J. R. R. Tolkien facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
J. R. R. Tolkien
CBE FRSL
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Tolkien in the 1920s
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| Born | John Ronald Reuel Tolkien 3 January 1892 Bloemfontein, Orange Free State |
| Died | 2 September 1973 (aged 81) Bournemouth, Hampshire, England |
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| Citizenship | British |
| Education | Exeter College, Oxford |
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| Spouse |
Edith Bratt
(m. 1916; died 1971) |
| Children |
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| Relatives | Tolkien family |
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| Military career | |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Branch | British Army |
| Years | 1915–1920 |
| Rank | Lieutenant |
| Unit | Lancashire Fusiliers |
| Battles |
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John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (born January 3, 1892 – died September 2, 1973) was a brilliant English writer, poet, and language expert. He is best known for his amazing fantasy books, The Hobbit (published in 1937) and The Lord of the Rings (published between 1954 and 1955). These stories take place in a magical world called Middle-earth.
Tolkien was also a professor at the University of Oxford, where he taught about old English languages and literature. He was good friends with C. S. Lewis, another famous author, and they were part of a group called the Inklings who discussed books and ideas. In 1972, he received a special honor from Queen Elizabeth II.
After Tolkien passed away, his son Christopher helped publish many more of his father's writings. These included The Silmarillion, which tells the ancient history of Middle-earth. Together, all these works created a rich world of tales, invented languages, and fictional histories that Tolkien called his "legendarium".
Many fantasy authors came before Tolkien, but his books became incredibly popular. They sparked a huge interest in the fantasy genre and inspired countless new books and writers. Because of this, he is often called the "father of modern fantasy literature." He is truly one of the most influential authors ever.
Contents
- Discovering J. R. R. Tolkien's Life
- Tolkien's Beliefs and Ideas
- Tolkien's Writings
- Languages and Philology
- Tolkien's Artwork
- Tolkien's Lasting Impact
- J.R.R. Tolkien Quotes
- See Also
Discovering J. R. R. Tolkien's Life
Early Years and Family Roots
Tolkien was English and felt a strong connection to his homeland. His family originally came from a town in East Prussia (now part of Poland) many years ago. They were craftsmen who made clocks and pianos.
Childhood Adventures and Learning
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born on January 3, 1892, in Bloemfontein, South Africa. His father, Arthur, worked for a British bank, and his mother was Mabel. Ronald had a younger brother named Hilary.
When he was a baby, a large spider bit him in the garden. Some people think this event might have inspired the spiders in his stories, even though he didn't remember it clearly as an adult.
When Ronald was three, he traveled to England with his mother and brother for a visit. Sadly, his father passed away in South Africa before he could join them. This meant the family had no income. So, Ronald, his mother, and brother moved to live with his grandparents in Birmingham, England. Later, they moved to a village called Sarehole. Ronald loved exploring the countryside around Sarehole, including mills and hills. These places later became inspirations for scenes in his famous books.
Mabel Tolkien taught her children at home. Ronald was a very eager student. She taught him about plants, and he loved drawing landscapes and trees. His favorite lessons were about languages, and his mother taught him the basics of Latin very early. He could read by age four and enjoyed many books, especially fantasy stories and fairy tales.
In 1904, when Ronald was 12, his mother became very ill and passed away. She was only about 34 years old. Before she died, she asked her close friend, Father Francis Xavier Morgan, to look after her sons and raise them as good Catholics. Father Francis became a very important person in Tolkien's life, teaching him about kindness and forgiveness. After his mother's death, Tolkien lived in Birmingham and attended King Edward's School, Birmingham.
Teenage Years and Creative Beginnings
As a teenager, Tolkien became fascinated with invented languages. He and his cousins created a language called Nevbosh. He even learned Esperanto. Around 1909, he started creating his own language, Naffarin, and designed an alphabet for it.
In 1911, while at King Edward's School, Tolkien and three friends formed a secret club called the T.C.B.S. (Tea Club and Barrovian Society). They loved drinking tea and discussing literature. This group encouraged Tolkien to write poetry.
That same year, Tolkien went on a summer holiday to Switzerland. He later said that Bilbo's journey across the Misty Mountains in The Hobbit was directly inspired by his adventures hiking through the Swiss Alps.
In October 1911, Tolkien began studying at Exeter College, Oxford. He first studied classics but later changed to English language and literature, graduating with top honors in 1915.
Love Story and Marriage
When Tolkien was 16, he met Edith Mary Bratt, who was three years older. They both lived in the same boarding house and quickly fell in love. They enjoyed spending time together, even throwing sugar cubes into the hats of people walking by!
However, Tolkien's guardian, Father Morgan, did not approve of their relationship because Edith was older and not Catholic. He told Tolkien he couldn't see or write to Edith until he was 21. Tolkien followed this rule very strictly.
