J.R.R. Tolkien

Guide Note

British scholar J.R.R. Tolkien is the creator of the fictional realm of Middle Earth, the setting for his fantasy novels The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, among others. He was a founding member of the literary discussion group The Inklings, along with friends and fellow authors C.S. Lewis and Charles Williams, and Tolkein's own son, Christopher. He's widely considered to be responsible for the resurgence of contemporary interest in fantasy writing, what some consider to be "high fantasy."

Fast Facts

1. Born January 3, 1892 in Bloemfontein, Orange Free State
2. Wife: Edith Tolkien
3. Professor at Oxford University
4. Close friends with C.S. Lewis and W.H. Auden
5. Voted 92nd Greatest Briton in a 2002 BBC poll
6. Died: September 2, 1973

Tolkein was born in modern South Africa, what was then known as the "Orange Free State." He moved to England at age 3 after his father died of rheumatic fever. Tolkein enlisted in World War I after graduating from University of Oxford, surviving the Battle of the Somme but contracting what was then called "trench fever." While recovering from his illness, Tolkein began working on some of the ideas that would transform into his most famous stories.

After the war, he took a job writing for the Oxford English Dictionary, and then earned a professorship at the University of Leeds in 1924. He soon returned to Oxford to accept a post there, and began working on the first book about Middle Earth, The Hobbit. Tolkein would spend 10 years writing the Lord of the Rings trilogy, relying on his friends in The Inklings for help with editing and refining the novels.

After Tolkein's death in 1973, his son Christopher collected a number of his unpublished stories about Middle Earth into a collection called The Simarillion. Christopher, who also created the famous "maps" of Middle Earth used to illustrate some of his father's novels, has continued to release Tolkein's unpublished notes and manuscripts, along with commentaries.