, and the tales of Túrin and of Beren and Lúthien.

Throughout 1917 and 1918 his illness kept recurring, although periods of remission enabled him to do home service at various camps sufficiently well to be promoted to lieutenant. It was when he was stationed in the Hull area that he and Edith went walking in the woods at nearby Roos, and there in a grove thick with hemlock Edith danced for him. This was the inspiration for the tale of Beren and Lúthien, a recurrent theme in his “Legendarium”. He came to think of Edith as “Lúthien” and himself as “Beren”. Their first son, John Francis Reuel (later Father John Tolkien) had already been born on 16 November 1917.

When the Armistice was signed on 11 November 1918, Tolkien had already been putting out feelers to obtain academic employment, and by the time he was demobilised he had been appointed Assistant Lexicographer on the New English Dictionary (the “Oxford English Dictionary”), then in preparation. While doing the serious philological work involved in this, he also gave one of his Lost Tales its first public airing — he read The Fall of Gondolin to the Exeter College Essay Club, where it was well received by an audience which included Neville Coghill and Hugo Dyson, two future “Inklings”. However, Tolkien did not stay in this job for long. In the summer of 1920 he applied for the quite senior post of Reader (approximately, Associate Professor) in English Language at the University of Leeds, and to his surprise was appointed.

At Leeds as well as teaching he collaborated with E. V. Gordon on the famous edition of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight , and continued writing and refining The Book of Lost Tales and his invented “Elvish” languages. In addition, he and Gordon founded a “Viking Club” for undergraduates devoted mainly to reading Old Norse sagas and drinking beer. It was for this club that he and Gordon originally wrote their Songs for the Philologists , a mixture of traditional songs and original verses translated into Old English, Old Norse and Gothic to fit traditional English tunes. Leeds also saw the birth of two more sons: Michael Hilary Reuel in October 1920, and Christopher Reuel in 1924. Then in 1925 the Rawlinson and Bosworth Professorship of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford fell vacant; Tolkien successfully applied for the post.

Professor Tolkien, The Inklings and Hobbits

In a sense, in returning to Oxford as a Professor, Tolkien had come home. Although he had few illusions about the academic life as a haven of unworldly scholarship (see for example Letters 250), he was nevertheless by temperament a don’s don, and fitted extremely well into the largely male world of teaching, research, the comradely exchange of ideas and occasional publication. In fact, his academic publication record is very sparse, something that would have been frowned upon in these days of quantitative personnel evaluation.

However, his rare scholarly publications were often extremely influential, most notably his lecture “Beowulf, the Monsters and the Critics”. His seemingly almost throwaway comments have sometimes helped to transform the understanding of a particular field — for example, in his essay on “English and Welsh”, with its explanation of the origins of the term “Welsh” and its references to phonaesthetics (both these pieces are collected in The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays , currently in print). His academic life was otherwise largely unremarkable. In 1945 he changed his chair to the Merton Professorship of English Language and Literature, which he retained until his retirement in 1959. Apart from all the above, he taught undergraduates, and played an important but unexceptional part in academic politics and administration.

His family life was equally straightforward. Edith bore their last child and only daughter, Priscilla, in 1929. Tolkien got into the habit of writing the children annual illustrated letters as if from Santa Claus, and a selection of these was published in 1976 as The Father Christmas Letters . He also told them numerous bedtime stories, of which more anon. In adulthood John entered the priesthood, Michael and Christopher both saw war service in the Royal Air Force. Afterwards Michael became a schoolmaster and Christopher a university lecturer, and Priscilla became a social worker. They lived quietly in North Oxford, and later Ronald and Edith lived in the suburb of Headington.

However, Tolkien’s social life was far from unremarkable. He soon became one of the founder members of a loose grouping of Oxford friends (by no means all at the University) with similar interests, known as “The Inklings”. The origins of the name were purely facetious—it had to do with writing, and sounded mildly Anglo-Saxon; there was no evidence that members of the group claimed to have an “inkling” of the Divine Nature, as is sometimes suggested. Other prominent members included the above—mentioned Messrs Coghill and Dyson, as well as Owen Barfield, Charles Williams, and above all C. S. Lewis, who became one of Tolkien’s closest friends, and for whose return to Christianity Tolkien was at least partly responsible. The Inklings regularly met for conversation, drink, and frequent reading from their work-in-progress.

The Storyteller

Meanwhile Tolkien continued developing his mythology and languages. As mentioned above, he told his children stories, some of which he developed into those published posthumously as Mr. Bliss , Roverandom , etc. However, according to his own account, one day when he was engaged in the soul-destroying task of marking examination papers, he discovered that one candidate had left one page of an answer-book blank. On this page, moved by who knows what anarchic daemon, he wrote “ In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit “.

In typical Tolkien fashion, he then decided he needed to find out what a Hobbit was, what sort of a hole it lived in, why it lived in a hole, etc. From this investigation grew a tale that he told to his younger children, and even passed round. In 1936 an incomplete typescript of it came into the hands of Susan Dagnall, an employee of the publishing firm of George Allen and Unwin (merged in 1990 with HarperCollins).

She asked Tolkien to finish it, and presented the complete story to Stanley Unwin, the then Chairman of the firm. He tried it out on his 10-year old son Rayner, who wrote an approving report, and it was published as The Hobbit in 1937. It immediately scored a success, and has not been out of children’s recommended reading lists ever since. It was so successful that Stanley Unwin asked if he had any more similar material available for publication.

By this time Tolkien had begun to make his Legendarium into what he believed to be a more presentable state, and as he later noted, hints of it had already made their way into The Hobbit . He was now calling the full account Quenta Silmarillion , or Silmarillion for short. He presented some of his “completed” tales to Unwin, who sent them to his reader. The reader’s reaction was mixed: dislike of the poetry and praise for the prose (the material was the story of Beren and Lúthien) but the overall decision at the time was that these were not commercially publishable. Unwin tactfully relayed this message to Tolkien, but asked him again if he was willing to write a sequel to The Hobbit . Tolkien was disappointed at the apparent failure of The Silmarillion , but agreed to take up the challenge of “The New Hobbit”.

This soon developed into something much more than a children’s story; for the highly complex 16-year history of what became The Lord of the Rings consult the works listed below. Suffice it to say that the now adult Rayner Unwin was deeply involved in the later stages of this opus, dealing magnificently with a dilatory and temperamental author who, at one stage, was offering the whole work to a commercial rival (which rapidly backed off when the scale and nature of the package became apparent). It is thanks to Rayner Unwin’s advocacy that we owe the fact that this book was published at all – Andave laituvalmes ! His father’s firm decided to incur the probable loss of £1,000 for the succès d’estime , and publish it under the title of The Lord of the Rings in three parts during 1954 and 1955, with USA rights going to Houghton Mifflin. It soon became apparent that both author and publishers had greatly underestimated the work’s public appeal.

The “Cult”

The Lord of the Rings rapidly came to public notice. It had mixed reviews, ranging from the ecstatic (W. H. Auden, C. S. Lewis) to the damning (E. Wilson, E. Muir, P. Toynbee) and just about everything in between. The BBC put on a drastically condensed radio adaptation in 12 episodes on the Third Programme. In 1956 radio was still a dominant medium in Britain, and the Third Programme was the “intellectual” channel. So far from losing money, sales so exceeded the break-even point as to make Tolkien regret that he had not taken early retirement. However, this was still based only upon hardback sales.

The really amazing moment was when The Lord of the Rings went into a pirated paperback version in 1965. Firstly, this put the book into the impulse-buying category; and secondly, the publicity generated by the copyright dispute alerted millions of American readers to the existence of something outside their previous experience, but which appeared to speak to their condition. By 1968 The Lord of the Rings had almost become the Bible of the “Alternative Society”.

This development produced mixed feelings in the author. On the one hand, he was extremely flattered, and to his amazement, became rather rich. On the other, he could only deplore those whose idea of a great trip was to ingest The Lord of the Rings and LSD simultaneously. Arthur C. Clarke and Stanley Kubrick had similar experiences with 2001: A Space Odyssey . Fans were causing increasing problems; both those who came to gawp at his house and those, especially from California who telephoned at 7 p.m. (their time—3 a.m. his), to demand to know whether Frodo had succeeded or failed in the Quest, what was the preterite of Quenyan lanta -, or whether or not Balrogs had wings. So he changed addresses, his telephone number went ex-directory, and eventually he and Edith moved to Bournemouth, a pleasant but uninspiring South Coast resort (Hardy’s “Sandbourne”), noted for the number of its elderly well-to-do residents.

Meanwhile the cult, not just of Tolkien, but of the fantasy literature that he had revived, if not actually inspired (to his dismay), was really taking off—but that is another story, to be told in another place.

Other Writings

Despite all the fuss over The Lord of the Rings , between 1925 and his death Tolkien did write and publish a number of other articles, including a range of scholarly essays, many reprinted in The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays (see above); one Middle-earth related work, The Adventures of Tom Bombadil ; editions and translations of Middle English works such as the Ancrene Wisse , Sir Gawain , Sir Orfeo and The Pearl , and some stories independent of the Legendarium, such as the Imram , The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm’s Son , The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun —and, especially, Farmer Giles of Ham , Leaf by Niggle , and Smith of Wootton Major .

The flow of publications was only temporarily slowed by Tolkien’s death. The long-awaited Silmarillion , edited by Christopher Tolkien, appeared in 1977. In 1980 Christopher also published a selection of his father’s incomplete writings from his later years under the title of Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth . In the introduction to this work Christopher Tolkien referred in passing to The Book of Lost Tales , “itself a very substantial work, of the utmost interest to one concerned with the origins of Middle-earth, but requiring to be presented in a lengthy and complex study, if at all” ( Unfinished Tales , p. 6, paragraph 1).

The sales of The Silmarillion had rather taken George Allen & Unwin by surprise, and those of Unfinished Tales even more so. Obviously, there was a market even for this relatively abstruse material and they decided to risk embarking on this “lengthy and complex study”. Even more lengthy and complex than expected, the resulting 12 volumes of the History of Middle-earth , under Christopher’s editorship, proved to be a successful enterprise. (Tolkien’s publishers had changed hands, and names, several times between the start of the enterprise in 1983 and the appearance of the paperback edition of Volume 12, The Peoples of Middle-earth , in 1997.) Over time, other posthumous publications emerged including Roverandom (1998), The Children of Húrin (2007), Beowulf (2014), Beren and Lúthien (2017), and most recently The Fall of Gondolin (2018).

After his retirement in 1959 Edith and Ronald moved to Bournemouth. On 29 November 1971 Edith died, and Ronald soon returned to Oxford, to rooms provided by Merton College. Ronald died on 2 September 1973. He and Edith are buried together in a single grave in the Catholic section of Wolvercote cemetery in the northern suburbs of Oxford. (The grave is well signposted from the entrance.) The legend on the headstone reads:

Edith Mary Tolkien, Lúthien, 1889–1971 John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, Beren, 1892–1973

Last Updated 05/02/2024

Further Reading

J.R.R. Tolkien Timeline . The Tolkien Society. Online, 2014.

Tolkien: A Biography . Humphrey Carpenter. Allen and Unwin, London, 1977.

Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien . Ed. Humphrey Carpenter with Christopher Tolkien. George Allen and Unwin, London, 1981.

The Tolkien Family Album . John Tolkien and Priscilla Tolkien. HarperCollins, London, 1992.

Tolkien and the Great War . John Garth. HarperCollins, London, 2002.

Tolkien at Exeter College . John Garth. Exeter College, Oxford, 2014.

“ On J.R.R. Tolkien’s Roots in Gdańsk “. Ryszard Derdzinski . 2017.

“ Tolkien, John Ronald Reuel (1892–1973). ” T. A. Shippey. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , Oxford University Press. Print 2004. Online 2006. (Also available as a podcast .)

The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide . Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull. 2nd edn. HarperCollins, London, 2017. 3 vols.

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Philologist, author, mythmaker and creator of "Middle Earth" Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford University, a brilliant philologist, and a self-described "hobbit," J.R.R. Tolkien created two of the best-loved stories of the 20th century, " The Hobbit " and " The Lord of the Rings ", recently made into a multiple award-winning movie by the director Peter Jackson for New Line Cinema. Early Life John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born on January 3, 1892, in Bloemfontein, South Africa, to English parents. At the age of three his mother brought him and his younger brother, Hilary, back to England. tolkien's father died soon afterwards in South Africa, so the family stayed in England and by the summer of 1896 his mother found them a home in the hamlet of Sarehole, just outside the city Birmingham. tolkien's family lived in genteel poverty, eventually moving to Moseley a suburb of Birmingham, just north west of Sarehole. When he was 12, tolkien's mother died, and he and his brother were made wards of a Catholic priest. They lived with aunts and in boarding homes thereafter. The dichotomy between tolkien's happier days in the rural landscape of Sarehole and his adolescent years in the industrial centre of Birmingham would be felt strongly in his later works. Education The young Tolkien attended King Edward's School in Birmingham in the years 1910 and 1911, where he excelled in classical and modern languages. There are six known contributions he made in the King Edward's School Chronicle. In 1911 he went to Exeter College, Oxford, where he studied Classics, Old English, Germanic languages, Welsh, and Finnish. He quickly demonstrated an aptitude for philology and began to create his own languages. In 1913 Tolkien published his very first poem, called 'From the many-willow'd margin of the immemorial Thames', in the Stapeldon Magazine of Exeter college. The Great War By the time Tolkien had completed his degree at Oxford in 1915, World War I had erupted across Europe. Tolkien enlisted and was commissioned in the Lancashire Fusiliers, but he did not see active duty for months. In this period he wrote the poem 'Gobin Feet' which got published in ' Oxford Poetry 1915 '. When he learned that he would be shipped out in March 1916, he married his longtime friend Edith Bratt, the girl the poem was written for. Tolkien was sent to the Western Front and fought in the Somme offensive. Almost all of his closest friends were killed. After four months in and out of the trenches, he contracted a typhus-like infection and was sent back to England, where he served for the rest of the war. Academic Career tolkien's first job was as a lexicographer on the New English Dictionary (helping to draft the Oxford English Dictionary). Tolkien wrote 'A Middle English Vocabulary', but it was not published until 1922, but after it was published some copies were bound with 1st impressions of Sisam’s book, 'Fourteenth Century Verse and Prose' which was published one year before. During this time he began serious work on creating languages that he imagined had been spoken by elves. The languages were based primarily on Finnish and Welsh. He also began his "Lost Tales" a mythic history of men, elves, and other creatures he created to provide context for his "Elvish" languages. He made the first public presentation of his tales when he read "The Fall of Gondolin" to an appreciative audience at the Exeter College Essay Club.