On his 21st birthday, Tolkien immediately wrote to Edith and told her he still loved her and wanted to marry her. Edith had already accepted a proposal from someone else, thinking Tolkien no longer cared for her. But after receiving his letter, everything changed. She broke off her engagement and agreed to marry Tolkien.
Edith later decided to become Catholic, which was important to Tolkien. They got engaged in 1913 and married on March 22, 1916. Tolkien greatly admired Edith for marrying him when he had no job, little money, and faced the possibility of going to war.
Serving in the First World War
In August 1914, the First World War began. Tolkien chose to finish his university degree before joining the army. He became a temporary second lieutenant in the Lancashire Fusiliers in July 1915. He trained for nearly a year before being sent to France. Leaving his wife was very difficult for him, like a "death."
Life in France
Tolkien arrived in France in June 1916. He was assigned as a signals officer. He commanded soldiers who were mostly working-class men from Lancashire. He felt a connection with them but couldn't be friends due to military rules. He later said that being in charge of others was a very difficult job.
The Battle of the Somme
Tolkien arrived at the Battle of the Somme in July 1916, one of the largest and deadliest battles in history. He experienced the terrible conditions of trench warfare, including "hordes of lice." On October 27, 1916, he caught trench fever, an illness carried by lice. He was sent back to England to recover in November 1916.
Many of Tolkien's closest school friends were killed in the war, including Rob Gilson and Geoffrey Smith from his T.C.B.S. club. His battalion was almost completely destroyed. His experiences in the war, especially the devastated landscapes, later influenced his descriptions of places like Mordor in his books. He learned a deep respect for the ordinary soldiers he served with.
Recovery and New Stories
While recovering in England, Tolkien began to write what he called The Book of Lost Tales. This was his attempt to create a mythology for England. His illness kept coming back, but he was well enough for home service. During this time, his first child, John, was born in 1917.
In 1917, while stationed in Kingston upon Hull, he and Edith went for a walk in the woods. Edith danced for him in a clearing. This beautiful moment inspired the story of Beren and Lúthien, a central love story in his Middle-earth mythology. He later remembered this as the source of the story that became a main part of The Silmarillion.
Tolkien was taken off active service in July 1919 and officially left the army in November 1920, keeping his rank of lieutenant.
Academic Life and Writing Career
After the war, Tolkien's first job was working on the Oxford English Dictionary, studying the history of words. In 1920, he became a language professor at the University of Leeds. There, he helped publish important academic works and translated old poems like Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
In 1925, he returned to Oxford as a professor of Anglo-Saxon. It was during his time at Oxford that he wrote The Hobbit and the first two parts of The Lord of the Rings.
Understanding Beowulf
In the 1920s, Tolkien translated the ancient poem Beowulf. He also gave a famous lecture called "Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics." This lecture changed how people understood Beowulf, showing it as a powerful poem about human destiny, not just simple battles. Tolkien considered Beowulf one of his most important inspirations, and its influence can be seen throughout his Middle-earth stories.
During the Second World War
Before the Second World War, Tolkien was considered for a role as a codebreaker for the government, but his services were not needed.
In 1945, Tolkien became a professor at Merton College, Oxford, where he stayed until he retired in 1959. He finished writing The Lord of the Rings in 1948, almost ten years after he started it.
Family Life
The Tolkiens had four children: John, Michael, Christopher, and Priscilla. Tolkien was a very loving father. He even wrote and illustrated special letters from Father Christmas for his children every year when they were young.
Later Years and Fame
After retiring in 1959, Tolkien became more and more famous. His books sold incredibly well. In 1961, his friend C. S. Lewis even suggested him for the Nobel Prize in Literature.
The attention from fans became so intense that he and Edith eventually moved to Bournemouth, a seaside town. Tolkien missed his friends from Oxford, but Edith loved being a hostess. Their deep affection for each other was clear in how they cared for one another.
In his retirement, Tolkien also worked as a consultant and translator for The Jerusalem Bible, a version of the Bible.
Final Years and Legacy
Edith passed away on November 29, 1971, at the age of 82. Ronald returned to Oxford, where he was given comfortable rooms. He missed Edith greatly but enjoyed being back in the city.
Tolkien received another high honor in 1972, being made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire by the Queen. Oxford University also gave him an honorary doctorate.
He had the name Lúthien engraved on Edith's tombstone. When Tolkien died 21 months later, on September 2, 1973, at the age of 81, he was buried in the same grave, with "Beren" added to his name. This honored the great love story from his own mythology.
Tolkien's Beliefs and Ideas
Views on Government and Power
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Tolkien was very cautious about political power. He believed that being in charge of others was a difficult job, and that power itself could easily corrupt people, even those with good intentions. This idea is a major theme in The Lord of the Rings, where Gandalf refuses to use the One Ring because he knows it would corrupt him.
