J. R. R. Tolkien
Tolkien in 1972
Born	John Ronald Reuel Tolkien 3 January 1892(1892-01-03) Bloemfontein, Orange Free State
Died	2 September 1973 (aged 81) Bournemouth, England
Occupation	Author, Academic, Philologist
Nationality	British
Genres	Children's Literature, High fantasy, Translation, Criticism
Notable work(s)	The Hobbit The Lord of the Rings
Signature

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE (IPA: /ˈtoʊl. Events 1431 - Joan of Arc is handed over to the Bishop Pierre Cauchon. Year 1892 ( MDCCCXCII) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year Bloemfontein (ˈbluːmfɒnteɪn Afrikaans and Dutch for "spring of Bloem (bloom" The Republic of the Orange Free State (Oranje-Vrystaat Dutch: Oranje-Vrijstaat) was an independent Boer republic in southern Africa Events 44 BC - Pharaoh Cleopatra VII of Egypt declares her son co-ruler as Ptolemy XV Caesarion. Year 1973 ( MCMLXXIII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the 1973 Gregorian calendar. Bournemouth ( is a large coastal resort town in the Borough of Bournemouth in Dorset, England. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Employment is a Contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. An author is defined both as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created See Comparative linguistics for the narrower field of "comparative philology" Nationality is a relationship between a Person and their State of Origin, Culture, association Affiliation and/or Loyalty The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located A literary genre is a category of literary composition Genres may be determined by Literary technique, tone, Content, or even (as in the case of fiction Children's literature is an age category of literature written for published for or marketed to Children roughly through age 12 High fantasy, or epic fantasy, is a subgenre of Fantasy fiction that is set in invented or parallel worlds. Translation is the interpreting of the meaning of a text and the subsequent production of an equivalent text likewise called a " translation The word critic comes from the Greek el κριτικός ( el-Latn kritikós) "able to discern" which in turn derives from the word The Hobbit or There and Back Again is an award-winning fantasy The Lord of the Rings is an epic Events 48 BC - Caesar's civil war: Battle of Pharsalus - Julius Caesar decisively defeats Pompey at Pharsalus Year 1973 ( MCMLXXIII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the 1973 Gregorian calendar. The European Black Pine Pinus nigra (generally called Black Pine in Europe is a variable species of Pine, occurring across southern Europe The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British Order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA is a system of phonetic notation based on the Latin alphabet, devised by the International Phonetic kiːn/^[1]) (3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the high fantasy classic works The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Events 1431 - Joan of Arc is handed over to the Bishop Pierre Cauchon. Year 1892 ( MDCCCXCII) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year Events 44 BC - Pharaoh Cleopatra VII of Egypt declares her son co-ruler as Ptolemy XV Caesarion. Year 1973 ( MCMLXXIII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the 1973 Gregorian calendar. The English people (from the adjective in Englisc) are a Nation and Ethnic group native to England who predominantly speak English The term English literature refers to Literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by Writers not necessarily from See Comparative linguistics for the narrower field of "comparative philology" High fantasy, or epic fantasy, is a subgenre of Fantasy fiction that is set in invented or parallel worlds. The Hobbit or There and Back Again is an award-winning fantasy The Lord of the Rings is an epic

Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford from 1925 to 1945, and Merton Professor of English language and literature from 1945 to 1959. The Rawlinson and Bosworth Professorship of Anglo-Saxon, until 1916 known as the Rawlinsonian Professorship of Anglo-Saxon, was established by Richard Rawlinson of St The University of Oxford (informally "Oxford University" or simply "Oxford" located in the city of Oxford, Oxfordshire, England is the There are two Merton Professorships of English in the University of Oxford: the Merton Professor of English Language and Literature and the Merton Professor of English Literature English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of Literatures written in the English language (including literatures from the U He was a close friend of C. S. Lewis—they were both members of the informal literary discussion group known as the Inklings. Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963 The Inklings was an informal literary discussion group associated with the University of Oxford, England, for nearly two decades between the early Tolkien was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II on 28 March 1972. The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British Order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. For the ship see RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Context States headed by Elizabeth II Events 37 - Roman Emperor Caligula accepts the titles of the Principate, entitled to him by the Senate. Year 1972 ( MCMLXXII) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.