Tolkien then became a professor in English Language at the University of Leeds, where he collaborated with E. V. Gordon on the famous edition of 'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'. Tolkien remained at Leeds until 1925, when he took a position teaching Anglo-Saxon at Oxford University. In Leeds Tolkien found the time to make a lot of contributions on various Magazines and books like, Gryphon Magazine, Microcosm, TLS, Yorkshire Poetry, Leeds University Verse, e.o. Tolkien at Oxford Tolkien spent the rest of his career at Oxford, retiring in 1959. Although he produced little by today's "publish or perish" standards, his scholarly writings were of the highest caliber. One of his most influential works is his lecture "Beowulf, the Monsters and the Critics." At Oxford Tolkien became a founding member of a loose group of like-minded Oxford friends "The Inklings" who met for conversation, drinks, and readings from their works-in-progress. Another prominent member was C. S. Lewis, who became one of tolkien's closest friends. Tolkien, a devout Catholic, and Lewis, an agnostic at the time, frequently debated religion and the role of mythology. Unlike Lewis, who tended to dismiss myths and fairy tales, Tolkien firmly believed that they have moral and spiritual value. Said Tolkien, "The imagined beings have their inside on the outside; they are visible souls. And Man as a whole, Man pitted against the Universe, have we seen him at all till we see that he is like a hero in a fairy tale?" "In a hole in the ground . . ." It was also during his years at Oxford that Tolkien would scribble an inexplicable note in a student's exam book: "In a hole in the ground there lived a Hobbit." Curious as to what exactly a "Hobbit" was and why it should live in a hole, he began to build a story about a short creature who inhabited a world called Middle-earth. This grew into a story he told his children, and in 1936 a version of it came to the attention of the publishing firm of George Allen and Unwin (now part of HarperCollins), who published it as The Hobbit, or There and Back Again, in 1937. It become an instant and enduring classic. Lord of the Rings Stanley Unwin, the publisher, was stunned by The Hobbit's success and asked for a sequel, which blossomed into a multivolume epic. While The Hobbit hinted at the history of Middle-earth that Tolkien had created in his "Lost Tales" (which he was now calling "The Silmarillion"), the sequel drew heavily upon it. So determined was Tolkien to get every detail right that it took him more than a decade to complete the 12-book "Lord of the Rings." He often left off writing the story for months to hash out a linguistic problem or historical inconsistency. The Lord of the Rings appeared in 1954-1955 in three parts: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King. While the book was eagerly received by the reading public, critical reviews were everything but neutral. Some critics, such as Philip Toynbee, deplored its fantasy setting, archaic language, and utter earnestness. Others, notably W. H. Auden and C. S. Lewis, lauded it for its straightforward narrative, imagination, and tolkien's palpable love of language. The Lord of the Rings did not reach the height of its popularity until it finally appeared in paperback. Tolkien disliked paperbacks and hadn't authorized a paperback edition. In 1965, however, Ace Books exploited a legal loophole and published an unauthorized paperback version of The Lord of the Rings. Within months ballantine published an official version (with a rather cross note about respecting an author's wishes). The lower cost of paperbacks and the publicity generated by the copyright dispute boosted sales of the books considerably, especially in America where it was quickly embraced by the 60s counterculture. Nearly 50 years after its publication, tolkien's epic tale has sold more than 100 million copies and been translated into more than 25 languages. tolkien's Legacy The Lord of the Rings is a singular, contradictory work. Written in an almost archaic form, packed with strange words and obsure historical details, and lacking the modern emphasis on the "inner life," it is unabashedly antimodern. But at the same time its melancholy environmentalism and fully realized alternative world are very modern. It has often been read, among as other things, as an allegory of World War II or the Cold War, but Tolkien himself denied any such interpretation, maintaining it was simply a story to be taken on its own terms. Its enduring appeal, however, lies not in its literary oddness or straightforward action, but in its beautifully realized world and themes of loss, self-sacrifice, and friendship. In its wake, tolkien's work left not only a host of sword-and-sorcery imitators and devoted fans, but a lasting legacy in the hundreds of virtual worlds that have come to life in books and films since. Middle-earth after J.R.R. J.R.R. Tolkien died on September 2, 1973. His death did not mark the end of Middle-earth for readers, though. After tolkien's death his son Christopher endeavored to complete his father's life work. He edited The Silmarillion and saw it published in 1977. In 1980 he began to publish the rest of his father's incomplete writings, culminating in the 12-volume History of Middle-earth series.

• “Biography: John Ronald Reuel Tolkien” 26 Jun 02 Carpenter, Humphrey. J R R Tolkien: A biography. Glasgow, 2002, Harper Collins.
• Carpenter, Humphrey. The Inklings: C S Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Charles Williams and their friends. Glasgow, 1997, Harper Collins.
• Hammond, Wayne G and Christina Scull. J.R.R. Tolkien: Artist and Illustrator. London, 1998, Harper Collins.
• The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien. Edited by Humphrey Carpenter. Glasgow, 1995, Harper Collins.

Photo Credits:

• John Ronald Reuel Tolkien: Carpenter, Humphrey. J R R Tolkien: A biography.  Photo by Billy Porter
• Edith Bratt: Carpenter, Humphrey. J R R Tolkien: A biography. Edith Bratt in 1906, age seventeen.
• J R R and his children: Carpenter, Humphrey. J R R Tolkien: A biography. Family group in the garden at Northmoor Road circa 1936.

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J.R.R. Tolkien

AUTHORS (1892–1973); BLOEMFONTEIN, SOUTH AFRICA

There aren't many 20th century authors whose popularity could match that of English fantasy icon J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973). The mind behind The Lord of the Rings and various other works set in Middle-earth has inspired generations of creators and helped establish the high-fantasy genre as one of the most powerful in the marketplace today. He's earned armies of admirers and spawned plenty of imitators over the decades, but few, if any, have managed to rival his accomplishments. For more on Tolkien’s compelling life and work, keep reading.

1. J.R.R. Tolkien was a soldier in World War I.

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa, on January 3, 1892. His family would move to Birmingham, England, in 1896 after his father died, and Tolkien's mother would pass away just a few years after that. From there, Tolkien ended up living with relatives and in boarding homes under the supervision of a priest. He eventually earned a first-class degree at Exeter College in 1915, studying English Language and Literature . Afterwards, he enlisted for duty in the British Army and was placed in the Lancashire Fusiliers infantry regiment during World War I, where he was involved in the Battle of the Somme in 1916. Tolkien was released after contracting "trench fever," a bacterial disease carried by lice that causes fever, muscle pain, headaches, and enlargements of the spleen and liver. Before heading into the war, Tolkien married Edith Bratt , whom he had known since he was 16.

2. J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis met at Oxford University.

In 1925 , a 33-year-old Tolkien became a professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford University, notably lecturing on works like Beowulf . There, Tolkien started a writer’s group, The Inklings, where he later fraternized with C.S. Lewis. The future The Chronicles of Narnia author was also a professor, and the two smoothed out some initial dislike to form a friendship. Both men were fascinated by Norse mythology and used their meet-ups with The Inklings to encourage one another to pursue their fiction work.

3. J.R.R. Tolkien didn’t think The Hobbit was a children’s book.

While at Oxford, Tolkien began working on the book that would kick off the Middle-earth saga, The Hobbit , which centers on Bilbo Baggins, a diminutive hero who endures a series of adventures along with a troupe of dwarves and the wizard Gandalf. When the book was published in 1937, it was considered by some to be written for children, though Tolkien said that wasn’t his intention. In a nod to his future efforts offering illustrated maps for his Lord of the Rings saga, Tolkien also created over 100 drawings to add dimension to his first novel.

4. J.R.R. Tolkien’s wife inspired his characters.

Tolkien clearly drew inspiration for his Lord of the Rings series from studying mythology and fantasy fiction. But he also found his muse in his wife, Edith Tolkien. One day, according to a feature on Newsweek , Tolkien watched as Edith danced in a wooded area in Yorkshire. As the war pressed on, Tolkien was soothed by his wife’s grace. Struck by her beauty and elegance, Tolkien began writing a story about an Elvish princess named Lúthien and her love, Beren. The tale was so important to the couple that the characters' names were engraved on their joint headstone.

The story of Beren and Lúthien eventually found its way into The Silmarillion , a collection of tales that gave more detail to the world of Middle-earth. An expanded version, simply titled Beren and Lúthien , was published as its own standalone book in 2017, more than 40 years after Tolkien's death.

5. J.R.R. Tolkien was a terrible driver.

In 1932, Tolkien purchased a Morris Crowley automobile. Because cars were still a relatively new phenomenon, Tolkien had not had much of an opportunity to practice controlling the vehicle. By all accounts, he was a terror behind the wheel, driving on flat tires, crashing into stone walls, and speeding through intersections.

6. J.R.R. Tolkien’s son, Christopher Tolkien, carried on his father’s legacy.

Born in 1924, Christopher Tolkien was said to have assisted in his father’s work at a very early age. As a child, he would point out mistakes in bedtime stories and was tasked with reviewing The Hobbit for errors. Later, Christopher drew the main Middle-earth map for The Lord of the Rings . When J.R.R. Tolkien died in 1973, Christopher became the executor of his father’s estate, seeing to it that unpublished works like The Silmarillion saw the light of day. Christopher passed away in 2020 at the age of 95.

7. The J.R.R. Tolkien movie based on his life was disavowed by his estate.

In 2019, Fox Searchlight released Tolkien , a biopic based on the author's life, starring Nicholas Hoult, from the X-Men franchise, as J.R.R. Tolkien and Lily Collins as wife Edith. The film examines Tolkien’s wartime experiences and his efforts to create his fictional worlds. But the Tolkien estate was unhappy with the movie, saying in a statement that it didn’t approve or authorize it and had no involvement in the production.

J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth reading order.

Tolkien’s enduring legacy is his Middle-earth saga, which places a heavy focus on the efforts of hobbits Frodo, Sam, and others to confront the Dark Lord Sauron and prevent him from obtaining the One Ring that would give him dominion over the world. The saga grew to encompass several titles beyond The Lord of the Rings and can be read in the order in which they were published:

• The Hobbit (1937)
• The Lord of the Rings; The Fellowship of the Ring (1954)
• The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (1954)
• The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (1955)
• The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Other Verses from the Red Book (1962)
• The Silmarillion (1977, posthumous)
• Unfinished Tales (1980, posthumous)
• The History of Middle-earth (1983-1996, posthumous)
• The Children of Húrin (2007, posthumous)
• Beren and Lúthien (2017, posthumous)
• The Fall of Gondolin (2018, posthumous)

Most Notable J.R.R. Tolkien Quotes:

• “If you really want to know what Middle-earth is based on, it’s my wonder and delight in the earth as it is, particularly the natural earth.”
• “Deep roots are not reached by the frost.” (From The Fellowship of the Ring )
• “Courage is found in unlikely places.” (From The Fellowship of the Ring )
• “Not all those who wander are lost.” (From The Fellowship of the Ring )
• “Short cuts make long delays.” (From The Fellowship of the Ring )
• "The war made me poignantly aware of the beauty of the world."

Biography Online

Biography of J.R.R Tolkien

Early life J.R.R. Tolkien

J.R.R. Tolkien was born in 1892, Bloemfontein, South Africa. After three years in South Africa, he returned to England with his Mother Mabel; unfortunately, his father died one year later, leaving him with little memory of his father. His early childhood was, by all accounts, a happy one; he was brought up in the Warwickshire countryside (many regard this idealised upbringing as the basis for the Shire in Lord of the Rings).

In 1904, when John was just 12, his mother Mabel died from diabetes leaving a profound mark on him and his brother. After his mother’s passing, he was brought up by the family’s Catholic priest, Father Francis Morgen. From an early age, J.R.R. Tolkien was an excellent scholar, with an unusually specialised interest in languages. He enjoyed studying languages especially Greek, Anglo Saxon, and later at Oxford, Finnish.

J.R.R.Tolkien in Oxford

J.R.R.Tolkien and the First World War

At the outbreak of the First World War, J.R.R. Tolkien decided to finish off his degree before enlisting in 1916. Joining the Lancashire Fusiliers, he made it to the Western Front just before the great Somme offensive. At first hand, J.R.R. Tolkien witnessed the horrors and carnage of the “Great War”; he lost many close friends, tellingly he remarked “By 1918 all but one of my close friends were dead ”. J.R.R. Tolkien survived, mainly due to the persistent re-occurrence of trench fever, which saw him invalided back to England.  He rarely talked about his experiences directly, but the large-scale horrors of war will undoubtedly have influenced his writings in some way. Perhaps the imagery for the wastelands of Mordor may have had a birth in the muddy horrors of the Western Front.

It was back in England, in 1917, that J.R.R Tolkien began working on his epic – “ The Silmarillion “. The Silmarillion lies at the heart of all Tolkien’s mythology, it is a work he continually revised until his death in 1973. The Silmarillion makes hard reading, in that, it is not plot driven, but depicts the history of a universe, through an almost biblical overview. It moves from the Creation of the Universe to the introduction of evil and the rebellion of the Noldor. It is in The Silmarillion that many roots from the Lord of the Rings stem. It gives the Lord of the Rings the impression of a real epic. It becomes not just a story, but also the history of an entire world and peoples.

Writing the Hobbit

Initially, J.R.R Tolkien’s writings on The Silmarillion were known by very few. He found his time absorbed in teaching and other duties of being a professor. He also found time to write important papers on medieval literature. These included seminal works on, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight , and Beowulf . In 1945, he was given the Merton professorship and gained additional duties of teaching and lecturing.

It was sometime after 1930 that Tolkien gained an unexpected inspiration to start writing the Hobbit. It was whilst marking an examination paper that he jotted in the margins of a paper the immortal words; “In a hole in the ground lived a hobbit.” Unlike the Silmarillion , The Hobbit was a simple fairy tale and adventure for children. Hinting at evil things, it still ends in a happy ending for all and is primarily concerned with a triumph of good over evil. In the course of the next few years friends, including C.S. Lewis , read his manuscript and gave good reviews. In the course of time, the publisher Allen and Unwin were sent a copy. Rayner, the 10-year-old son of Mr Unwin, gave a glowing reference and the Hobbit was published in 1937 to great commercial success.

J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis

J.R.R.Tolkien was good friends with C.S. Lewis and together they were key members of the ‘Inklings’ an informal Oxford literary club, where writers met together to read out poetry and short stories. Tolkien had a strong Catholic faith throughout his life; he often discussed religion with C.S.Lewis. Lewis later said that his conversations with Tolkien were a key factor in his decision to embrace Christianity. However, their relationship cooled over the years. There was a little friction over C.S.Lewis relationship with Joy Davidson, but they remained firm friends and C.S.Lewis was always a stout literary defender of Tolkien’s work. (Though Tolkien was somewhat less enthusiastic about the work of C.S.Lewis.)

Lord of the Rings

Due to the sheer scope and length of the book, the publishers Allen and Unwin were wary of publication. They worried about whether it would be a commercial success. Eventually, they decided to publish the book, but split it up into six sections; they also offered no payment to J.R.R Tolkien, until the book moved into profit. The first edition was published in 1954 and soon became a good seller. However, it was in 1965 when the book was published in America, that it really took off becoming an international bestseller. Somehow the book managed to capture the mood of the 1960s counterculture, and it became immensely popular on American campuses. Tolkien became a household name, and The Lord of the Rings would soon become renowned as the most popular book of all time.

Although the book has received the most powerful popular acclaim, it has not always received the same commendation from the literary world. In 1972, Oxford University conferred on Tolkien the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters. This was not for his writing, but his researches on linguistic studies. Tolkien, however, would have taken no offence at this award. For Tolkien, his linguistic studies were as important if not more so than his fictional literary endeavours.

He did not particularly enjoy the fame that came from his literary success, and in 1968 he moved to Poole to gain a little more privacy. Speaking of his own simple tastes he described his similarity to hobbits.

“I am in fact a Hobbit (in all but size). I like gardens, trees, and unmechanized farmlands; I smoke a pipe, and like good plain food (unrefrigerated), but detest French cooking; I like, and even dare to wear in these dull days, ornamental waistcoats. I am fond of mushrooms (out of a field); have a very simple sense of humour (which even my appreciative critics find tiresome); I go to bed late and get up late (when possible). I do not travel much.”

– Letter to Deborah Webster (25 October 1958)

Citation: Pettinger, Tejvan . “Biography of J.R.R. Tolkien”, Oxford, UK. www.biographyonline.net , Published 1st Feb 2009. Last updated 30th January 2017.

The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien

The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien at Amazon

The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit

William Caxton and Early Printing in England at Amazon

Related Pages

• J.R.R.Tolkien Quotes
• Why is the Lord of the Rings so Popular?
• The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien. Edited by Humphrey Carpenter. Glasgow, 1995, Harper Collins.
• “Biography: John Ronald Reuel Tolkien” 26 Jun 02 Carpenter, Humphrey. J R R Tolkien: A biography. Glasgow, 2002, Harper Collins.

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John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born on 3rd January 1892 in Bloemfontein, in the Orange Free State (now South Africa), to Arthur and Mabel Tolkien. His parents, both originally from Birmingham, had moved to South Africa so that Arthur could pursue his career in banking. When Tolkien was three years old, his mother took him and his younger brother Hilary to visit their family in England. The visit became permanent when his father died unexpectedly in South Africa. Mabel settled with her two young sons in Sarehole, a small village just outside Birmingham, which was later to inspire the Shire in Tolkien’s writings.