Love for Nature
Tolkien deeply loved forests and felt sad when trees were cut down. Scholars have noted that as he wrote The Lord of the Rings, he became more and more interested in the importance of wild nature and protecting it from the changes of the industrial world.
Fairness and Respect
Tolkien believed in fairness and was against unfair treatment of people based on their background. He strongly disagreed with harmful ideas about race, especially during the World Wars. His Middle-earth stories show a world with many different cultures and languages.
Importance of Faith
Tolkien's Catholicism was very important to him. His faith even played a part in his friend C. S. Lewis becoming a Christian. Tolkien believed that the purpose of life was to learn about God and be thankful. He found great comfort and strength in his religious practices.
Tolkien's Writings
Inspirations for His Stories
Tolkien's fantasy books, especially The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion, were inspired by many things. These included his love for languages, his Christian faith, medieval stories, myths, and ancient literature. His studies of Old English literature, especially Beowulf, were very important to his writing. He was also influenced by Germanic, Celtic, Finnish, and Greek languages and myths.
His childhood in the English countryside, and how it changed as cities grew, influenced his creation of the Shire. His experiences fighting in the trenches of the First World War affected his descriptions of places like Mordor.
Key Publications
"Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics"
Besides writing fiction, Tolkien also wrote academic literary criticism. His famous 1936 lecture on the Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf changed how literary experts studied the poem. This essay is still very important today and shows how much Beowulf influenced Tolkien's own stories.
"On Fairy-Stories"
This essay explores what makes a true fairy story. Tolkien believed that real fairy stories take place in an enchanted realm called Faerie, whether or not fairies are characters in them. He saw them as a natural result of human imagination and language.
Children's Books and Short Works
Tolkien loved making up fantasy stories for his children. He wrote annual Christmas letters from Father Christmas for them, which were later published as The Father Christmas Letters. Other works for children included Mr. Bliss and Roverandom. He also wrote short stories like Leaf by Niggle and Farmer Giles of Ham.
The Hobbit
Tolkien never expected his stories to become famous. But by chance, a book he had written for his children, called The Hobbit, was discovered by a publisher in 1936. It was published a year later and became popular with both children and adults. Its success led the publishers to ask Tolkien for a sequel.
The Lord of the Rings
The request for a sequel led Tolkien to begin his most famous work: the epic novel The Lord of the Rings. He spent more than ten years writing it, with constant support from his friends in the Inklings, especially C. S. Lewis. Both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are set in the world of Middle-earth, but much later than the events in The Silmarillion.
Tolkien first planned The Lord of the Rings to be a children's tale like The Hobbit. However, it quickly became darker and more serious. It was a direct sequel to The Hobbit but was written for an older audience. The book drew on the huge amount of backstory Tolkien had created over the years.
The Lord of the Rings became incredibly popular in the 1960s and has remained so ever since. It is one of the most loved works of fiction of the 20th century. Many surveys have shown it to be a favorite book around the world.
The Silmarillion
Tolkien wrote a short outline of his mythology, which grew into an epic history called the Quenta Silmarillion. He hoped to publish it with The Lord of the Rings, but publishers declined. After his death, his son Christopher, with help from Guy Gavriel Kay, organized these writings into a single book, published as The Silmarillion in 1977.
Other Works Compiled by Christopher Tolkien
After his father's death, Christopher Tolkien published many more of his father's notes and stories. These included Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth and a twelve-volume series called The History of Middle-earth. These books show how Tolkien's stories were always growing and changing.
| Date | Title | Description |
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| 2007 | The Children of Húrin | Tells the sad story of Túrin Turambar and his sister Nienor. |
| 2009 | The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún | Retells an old Germanic myth as a long poem. |
| 2013 | The Fall of Arthur | A poem about King Arthur, set in a time when Britain was fighting Saxon invaders. |
| 2014 | Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary | Tolkien's own translation of Beowulf, with notes from his lectures. |
| 2015 | The Story of Kullervo | A retelling of a Finnish poem that Tolkien wrote in 1915. |
| 2017 | Beren and Lúthien | One of the oldest and most important love stories in Tolkien's mythology. |
| 2018 | The Fall of Gondolin | Tells about a beautiful, secret city that was destroyed by dark forces. |
Where His Manuscripts Are Kept
Before he died, Tolkien sold many of his original writings, including those for The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, to Marquette University in the United States. His other papers, including his mythology and academic work, were given to the Bodleian Library at Oxford University.
Languages and Philology
Tolkien's Love for Languages
Tolkien's academic career and his stories are deeply connected to his love for language and philology (the study of language in historical and cultural context). He specialized in English philology at university. He worked on the Oxford English Dictionary and later taught many courses on old languages like Old English, Gothic, and Old Icelandic.
