J.R.R. Tolkien

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born on January 3rd 1892 in Bloemfontein in the Orange Free State, South Africa. At the age of four Tolkein and his family returned to Britain, and he spent most of his youth at Sarehole, near Birmingham. His deep love of the countryside he grew up in would be reflected in his later work. After the untimely death of both parents, he and his brother, became wards of a kindly priest at the Birmingham Oratory. He attended King Edward's School, Birmingham, where his gift for language became apparant. He and his friends began to develop their interest in linguistics by inventing languages during this time.

After taking a First in English Language and Literature at Exeter College, Oxford, Tolkien married Edith Bratt. Shortly after this he was also commissioned into the Lancashire Fusiliers and fought in the battle of Somme in world war 1, where two of his three closest friends were killed. It is likely his later work drew upon this experience.

After the war, he obtained a post on the New English Dictionary, and began to write The Silmarillion which by his own account was not received with any great interest.In 1920, Tolkien was appointed as Reader and then professor at the University of Leeds. In 1925 he was appointed Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford, during which time he became a member of a grouping of Oxford friends, with similar literary interests, known as "The Inklings" which also included CS Lewis.

During this time he wrote and illustrated The Father Christmas Letters and the Hobbit for his young family. The Hobbit was published in 1937 by Stanley Unwin, who became keen to Tolkein to write another installment. What began as another child's tale grew into The Lord of the Rings, evolving the narrative of both the Hobbit and the Silmarillion. This huge story took twelve years to complete, often in the form of written missives to his son, Christopher Tolkein, who was serving in North Africa during world war 2. When the Lord of the Rings was published Tolkein was surprised and disconcerted by its huge popularity and his sudden fame.

After retirement, Tolkien and his wife lived first in Oxford, then Bournemouth. After his wife's death in 1971, which he mourned heavily, Tolkien returned to Oxford and died on September 2nd 1973. His son, Christopher continued the work of editing the Silmarillion and his other works for posthumous publication.