Tolkien's themes and major influences stem from his love of mythology and his love for storytelling. Starting with "The Silmarillion" Tolkien began creating a the vast world of Middle Earth and even made up an entire elvish language to go along with it. Tolkien also loved to tell stories and in 1930 he started working on a story that was geared towards a younger audience, the book becoming "The Hobbit". The major themes encountered in "The Hobbit" are very similar to a coming of age story. Bilbo goes from a simple-lived hobbit to a grand adventurer. "The Lord of the Rings" is a heroic epic story and even themed by the Shamonic journey through many of the characters. Tolkien often told stories of wild adventure that always had purpose.

Tolkien's writing subject did not become a hit right off the bat. At the time publishers were mainly concerned with a new style of writing: realism. But over time Tolkien's storys of fantasy and adventure took off and to this day are still the cornerstone of todays fantasy writing. In fact when "The Lord of the Rings" was published in paperback in the U.S. it received cult status within the college community and many of the fantasy writers of today cite Tolkien as an influence in their writing (including my favorite R.A. Salvatore).

Works Cited

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

-"J.R.R. Tolkien", Encyclodeadia Britannica Online. 09 April 2010.

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/598643/J-R-R-Tolkien

J.R.R. Tolkien had a three official professions in his life; military member, teacher, and writer. Tolkien faught on the western front of France during World War I. He saw action at the Battle of Somme and was injured. When World War II rolled around he was aproached to become a codebreaker and even went as far as taking classes in London. Ultimately he was told that he would not be needed.

Tolkien's first job after the war was to work on the Oxford English Dictionary where his specialty was working on words of Germanic origin. In 1924 he became a profesor at the University of Leeds. Here he and a collegue worked on a new edition of Sir Gaiwan and the Green Knight, a version that is still considered one of the best editions today. He then moved back to Oxford where he became the Profesor of Anglo-Saxon. It was here that he wrote the Hobbit and the first two portions of the Lord of the Rings. The rest of his career is defined by his relationship with C.S. Lewis and the furthering of Middle Earth mythology.

Tolkien has 5 blue plaques commemorating places associated with him and his writing. Four of them are in Birmingham and one is in Oxford.

Works Cited

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

- "About J.R.R. Tolkien", http://www.lord-of-the-rings.org/author.html, 2009