Creating New Languages
Alongside his professional work, Tolkien loved to create his own languages. The most developed of these are Quenya and Sindarin, which are the languages of the Elves in his stories. He designed these languages based on how beautiful they sounded, especially Quenya, which he wanted to be like an "Elven-Latin."
Tolkien believed that languages and their myths were inseparable. He thought that if you created a language, it would naturally lead to creating stories and myths for it. His books have even influenced how some words are used today, like his special spellings of dwarves and dwarvish. He also invented the word eucatastrophe to describe a sudden, happy turn of events in a story.
Tolkien's Artwork
Tolkien learned to paint and draw as a child and continued throughout his life. As he wrote his stories, he often drew pictures and maps of the lands in his tales. He created illustrations for the stories he told his children, and for the famous Father Christmas letters.
Even though he considered himself an amateur artist, his publishers used his own cover art, maps, and full-page illustrations for the early editions of The Hobbit. Much of his artwork was later collected and published in a book called J. R. R. Tolkien: Artist and Illustrator.
Tolkien's Lasting Impact
Influence on Fantasy Literature
While other fantasy authors existed before him, the huge success of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings led to a massive growth in the fantasy genre. This is why Tolkien is often called the "father of modern fantasy literature," especially for the style known as high fantasy. His influence can be seen in countless books, movies, and games.
Adaptations of His Works
Tolkien once wrote that he wanted his legends to "leave scope for other minds and hands, wielding paint and music and drama." Many artists have indeed been inspired by his stories.
He sold the film, stage, and merchandise rights for The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings in 1968. The first film adaptation of The Lord of the Rings was an animated movie released in 1978. An animated musical film of The Hobbit was made in 1977.
From 2001 to 2003, New Line Cinema released The Lord of the Rings as a trilogy of live-action films directed by Peter Jackson. These films were incredibly successful, winning many awards. Later, from 2012 to 2014, a series of three films based on The Hobbit was also released. In 2017, Amazon acquired the rights to create a television series set before The Fellowship of the Ring.
How He is Remembered
On September 2, 2017, Tolkien's parish church in Oxford held a special Mass to pray for him to be recognized as a saint by the Catholic Church, showing how much his faith meant to him and others.
Tolkien and his creations have inspired many real-world things. These include names for geographical features on Titan (Saturn's largest moon), street names like There and Back Again Lane, and even mountains in Canada named Mount Shadowfax and Mount Gandalf.
Since 2003, The Tolkien Society has organized Tolkien Reading Day on March 25, celebrated in schools worldwide. In 2013, Oxford University started an annual lecture on fantasy literature in his honor. In 2019, a biographical film called Tolkien focused on his early life and war experiences.
Several special blue plaques in England mark places connected to Tolkien, including his childhood homes and workplaces.
| Address | Commemoration | Date unveiled | Issued by |
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| Sarehole Mill, Hall Green, Birmingham | "Inspired" 1896–1900 (i.e. lived nearby) | 15 August 2002 | Birmingham Civic Society and The Tolkien Society |
| 1 Duchess Place, Ladywood, Birmingham | Lived near here 1902–1910 | Unknown | Birmingham Civic Society |
| 4 Highfield Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham | Lived here 1910–1911 | Unknown | Birmingham Civic Society and The Tolkien Society |
| Plough and Harrow, Hagley Road, Birmingham | Stayed here June 1916 | June 1997 | The Tolkien Society |
| 2 Darnley Road, West Park, Leeds | First academic appointment, Leeds | 1 October 2012 | The Tolkien Society and Leeds Civic Trust |
| 20 Northmoor Road, North Oxford | Lived here 1930–1947 | 3 December 2002 | Oxfordshire Blue Plaques Board |
| Hotel Miramar, East Overcliff Drive, Bournemouth | Stayed here regularly from the 1950s until 1972 | 10 June 1992 by Priscilla Tolkien | Borough of Bournemouth |
| St Mary Immaculate, 45 West Street, Warwick | Married here 22 March 1916 | 6 July 2018 | Warwick Town Council |
In 2023, the Royal Mint produced a special £2 coin to celebrate 50 years since Tolkien's death.
J.R.R. Tolkien Quotes
- "Fantasy is a higher form of Art, indeed the most nearly pure form, and so (when achieved) the most potent."
- "I do so dearly believe that no half-heartedness and no worldly fear must turn us aside from following the light unflinchingly."
- "I always in writing start with a name. Give me a name and it produces a story, not the other way about normally."
- "I am in fact a Hobbit (in all but size). I like gardens, trees, and unmechanized farmlands; I smoke a pipe, and like good plain food (unrefrigerated), but detest French cooking; I like, and even dare to wear in these dull days, ornamental waistcoats. I am fond of mushrooms (out of a field); have a very simple sense of humor (which even my appreciative critics find tiresome); I go to bed late and get up late (when possible). I do not travel much."
See Also
In Spanish: J. R. R. Tolkien para niños