Tolkien won a scholarship to the prestigious King Edward VI School in Birmingham when he was eight years old and the family moved back to the city for the remainder of his school-days. He excelled in languages studying French, German, Latin and Greek and also taking an interest in Old English, Middle English and Gothic. Unfortunately his mother developed diabetes when he was twelve years old and her health began to deteriorate rapidly. Mabel was a recent convert to Catholicism and she arranged for Father Francis Morgan, a sympathetic Catholic priest, to become the boys’ guardian. She died within the year and although Ronald and his younger brother Hilary were now orphans, Father Francis maintained daily contact with them and gave them love and financial support for the rest of his life.

At school Tolkien found a group of like-minded friends: Geoffrey Smith, Chris Wiseman and Rob Gilson were all precociously talented, in literature, mathematics and drawing respectively. They gathered in the school library illicitly brewing mugs of tea and when they were discovered and ejected, they decamped to Barrows department store where they could drink tea and continue their discussions uninterrupted. The Tea Club and Barrovian Society, or T.C.B.S. for short, was formed. These young men were drawn into close comradeship by a common desire to create something of beauty in the world but within a few years their dreams would be shattered by the war.

Tolkien applied to study Classics (Literae Humaniores, also known as Greats) at Oxford and on his second attempt he won a scholarship to Exeter College, Oxford, matriculating in 1911. After two years of fairly lax study, he was given permission to change from Classics to English, so that he could pursue his growing interest in Germanic philology, and more specifically Old Norse, Old English and Middle English. In the same year, 1913, he was reunited with Edith Bratt, a fellow orphan whom he had met in shared lodgings in Birmingham. Initially Tolkien’s guardian had tried to extinguish their youthful romance. Fearing that a relationship would distract Tolkien from his studies, he had banned any contact between them for three years. As soon as Tolkien reached his twenty-first birthday and the prohibition was lifted, he wrote to Edith and they became engaged within a week.

World War 1

The renewal of their relationship gave him a new focus and he worked harder at his studies, graduating with a first class degree in June 1915. He immediately enlisted in the army, taking a commission in the Lancashire Fusiliers where he hoped to be placed in the same battalion as his school-friend, Geoffrey Smith. After training for a year in Staffordshire and Yorkshire, he qualified as a signalling officer. Aware of the approaching danger, he and Edith married in March 1916 and three months later he was sent to France for the start of the Somme offensive. He saw first-hand the horrors of trench warfare and the utter destruction of man, beast and landscape. Five months later he was sent back to England on a hospital ship suffering from trench fever. He was plagued by this recurring condition for the next two years and spent long periods in hospital, punctuated by stints of defensive duty on the east coast. It was during this time that he began to write down ‘The Lost Tales’, a series of heroic tales of the Elves from a far-distant time. These stories were the forerunner of The Silmarillion , his epic history of Elves and Men and Gods, which occupied him throughout his life and from which The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings eventually sprang. He may have been driven to write these stories down by the proximity of death. Certainly by the time the war ended Rob Gilson and Geoffrey Smith of the T.C.B.S. were dead, along with many of Tolkien’s university friends. Shortly before he died Geoffrey Smith had exhorted Tolkien to pursue the ideals they shared, ‘may you say the things I have tried to say long after I am not there to say them, if such be my lot.’

Early career

With a wife and young son to support, he returned to Oxford at the end of the war and found employment working on the Oxford English Dictionary as a lexicographer. A year later in 1920, he gained his first academic position as Reader in English Language at the University of Leeds, becoming a professor there four years later. His Middle English Vocabulary , written for students using Kenneth Sisam’s Fourteenth Century Verse and Prose , was published in 1922 and his edition of the medieval romance, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight , co-edited with Eric Gordon, was published in 1925. In the same year he returned to Oxford as the Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon and a fellow of Pembroke College. For the next twenty years he taught Old English, Old Norse, Gothic and Germanic philology to undergraduates, supervised postgraduate research and pursued his own academic research. His British Academy lecture, ‘Beowulf: the monsters and the critics’ delivered in 1937, was a ground-breaking work which overturned decades of critical thought on this Old English epic poem. Another lecture, ‘On Fairy-stories’, delivered at St Andrew’s in 1939, set out to define fantasy and later came to be recognized as his justification for writing fantasy literature.

The Inklings

At Oxford Tolkien met C.S. Lewis, a colleague in the English Faculty. They soon discovered a shared love of northern myths and legends and would converse late into the night, ‘of the gods & giants & Asgard’. They were invited to attend meetings of an undergraduate club called the Inklings and when the club later foundered, they attached the name to a group of their own friends who met in pubs or college rooms to read aloud their works-in-progress, to drink, talk and debate. The Inklings, and C.S. Lewis in particular, would become crucial in encouraging Tolkien to finish his great work.

In his spare time he continued to work on his legendarium; sketching out thousands of years of history, inventing languages, writing stories, plotting maps and painting landscapes. He also made up stories for his four children: John (born 1917), Michael (born 1920), Christopher (born 1924) and Priscilla (born 1929). Some of these stories were written down and illustrated, and one of them, The Hobbit , found its way to a publisher’s assistant who persuaded Tolkien to submit it for publication. It was published by George Allen & Unwin in 1937 with Tolkien’s own illustrations, maps and dust jacket design. The first print run sold out in three months and it became a perennial children’s classic.

The Lord of the Rings

The success of The Hobbit led his publisher, Stanley Unwin, to ask for more about hobbits. Tolkien submitted instead some of the unfinished prose and verse tales from ‘The Silmarillion’ but when these were roundly rejected, he sat down to write a Hobbit sequel. The story quickly outgrew its original form as a children’s story and burgeoned into an epic fantasy tale for adults. It took twelve years to complete, at the end of which Tolkien reflected, somewhat ruefully, that he had produced a ‘monster: an immensely long, complex, rather bitter, and very terrifying romance, quite unfit for children’. The work, The Lord of the Rings , was both a sequel to The Hobbit and to his unpublished legendarium, ‘The Silmarillion’. In fact the works were so closely related in Tolkien’s mind that he decided The Lord of the Rings could only be published in conjunction with the, as yet unfinished, ‘Silmarillion’. His publisher baulked at the idea and lengthy negotiations with a rival publisher, Collins, also stalled. Three years later Tolkien wrote a chastened letter to George Allen & Unwin, declaring, ‘better something than nothing’. The huge size of the work and doubts as to its potential readership were major concerns but Rayner Unwin (son of Sir Stanley) was convinced of its merits and decided to publish it even if the firm suffered a financial loss. It appeared in three volumes between 1954 and 1955. Literary critics were divided over its merits but sales far outstripped both the publisher’s and the author’s expectations and it has continued to sell in astonishing numbers and to be translated into an ever-increasing number of languages.

Later career

In 1945, while still struggling to finish The Lord of the Rings , Tolkien was elected Merton Professor of English Language and Literature at Oxford. His academic focus now switched from Old to Middle English and he had to prepare an entirely new set of lectures and seminars for texts that he had not taught since 1925. In the same year he published a short allegorical story, Leaf, by Niggle , which reflected some of his own concerns that The Lord of the Rings would never be completed. A few years later he published another short story, the comic tale of Farmer Giles of Ham , illustrated by Pauline Baynes. He retired in 1959 having served as a professor at Oxford for thirty-four years.

In retirement Tolkien hoped to complete ‘The Silmarillion’, which he had been working on for over forty years, and for which his publisher (and his readers) were now clamouring. However the success of The Lord of the Rings created its own workload and he was constantly called on to answer fan mail, give interviews and make appearances. He also had academic work to complete and his long-awaited edition of Ancrene Wisse , a medieval prose work, was finally published in 1962. In the same year he published a volume of poetry from Middle-earth, The Adventures of Tom Bombadil. A short fairy tale, Smith of Wootton Major, was published in 1967, described by Tolkien as ‘An old man’s book already weighted with the presage of “bereavement”‘, and in 1968 he collaborated with the composer Donald Swann to produce a songbook, The Road Goes Ever On .

He and Edith moved from Oxford to Bournemouth in 1968, hoping that in relative seclusion he would be able to complete his life’s work. Edith’s health was already failing though and she died in November 1971 leaving Tolkien bereft after fifty-five years of marriage. He returned to Oxford to live in a flat owned by Merton College but the completion of ‘The Silmarillion’ proved too great a task for him. He died on 2nd September 1973, aged eighty-one, while visiting friends in Bournemouth and is buried in Oxford alongside his beloved wife Edith. Their gravestone is marked with the additional names, Beren and Lúthien, whose love defeated the Dark Lord and overcame death itself in the First Age of Middle-earth.

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J. R. R. Tolkien Biography

Birthday: January 3 , 1892 ( Capricorn )

Born In: Bloemfontein, South Africa

J.R.R. Tolkien was an English writer, philologist, and academic. What started as a bedtime story, which he narrated to his children, ‘The Hobbit’ became an award-winning novel, with hundreds of millions of fans from across the world. Described as ‘grew in the telling,’ the novel became one of his most-loved books along with his richly inventive epic tale series ‘The Lord of the Rings’ which was written in bits and pieces and sent as letters to his kids. J.R.R. Tolkien was an internationally acclaimed writer, most popular for his dark fantasy stories. His areas of expertise included Old English, poetry, literature, and mythology, inspired by early Germanic. Apart from novels, he also authored a series of short stories. It was due to his connection with fictional histories, fantasy writings, and constructed languages that he came to be known as the ‘father of modern fantasy literature.’ His epic tale series ‘The Lord of the Rings’ has been translated into more than 25 languages for readers across the world. Even after 50 years of its original publication, it has often been ranked among the best-loved stories created in the 20th century, along with ‘The Hobbit.’ These two novels have been adapted into award-winning blockbuster movies by Hollywood director Peter Jackson.

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British Celebrities Born In January

Also Known As: John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

Died At Age: 81

Spouse/Ex-: Edith Bratt (1916–1971)

father: Arthur Reuel Tolkien, Arthur Tolkien

mother: Mabel, Mabel Tolkien

siblings: Hilary Arthur Reuel

children: Christopher John, Christopher Tolkien , John Francis, John Tolkien, Michael Hilary, Michael Tolkien, Priscilla Anne, Priscilla Tolkien

Born Country: South Africa

Poets Novelists

Height: 5'9" (175 cm ), 5'9" Males

Died on: September 2 , 1973

place of death: Bournemouth, England

Personality: INFP

Notable Alumni: Exeter College, Oxford

Cause of Death: Bleeding Ulcer And Chest Infection

epitaphs: Beren

education: Exeter College, Oxford

awards: Prometheus Hall of Fame Award 1978 - Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel - Mythopoeic Fantasy Award

- Gandalf Award for Book-Length Fantasy - International Fantasy Award for Fiction

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Tolkien was a close friend of fellow author C.S Lewis, and they were part of a literary group called the Inklings, where they would meet to discuss their works and share ideas.

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Arthur and mabel tolkien and john ronald reuel tolkien, edith and ronald: luthien and beren, tolkien and his children, john ronald and the fellowship: friends, tollers and jack: a classic friendship, origin of the name 'tolkien', planet-tolkien writer's guild contributors.

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was the first child of Arthur Reuel Tolkien and Mabel Suffield. Arthur Tolkien was 13 years older than Mabel Suffield when he proposed to marry her when she was 18. Her father resisted so they never married until Mabel was 21 years old. Mabel's father was a very proud man who lost his successful drapery business. Still, he looked down on the Tolkien family who he considered German immigrants and certainly not good enough for his daughter. Arthur's father, John Benjamin Tolkien, was a piano maker who, like Suffield, lost his business. Arthur worked at the Lloyds Bank in Birmingham, but there were few chances for promotion. A year after he proposed to Mabel he was offered a job at the African Bank and traveled to the Cape in South Africa, where he and Mabel were married on April 16, 1891. On January 3, 1892, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born in Bloemenfontein, South Africa where his father was manager of the Bank of Africa. Mabel wrote to her mother-in-law that the infant looked like a fairy when dressed up in white frills and like an elf when very much undressed. On February 17th, 1894 his brother, Hilary Arthur Reuel was born. Ronald was very robust with blond hair and blue eyes. His health suffered a lot under the hot climate so his mother decided to take the two boys to England. Their father remained in Bloemenfontein and would join them later, but he became sick and died when Ronald was four years old. While in search for a house to rent, Mabel stayed with the two boys at her parents and took care of their education. Ronald once wrote: 'However by name a Tolkien, I have the taste, talents and education of a Suffield.'

In 1896 they rented a house in Sarehole, in the countryside south of Birmingham. Ronald and his brother were very fond of this place. Mabel taught the boys to read and write English, Latin and French, as well as, botany, drawing and piano. Ronald was a very good student, especially in languages and drawing. Ronald was very fond of trees and passionately enjoyed his surroundings, but there was one dream that bothered him: a big wave rolled over the trees and green meadows destroying everything. This dream would come back many years later, which he referred to as his 'Atlantis complex'.

In 1899 Ronald failed the entrance examination for King Edward School but succeeded the following year. In 1900 his mother became a member of the Catholic Church, which made both the Suffield and Tolkien families so angry that they stopped giving financial support. Mabel couldn't afford a train ticket for Ronald to attend school so they had to move closer to Brimingham. Ronald missed Sarehole very badly. In 1904 his mother developed diabetes and was hospitalized, during which time Hilary and Ronald stayed with family. On November 14, 1904 she died.

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After the death of their mother, Mabel, John Ronald and his brother Hillary were left in the care of catholic priest Father Francis Morgan. Mabel had been converted to Catholicism and would not allow her sons to be brought up any other way Father Morgan found the two teenagers lodgings at Dutchess Road, Birmingham. It was here that John Ronald met and fell in love with Edith Bratt, another lodger. She was attractive, small and slender with grey eyes like Luthien Tinuviel, but she was also three years older than John Ronald and she was not catholic. Concerned for John Ronald's education, Father Morgan forbade him to see or have any contact with her until he was 21. John Ronald did not give up on his love, and the midnight beginning his 21st birthday, he wrote to her again, saying, 'How long will it be before we can be joined together before God and the world?'. When Edith replied that she was engaged to someone else, John Ronald quickly traveled to see her. Edith broke off the engagement and was engaged to 'Ronald' when he was 22, after she became a Roman Catholic. The faith was a source of contention in the marriage.

John Ronal married Edith the year after graduating from Exter College, Oxford in 1915, and they enjoyed a 56-year marriage.

Much of John Ronald's feelings for his wife were expressed so eloquently and beautifully in his letters. Most of his letters written to her while he was away at training and the war have not been published due to their personal nature, but in some he sent her drafts and poems in preference to his literary friends. On 26th of November 1915, he sent Edith a poem he had written while in training at Rugdey Camp in Staffordshire. The poem was 'Kortirion' and was about elves and fairies and their magical home.

John Ronald wrote of his wife to his son Michael in a letter dated the 8th August 1941:

''I fell in love with your mother at the age of eighteen. Quite genuinely, as has been shown - though of course defects of character and temperament have caused me often to fall below the ideal with which I started. Your mother was older than I, and not a Catholic. Altogether unfortunate, as viewed by a guardian'these things are absorbing and nervously exhausting. I was a very clever boy n the throws of work for (a very necessary) Oxford scholarship. The combined tensions nearly produced a breakdown. I muffed my exams and though'I ought to have got a good scholarship, I only landed by the skin of my teeth an exhibition of £60 at Exter'

'However, trouble arose and I had to choose between disobeying and grieving (or deceiving) a guardian who had been a father, more than most fathers, but without any obligation, and 'dropping' the love-affair until I was 21. I don't regret my decision, though it was very hard on my lover. But that was not my fault. She was perfectly free and under no vow to me, and I should have had no just complaint'if she had got married to someone else. For nearly three years I did not see or write to my lover. It was extremely hard, painful and bitter, especially at first' I fell back into folly and slackness and misspent a good deal of my first year at College'

'On the night of my 21st birthday I wrote again to your mother - Jan. 3 1913. On Jan. 8th I went back to her and became engaged, and informed an astounded family.'