After his death, Tolkien's son, Christopher, published a series of works based on his father's extensive notes and unpublished manuscripts, including The Silmarillion. Christopher Reuel Tolkien (born 21 November 1924 is the youngest son of the Author J The Silmarillion is a collection of J R R Tolkien 's mythopoeic works edited and published posthumously by his son Christopher Tolkien in These, together with The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, form a connected body of tales, poems, fictional histories, invented languages, and literary essays about an imagined world called Arda, and Middle-earth^[2] within it. In J R R Tolkien 's Legendarium, Arda is the name given to the Earth in a period of prehistory wherein the places mentioned in The Lord of the Rings Middle-earth refers to the fictional lands where most of the stories of author J Between 1951 and 1955 Tolkien applied the word legendarium to the larger part of these writings. Tolkien's Legendarium (ISBN 0-313-30530-7 is a collection of scholarly essays edited by Verlyn Flieger and Carl F ^[3]

While many other authors had published works of fantasy before Tolkien,^[4] the great success of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings when they were published in paperback in the United States led directly to a popular resurgence of the genre. This has caused Tolkien to be popularly identified as the "father" of modern fantasy literature^[5]—or more precisely, high fantasy. ^[6] Tolkien's writings have inspired many other works of fantasy and have had a lasting effect on the entire field. The works of J R R Tolkien have served as the inspiration topainters musicians film-makers and writers to such an extent that Tolkien is sometimes seen as the "father" In 2008, The Times ranked him sixth on a list of 'The 50 greatest British writers since 1945'. The Times is a daily national Newspaper published in the United Kingdom since 1785 when it was known as The Daily Universal Register. ^[7]

Biography

Tolkien family origins

Most of Tolkien's paternal ancestors were craftsmen. The Tolkien family had its roots in the German Kingdom of Saxony, but had been living in England since the 18th century, becoming "quickly and intensely English". Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. The Kingdom of Saxony (Königreich Sachsen lasting between 1806 and 1918 was an independent member of a number of historical confederacies in Napoleonic through post-Napoleonic ^[8] The surname Tolkien is Anglicized from Tollkiehn (i. e. German tollkühn, "foolhardy", etymologically corresponding to English dull-keen, literally oxymoron), and the surname Rashbold, given to two characters in Tolkien's The Notion Club Papers, is a pun on this. The Notion Club Papers is the title of an abandoned novel by J A pun (or paronomasia) is a Phrase that deliberately exploits confusion between similar-sounding Words for humorous or Rhetorical ^[9]

Tolkien's maternal grandparents, John and Edith Jane Suffield, were Baptists who lived in Birmingham and owned a shop in the city centre. Baptist is a term describing individuals belonging to a Baptist church or a Baptist denomination. Birmingham ( ˈbɜːmɪŋəm Ber -ming-um The Suffield family had run various businesses out of the same building, called Lamb House, since the early 1800s. Beginning in 1812 Tolkien's great-great grandfather William Suffield owned and operated a book and stationery shop there; Tolkien's great-grandfather, also John Suffield, was there from 1826 with a drapery and hosiery business. Drapery refers to Cloths or Textiles ( Old French drap, from Late Latin drappus) used for decorative purposes--such on windows--or to Hosiery is knitted coverings for the legs and feet Also referred to as legwear hosiery describes garments worn directly on the feet and Legs The term ^[10]

Childhood

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born on 3 January 1892, in Bloemfontein in the Orange Free State (now Free State Province, part of South Africa) to Arthur Reuel Tolkien (1857–1896), an English bank manager, and his wife Mabel, née Suffield (1870–1904). Events 1431 - Joan of Arc is handed over to the Bishop Pierre Cauchon. Year 1892 ( MDCCCXCII) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year Bloemfontein (ˈbluːmfɒnteɪn Afrikaans and Dutch for "spring of Bloem (bloom" The Republic of the Orange Free State (Oranje-Vrystaat Dutch: Oranje-Vrijstaat) was an independent Boer republic in southern Africa History See also Orange Free State Geography The Free State is situated on flat boundless plains in the heart of South Africa The Republic of South Africa (also known by other official names) is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa The couple had left England when Arthur was promoted to head the Bloemfontein office of the British bank he worked for. Tolkien had one sibling, his younger brother, Hilary Arthur Reuel, who was born on 17 February 1894. Events 1500 - Battle of Hemmingstedt. 1600 - Philosopher Giordano Bruno is burned alive at Campo de' Fiori Year 1894 ( MDCCCXCIV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common ^[11]

