Biography

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was bor in South Africa in 1892 to Arthur Tolkien, a banker, and Mabel Suffield Tolkien. John moved to England when he was three, and after his father's death just a year later, was raised by his mother, along with his brother Hilary, on a farm. Their mother taught them many things (of which Tolkien enjoyed Latin and drawing) until her passing when John was twelve years old. He fell under the care of his mother's priest Father Francis Xavier Morgan. By the time Tolkien finished school he was able to marry his long time sweet-heart Edith Bratt, but their time together was cut short when England was plauged by World War I.

Tolkien was sent to France in the spring of 1916. There he was exposed to the many horrers of the war and was eventually sent home when he contracted trench fever. Even though he was spared the physical harshness of the war he, like all soldiers, would retain the psychological effects of the war for the rest of his life. After the war ended Tolkien got a job working on the New English Dictionary. He then moved his family to Leeds for a time where he taught in the English Department. Tolkien finally moved his family to Oxford where he met C.S. Lewis, another prominent British author that would become his long time friend.

Tolkiend and Lewis would often meet together. During these meetings each writer thoroughly influenced each others work. Tolkien helped bring Lewis back to christianity, which would be the basis of the rest of Lewis' work, and Lewis gave high praise to the excerpts Tolkien would read from "The Silmarillion", "The Hobbit", and "The Lord of the Rings". Tolkien publishd the Lord of the Rings in 1948 and, after some reprinting issues, Tolkiens popularity took off. Britians and Americans couldn't get enough of his work, to which Tolkien continued to expand his vast LOTR universe for the rest of his life. Tolkien's fame grew and grew from his retirement in 1959 to his death in 1973, at times a little bit to much, especially to the idol-like praise that he was receiving from the American 'hippie' movement. John and Edith eventually passed living a quiet life in Bournemouth.

Works Cited:

- Rogers, Debra Webster. "J.R.R. Tolkien" In Twayne's English Authors Series Online, New York: G.K. Hall & Co. Online, 1999.

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- Doughan, David "Who was Tolkien", www.tolkiensociety.org, web. 2006

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