John Ronald does not mention that Edith was engaged to someone else at the time, but broke it off to marry him.

John Ronald's love for his wife was never so touching as when he wrote about her after her death:

On 29th November 1971 John Ronald wrote to William Carter

'I am grieved to tell you that my wife died this morning. Her courage and determination (of which you speak truly) carried her through to what seemed a recovery, but a sudden relapse occurred which she fought for nearly three days in vain. She died at last, in peace.

'I am utterly bereaved, and cannot yet lift up heart''

Two months later on 24th January 1972, John Ronald wrote to his son Michael:

''I do not feel quite real or whole, and in a sense there is no one to talk to' we had shared all joys and griefs, and all opinions (in agreement or otherwise) so that I often feel myself thinking 'I must tell Edith about this' - and then suddenly I feel like a castaway left on a barren island under a heedless sky after the loss of a great ship''

''I met the Luthien Tinuviel of my own personal 'romance' with her long dark hair, fair face and starry eyes, and beautiful voice'. But now she has gone before Beren, leaving him indeed one-handed, but he has no power to move the inexorable Mandos''

About the grave inscription, he wrote on 11th July 1972:

'I have never called Edith Luthien - but she was the source of the story that in time became the chief part of The Silmarilion. It was first conceived in a woodland glade filled with hemlocks at Roos in Yorkshire''

''For ever (especially when alone) we still met in the woodland glade, and went hand in hand many times to escape the shadow of imminent death before our last parting.'

John Ronald only outlived his wife by less than two years. Both are buried in Wolvercote Cemetery, Oxford.

The debate continues on whether Tolkien's works are children's books, but, no matter whom his books are meant for, most of them began as bedtime stories. Tolkien's four children were the first to hear many of the stories that have now become classics. The Hobbit and The Adventures of Tom Bombadil both began as tales to amuse Tolkien's children, among many other stories, some published and some not.

Tolkien had a close relationship with all of his children. To help his oldest son, John, fall asleep, Tolkien told him elaborate stories about Carrots, a red haired boy who went on adventures through a cuckoo clock, and about Bill Stickers, a man who could get away with anything. These stories were never recorded. During a vacation at Filey, in 1925, Tolkien's second son, Michael lost his favorite toy, which inspired Tolkien to come up with the story of Roverrandom.

This tale told of a dog that was turned into a toy by a wizard, was lost then turned back into a dog and went on great adventures to the moon. Roverrandom was offered as a possible sequel to the Hobbit, but publishers turned it down, and Tolkien never offered it again.

At Christmastime, Tolkien went to great lengths, creating letters from Santa Claus for each of his children. The letters featured characters that lived with Santa, such as a polar bear, an elf, Ilbereth, who was Santa's secretary, and Snow Man, who was a guard. Tolkien customized each letter with the handwriting of the character: the polar bear wrote in runes, Snow Man in all caps, Ilbereth in a flowing script and Santa in a shaky script.

Tolkien believed deeply in Catholicism, and his oldest son Jonathan Francis, who was named for Tolkien's former guardian Father Francis Xavier, shared this faith. He entered the seminary and studied in Rome, returning to England as a priest. The next youngest sons, Michael Hilary Reuel and Christopher Reuel followed in the footsteps of their father, enlisting in the Royal Air Force and later becoming educators. They both attended Trinity College. Christopher is best known for finishing his father's work on the Silmarillion, which was published in 1977. Tolkien's youngest child and only daughter, Priscilla, attended Lady Margaret Hall and became a social worker.

When we read 'The Lord of the Rings' it is clear that Tolkien understands and values the bonds of fellowship, most predominately, male friendship; for he was at his happiest with male company, good conversation and plenty of tobacco. Was the desire for such companionship an endeavour to avoid female company and romance after agreeing to have no contact with the woman he loved, Edith Bratt? Or did the social customs at the time discourage women from taking on leadership roles in academic circles and therefore not welcomed to these discussion groups? Probably both.

The first club Tolkien formed was the 'Tea Club' which met in the King Edward's School library. During the summer term, meetings moved to the Tea Room at the Barrow's Stores so the name of the club was changed to The Tea Club Barrovian Society, commonly referred to as TCBS. Four school friends, Robert Q Gilson, Christopher Wiseman, Geoffrey B Smith and John Ronald Reuel Tolkien shared a common interest in Latin and Greek literature. After leaving King Edward's the friends kept in touch and held a 'council' in December 1914 at Wiseman's house. Wiseman now served in the navy, and Gilson, Smith and Tolkien served in the 11th Lancaster Fusiliers. It was after this meeting that John Ronald, as his friends called him, decided he was a poet and would send his poems to Smith and Wiseman for criticism. World War I, however, had claimed its first casualty from the TCBS when Robert Gilson was killed on July 1, 1916. In a letter to Geoffrey Smith he says, 'I honestly feel that the TCBS has ended'', to which Smith replies, ' The TCBS is not finished and never will be.' Smith died of injuries sustained in a bombing on December 3, 1916. Although Tolkien and Wiseman did meet on occasion it became clear that the TCBS has indeed ended.

In 1926, Tolkien founded a club among the dons at Oxford to read Icelandic myths and sagas. They called themselves the Kolbitars, which meant 'men who lounged so close to the fire in winter that they bite coal'. Members included: R M Dawkins, C T Onions, G E K Braunholz, John Fraser, Nevill Coghill, John Bryson, George Gordon, Bruce McFarlane, J R R Tolkien and C S Lewis. This was the beginning of a very long friendship between Tolkien and Lewis when they discovered that they shared the same intense interest in Norse mythology. The Kolibitars met once every few weeks during term and continued to meet until they read the major Icelandic sagas, then the club was dissolved.

A University College undergraduate, Tangye-Lean, founded the Inklings. He asked some dons to become members in hopes that the club would become permanent. C S Lewis and Tolkien became members of the Inklings, which met with the purpose of reading unpublished compositions aloud then opened up for immediate criticism. Soon, Lewis and Tolkiens were the only members left so they started to meet in Lewis's room at Magdalen but were eventually joined by Warren Lewis, R E Havard, Owen Barfielf and Hugo Dyson. In 1939, Charles Williams joined the group. Generally they met Thursday evenings during university term and Tuesday for lunch at a local pub, The Eagle and Child, affectionately dubbed 'The Bird and Baby'. As Tolkien completed chapters of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, he would read them aloud to the Inklings. Charles Williams especially enjoyed the Lord of the Rings, as did Lewis, however, not without criticism. Tolkien found this particularly painful and Lewis would at times take offense to criticism of his works. In spite of this they both found the Inklings brought great encouragement. Through the years other men joined the Inklings including Tolkien's son, Christopher, in 1945. The death of C. S Lewis in November 1963 marked the end of the Inklings. Tolkien felt very lonely with the lack of male friendship in the years that followed. In a diary entry he wrote, ''What am I going to do? Be sucked down into residence in a hotel or old-people's home or club, without books or contacts or talk with men? God help me!'

Tolkien's last days were not lonely even though he often felt overcome by loneliness. He frequently visited his sons Christopher and John and his daughter, Priscilla. He also revisited his TCBS friend, Christopher Wiseman and spent time with his brother, Hilary. But it was not the same as the fellowship he shared with male companions, good conversation and plenty of tobacco.

Clive Staple Lewis and John Ronald Reuel Tolkien first met on May 11, 1926 at a meeting of the English Department at the university where Lewis was a professor. Lewis wrote later in his diary of Tolkien: 'He is a smooth, pale, fluent little chap.'

Lewis, who liked to be simply known as Jack, together with his brother Warnie (who was also an author), soon joined the Coalbiters. The group often met at Lewis's rooms at Magdalen College. Generally ten to fifteen men attended; Tolkien, Lewis and Warnie were regulars.

Jack was often invited to the Tolkiens' home, and the relationship between the two developed. The bond flourished amidst the camaraderie of the university, surrounded by other members of the Coalbiters. (It is interesting to note that these two men also had a common author who 'shaped' them during their childhood - George Macdonald.)

Although Jack later married to Joy Davidman, a Jewish American who had converted to Christianity, he and Tolkien remained true friends. They took long walks together and had deep discussions about matters philosophical as well as personal. They even revised the entire English curriculum at Oxford together, emphasizing on the study of Old and Middle English. They both made it more interesting for the students.

With the publication of The Hobbit, Lewis was not only loyal, but was genuinely impressed. He wrote in The Times newspaper in London, 'It must be understood that this is a children's book only in the sense that the first of many readings can be undertaken in the nursery. Alice is read gravely by children and with laughter by grown-ups; The Hobbit, on the other hand, will be funniest to its youngest readers, and only years later, at a tenth or twentieth reading, will they begin to realize what deft scholarship and profound reflection have gone to make everything in it so ripe, so friendly, and in its own way so true. Prediction is dangerous: but The Hobbit may well prove a classic.'

When C.S. Lewis died on November 22, 1963, Tolkien was distraught. Said Tolkien - 'I shall greatly miss him.'

His father Arthur Tolkien died when Ronald was four years old. His grandfather John Benjamin Tolkien was so grieved by the death of his son that he died six months later. Ronald didn't have the chance to spend much time with the family of his father's side. But there still was aunt Grace, his father's younger sister, who told him the family tales. According to aunt Grace the Tolkien family was of German origin and the original name of the family would have been 'von Hohenzollern'. George von Hohenzollern fought at the side of archduke Ferdinand of Ostrich during the siege of Vienna in 1529. He showed a lot of courage when he organized an attack on the Turkish all by himself and for that reason he was given the nickname 'Tollkühn', which means 'very impulsive'. It was also speculated that the family was connected to French nobility by marriage and there was a French version of the nickname, 'du Téméraire'. The Tolkien family never agreed about why and when their forefathers came to England, so there are two versions. In the first version it is told the Tolkien family came to England in 1756 to escape from the Prussic invasion of Saxons . The more romantic members of the family said one of the 'du Téméraires' crossed the Channel in 1794 to escape the guillotine and changed his name to a more English version of the German nickname 'Tolkien'.

• Arthur and Mabel Tolkien and John Ronald Reuel Tolkien: Gnampie
• Edith and Ronald: Luthien and Beren: Allyssa
• Tolkien and his Children Chikakat
• John Ronald and the Fellowship: Friends: Rednell
• Tollers and Jack : A Classic Friendship: Thalionyulma
• Origin of the name 'Tolkien': Gnampie
• 'Biography: John Ronald Reuel Tolkien' 26 Jun 02
• Carpenter, Humphrey. J R R Tolkien: A biography. Glasgow, 2002, Harper Collins.
• Carpenter, Humphrey. The Inklings: C S Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Charles Williams and their friends. Glasgow, 1997, Harper Collins.
• The Children of Ronald and Edith Tolkien 25 Jul 02
• Hammond, Wayne G and Christina Scull. J.R.R. Tolkien: Artist and Illustrator. London, 1998, Harper Collins.
• Hooper, Walter. Through Joy and Beyond: A pictorial biography of C S Lewis. New York, 1982, Macmillan Publishing Co.
• The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien. Edited by Humphrey Carpenter. Glasgow, 1995, Harper Collins.

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J. R. R. Tolkien

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J.R.R. Tolkien

John Ronald Philip [1] Reuel Tolkien (called Ronald for short; b. January 3 , 1892 in South Africa – died September 2 , 1973 in England ) is best known as the author of The Hobbit and its sequel The Lord of the Rings . Among many academic positions, he was professor of Anglo-Saxon language at the University of Oxford from 1925 to 1945, and of English studies (English language and literature), also at Oxford, from 1945 to 1959. He was a strongly committed Roman Catholic. Tolkien was a close friend of C.S. Lewis , with whom he shared membership in the literary discussion group The Inklings .

In addition to The Hobbit , The Lord of the Rings , and a collection of poems , within his lifetime, Tolkien's published fiction includes The Silmarillion and other posthumously published books about what he called a legendarium , a fictional mythology of the remote past of Earth, called Arda , and Middle-earth (from middangeard , the lands inhabitable by Men ) in particular. Most of these works were compiled from Tolkien's notes by his son Christopher Tolkien . The enduring popularity and influence of Tolkien's works have established him as the "father of the modern fantasy genre". Tolkien's other published fiction includes stories for children, not connected to his legendarium.

The significance of his literary oeuvre has generated decades of "Tolkien scholarship" and research across the Western world, and a considerable resulting output of secondary literature by many scholars and enthusiasts.

• 1 The Tolkien family
• 2.1 Childhood
• 2.3 Young adulthood
• 2.5 Retirement and old age
• 3.1 Manuscripts
• 4 Languages
• 5 Names and pseudonyms
• 6 Portrayal in film
• 8 References
• 9 External links

The Tolkien family

As far as is known, most of Tolkien's paternal ancestors were craftsmen. The Tolkien family had its roots in Saxony (Germany) but had been living in England since the eighteenth century, becoming "quickly and intensely English (not British)". [2] The surname Tolkien is anglicized from Tollkiehn (i.e. German tollkühn , "foolhardy", literally "insane(ly)-brave", the etymological English translation would be dull-keen , a literal translation of oxymoron ). The surname Rashbold of two characters in The Notion Club Papers is a pun on this. [3]

Tolkien was born on January 3, 1892, in Bloemfontein in the Orange Free State (now South Africa) to Arthur Tolkien, an English bank manager, and his wife Mabel, née Suffield (1870–1904). Tolkien had one sibling, his younger brother, Hilary Arthur Reuel , who was born on February 17, 1894. [4]

Ronald and Hilary Tolkien in 1905 (from H. Carpenter's Biography )

While living in Africa, he was bitten by a large tarantula in the garden, an event which would have later parallels in his stories. [5] When he was three, Tolkien went to England with his mother and brother on what was intended to be a lengthy family visit. His father, however, died in South Africa of rheumatic fever before he could join them. [6] This left the family without an income, so Tolkien's mother took him to live with her parents in Birmingham, England . Soon after in 1896, they moved to Sarehole (now in Hall Green ), then a Worcestershire village, later annexed to Birmingham. [7] He enjoyed exploring Sarehole Mill , Moseley Bog , the Clent Hills , and Lickey Hills , which would later inspire scenes in his books along with other Worcestershire towns and villages such as Bromsgrove , Alcester and Alvechurch and places such as his aunt's farm of Bag End, the name of which would be used in his fiction. [8]

Mabel tutored her two sons, and Ronald, as he was known in the family, was a keen pupil. [9] She taught him a great deal of botany , and she awoke in her son the enjoyment of the look and feel of plants. Young Tolkien liked to draw landscapes and trees. But his favourite lessons were those concerning languages, and his mother taught him the rudiments of Latin very early. [10] He could read by the age of four and could write fluently soon afterward. He attended King Edward's School, Birmingham , and, while a student there, helped "line the route" for the coronation parade of King George V , being posted just outside the gates of Buckingham Palace . [11] He later attended St. Philip's School and Exter College, Oxford .

His mother converted to Roman Catholicism in 1900 despite vehement protests by her Baptist family. [12] She died of diabetes in 1904, when Tolkien was twelve, at Fern Cottage, Rednal , which they were then renting. For the rest of his life, Tolkien felt that she had become a martyr for her faith; this had a profound effect on his own Catholic beliefs. [13] Tolkien's devout faith was significant in the conversion of C.S. Lewis to Christianity, though Tolkien was greatly disappointed that Lewis chose to follow Anglicanism . [14]

During his subsequent orphanhood, he was brought up by Father Francis Xavier Morgan of the Birmingham Oratory in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham. He lived there in the shadow of Perrot's Folly and the Victorian tower of Edgbaston waterworks, which may have influenced the images of the dark towers within his works. Another strong influence was the romantic medievalist paintings of Edward Burne-Jones and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood ; the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery has a large and world-renowned collection of works and had put it on free public display from around 1908.