As a child, Tolkien was bitten by a baboon spider (a type of tarantula) in the garden, an event which would have later echoes in his stories. Harpactirinae (commonly called baboon spiders) are a subfamily of old-world Tarantulas which are native to the continent of Africa. Tarantula is the common name for a group of hairy and often very large Spiders belonging to the family Theraphosidae, of which approximately 900 species Dr. Thornton S. Quimby cared for the ailing child after the spider bite, and it is occasionally suggested that Doctor Quimby was an early model for such characters as Gandalf the Grey. Concept and creation Humphrey Carpenter in his 1977 biography relates that Tolkien owned a Postcard entitled Der Berggeist ("the mountain ^[12]

When he was three, Tolkien went to England with his mother and brother on what was intended to be a lengthy family visit. His father, however, died in South Africa of rheumatic fever before he could join them. Rheumatic fever is an Autoimmune inflammatory Disease which may develop two to three weeks after a Group A streptococcal infection (such as ^[13] This left the family without an income, so Tolkien's mother took him to live with her parents in Stirling Road, Birmingham. Soon after, in 1896, they moved to Sarehole (now in Hall Green), then a Worcestershire village, later annexed to Birmingham. Sarehole ( is an area in Hall Green, Birmingham, England (formerly in Worcestershire, but transferred to the city in 1911 Hall Green is an area and ward in south Birmingham, England. It is also a council constituency, managed by its own District committee Worcestershire (ˈwʊstəʃə abbreviated Worcs) is a county located in the West Midlands region of central England. ^[14] He enjoyed exploring Sarehole Mill and Moseley Bog and the Clent Hills and Malvern Hills, which would later inspire scenes in his books, along with other Worcestershire towns and villages such as Bromsgrove, Alcester, and Alvechurch and places such as his aunt's farm of Bag End, the name of which would be used in his fiction. Sarehole Mill ( is a Grade II listed water mill (in an area once called Sarehole) on the River Cole in Hall Green, Birmingham Moseley Bog is a Nature reserve in the Moseley area of Birmingham in England, at. The Clent Hills lie 15  km southwest of Birmingham City centre in Worcestershire, England. The Malvern Hills are a range of hills in the English counties of Worcestershire, Herefordshire and a small area of northern Gloucestershire Bromsgrove is a Town in Worcestershire, West Midlands, England. Alcester ( IPA /ˈɒlˌstə(ɹ/ or /ˈɔːlˌstə(ɹ/ is an old Market town of Roman origin at the junction of the River Alne and Alvechurch is a large Village of Bromsgrove district, in the northeast of the county of Worcestershire, England. ^[15]

Mabel tutored her two sons, and Ronald, as he was known in the family, was a keen pupil. ^[16] She taught him a great deal of botany, and she awakened in her son the enjoyment of the look and feel of plants. Botany, plant science(s, phytology, or plant biology is a branch of Biology and is the scientific study of plant Life Young Tolkien liked to draw landscapes and trees, but his favourite lessons were those concerning languages, and his mother taught him the rudiments of Latin very early. Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. ^[17] He could read by the age of four, and could write fluently soon afterwards. His mother allowed him to read many books. He disliked Treasure Island and The Pied Piper, and thought Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll was amusing but disturbing. Treasure Island is an adventure Novel by author Robert Louis Stevenson, narrating a tale of "pirates and buried gold" The Pied Piper of Hamelin is a legend about the abduction of many children from the town of Hamelin ( Hameln) Germany. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865 is a novel written by English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson better known under the Pseudonym Lewis Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (ˈdɒdsən (27 January 1832 &ndash 14 January 1898 better known by the Pen name Lewis Carroll (/ˈkærəl/ was an English He liked stories about "Red Indians" and the fantasy works by George MacDonald. Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples from the regions of North America now encompassed by the continental United States George MacDonald ( 10 December 1824 &mdash 18 September 1905) was a Scottish author poet and Christian minister ^[11] In addition, the "Fairy Books" of Andrew Lang were particularly important to him and their influence is apparent in some of his later writings. For the former National Basketball Association player see Andrew Lang (basketball. ^[18]

