J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born on the 3rd of January 1892 in Bloemfontein, Orange Free State. His father Arthur worked as a bank manager for the British Empire before dying of rheumatic fever in South Africa. The family moved to England when John was three years old. He grew up near Sarehole Mill and Moseley Bog in Worcestershire. These places later inspired scenes in his books. His mother taught him botany and languages at home. She died of acute diabetes in 1904 when he was twelve years old. Father Francis Xavier Morgan became his guardian after her death. Morgan raised him as a Catholic despite protests from his Baptist relatives.
Tolkien entered the First World War in July 1916 as a second lieutenant. He fought at the Battle of the Somme during early July that year. His battalion attacked Schwaben Redoubt and Leipzig salient. On the 27th of October 1916 he contracted trench fever carried by lice. He was invalided back to England on the 8th of November 1916. Many of his school friends died during the conflict. Rob Gilson fell on the first day of the Somme assault. Geoffrey Smith died when an artillery shell hit their aid post. Tolkien wrote about the horrors of gas attacks and endless marching through devastated landscapes. He carried equipment for other men to encourage them forward. The experience shaped his view of war and influenced his writing of Mordor.
He worked at Oxford University from 1925 until 1945 as Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon. Later he moved to become Merton Professor of English Language and Literature. During this time he produced academic works like A Middle English Vocabulary. In 1936 he delivered a lecture titled Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics. This essay revolutionized how scholars viewed the Old English epic poem. He entered lecture halls silently then declaimed opening lines in Old English with a great cry of Hwæt. W.H. Auden later thanked him for the unforgettable experience. His translation of Beowulf remained unpublished until 2014. Christopher Tolkien edited it after his father's death.
Susan Dagnall discovered The Hobbit manuscript in 1936 while working for George Allen & Unwin. She persuaded Tolkien to submit it for publication. The book appeared a year later and attracted adult readers alongside children. Publishers asked him to write a sequel which became The Lord of the Rings. He spent over ten years writing the primary narrative and appendices. The work was published in three volumes between 1954 and 1955. Sales figures grew steadily through the 1960s. By 2003 BBC surveys ranked it as the UK's Best-loved Novel. Australian ABC polls called it My Favourite Book. About 250,000 Germans found it their favorite work of literature in a 2004 poll. The trilogy remains one of the most popular works of fiction of the twentieth century.
Tolkien met Edith Mary Bratt at age sixteen when they lived near Duchess Road in Edgbaston. They fell in love during summer 1909 but faced opposition from his guardian Father Morgan. Morgan prohibited contact until he turned twenty-one. On the 8th of January 1913 he traveled by train to Cheltenham to propose marriage. Edith had accepted another man's proposal but changed her mind after receiving his letter. She converted to Catholicism at his insistence. They married on the 22nd of March 1916 at St Mary Immaculate Catholic Church in Warwick. Their four children included John Francis Reuel Tolkien born in 1917. Edith died on the 29th of November 1971 at age eighty-two. He engraved Luthien on her tombstone before dying himself on the 2nd of September 1973. His estate valued £190,577 was proven on the 20th of December 1973.
After J.R.R. Tolkien's death his son Christopher published extensive unpublished manuscripts. The Silmarillion appeared in 1977 with assistance from Guy Gavriel Kay. It received the Locus Award for Best Fantasy novel in 1978. Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth came out in 1980. Between 1983 and 1996 twelve volumes called The History of Middle-earth were released. These contained unfinished accounts and contradictory versions since Tolkien never settled on definitive forms. The Children of Húrin arrived in 2007 telling Túrin Turambar's story. The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún followed in 2009 as a narrative poem. Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary was published in 2014. The Fall of Gondolin appeared in 2017 describing the first real story of Middle-earth. Beren and Lúthien emerged in 2018 as one of the oldest tales revised multiple times.
Tolkien is popularly identified as the father of modern fantasy literature. His influence extends to music including the Danish group the Tolkien Ensemble setting poetry to vocal music. Games set in Middle-earth have become widespread. Queen Margrethe II of Denmark created illustrations to The Lord of the Rings in early 1970s. United Artists sold film rights in 1968 but never produced a movie. Ralph Bakshi directed an animated rotoscoping film in 1978 covering only half the story. Peter Jackson released live-action trilogies from 2001 to 2003 winning numerous Oscars. Amazon acquired global television rights in 2017 for new stories before The Fellowship of the Ring. Geographical features on Titan bear names like Mount Shadowfax. Street names include There and Back Again Lane. Companies such as Palantir Technologies derive their name from his works. Thirty-seven new species of Elachista moths were named after him. A commemorative £2 coin appeared in 2023 marking fifty years since his death.
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Common questions
When and where was J. R. R. Tolkien born?
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born on the 3rd of January 1892 in Bloemfontein, Orange Free State.
What military experience did J. R. R. Tolkien have during World War I?
J. R. R. Tolkien entered the First World War in July 1916 as a second lieutenant and fought at the Battle of the Somme before contracting trench fever on the 27th of October 1916.
Who edited The Silmarillion after J. R. R. Tolkien's death?
Christopher Tolkien published The Silmarillion in 1977 with assistance from Guy Gavriel Kay to complete his father's unfinished manuscripts.
How many volumes were released for The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien?
The work was published in three volumes between 1954 and 1955 after J. R. R. Tolkien spent over ten years writing the primary narrative and appendices.
When did Edith Mary Bratt die relative to J. R. R. Tolkien?
Edith died on the 29th of November 1971 at age eighty-two while J. R. R. Tolkien died himself on the 2nd of September 1973.