J.R.R. Tolkien in 1911 (from Carpenter's Biography )

Tolkien met and fell in love with Edith Mary Bratt , three years his senior, at the age of sixteen. Father Francis forbade him from meeting, talking, or even corresponding with her until he was twenty-one. He obeyed this prohibition to the letter. [15]

In 1911 at age 19, while they were at King Edward's School , Birmingham , Tolkien, and three friends, Robert Quilter Gilson , Geoffrey Bache Smith , and Christopher Wiseman , formed a semi-secret society which they called the Tea Club, Barrovian Society , with the acronym, "T.C.B.S.", alluding to their fondness of drinking tea in Barrow's Stores near the school and, illicitly, in the school library. [16] After leaving school, the members stayed in touch, and in December 1914, they held a "Council" in London, at Wiseman's home. For Tolkien, the result of this meeting was a strong dedication to writing poetry.

In the summer of 1911, Tolkien went on holiday in Switzerland , a trip that he recollects vividly in a 1968 letter, [17] noting that Bilbo's journey across the Misty Mountains ("including the glissade down the slithering stones into the pine woods") is directly based on his adventures as their party of twelve hiked from Interlaken to Lauterbrunnen , and on to camp in the moraines beyond Mürren . Fifty-seven years later, Tolkien remembers his regret at leaving the view of the eternal snows of Jungfrau and Siilberhorn ("the Silvertine ( Celebdil ) of my dreams"). They went across the Kleine Scheidegg on to Grindelwald and across the Grosse Scheidegg to Meiringen . They continued across the Grimsel Pass and through the upper Valais to Brig , and on to the Aletsch glacier and Zermatt .

Tolkien in 1916, wearing his British Army uniform in a photograph from the middle years of WW1 (from Carpenter's Biography )

Young adulthood

On the evening of his twenty-first birthday, literally at midnight, Tolkien wrote to Edith a declaration of his love and asked her to marry him. She replied saying that she was already engaged but had done so because she had believed Tolkien had forgotten her. The two met up and beneath a railway viaduct renewed their love; Edith returned her ring and chose to marry Tolkien instead. [18] Following their engagement Edith converted to Catholicism at Tolkien's insistence. [19] They were engaged in Birmingham, in January 1913, and married in Warwick, England , on March 22, 1916. [20]

With his childhood love of landscape, he visited Cornwall in 1914 and he was said to be deeply impressed by the singular Cornish coastline and sea. [21] After graduating from the University of Oxford ( Exeter College, Oxford ) with a first-class degree in the English language in 1915, Tolkien joined the British Army effort in World War I and served as a second lieutenant in the eleventh battalion of the Lancashire Fusiliers . [22] His battalion was moved to France in 1916, where Tolkien served as a communications officer during the Battle of the Somme until he came down with trench fever on October 27 and was moved back to England on November 8. [23] Many of his fellow servicemen, as well as many of his closest friends, were killed in the war. During his recovery at Gypsy Green Cottage in Great Haywood , Staffordshire, England , he began to work on what he called The Book of Lost Tales , beginning with The Fall of Gondolin . Throughout 1917 and 1918 his illness kept recurring, but he had recovered enough to do home service at various camps and was promoted to lieutenant. When he was stationed at Kingston upon Hull , one day he and Edith went walking in the woods at nearby Roos , and Edith began to dance for him in a thick grove of hemlock ; "We walked in a wood where hemlock was growing, a sea of white flowers". This incident inspired the account of the meeting of Beren and Lúthien , and Tolkien often referred to Edith as his Lúthien. [24]

Tolkien's first civilian job after World War I was at the Oxford English Dictionary , [25] as an editor's assistant. [26] In 1920 he took up a post as Reader in the English language at the University of Leeds , and in 1924 was made a professor there, but in 1925 he returned to Oxford as a professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College . [27]

Tolkien and Edith had four children: John Francis Reuel (November 17, 1917 - January 22, 2003), Michael Hilary Reuel (October 1920–1984), Christopher John Reuel (November 21, 1924 - January 16, 2020), and Priscilla Anne Reuel (June 18, 1929 - February 28, 2022). Tolkien assisted Sir Mortimer Wheeler in the unearthing of a Roman Asclepieion at Lydney Park , Gloucestershire , in 1928. [28] During his time at Pembroke, Tolkien wrote The Hobbit and the first two volumes of The Lord of the Rings . Of Tolkien's academic publications, the 1936 lecture Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics had a lasting influence on Beowulf research. [29] Lewis E. Nicholson noted that the article Tolkien wrote about Beowulf is "widely recognized as a turning point in Beowulfian criticism", noting that Tolkien established the primacy of the poetic nature of the work as opposed to the purely linguistic elements. [30] He also revealed in his famous article how highly he regarded Beowulf; "Beowulf is among my most valued sources ..." And indeed, there are many influences of Beowulf found in The Lord of the Rings . [31]

Tolkien's desk on which he drafted The Hobbit , on display at the Marion E. Wade Center at Wheaton College , Illinois

Tolkien and his wife Edith in Bournemouth

In 1945, he moved to Merton College, Oxford , becoming the Merton Professor of English Language and Literature, in which post he remained until his retirement in 1959. Tolkien completed The Lord of the Rings in 1948, close to a decade after the first sketches. During the 1950s, Tolkien spent many of his long academic holidays at the home of his son John Francis in Stoke-on-Trent .

Tolkien had an intense dislike for the side effects of industrialisation which he considered a devouring of the English countryside. For most of his adult life, he eschewed automobiles, preferring to ride a bicycle. [32] This attitude is perceptible from some parts of his work such as the forced industrialisation of the Shire in The Lord of the Rings .

The last known photograph of Tolkien, taken October 9, 1972, next to one of his favourite trees (a Pinus nigra ) in the Botanic Garden, Oxford

W.H. Auden was a frequent correspondent and long-time friend of Tolkien's, initiated by Auden's fascination with The Lord of the Rings : Auden was among the most prominent early critics to praise the work. Tolkien wrote in a 1971 letter, "I am [...] very deeply in Auden's debt in recent years. His support of me and interest in my work has been one of my chief encouragements. He gave me very good reviews, notices, and letters from the beginning when it was by no means a popular thing to do. He was, in fact, sneered at for it.". [33]

Retirement and old age

During his life in retirement, from 1959 up to his death in 1973, Tolkien increasingly turned into a figure of public attention and literary fame. The sale of his books was so profitable that Tolkien regretted he had not taken early retirement. [34] While at first, he wrote enthusiastic answers to reader inquiries, he became more and more suspicious of emerging Tolkien fandom , especially among the hippy movement in the USA. [35] In a 1972 letter, he deplores having become a cult-figure, but admits that

Fan attention became so intense that Tolkien had to take his phone number out of the public directory, [37] and eventually he and Edith moved to Bournemouth at the south coast. Tolkien was awarded a CBE by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace on March 28, 1972.

The grave of J. R. R. and Edith Tolkien, Wolvercote Cemetery , Oxford

Edith Tolkien died on November 29, 1971, at the age of eighty-two, and Tolkien had the name Lúthien engraved on the stone at Wolvercote Cemetery , Oxford . When Tolkien died 21 months later on September 2 , 1973, at the age of 81, he was buried in the same grave, with Beren added to his name, so that the engraving now reads: Edith Mary Tolkien, Lúthien, 1889 - 1971 John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, Beren, 1892–1973

Posthumously named after Tolkien are the Tolkien Road in Eastbourne , East Sussex , and the asteroid 2675 Tolkien . Tolkien Way in Stoke-on-Trent is named after Tolkien's son Father John Francis Tolkien, who was the priest in charge at the nearby Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady of the Angels and St. Peter in Chains. [38]

Cover design for the three volumes of The Lord of the Rings by Tolkien

Beginning with The Book of Lost Tales , written while recuperating from illness during World War I, Tolkien devised several themes that would be reused in initial successive drafts of his legendarium . The two most prominent stories, the tales of Beren and Lúthien and that of Túrin Turambar in the First Age , were carried forward into long narrative poems (published in The Lays of Beleriand ). Tolkien wrote a brief summary of the mythology these poems were intended to represent, and that summary eventually evolved into The Silmarillion , an epic history that Tolkien started three times but never published. It was originally to be published along with The Lord of the Rings , but printing costs were very high in the post-war years, later leading to The Lord of the Rings being published in three books. [39] The story of this continuous redrafting is told in the posthumous series The History of Middle-earth . From around 1936, he began to extend this framework to include the tale of the Fall of Númenor , which was inspired by the legend of Atlantis .

Tolkien was strongly influenced by Anglo-Saxon literature , Germanic and Norse mythologies, Finnish mythology , the Bible , and Greek mythology . [40] The works most often cited as sources for Tolkien's stories include Beowulf , the Kalevala , the Poetic Edda , the Volsunga saga and the Hervarar saga . [41] Tolkien himself acknowledged Homer , Oedipus , and the Kalevala as influences or sources for some of his stories and ideas. [42] His borrowings also came from numerous Middle English works and poems. A major philosophical influence on his writing is King Alfred's Anglo-Saxon version of Boethius ' Consolation of Philosophy known as the Lays of Boethius . [43] Characters in The Lord of the Rings such as Frodo , Treebeard , and Elrond make noticeably Boethian remarks.

In addition to his mythological compositions , Tolkien enjoyed inventing fantasy stories to entertain his children. [44] He wrote annual Christmas letters from Father Christmas for them, building up a series of short stories (later compiled and published as Letters From Father Christmas ). Other stories included Mr. Bliss , Roverandom , Smith of Wootton Major , Farmer Giles of Ham , and Leaf by Niggle . Roverandom and Smith of Wootton Major , like The Hobbit , borrowed ideas from his legendarium. Leaf by Niggle appears to be an autobiographical work, where a "very small man", Niggle, keeps painting leaves until finally, he ends up with a tree. [45]

Tolkien never expected his fictional stories to become popular, but he was persuaded by C.S. Lewis to publish a book he had written for his own children called The Hobbit in 1937. [46] However, the book attracted adult readers as well, and it became popular enough for the publisher, Allen & Unwin , to ask Tolkien to work on a sequel.

Even though he felt uninspired on the topic, this request prompted Tolkien to begin what would become his most famous work: the epic three-volume novel The Lord of the Rings (published 1954–55). Tolkien spent more than ten years writing the primary narrative and appendices for The Lord of the Rings , during which time he received the constant support of The Inklings , in particular his closest friend C.S. Lewis , the author of The Chronicles of Narnia . Both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are set against the background of The Silmarillion , but in a time long after it.

Tolkien's personal monograph, joining his four initials, stamped on every book authorized by Tolkien Estate

Tolkien at first intended The Lord of the Rings as a children's tale like The Hobbit , but it quickly grew darker and more serious in the writing. [47] Though a direct sequel to The Hobbit , it addressed an older audience, drawing on the immense back story of Beleriand that Tolkien had constructed in previous years, and which eventually saw posthumous publication in The Silmarillion and other volumes. Tolkien's influence weighs heavily on the fantasy genre that grew up after the success of The Lord of the Rings .

Tolkien continued to work on the history of Middle-earth until his death. His son Christopher , with some assistance from fantasy writer Guy Gavriel Kay , organized some of this material into one volume, published as The Silmarillion in 1977. In 1980 Christopher Tolkien followed this with a collection of more fragmentary material under the title Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth , and in subsequent years he published a massive amount of background material on the creation of Middle-earth in the twelve volumes of The History of Middle-earth . All these posthumous works contain unfinished, abandoned, alternative and outright contradictory accounts, since they were always a work in progress, and Tolkien only rarely settled on a definitive version for any of the stories. There is not even complete consistency to be found between The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit , the two most closely related works because Tolkien was never able to fully integrate all their traditions into each other. He commented in 1965 while editing The Hobbit for a third edition, that he would have preferred to completely rewrite the entire book. [48]

The Lord of the Rings became immensely popular in the 1960s and has remained so ever since, ranking as one of the most popular works of fiction of the twentieth century, judged by both sales and reader surveys. [49] In the 2003 " Big Read " survey conducted by the BBC , The Lord of the Rings was found to be the "Nation's Best-loved Book". Australians voted The Lord of the Rings " My Favourite Book " in a 2004 survey conducted by the Australian ABC . [50] In a 1999 poll of Amazon.com customers, The Lord of the Rings was judged to be their favourite "book of the millennium". [51] In 2002 Tolkien was voted the ninety-second " greatest Briton " in a poll conducted by the BBC, and in 2004 he was voted thirty-fifth in the SABC3's Great South Africans , the only person to appear in both lists. His popularity is not limited just to the English-speaking world: in a 2004 poll inspired by the UK’s "Big Read" survey, about 250,000 Germans found The Lord of the Rings ( Der Herr der Ringe ) to be their favourite work of literature. [52]

Humphrey Carpenter chronicled all of Tolkien's published poems and writings in "Appendix C" of his authorized biography, J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography (1977).

Six of Tolkien's major academic lectures, such as his important 1936 lecture on Beowulf , and one essay were compiled into The Monsters and the Critics and other essays in 1983 by Christopher Tolkien .

Manuscripts

Early drafts of The Lord of the Rings (initially titled " The Magic Ring ") were sold to Marquette University in Milwaukee , Wisconsin , in 1956 for £1,500 pounds sterling (about $4,700). Over 11,000 pages were included, text and a few illustrations. [53] Other original material survives at Oxford 's Bodleian Library . Marquette has the manuscripts and proofs of The Hobbit , and other manuscripts including Farmer Giles of Ham , while the Bodleian holds The Silmarillion papers and Tolkien's academic work. [54]

As of the 2000's, many of his manuscripts have been featured in the publications Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth (2017) and The Art of The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien (2015).

Both Tolkien's academic career and his literary production are inseparable from his love of language and philology . He specialized in Greek philology in college, and in 1915 graduated with Old Icelandic as a special subject. He contributed to the Oxford English Dictionary in 1918. Two years later he went to Leeds , where he claimed credit for raising the number of students of linguistics from five to twenty. He gave courses in Old English heroic verse , history of English, various Old English and Middle English texts, Old and Middle English philology, introductory Germanic philology, Gothic , Old Icelandic, and Medieval Welsh . When in 1925, aged 33, Tolkien applied for the Rawlinson and Bosworth Professorship of Anglo-Saxon, he boasted that his students of Germanic philology in Leeds had even formed a " Viking Club ". [55]

Privately, Tolkien was attracted to "things of racial and linguistic significance", and he entertained notions of an inherited taste of language, which he termed the "native tongue" as opposed to "cradle tongue" in his 1955 lecture English and Welsh , which is crucial to his understanding of race and language. He considered West-Midland Middle English his own "native tongue", and, as he wrote to W. H. Auden in 1955, [56] "I am a West-Midlander by blood (and took to early West-Midland Middle English as a known tongue as soon as I set eyes on it)"

Parallel to Tolkien's professional work as a philologist, and sometimes overshadowing this work, to the effect that his academic output remained rather thin, was his affection for the construction of artificial languages . The best developed of these are Quenya and Sindarin , the etymological connection between which are at the core of much of Tolkien's legendarium. Language and grammar for Tolkien were a matter of aesthetics and euphony, and Quenya in particular were designed from "phonaesthetic" considerations; it was intended as an "Elvenlatin": phonologically based on Latin with ingredients from Finnish and Greek. [57] A notable addition came in late 1945 with Adûnaic , a language of a "faintly Semitic flavour", connected with Tolkien's Atlantis myth, which by The Notion Club Papers ties directly into his ideas about the inheritability of language, and via the " Second Age " and the Eärendil myth was grounded in the legendarium, thereby providing a link of Tolkien's twentieth-century "real primary world" with the mythical past of his Middle-earth.

