J.R.R. Tolkien, British author of the famous fantasy novels, The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.
Early Life of J.R.R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born on January 3, 1892, in Bloemfontein, South Africa, of English parents. He moved with his mother to England when he was three. As a young man he fought in World War I, and after the war he studied early forms of language. At age 33, he became professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford University. He stayed at Oxford until he retired.
Fellowship of Intellectuals
Tolkien was a distinguished scholar and an Oxford professor. He was deeply interested in Anglo-Saxon literature, Celtic and Teutonic myths.
At Oxford, Tolkien made friends with other writers, including his friend, C.S. Lewis, author of the Narnia Chronicles. He formed a writers' group called "The Inklings" by which members have an interest in storytelling. All members were Christians. At their meetings they would read aloud versions of their work they would like to share.
The Hobbit and Middle Earth
When he was 45 years old, he published his first book, The Hobbit. It is a children's story about the adventures of a fainthearted, apprehensive humanlike creature, set in an imaginary world called Middle Earth. Tolkien then further developed the history of Middle Earth in the three volumes of The Lord of the Rings – The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King.
The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings is an epic story on a wide scale. It is about the final conflict between good and evil in a world populated by dwarves, elves, magicians and such evil monsters. No other writer has created such a detailed and realistic imaginary world. He even made up languages for the races that inhabit his world.
Tolkien's knowledge as a brilliant scholar helped him create a believable fantasy realm with such a complex history and society of its own. His imagery of an industrialized society – with machines, wheels and cogs - is as foreboding as that of H.G. Wells, but Tolkien denied that his creations had much in common with the real world.
J.R.R. Tolkien died on September 2, 1973, aged 81. Today there is a worldwide community of Tolkien fans dedicated to furthering interest in his works.
Books by J.R.R. Tolkien
- The Hobbit, 1937
- Farmer Giles of Ham, 1949
- The Lord of the Rings (including The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King), 1954-56
- The Adventure of Tom Bombadil, 1963
- Tree and Leaf, 1964
- Smith of Woolon Manor, 1967
- The Silmarillion, 1977 (Published after he died)
Sources:
Cambridge Guide to Literature in English, by Ian Ousby, Cambridge Univ. Press, 1993
Chambers Biographical Dictionary, edited by Una McGovern, Edinburgh. Chambers Harrap, 2002
Larousse Dictionary of Writers, edited by Rosemary Goring. New York: Larousse, 1994
The A-Z of Great Writers, by Tom Payne. London: Carlton Books, 1997
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