Tolkien attended King Edward's School, Birmingham and, while a student there, helped "line the route" for the coronation parade of King George V, being posted just outside the gates of Buckingham Palace. King Edward's School (KES ( is an independent Secondary school in Birmingham, England, founded by King Edward VI A coronation is a ceremony marking the investiture of a Monarch with regal power specifically involving the placement of a crown upon his or her head and the Buckingham Palace is the official London residence of the British monarch. ^[19] He later attended St. Philip's School. St Philip's School was a Roman Catholic Grammar School for boys located on Hagley Road in Birmingham, England.

Mabel Tolkien was received into the Roman Catholic Church in 1900 despite vehement protests by her Baptist family,^[20] who then stopped all financial assistance to her. She died of acute complications of diabetes in 1904, when Tolkien was 12, at Fern Cottage in Rednal, which they were then renting. Diabetes mellitus (ˌdaɪəˈbiːtiːz or /ˌdaɪəˈbiːtəs/ /məˈlaɪtəs/ or /ˈmɛlətəs/ often referred to simply as diabetes ( Ancient Greek: grc Rednal is an area on the extreme south-western tip of Birmingham, England, near Longbridge and the Lickey Hills. Mabel Tolkien was then about 34 years of age, about as long as a person with diabetes mellitus type 1 could live with no treatment—insulin would not be discovered until two decades later. Diabetes mellitus type 1 (Type 1 diabetes Type I diabetes T1D T1DM IDDM juvenile diabetes is a form of Diabetes mellitus. Insulin is a Hormone with intensive effects on both metabolism and several other body systems (eg vascular compliance For the rest of his own life Tolkien felt that his mother had become a martyr for her faith. The term martyr ( Greek μάρτυς martys "witness" is most commonly used today to describe an individual who sacrifices their life (or personal freedom This feeling had a profound effect on his own Catholic beliefs. ^[21]

Prior to her death, Mabel Tolkien had assigned the guardianship of her sons to Fr. Francis Xavier Morgan of the Birmingham Oratory, who was assigned to bring them up as good Catholics. Birmingham Oratory is a Catholic oratory and church, also known as Little Rome in Birmingham. Tolkien grew up in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham. Edgbaston is an area in the city of Birmingham in England. It is also a formal district, managed by its own District committee. He lived there in the shadow of Perrott's Folly and the Victorian tower of Edgbaston Waterworks, which may have influenced the images of the dark towers within his works. Perrott's Folly,, also known as The Monument or The Observatory is a 29-metre (96-foot tall tower built in 1758. The term Victorian architecture can refer to one of a number of Architectural styles predominantly employed during the Victorian era. Edgbaston Waterworks (Edgbaston Pumping Station ( lies to the east of Edgbaston Reservoir, two miles west of the centre of Birmingham Another strong influence was the romantic medievalist paintings of Edward Burne-Jones and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood; the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery has a large and world-renowned collection of works and had put it on free public display from around 1908. Romanticism is a complex artistic literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Western Europe, and gained strength during the Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones 1st Baronet (28 August 1833 &ndash 17 June 1898 was an English Artist and Designer closely associated with the later The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (also known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters Poets, and critics founded in 1848 by Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery (BM&AG ( is an art gallery in Birmingham, England.