Names and pseudonyms

Arthur Tolkien once wrote a letter which contains some inspiration behind J.R.R. Tolkien's name:

"The boy’s first name will be ‘John’ after its grandfather, probably John Ronald Reuel altogether. Mab wants to call it Ronald and I want to keep up John and Reuel." Ronald had no familial precedent but Reuel was Arthur's middle name. — [58]

• Luttro - An Esperanto word meaning "otter", which may refer to Tolkien himself in his private Book of the Foxrook since Otter is his name in Animalic . [59]
• Arcastar - A Quenya name meaning "translator" or "one who carries across", [60] which Tolkien used once to sign his name. [61] [62]
• Eisphorides Acribus Polyglotteus, orator Graecorum - Tag name in the annual Latin debates during studies at Oxford. [63]
• Fisiologus - pen name Tolkien used for the poem, Adventures in Unnatural History and Medieval Metres, being the Freaks of Fisiologus , that was published in the Stapeldon Magazine in June of 1927 .
• J. - Tolkien's signature for a poem that was published in the Stapeldon Magazine in 1913 .
• John - [64]
• JRsquared - [64]
• Kingston Bagpuize - Pen name used for the poem, Progress in Bimble Town , that was published in the Oxford Magazine on October 15 in 1931 .
• Rægnold Hrædmóding - An Old English translation of Tolkien which he used as his signature for the poem, For W.H.A. , in 1967.
• Ronald - The name which was used by Tolkien's near kin. [64]
• Ruginwaldus Dwalakôneis - A "Gothicizied" translation of Tolkien's name. [65]
• Tollers - A name used by the Inklings and other intimate friends for Tolkien. [66] [67]
• N.N. - A pen name used for the poem, The Clerkes Compleinte , that was published in The Gryphon in 1922 ; it is an abbreviation of Nomen Nescio .
• Oxymore - A pen name of the 1927 poem Knocking at the Door: Lines Induced by Sensations When Waiting for an Answer at the Door of an Exalted Academic Person , that was published in the Oxford Magazine on February 18 in 1937 .

Portrayal in film

A 24-year old J.R.R. Tolkien is portrayed in the 2019 biographical film Tolkien by English actor Nicholas Hoult , marking the first time Tolkien has been represented by an actor on-screen.

• ↑ What’s in a Name? Tolkien and St. Philip Neri , an article by Dr. Holly Ordway , May 26, 2023
• ↑ The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien , Letter 165
• ↑ (undergraduate John Jethro Rashbold, and "old Professor Rashbold at Pembroke"; Sauron Defeated , pg 151, Letters , 165)
• ↑ ( Biography 1977, pg 22)
• ↑ ( Biography 1977, pg 21)
• ↑ ( Biography 1977, pg 24)
• ↑ ( Biography 1977, pg 27)
• ↑ ( Biography 1977, pg 113)
• ↑ ( Biography 1977, pg 29)
• ↑ Doughan, David (2002). JRR Tolkien Biography . Life of Tolkien . Retrieved on 2006-03-12.
• ↑ ( Letters , no. 306)
• ↑ ( Biography 1977, pg 31)
• ↑ ( Biography 1977, pg 39)
• ↑ Carpenter, Humphrey (1978). The Inklings . Allen & Unwin.  
• ↑ Doughan, David (2002). War, Lost Tales And Academia . J. R. R. Tolkien: A Biographical Sketch . Retrieved on 2006-03-12.
• ↑ ( Biography 1977, pg 53-54)
• ↑ ( Biography 1977, pg 67-69)
• ↑ ( Biography 1977, pg 73)
• ↑ ( Biography 1977, pg 86)
• ↑ ( Biography 1977, pg 78)
• ↑ ( Biography 1977, pg 85)
• ↑ ( Biography 1977, pg 93)
• ↑ Cater, Bill ( April 12 , 2001 ). We talked of love, death, and fairy tales=HTML . UK Telegraph . Retrieved on 2006-03-13.
• ↑ among others, initiating the entries wasp and walrus ; Tritel, Barbara (May 27, 1984 ). Language and Prehistory of the Elves . New York Times . Retrieved on 2006-03-12.
• ↑ Peter Gilliver , Jeremy Marshall , Edmund Weiner, The Ring of Words
• ↑ ( Biography 1977, pg 109, 114-115)
• ↑ See The Name Nodens (1932)
• ↑ ( Biography 1977, pg 143)
• ↑ Ramey, Bill (March 30, 1998). The Unity of Beowulf: Tolkien and the Critics . Wisdom's Children . Retrieved on 2006-03-13.
• ↑ Kennedy, Michael (2001). Tolkien and Beowulf- Warriors of Middle-Earth . Amon Hen . Retrieved on 2006-03-13.
• ↑ ( Letters no. 64, 131, etc.)
• ↑ ( Letters , no. 327)
• ↑ Doughan, David (2002). JRR Tolkien Biography . Life of Tolkien . Retrieved on 2006-03-13.
• ↑ Meras, Phyllis (January 15, 1967). Go, Go, Gandalf . New York Times . Retrieved on 2006-03-12.
• ↑ ( Letters , no. 336; Chu-Bu and Sheemish are idols in a 1912 story by Lord Dunsany )
• ↑ ( Letters , no. 332)
• ↑ People of Stoke-on-Trent . Retrieved on 2005-03-13.
• ↑ Hammond, Wayne G. J.R.R. Tolkien: A Descriptive Biography , London: January 1993, Saint Pauls Biographies
• ↑ (February 1, 2002 ) Tolkien's Ring . New York: Barnes and Noble. ISBN 1-586-63527-1 .  
• ↑ As described by Christopher Tolkien in Hervarar Saga ok Heidreks Konung (Oxford University, Trinity College). B. Litt. thesis. 1953/4. [Year uncertain], The Battle of the Goths and the Huns , in: Saga-Book (University College, London, for the Viking Society for Northern Research) 14, part 3 (1955-6) [1]
• ↑ Handwerk, Brian ( March 1 , 2004 ). Lord of the Rings Inspired by an Ancient Epic . National Geographic News . Retrieved on 2006-03-13.
• ↑ Gardner, John (October 23, 1977 ). The World of Tolkien . New York Times . Retrieved on 2006-03-13.
• ↑ Phillip, Norman (2005). The Prevalance of Hobbits . New York Times . Retrieved on 2006-03-12.
• ↑ Site Editor (2005). Leaf by Niggle - a symbolic story about a small painter . Leaf by Niggle . Retrieved on 2006-03-12.
• ↑ Times Editorial Staff (September 3, 1973 ). J.R.R. Tolkien Dead at 81: Wrote "The Lord of the Rings" . New York Times . Retrieved on 2006-03-12.
• ↑ Times Editorial Staff (June 5, 1955 ). Oxford Calling . New York Times . Retrieved on 2006-03-12.
• ↑ Martinez, Michael (December 7th, 2004). Middle-Earth Revised, Again . Merp.com . Retrieved on 2006-03-13.
• ↑ Seiler, Andy (December 16, 2003 ). 'Rings' comes full circle . USA Today . Retrieved on 2006-03-12.
• ↑ Cooper, Callista (December 5, 2005 ). Epic trilogy tops favorite film poll . ABC News Online . Archived from the original on 2005-12-29. Retrieved on 2006-03-12.
• ↑ O'Hehir, Andrew (June 4, 2001 ). The book of the century . Salon.com . Retrieved on 2006-03-12.
• ↑ Diver, Krysia (October 5, 2004 ). A lord for Germany . The Sydney Morning Herald . Retrieved on 2006-03-12.
• ↑ Marquette University (2003-03-04). J.R.R. Tolkien Collection . Retrieved on 2007-04-16.
• ↑ McDowell, Edwin (September 4, 1983 ). Middle Earth Revisited . New York Times . Retrieved on 2006-03-12.
• ↑ (Letter dated 27 June 1925 to the Electors of the Rawlinson and Bosworth Professorship of Anglo-Saxon, University of Oxford, Letters , no. 7)
• ↑ The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien , Letter 163
• ↑ ( Letters , no. 144, 25 April 1954, to Naomi Mitchison)
• ↑ Humphrey Carpenter , J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography , II. "1892-1916: Early years"
• ↑ Dimitra Fimi and Andrew Higgins , A Secret Vice: Tolkien on Invented Languages , pgs. 40-1 (note 19)
• ↑ Ryszard I. Derdziński , " Arcastar means 'Translator'? "
• ↑ Lambengolmor discussion of Tolkien in Oxford , " Anders Stenström (9.32) ", " Carl F. Hostetter (9.33) ", " Roman Rausch (9.34) "
• ↑ Valuable Print Books and Manuscripts
• ↑ John Garth , Tolkien and the Great War , Part One: "The immortal four", pg. 19
• ↑ 64.0 64.1 64.2 The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien , Letter 309
• ↑ The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien , Letter 272
• ↑ Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond , The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide , II: "Reader's Guide", pg. 626
• ↑ Humphrey Carpenter , J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography , II. "1892-1916: Early years", pg. 13

External links

• Genealogy of J.R.R. Tolkien on WikiTree
• Lord of the Rings
• 1 Tom Bombadil

Author : John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

South African-born, British-based fantasy author, best known for The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit .

• 1.1 Fiction
• 1.2 Collections
• 1.4 Academic and other works
• 1.5 Posthumous publications
• Songs for the Philologists (1936), with Erich Valentine Gordon et al.
• The Hobbit or There and Back Again (1937) (U.S. copyright restored in 1996 per URAA ; Copyrighted until 2033)
• Leaf by Niggle (1945)
• The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun (1945), published in Welsh Review
• Farmer Giles of Ham (1949)
• The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm's Son (1953), published with the accompanying essays Beorhtnoth's Death and Ofermod , in Essays and Studies by members of the English Association , volume 6.
• The Fellowship of the Ring (1954) (Copyrighted in the U.S. until 2050; RE121069 )
• The Two Towers (1954) (Copyrighted in the U.S. until 2050; RE121070 )
• The Return of the King (1955) (Copyrighted in the U.S. until 2051; RE188500 )
• The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Other Verses from the Red Book (1962)
• The Road Goes Ever On , with Donald Swann (1967)
• Smith of Wootton Major (1967)

Collections

• Tree and Leaf (1964)
• The Tolkien Reader (1966)
• The Battle of the Eastern Field 1911
• From the many-willow'd margin of the immemorial Thames 1913
• The Voyage of Eärendel the Evening Star 1914
• The Bidding of the Minstrel 1914
• Goblin Feet 1915
• You and Me / and the Cottage of Lost Play 1915
• Kôr 1915, published as The City of the Gods in 1923
• Kortirion among the Trees 1915 (revised in 1937 and in the 1960s, The Trees of Kortirion )
• Over Old Hills and Far Away 1915
• A Song of Aryador 1915
• The Shores of Elfland 1915
• Habbanan beneath the Stars 1916
• The Sorrowful City 1916
• The Song of Eriol 1917
• The Horns of Ulmo 1917
• The Happy Mariners , published in 1920, composed in 1915
• The Children of Húrin (begun in 1920 or earlier, continued to 1925)
• The Clerke's Compleinte 1922
• Iúmonna Gold Galdre Bewunden 1923
• The Eadigan Saelidan 1923
• Why the Man in the Moon Came Down Too Soon 1923
• Enigmata Saxonic - a Nuper Inventa Duo 1923
• The Cat and the Fiddle: A Nursery-Rhyme Undone and its Scandalous Secret Unlocked 1923
• An Evening in Tavrobel 1924
• The Lonely Isle 1924
• The Princess Ni 1924
• Light as Leaf on Lindentree 1925
• The Flight of the Noldoli from Valinor 1925
• The Lay of Leithian 1925–1931
• The Lay of Eärendel 1920s
• The Nameless Land 1926
• Adventures in Unnatural History and Medieval Metres, being the Freaks of Fisiologus 1927:
• Fastitocalon
• Tinfang Warble , published in 1927, composed in 1914
• Mythopoeia , circa 1931
• Progress in Bimble Town 1931
• Errantry 1933
• Firiel 1934
• Looney 1934
• Songs for the Philologists , with E.V. Gordon et al. , published 1936:
• Bagme Bloma
• Éadig Béo þu!
• Frenchmen Froth
• From One to Five
• I Sat upon a Bench
• Ides Ælfscýne
• Lit and Lang
• Natura Apis: Morali Ricardi Eremite
• Ofer Wídne Gársecg
• The Root of the Boot
• Ruddoc Hana
• The Dragon's Visit 1937
• Knocking at the Door: Lines induced by sensations when waiting for an answer at the door of an Exalted Academic Person 1937
• The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun , published in Welsh Review, December 1945
• Imram ( The Death of St. Brendan ) 1946 (published in Time and Tide , December 1955
• Elvish translations of Catholic prayers (ed. Wynne, Smith, Hostetter in Vinyar Tengwar 43, 44, 2002), composed in the 1950s:
• Ataremma versions (Quenya Pater Noster ) versions I-VI
• Aia María (Quenya Ave Maria ) versions I-IV
• Litany of Loreto in Quenya
• Ortírielyanna (Quenya Sub tuum praesidium )
• Alcar i Ataren (Quenya Gloria Patri )
• Alcar mi tarmenel na Erun (Quenya Gloria in Excelsis Deo )
• Ae Adar Nín (Sindarin Pater Noster )
• The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm's Son 1953
• The Adventures of Tom Bombadil published in 1962:
• The Adventures of Tom Bombadil
• Bombadil Goes Boating
• Little Princess Mee
• The Man in the Moon Stayed Up Too Late
• The Man in the Moon Came Down Too Soon
• The Stone Troll
• Perry-the-Winkle
• The Mewlips
• Shadow-Bride
• The Sea-Bell
• The Last Ship
• Once upon a time 1965
• Bilbo's Last Song 1966 (first published as a poster in 1974)
• For W. H. A. in 1967 in Shenandoah
• King Sheave in The Lost Road in 1987 in The Lost Road and Other Writings
• Narqelion published in 1988 in Mythlore

Academic and other works

• A Middle English Vocabulary (1922) ( transcription project )
• Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (ed., with E. V. Gordon , 1925) ( transcription project )
• " The Devil's Coach Horses " in The Review of English Studies , 1 ( 3 ) ( July, 1925 ), pp. 331–336 ( transcription project )
• Ancrene Wisse and Hali Meiðhad (1929)
• The Name 'Nodens' (1932)
• Sigelwara Land parts I and II (1932-34)
• Chaucer as a Philologist: The Reeve's Tale (1934)
• Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics (1937)
• On Fairy-Stories (1939)
• Sir Orfeo (1944)
• Ofermod (1953)
• Beorhtnoth's Death (1953)
• Middle English "Losenger": Sketch of an etymological and semantic enquiry (1953)
• Ancrene Wisse : The English Text of the Ancrene Riwle (1962)
• English and Welsh (1963)
• Contributions to the Jerusalem Bible (as translator and lexicographer ) (1966)
• Tolkien on Tolkien (autobiographical) (1966)

Posthumous publications

• 1975 Guide to the Names in The Lord of the Rings
• 1975 Translations of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight , Pearl and Sir Orfeo
• 1976 The Father Christmas Letters
• 1977 The Silmarillion
• 1979 Pictures by J. R. R. Tolkien
• 1980 Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth
• 1980 Poems and Stories (a compilation of The Adventures of Tom Bombadil , The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm's Son , On Fairy-Stories , Leaf by Niggle , Farmer Giles of Ham and Smith of Wootton Major )
• 1981 The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien (eds. Christopher Tolkien and Humphrey Carpenter )
• 1981 The Old English "Exodus" Text translation and commentary by J. R. R. Tolkien; edited by Joan Turville-Petre
• 1982 Finn and Hengest : The Fragment and the Episode
• 1982 Mr. Bliss
• Beowulf: the Monsters and the Critics (1936)
• On Translating Beowulf (1940)
• On Fairy-Stories (1947)
• A Secret Vice (1930)
• English and Welsh (1955)
• The Book of Lost Tales 1 (1983)
• The Book of Lost Tales 2 (1984)
• The Lays of Beleriand (1985)
• The Shaping of Middle-earth (1986)
• The Lost Road and Other Writings (1987)
• The Return of the Shadow (The History of The Lord of the Rings vol. 1) (1988)
• The Treason of Isengard (The History of The Lord of the Rings vol. 2) (1989)
• The War of the Ring (The History of The Lord of the Rings vol. 3) (1990)
• Sauron Defeated (The History of The Lord of the Rings vol. 4, including The Notion Club Papers ) (1992)
• Morgoth's Ring (The Later Silmarillion vol. 1) (1993)
• The War of the Jewels (The Later Silmarillion vol. 2) (1994)
• The Peoples of Middle-earth (1996)
• Index (2002)
• 1995 J. R. R. Tolkien: Artist and Illustrator
• 1998 Roverandom
• 2002 A Tolkien Miscellany
• 2002 Beowulf and the Critics ed. Michael D.C. Drout
• 2007 The Children of Húrin
• 2008 Tales from the Perilous Realm (a compilation of Roverandom , Farmer Giles of Ham , The Adventures of Tom Bombadil , Leaf by Niggle and Smith of Wootton Major )
• 2009 The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún
• 2013 The Fall of Arthur
• 2014 Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary (ed. Christopher Tolkien ), includes short story "Sellic Spell"
• 2015 The Story of Kullervo (ed. Verlyn Flieger )
• 2016 A Secret Vice
• 2016 The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun , originally published in Welsh Review , 1945
• 2017 Beren and Lúthien
• 2018 The Fall of Gondolin
• 2021 The Nature of Middle-earth (ed. Carl F. Hostetter )

