J. R. R. Tolkien (full name John Ronald Reuel Tolkien) was born on January 3, 1892 in Bloemfontein, South Africa. He was a famous British writer.

Biography and Career :

J. R. R. Tolkien's father worked for the Bank of Africa. Three years after he was born, his mother, Mabel, took him and his brother in England to visit her family. During this time his father passed away and Mabel had to take care and educate the children.

At the age of eight J. R. R. Tolkien was accepted at King Edward's School in Birmingham and the family moved there. They were very poor and the house where they lived was "frightful".

His mother converted to Catholicism and priest Francis Morgan became a close friend of them. Soon Ma bel was diagnosed with diabetes and passed away and Francis remained the only support of the boys.

J. R. R. Tolkien and his brother went to live with their aunt, Beatrice, but because she was very unloving Francis moved the boys in an orphanage in 1908.

At school his interest in studying languages became obvious and besides Latin, Greek he also knew Anglo-Saxon. He soon started to invent his own languages.

Once J. R. R. Tolkien finished his studies he started a relationship with Edith Bratt, a girl he had met at the orphanage. Francis forced them to brake up and Tolkien won a scholarship in Oxford in 1910. Though he never renounced Edith and they had a secret relation.

In 1915 J. R. R. Tolkien finished collage and before he had gone to fight in the war he married Edith.

Edith had already given birth to their first child when the family moved to Oxford in 1918 where Tolkien worked at the New Dictionary of English. Two years later he went to the University of Leeds and at the age of 32 he became prim-professor of English, a job created especially for him.

In 1945 Tolkien became honored professor of English and stayed there until he retired in 1959. At that time the success of "The Lord of the Rings" was so huge that he didn't have to think what we and Edith would do after the retirement.

They moved to Bournemouth and in 1971 Edith passed away.

Tolkien was saved from loneliness by the Merton Collage which offered him a house as an associated member.

Tolkien passed away on September 2, 1973 at the age of 81.

Important Writings :

"The Book of Lost Tales"
"Beren and Lúthien"
"Túrin"
"The Silmarillion"
"The History of Middle-earth"
"The Fall of Númenor"
"The Father Christmas Letters"
"Mr. Bliss"
"Roverandom"
"Smith of Wootton Major"
"Farmer Giles of Ham"
"Leaf by Niggle"
1937 "The Hobbit"
1954-1955 "The Lord of the Rings"
"The Children of Húrin"

Quotes :

- "It's the job that's never started takes longest to finish."
- "I wish life was not so short, he thought. languages take such a time, and so do all the things one wants to know about."
- "Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens."

Trivia :

- When he was 21 he asked Edith to marry him and they got engaged.
- Tolkien and Edith had four children.
- He was a devout Roman Catholic.
_{J. R. R. Tolkien Image : epilog.de}

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Category: Writers  - ( Writers Archive)

Date Added: 08 November '06

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