Youth

In 1911, while they were at King Edward's School, Birmingham, Tolkien and three friends, Rob Gilson, Geoffrey Smith and Christopher Wiseman, formed a semi-secret society which they called "the T. King Edward's School (KES ( is an independent Secondary school in Birmingham, England, founded by King Edward VI C. B. S. ", the initials standing for "Tea Club and Barrovian Society", alluding to their fondness for drinking tea in Barrow's Stores near the school and, illicitly, in the school library. ^[22] After leaving school, the members stayed in touch, and in December 1914, they held a "Council" in London, at Wiseman's home. For Tolkien, the result of this meeting was a strong dedication to writing poetry.

In the summer of 1911, Tolkien went on holiday in Switzerland, a trip that he recollects vividly in a 1968 letter,^[19] noting that Bilbo's journey across the Misty Mountains ("including the glissade down the slithering stones into the pine woods") is directly based on his adventures as their party of 12 hiked from Interlaken to Lauterbrunnen, and on to camp in the moraines beyond Mürren. Bilbo Baggins is the protagonist of The Hobbit and also makes an appearance in The Lord of the Rings, two of the most well-known of In J R R Tolkien 's Fantasy world of Middle-earth, the Misty Mountains (also known by its Sindarin name of Hithaeglir Interlaken is a municipality in the district of Interlaken in the canton of Bern in Switzerland, a well-known tourist destination Lauterbrunnen is a municipality in the district of Interlaken in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. Moraine refers to any glacially formed accumulation of unconsolidated glacial debris (soil and rock which can occur in currently glaciated and formerly glaciated regions such as those Fifty-seven years later, Tolkien remembered his regret at leaving the view of the eternal snows of Jungfrau and Silberhorn ("the Silvertine (Celebdil) of my dreams"). The Jungfrau ( German: "maiden/virgin" is the highest peak of a mountain Massif of the same name located in the Bernese Oberland region of the The Silberhorn (3695 m is a pyramid-shaped Mountain in the Bernese Alps, to the northwest of the Jungfrau of which it is a satellite peak Minor places in Middle-earth#Place Name -->;Place name description1 Further description prefix with They went across the Kleine Scheidegg on to Grindelwald and across the Grosse Scheidegg to Meiringen. The Kleine Scheidegg (el 2061 m is a high Mountain pass below and between the Eiger and Lauberhorn peaks in the Bernese Oberland, Grindelwald is a municipality in the district of Interlaken in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. Grosse Scheidegg (el 1961 m is a high Mountain pass in the Bernese Alps in Switzerland, connecting Grindelwald and Meiringen is a municipality in the district of Oberhasli in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. They continued across the Grimsel Pass and through the upper Valais to Brig, and on to the Aletsch glacier and Zermatt. Grimsel Pass (German Grimselpass) (el 2165 m is a Swiss high Mountain pass between the valley of the Rhone River in the canton The Valais ( German:) is one of the 26 Cantons of Switzerland in the southwestern part of the country, around the valley of the Rhône from its Brig (Brigue Briga is the capital of the municipality of Brig-Glis in the district of Brig in the canton of Valais in Switzerland Aletsch Glacier, the largest Glacier in the Alps, covers more than 120 square kilometres (more than 45 square miles in southern Switzerland. Zermatt (Praborgne is a municipality in the district of Visp in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. ^[23]

In October of the same year, Tolkien began studying at Exeter College, one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford. Exeter College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England and the 4th oldest college of the University The University of Oxford (informally "Oxford University" or simply "Oxford" located in the city of Oxford, Oxfordshire, England is the He initially studied Classics but changed to English Language, graduating in 1915. "Classical literature" redirects here For literature in Classical languages outside the Graeco-Roman sphere see Ancient literature. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States

Courtship and marriage

At the age of 16, Tolkien met Edith Mary Bratt, who was three years older, when J. Edith Mary Tolkien née Bratt (21 January 1889 – 29 November 1971 was the wife of writer J R. R. and Hilary Tolkien moved into the same boarding house. According to Humphrey Carpenter:

Edith and Ronald took to frequenting Birmingham teashops, especially one which had a balcony overlooking the pavement. There they would sit and throw sugarlumps into the hats of passers-by, moving to the next table when the sugar bowl was empty. . . . With two people of their personalities and in their position, romance was bound to flourish. Both were orphans in need of affection, and they found that they could give it to each other. During the summer of 1909, they decided that they were in love. Year 1909 ( MCMIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting ^[24]