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• 1973 deaths
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1911 Poem 'The Battle of the Eastern Field' in , Birmingham, Vol. XXVI No. 186, March, pp. 22-6. Reprinted in , No. 12,1978, pp. 24-8. [ also contributed reports on meetings of the school debating society to the magazine, November 1910 to June 1911, and editorials to issues for June and July 1911.] 1913 Poem 'From the many-willow'd margin of the immemorial Thames' (signed 'J') in , Vol. IV No. 20, December, p. 11. (Published for Exeter College by B. H. Blackwell, Oxford.) 1915 Poem 'Goblin Feet' in , edited by G. D. H. C[ole] and T. W. E[arp] (Oxford, B. H. Blackwell), pp. 64-5. Reprinted in (Oxford, B. H. Blackwell, 1917), pp. 120-1; , edited by Dora Owen (London, Longmans, Green, 1920), pp. 177-8; and in several other anthologies. 1918 Introductory note (signed 'J.R.R.T.') in , poems by Geoffrey Bache Smith, late Lieutenant in Lancashire Fusiliers (London, Erskine Macdonald, 1918). [ and C. L. Wiseman edited this collection of Smith's poetry and helped to arrange for its publication.] 1920 Poem The Happy Mariners' (signed J.R.R.T.') in , Vol. V No. 26, June, pp. 69-70. (Published for Exeter College by B. H. Blackwell, Oxford). 1922 (Oxford, Clarendon Press), [Designed for use with 1921 edition of Kenneth Sisam's , in subsequent editions of which it appears as glossary. It was also reprinted separately.] Poem The Clerke's Compleinte' in , New Series, Vol. IV No. 3, December, p. 95. (Signed 'N.N.') 1923 Poem 'Iumonna Gold Galdre Bewunden' in , New Series, Vol. IV No. 4, January, p. 130 (Leeds University). Review headed 'Holy Maidenhood', , London, 26 April 1923, p. 281. [A review of Furnivall's E.E.T.S. edition of . Unsigned but 's authorship established by reference in his diary.] Poem, The City of the Gods' in , edited by Dorothy Una Ratcliffe, Vol. VIII No. 1, spring, p. 8. (Issued privately in Leeds.) Obituary: 'Henry Bradley, 3 Dec., 1845-23 May, 1923' (signed J.R.R.T.), (London, Cambridge University Press), No. 20, October, pp. 4-5. Poems 'The Eadigan Saelidan: The Happy Mariners' (revised from version in , 1920), 'Why the Man in the Came Down Too Soon' and 'Enigmata Saxonica Nuper Inventa Duo' in , pp. 15-20 (Leeds, Swan Press). Poem 'The Cat and the Fiddle: A Nursery-Rhyme Undone and its Scandalous Secret Unlocked', in , Vol. II No. 19, October-November , pp. 1-3 (Leeds, Swan Press). [An early version of poem in , Book I Chapter 9, and in as 'The Man in the Stayed Up Too Late'.] 1924 Poems 'An Evening in Tavrobel', 'The Lonely Isle' and The Princess Ni' in (Leeds, Swan Press), pp. 56-8. Chapter on 'Philology: General Works' in , Vol. IV, 1923, pp. 20-37 (London, Oxford University Press). 1925 'Some Contributions to Middle-English Lexicography'. , Vol. I No. 2, April, pp. 210-15 (London, Sidgwick & Jackson). Poem 'Light as Leaf on Lindentree' in , New Series, Vol. VI No. 6. June, p. 217 (Leeds University). [An early version of poem in , Book I Chapter 11. Reprinted in , pp. 108-10, incorporated in 'The Lay of the Children of '.] 'The Devil's Coach-Horses ,' , Vol. 1 No. 3, July, pp. 331-6 (London, Sidgwick & Jackson). , edited by J. R. R. and E. V. Gordon (Oxford, Clarendon Press). Reprinted many times. Second edition, revised by Norman Davis, Oxford, 1967; issued as paperback, 1968. 1926 Chapter on 'Philology: General Works' in , Vol. V, 1924, pp. 26-65 (London, Oxford University Press). 1927 Poem 'The Nameless Land' in , edited by G. S. Tancred, pp. 24-5 (Leeds, Swan Press; London, Gay & Hancock). Poems 'Adventures in Unnatural History and Medieval Metres, being the Freaks of Fisiologus' (signed 'Fisiologus') in , Vol. VII No. 40, pp. 123-7 (published for Exeter College by B. H. Blackwell, Oxford). Chapter on 'Philology: General Works' in , Vol. VI, 1925, pp. 32-66 (London, Oxford University Press). 1928 Foreword to by Walter E. Haigh (London, Oxford University Press). 1929 'Ancrene Wisse and Hali Meiõhad', , Vol. XIV, pp. 104-26 (Oxford, Clarendon Press). 1930 'The Oxford English School', , Vol. XLVIII No. 21, May, pp. 278-80, 782 (Oxford, Oxonian Press). [An article proposing a reformed syllabus.] 1931 Poem 'Progress in Bimble Town' (signed 'K. Bagpuize') in , Vol. L No. 1, October, p. 22 (Oxford, Oxonian Press). 1932 Appendix I: 'The Name "Nodens" ', Sites in Lydney Park, Gloucestershire, Reports of Research Committee of Society of Antiquaries of London, No. IX (1932), pp. 132-7 (London, Oxford University Press). 'Sigelwara Land': Part I, ,(December), pp. 183-96 (Oxford, Basil Blackwell). 1933 Poem 'Errantry' in , Vol. LII No. 5, November, p. 180 (Oxford, Oxonian Press). [An early version of poem of the same title in .] 1934 Poem 'Firiel' in (Roehampton, Convent of Sacred Heart), Vol. IV, pp. 30-2. [An early version of 'The Last Ship' in .] Poem 'Looney' in , Vol. LII No. 9, January, p. 340 (Oxford, Oxonian Press). [An early version of 'The Sea-bell' in .] Poem 'The Adventures of Tom ' in , Vol. LII No. 13, February, pp. 464-5 (Oxford, Oxonian Press). [An early version of poem of same title in .] 'Sigelwara Land': Part II, (June), pp. 95-111 (Oxford, Basil Blackwell). Chaucer as a Philologist: The Reeve's Tale', (1934), pp. 1-70 (London, David Nutt). 1936 Songs for the Philologists, J. R. R. , E. V. Gordon and others (privately printed in Department of English, University College, London). [A collection of humorous verses originally circulated in typescript at Leeds University. Verses are unsigned but was author of 'From One to Five', 'Syx Mynet', 'Ruddoc Hana', 'Ides Ælfscyne', 'Bagme Bloma', 'Eadig Beo pu', 'Ofer Widne Garsecg', 'La Huru', 'I Sat Upon a Bench', 'Natura Apis', 'The Root of the Boot' (early version of 'The Stone Troll'), 'Frenchmen Froth' and 'Lit and Lang'.] 1937 Poem 'The Dragon's Visit' in , Vol. LV No. 11, February, p. 342 (Oxford, Oxonian Press). Reprinted in , 1965. Poem 'Knocking at the Door: Lines induced by sensations when waiting for an answer at the door of an Exalted Academic Person' (signed 'Oxymore') in , Vol. LV No. 13, February, p. 403 (Oxford, Oxonian Press). [Original version of 'The Mewlips'.] Poem 'Iumonna Gold Galdre Bewunden' in , Vol. LV No. 15, March, p. 473 (Oxford, Oxonian Press). [Revised from version in , 1923. Further revised as 'The Hoard' in .] ' : The Monsters and the Critics', , 22 (1936), pp. 245-95 (London, Oxford University Press). Reprinted by OUP, Oxford, 1958. Reprinted in USA in Criticism, edited by Lewis E. Nicholson (University of Notre Dame Press, 1963) and in Poet, edited by Donald K. Fry (New Jersey, Prentice-Hall , 1968). : or There and Back Again (London, George Allen & Unwin). Four colour plates were added for second impression. Second edition 1951, third edition 1966; reprinted many times. First USA edition (Boston, Houghton Mifflin) 1938. 1938 Letter about , Observer, London, 20 February. [ wrote in reply to letter published in that newspaper on 16 January.] Reprinted in of J. R. R. , pp. 30-2. 1940 Preface to and the Finnesburg Fragment: A Translation into Modern English Prose by John R. Clark Hall, revised by C. L. Wrenn (London, George Allen & Unwin). New edition 1950. 1944 (Oxford, Academic Copying Office). (Unsigned; edition prepared by for wartime Naval Cadets' course at Oxford.) 1945 'Leaf by Niggle', , 432 (January), pp. 46-61. (London, Burns Oates & Washbourne). Letter 'The name Coventry' in , 23 February, p. 2. [Reply to letter by 'H.D.' published on 9 February.] 'The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun', , Vol. IV No. 4, December, pp. 254-66 (Cardiff, Penmark Press). 1947 '"Ipplen" in Sawles Warde', , Vol. XXVIII No. 6, December, pp. 168-70 (Amsterdam, Swets & Zeitlinger). (In collaboration with S. R. T. O. d'Ardenne.) 'On Fairy-Stories ', , edited by C. S. Lewis, pp. 38-89 (London, Oxford University Press). First USA edition (Grand Rapids, Michigan, William B. Eerdmans) 1966. 1948 'MS Bodley 34: A re-collation of a collation'. , Vol. XX, 1947-8, pp. 65-72 (Uppsala). (In collaboration with S. R. T. O. d'Ardenne.) 1949 (London, George Allen & Unwin). Second edition 1976, first USA edition (Boston, Houghton Mifflin) 1950; second USA edition 1978. 1953 'A Fourteenth-Century Romance', , London, 4 December. [Foreword to BBC Third Programme broadcasts of 's translation of 'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'.] 'The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm's Son', , New Series, Vol. VI, pp. 1-18 (London, John (Murray). 'Middle English "Losenger"', , 1951, pp. 63-76 (Bibliotheque de la Faculté de Philosophie et Lettres de l'Université de Liège, fasc. 129, Paris: Les Belles Lettres). 1954 of the Ring: being the first part of The Lord of the Rings (London, George Allen & Unwin). (London, George Allen & Unwin). 1955 (London, George Allen & Unwin). Second edition of all three volumes, 1966. First USA edition (Boston, Houghton Mifflin), Vol.I 1954, Vols II & III 1955; second USA edition 1967. Ace Books edition. New York, 1965. Ballantine Books edition. New York, 1965. Poem 'Imram' in , London, Vol. XXXVI No. 49, 3 December, p. 1561. [Appeared in unpublished MS as 'The Death of St. Brendan'.] Preface to , translated into Modern English by M. B. Salu (London, Burns & Oates, 1955). Prefatory note to , edited by Peter Goolden, p. iii (London, Oxford University Press, 1958). 1960 Letter to , No. 18, May. [Comments on article by Arthur K. Weir in previous issue.] 1962 and other verses from The Red Book (London, George Allen & Unwin; Boston, Houghton Mifflin). Reprinted. Second USA edition 1978. , edited from MS. Corpus Christi College Cambridge 402, Early English Text Society No. 249, introduction by N. R. Ker (London, Oxford University Press). 1963 'English and Welsh', and Britons: O'Donnell Lectures, pp. 1-41 (Cardiff, University of Wales Press). Distributed in USA by Verry, Lawrence, 1963. 1964 (London, George Allen & Unwin). [A slightly revised version of 'On Fairy-Stories ' and 'Leaf by Niggle'.] Second edition 1975. First USA edition (Boston, Houghton Mifflin) 1965. 1965 Poems 'Once Upon a Time' and 'The Dragon's Visit' in , edited by Caroline Hillier, pp. 44-5, 84-7 (London, Macmillan; New York, St Martin's Press). Reprinted in , edited by Lin Carter, pp. 254-62 (New York, Ballantine Books, 1969). [The second poem is revised from the version in The Oxford Magazine, 1937.] 1966 ' on ', , Vol. XVIII No. 197, October, p. 39. [Brief account of 's life and motives as a writer, taken from statement prepared for his publishers.] Contribution as translator to (London, Carton, Longman & Todd; New York, Doubleday). [ is named as an editor but his only contribution was to make an original draft of translation of Book of Jonah, which was extensively revised by other hands before publication.] Reader (New York, Ballantine Books). [A reprint in one volume of 'The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth', 'On Fairy-Stories ', 'Leaf by Niggle', 'Farmer Giles of Ham' and 'The Adventures of Tom '.] 1967 (London, George Allen & Unwin). Second edition 1975. New paperback edition 1983. First USA edition (Boston, Houghton Mifflin) 1967; second USA edition 1978. Poem 'For W. H. A.' in : The Washington and Lee University Review, Vol. XVIII No. 2, winter, pp. 96-7. [Poem in with modern English translation in honour of the sixtieth birthday of W. H. Auden.] Poems by J. R. R. set to music by Donald Swann (Boston, Houghton Mifflin). First UK edition (London, George Allen & Unwin) 1968. Reissued New York, Ballantine Books, 1969. Second edition, London, 1978, adding ' 's Last Song', a new foreword and notes. Second USA edition, Boston, 1978. [At time of first publication, Caedmon Records issued LP (TC 1231) entitled , on which William Elvin sings Swann's settings of 's poems, with composer at piano, and reads some of his own verse.] 1969 , with illustrations by Pauline Baynes (New York, Ballantine Books). [A reprint in one volume.] Letter describing origins of Inklings in by William Luther White, pp. 221-2 (Nashville & New York, Abingdon Press). Reprinted in UK by Hodder & Stoughton 1970. Letter reprinted in of J. R. R. , pp. 387-8. 1971 Passage in , compiled and edited by Evelyn B. Byrne and Otto M. Penzler, p. 43 (New York, Gotham Book Mart). [ describes reading habits as young man.] 1972 Letter 'Beautiful Place because Trees are Loved', , 4 July, p. 16. [About forests in , in response to editorial of 29 June.] Reprinted in of J. R. R. , pp. 419-20.) Calendar containing drawings issued by Ballantine Books. In 1973 Allen & Unwin and Ballantine issued calendars using same illustrations. In 1975, 1976, 1977 and 1978 Allen & Unwin issued calendars using further drawings by . Several of the drawings have also been issued as posters and postcards. The calendar art is reprinted in , 1979. 1974 Poem ' 's Last Song' published in poster form, with decorations by Pauline Baynes (London, George Allen & Unwin). Poem was also published as poster with photographic background by Houghton Mifflin. 1975 'Guide to the Names in The Lord of the Rings', A Compass, edited by Jared Lobdell, pp. 153-201 (La Salle, Illinois, Open Court). [Notes on nomenclature in story, originally written for guidance of translators.] , and Sir Orfeo, translated into modern English; edited and with a preface by Christopher (London, George Allen & Unwin; Boston, Houghton Mifflin). [During 1975 Caedmon Records issued two LPs (TC 1477 and 1478) on which reads from and ; these recordings were made by George Sayer at Malvern in August 1952.] reprinted in one volume; reprinted in one volume (London, George Allen & Unwin). Letter in , Vol. Ill No. 2, Whole No. 10, p. 19. [Letter of 17 November 1957 to Dr Herbert Schiro, included in article by Glen Goodknight. comments that 'is about Death and the desire for deathlessness'.] Reprinted in part in of J. R. R. , p. 262. 1976 , edited by Baillie (London, George Allen & Unwin; Boston, Houghton Mifflin). 1977 , edited by Christopher (London, George Allen & Unwin; Boston, Houghton Mifflin). Limited edition 1982. [In 1977 and 1978 Caedmon Records issued two recordings by Christopher reading selections from and (TC 1564) and and of the Flight of the (TC 1579).] , catalogue of exhibition at Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 14 December 1976 - 27 February 1977, and at National Book League, London, 2 March - 7 April 1977. 1978 Drawing, 'The Lonely Mountain', reproduced in Scrapbook, edited by Alida Becker (New York, Grosset & Dunlap),pp. 114-15. 1979 , foreword and notes by Christopher (London, George Allen & Unwin; Boston, Houghton Mifflin). [A collection of paintings and drawings previously published in calendars and books.] 'Valedictory Address to the University of Oxford, 5 June 1959', in , Scholar and Storyteller, edited by Mary Salu and Robert T. Farrell (Ithaca and London, Cornell University Press), pp. 16-32. 1980 (London, George Allen & Unwin). [Reprints with old and new illustrations by Pauline Baynes of 'The Adventures of Tom ', 'The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth, Beorhthelm's Son', 'On Fairy-Stories ', 'Leaf by Niggle', 'Farmer Giles of Ham' and 'Smith of Wootton Major'.] and , edited by Christopher (London, George Allen & Unwin; Boston, Houghton Mifflin). 1981 of J. R. R. , edited by Humphrey Carpenter with assistance of Christopher (London, George Allen & Unwin; Boston, Houghton Mifflin). , text, translation and commentary by J. R. R. , edited by Joan Turville-Petre (Oxford, Clarendon Press). 1982 (London, George Allen & Unwin; Boston, Houghton Mifflin). [Reproduced from 's illustrated MS.] : The Fragment and the Episode, edited by Alan Bliss (London, George Allen & Unwin; Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1983). 1983 , edited by Christopher (London, George Allen & Unwin; Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1984). , edited by Christopher (London, George Allen & Unwin; Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1984). 1984 , edited by Christopher (London, George Allen & Unwin; Boston, Houghton Mifflin). Reissued in paperback 1986. 1985 , edited by Christopher (London, George Allen & Unwin; Boston, Houghton Mifflin). 1986 , edited by Christopher (London, George Allen & Unwin; Boston, Houghton Mifflin). 1987 , edited by Christopher (Unwin Hyman Ltd) 1988 , edited by Christopher (Unwin Hyman Ltd) 1989 , edited by Christopher (Unwin Hyman Ltd) 1990 , edited by Christopher (Unwin Hyman Ltd) 1992 Defeated, edited by Christopher ( Publishers Ltd) 1993 's Ring, edited by Christopher ( Publishers Ltd) 1994 , edited by Christopher ( Publishers Ltd) 1996 , edited by Christopher ( Publishers Ltd) 1998 , edited by Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond ( Publishers Ltd) 2002 , edited by Michael D.C. Drout (Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies) John Ronald Reuel Tolkien CBE FRSL (1892 - 1973) John Ronald Reuel was baptised on 31 January 1892 in Bloemfontein in the Orange Free State by the Vicar A. H. Harcourt Vernon. [1] His baptism can be found in the registers for the Anglican churches of St Andrew and St Margaret, Bloemfontein. [1] Sponsors were Edith M Incledon, G Edward Jelf and Tom Hadley. [1] His family was in residence in Bloemfontein and his father a bank manager there at the time. [1] J.R.R. had one sibling, a younger brother, Hilary Arthur Reuel Tolkien . [3] He was home-schooled by his mother. Most interested in language and writing, he read at the age of 4. Before his fifth birthday, he wrote in different languages. [3] Tolkien grew up in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham, and went to King Edward's School in Birmingham. In 1911 he attended Exeter College, Oxford. [3] His service in WWI [5] became inspiration for his books. At 21, Tolkien married Edith Mary Bratt . [6] Initially, his guardian barred him from seeing her -- due to her religion -- until he reached the said age. Tolkien complied with his guardian's wish. [3] In a 1941 letter to his son Michael, Tolkien recalled: "I had to choose between disobeying and grieving (or deceiving) a guardian who had been a father to me, more than most fathers ... and 'dropping' the love-affair until I was 21. I don't regret my decision, though it was very hard on my lover. But it was not my fault. She was completely free and under no vow to me, and I should have had no just complaint (except according to the unreal romantic code) if she had got married to someone else. For very nearly three years I did not see or write to my lover. It was extremely hard, especially at first. The effects were not wholly good: I fell back into folly and slackness and misspent a good deal of my first year at college." [3] John and Edith had four children together: John Francis, Michael Hilary, Christopher John, and Priscilla Anne. He loved his children, and their names and personalities became characters in his books. [3] When Tolkien was not writing, he was a reader and professor for many different colleges. Never thinking his books would be popular, he wrote as a hobby. Then he showed a former English student The Hobbit , and it was they who convinced Tolkien to publish. [3] Tolkien and his books became famous. Despite his renown, the most important thing in his life remained his wife and children. Tolkien was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II on 28 March 1972. [3] Tolkien's wife, Edith, died 29 November 1971, at 82. [3] "My grandmother died two years before my grandfather and he came back to live in Oxford. Merton College gave him rooms just off the High Street. I went there frequently and he'd take me to lunch in the Eastgate Hotel. Those lunches were rather wonderful for a 12-year-old boy spending time with his grandfather, but sometimes he seemed sad. There was one visit when he told me how much he missed my grandmother. It must have been very strange for him being alone after they had been married for more than 50 years." [3] Tolkien died 21 months later on 2 September 1973, at the age of 81. [7] [8] [9] ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Baptism : "South Africa, Church of the Province of South Africa, Parish Registers, 1801-2004" citing Baptism, St Andrew and St Margaret, Bloemfontein, Orange Free State, South Africa, Entry 3686 on Page 226, William Cullen Library, Wits University, Johannesburg. FamilySearch Record: KFNQ-SDB (accessed 22 September 2022) FamilySearch Image: 33S7-9T7B-SHYT John Ronald Reuel born 3 Jan 1892 son of Arthur Reuel and Mabel Tolkien, baptised on 31 Jan 1892 in the Anglican Cathedral in Bloemfontein, Bloemfontein, Orange Free State by the Vicar A. H. Harcourt Vernon. Residence: Bloemfontein. Father's Occupation: Bank Manager. Sponsors: Edith M Incledon, G Edward Jelf and Tom Hadley. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1911," database, FamilySearch ( https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X7B8-3JV  : 20 January 2015), John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, Edgbaston, Edgbaston, Worcestershire, England; from "1911 England and Wales census," database and images, findmypast ( http://www.findmypast.com  : n.d.); citing PRO RG 14, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey. ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 J.R.R. Tolkien's Wikipedia article ; Accessed 29 May 2017 ↑ 1901 Census : "1901 England Census" Class: RG13; Piece: 2806; Folio: 59; Page: 17; ED, institution, or vessel: 23; Household schedule number: 120 Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 7814 #15318124 (accessed 30 March 2024) John R R Tonkien (9) son in household of Mabel Tonkien (31) in Kings Heath in Kings Norton registration district in Worcestershire, England. Born in Orange Free, South Africa. ↑  : Service Record: Application for Officers Training Corp or a Member of a University - Temporary Commission (1915). Geni.com . Digital Image. Note: John Ronald Reuel. DOB 03 Jan 1892. Marital Status: Single. Nationality: British. Education: Exceter College Oxford. Residence: Illegible. ↑ "England and Wales Marriage Registration Index, 1837-2005," database, FamilySearch ( https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:26XB-WM7  : 13 December 2014), John R R Tolkien and null, 1916; from “England & Wales Marriages, 1837-2005,” database, findmypast ( http://www.findmypast.com  : 2012); citing 1916, quarter 1, vol. 6D, p. 1511, Warwick, Warwickshire, England, General Register Office, Southport, England. ↑  :Professor J.R.R. Tolkien: Creator of Hobbits and inventor of a new mythology (1973, September 3). The Times. Geni.com . Digital image (obituary) ↑ "England and Wales Death Registration Index 1837-2007," database, FamilySearch ( https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVCT-V7F4  : 4 September 2014), John Ronald R Tolkien, 1973; from "England & Wales Deaths, 1837-2006," database, findmypast ( http://www.findmypast.com  : 2012); citing Death, Bournemouth, Dorset, England, General Register Office, Southport, England. ↑ Memorial : "Billion Graves" Wolvercote Cemetery, Cutteslowe, Banbury Road, Cutteslowe England OX2 8EE, United Kingdom BillionGraves memorial (accessed 30 March 2024) Memorial page for John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (3 January 1892-2 September 1973); Transcribed by Elaine Newbold, Sep 30, 2021; Photographed by kalaraish, Jun 25, 2012. 1939 Register : "1939 England and Wales Register" The National Archives; Kew, London, England; 1939 Register; Reference: Rg 101/2179j; Line Number: 1; Schedule Number: 31; Sub Schedule Number: 1 Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 61596 #1712320 (accessed 30 March 2024) John R R Tolkein (born 3 Jan 1892), married, Professor of Anglo Saxon ??, at 20 Northmoor Rd., Oxford, Oxfordshire, England. Wikipedia:J._R._R._Tolkien Wikipedia: Tolkien family "How Tolkien became the father of fantasy", Felix Schlagwein, Made for Minds 2022 tolkiengateway.net (family tree) Memorial : Find a Grave (has image) Find A Grave: Memorial #1456 (accessed 30 March 2024) Memorial page for J.R.R. Tolkien (3 Jan 1892-2 Sep 1973), citing Wolvercote Cemetery, Oxford, City of Oxford, Oxfordshire, England (plot: L2, Grave 211); Maintained by Find a Grave. FamilySearch Person: L7N7-YGR For JRR Tolkien followers / fans Feb 17, 2023. Middle Earth and Tolkien in Smithsonian Magazine Sep 24, 2022. Which Middle-Earth associate are you most closely connected to? Sep 19, 2022. Help us find and improve next week's Connection Finder profiles: Middle-Earth Sep 12, 2022. How J. R. R. Tolkien became the father of fantasy Jan 15, 2022. Would you be so kind as to add the project as manager to comply with the new rule regarding project boxes. 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Tolkien Biography John Ronald Reuel Tolkien Biografia de John Ronald Reuel Tolkien Centro Studi Aurhelio: John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, in memoriam John Ronald Reuel Tolkien VIDEO Bilbo toma el mando en 'El Hobbit: Un viaje inesperado' John Ronald Reuel Tolkien Quote 001 John Ronald Reuel JOHN RONALD REUEL TOLKIEN :A BIOGRAPHY by Humphrey Carpenter Дина Ягудина Vennaskond COMMENTS J.R.R. Tolkien J.R.R. Tolkien | Biography, Books, Movies, & Facts J. R. R. Tolkien J. R. R. Tolkien J.R.R. Tolkien J.R.R. Tolkien - Books, Life & Quotes Biography Biography - The Tolkien Society J.R.R. Tolkien Biography J.R.R. Tolkien Biography - tolkien's life J.R.R. Tolkien J.R.R. Tolkien Biography of J.R.R. Tolkien: Creator of Middle-Earth Learn more about Tolkien's life and achievements in this John Ronald Reuel Tolkien biography: Early Life and Education. John Ronald Reuel Tolkien aka J.R.R. Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa, on the 3rd, January 1892, to English parents. By age 3, Tolkien, his younger brother Hilary and their mother relocated back to England ... J.R.R. Tolkien Biography & Facts: Books, Quotes, and Movie John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa, on January 3, 1892. His family would move to Birmingham, England, in 1896 after his father died, and Tolkien's mother would pass ... TolkienWiki: John__Ronald__Reuel__Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien. (. redirection. from. Tolkien. ) J.R.R. Tolkien was born on 3 January 1892. After serving in the First World War, he embarked upon a distinguished academic career and was recognised as one of the finest philologists in the world. He is best known as the creator of Middle-earth and author of the classic works The ... Biography of J.R.R Tolkien Biography of J.R.R Tolkien. J R R Tolkien (1892 - 1973) ... In 1904, when John was just 12, his mother Mabel died from diabetes leaving a profound mark on him and his brother. ... "Biography: John Ronald Reuel Tolkien" 26 Jun 02 Carpenter, Humphrey. J R R Tolkien: A biography. Glasgow, 2002, Harper Collins. Featured pages. People who made ... J.R.R. Tolkien Biography J.R.R. Tolkien Biography Biography Biography - The Tolkien Estate ... Biography J. R. R. Tolkien J. R. R. Tolkien - Simple English Wikipedia, the free ... J. R. R. Tolkien Biography John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born on January 3, 1892, in Bloemfontein, Orange Free State (modern-day South Africa), to Mabel Suffield and English bank manager Arthur Reuel Tolkien. His father died of rheumatic fever when he was three, and hence, started living with his maternal grandparents in Kings Heath, Birmingham, along with his mother and ... Biography of J.R.R. Tolkien On January 3, 1892, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born in Bloemenfontein, South Africa where his father was manager of the Bank of Africa. Mabel wrote to her mother-in-law that the infant looked like a fairy when dressed up in white frills and like an elf when very much undressed. On February 17th, 1894 his brother, Hilary Arthur Reuel was born. J. R. R. Tolkien J.R.R. Tolkien, or John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, a renowned English poet, author, and academic, was born on January 3, 1892, in Bloemfontein, South Africa. His father, Arthur Reuel Tolkien, worked as a banker, while his mother, Mabel, dedicated herself to homemaking. From an early age, Tolkien exhibited a profound passion for reading and writing ... J.R.R. Tolkien J.R.R. Tolkien | The One Wiki to Rule Them All J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography From the publisher. The authorized biography of the creator of Middle-earth. In the decades since his death in September 1973, millions have read The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion and become fascinated about the very private man behind the books.. Born in South Africa in January 1892, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was orphaned in childhood and brought up in near-poverty. John Ronald Reuel Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien 1453644 Q892 John Ronald Reuel Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien J. R. R. Tolkien South African-born, British-based fantasy author, best known for The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit . TolkienWiki: John__Ronald__Reuel__Tolkien/Bibliography [Tolkien wrote in reply to letter published in that newspaper on 16 January.] Reprinted in Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien, pp. 30-2. 1940: Preface to Beowulf and the Finnesburg Fragment: A Translation into Modern English Prose by John R. Clark Hall, revised by C. L. Wrenn (London, George Allen & Unwin). New edition 1950. John Ronald Reuel Tolkien CBE FRSL (1892-1973) John Ronald Reuel (J. R. R.) Tolkien CBE FRSL. Born 3 Jan 1892 in Bloemfontein, Orange Free State. Ancestors. Son of Arthur Reuel Tolkien and Mabel (Suffield) Tolkien. Brother of Hilary Arthur Reuel Tolkien. Husband of Edith Mary (Bratt) Tolkien — married 22 Mar 1916 in St Mary Immaculate Church, Warwick, Warwickshire, England. Descendants. J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien wurde am 3. Januar 1892 in Bloemfontein geboren[…]. (German) family name. Tolkien. 1 reference. stated in. Tolkiens Reise nach Mittelerde. page(s) 2. quotation. John Ronald Reuel Tolkien wurde am 3. Januar 1892 in Bloemfontein geboren[…]. (German) pseudonym. Oxymore. John Ronald Reuel Tolkien From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository. English: John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (3 January 1892 - 2 September 1973) was the author of The Hobbit and its sequel The Lord of the Rings. Español: John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (3 de enero de 1892 - 2 de septiembre de 1973) fue el autor de El hobbit y su secuela El Señor de los Anillos. assignment essay homework paper phd resume review speech thesis