His guardian, Father Francis Morgan, viewing Edith as a distraction from Tolkien's school work and horrified that his young charge was seriously involved with a Protestant girl, prohibited him from meeting, talking, or even corresponding with her until he was twenty-one. Protestantism refers to the forms of Christian faith and practice that originated in the 16th century Protestant Reformation. He obeyed this prohibition to the letter,^[25] with one notable early exception which made Father Morgan threaten to cut short his University career if he did not stop. ^[26]

On the evening of his twenty-first birthday, Tolkien wrote to Edith a declaration of his love and asked her to marry him. Edith replied saying that she had already agreed to marry another man, but that she had done so because she had believed Tolkien had forgotten her. The two met up and beneath a railway viaduct renewed their love; Edith returned her engagement ring and announced that she was marrying Tolkien instead. ^[27] Following their engagement Edith converted to Catholicism at Tolkien's insistence. ^[28] They were formally engaged in Birmingham, in January 1913, and married in Warwick, England, at Saint Mary Immaculate Catholic Church on 22 March 1916. Warwick (ˈwɒrɪk worrick (silent w in middle is the County town of Warwickshire, England. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Events 238 - Gordian I and his son Gordian II are proclaimed Roman emperor. Year 1916 ( MCMXVI) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year ^[29]

World War I

The United Kingdom was then engaged in fighting World War I, and Tolkien volunteered for military service and was commissioned in the British Army as a Second Lieutenant in the Lancashire Fusiliers. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. Second Lieutenant is the lowest commissioned officer Military rank in many Armed forces. The Lancashire Fusiliers was a British Infantry Regiment that was amalgamated with other Fusilier regiments in 1968 to form the Royal ^[30] He trained with the 13th (Reserve) Battalion on Cannock Chase, Staffordshire, for eleven months. He was then transferred to the 11th (Service) Battalion with the British Expeditionary Force, arriving in France on 4 June 1916. The British Expeditionary Force ( BEF) was the British army sent to the Western Front in France and Belgium on the outbreak of Events 781 BC - The first historic Solar eclipse is recorded in China. Year 1916 ( MCMXVI) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year ^[31] He later wrote:

Junior officers were being killed off, a dozen a minute. Parting from my wife then . . . it was like a death. ^[32]

Tolkien served as a signals officer during the Battle of the Somme, participating in the Battle of Thiepval Ridge. The Battle of the Somme, also known as the Somme Offensive, fought from July to November 1916 was among the largest battles of the First World War The Battle of Thiepval Ridge was the first large offensive mounted by the British Reserve Army of Lieutenant General Hubert Gough during the Battle He came down with trench fever, a disease carried by the lice which were so very plentiful in No Man's Land, on 27 October 1916. Trench fever is a moderately serious Disease transmitted by body lice. No man's land is a term for land that is not occupied or more specifically land that is under dispute between countries or areas that will not occupy it because of fear or uncertainty Events 312 - Constantine the Great is said to have received his famous Vision of the Cross. Year 1916 ( MCMXVI) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year According to the memoirs of the Reverend Mervyn S. Evers, Anglican chaplain to the Lancashire Fusilliers:

On one occasion I spent the night with the Brigade Machine Gun Officer and the Signals Officer in one of the captured German dugouts . Anglicanism is a tradition of Christian faith Churches in this tradition either have historical connections to the Church of England or have similar beliefs . . We dossed down for the night in the hops of getting some sleep, but it was not to be. We no sooner laid down than hoards of lice got up. So we went round to the medical officer, who was also in the dugout with his equipment, and he gave us some ointment which he assured us would keep the little brutes away. We anointed ourselves all over with the stuff and again lay down in great hopes, but it was not to be, because instead of discouraging them it seemed to act like a kind of ors d'oeuvre and the little beggars went at their feast with renewed vigor. ^[33]

Tolkien was invalided to England on 8 November 1916. Events 1519 - Hernán Cortés enters Tenochtitlán and Aztec ruler Moctezuma welcomes him with great a Celebration Year 1916 ( MCMXVI) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year ^[34] Many of his dearest friends, including Gilson and Smith of the T. C. B. S. , were killed in the war. In later years, Tolkien indignantly declared that those who searched his works for parallels to the Second World War were entirely mistaken:

One has indeed personally to come under the shadow of war to feel fully its oppression; but as the years go by it seems now often forgotten that to be caught in youth by 1914 was no less hideous an experience than to be involved in 1939 and the following years. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including By 1918 all but one of my close friends were dead. ^[35]

The weak and emaciated Tolkien spent the remainder of the war alternating between hospitals and garrison duties, being deemed medically unfit for general service. ^[36][37] It was at this time Edith bore their first son, John Francis Reuel Tolkien.

Homefront

During his recovery in a cottage in Great Haywood, Staffordshire, England, he began to work on what he called The Book of Lost Tales, beginning with The Fall of Gondolin. Great Haywood (is a Village in central Staffordshire, England, just off the A51 about four miles from Rugeley. Staffordshire (abbreviated Staffs) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. The Book of Lost Tales is the title of a collection of early stories by J In the writings of JRR Tolkien, the "Fall of Gondolin" is the name of one of the original Lost Tales which formed the basis for a section in his later Throughout 1917 and 1918 his illness kept recurring, but he had recovered enough to do home service at various camps, and was promoted to lieutenant.

When he was stationed at Kingston upon Hull, he and Edith went walking in the woods at nearby Roos, and Edith began to dance for him in a clearing among the flowering hemlock:

We walked in a wood where hemlock was growing, a sea of white flowers. Kingston upon Hull ( almost invariably referred Roos is a village and Civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. ^[38]

This incident inspired the account of the meeting of Beren and Lúthien, and Tolkien often referred to Edith as "my Lúthien. The Tale of Beren and Lúthien is the story of the love and adventures of the mortal Man Beren and the immortal Elf -maiden Lúthien, as told Character overview Lúthien was the only child of Elu Thingol, king of Doriath, and his queen Melian the Maia. "^[39]

Academic and writing career

Tolkien's first civilian job after World War I was at the Oxford English Dictionary, where he worked mainly on the history and etymology of words of Germanic origin beginning with the letter W. The Oxford English Dictionary ( OED) published by the Oxford University Press (OUP is a comprehensive Dictionary of the English ^[40] In 1920 he took up a post as Reader in English language at the University of Leeds, and in 1924 was made a professor there. In the academic hierarchy in the United Kingdom and some universities in Australia and New Zealand, reader is the rank between Senior lecturer The University of Leeds is a major teaching and research University in Leeds, West Yorkshire; one of the largest in the United Kingdom with While at Leeds he produced A Middle English Vocabulary and, (with E. V. Gordon), a definitive edition of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, both becoming academic standard works for many decades. Eric Valentine Gordon (1896 – 1938 was a Philologist who is known for his compiling of many Germanic texts in their original language into book format Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a late 14th-century In 1925 he returned to Oxford as Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon, with a fellowship at Pembroke College. The Rawlinson and Bosworth Professorship of Anglo-Saxon, until 1916 known as the Rawlinsonian Professorship of Anglo-Saxon, was established by Richard Rawlinson of St Pembroke College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, located in Pembroke Square.

During his time at Pembroke, Tolkien wrote The Hobbit and the first two volumes of The Lord of the Rings, largely at 20 Northmoor Road in North Oxford, where a blue plaque was placed in 2002. North Oxford, especially Central North Oxford between the city centre and Summertown, is considered by many to be the most desirable and famous suburb of The Hobbit or There and Back Again is an award-winning fantasy The Lord of the Rings is an epic Northmoor Road is a road in North Oxford, England. It runs north-south parallel to and east of the Banbury Road. North Oxford, especially Central North Oxford between the city centre and Summertown, is considered by many to be the most desirable and famous suburb of In the United Kingdom, a blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person or event He also published a philological essay in 1932 on the name 'Nodens', following Sir Mortimer Wheeler's unearthing of a Roman Asclepieion at Lydney Park, Gloucestershire, in 1928. Nodens ( Nudens, Nodons) is a Celtic Deity associated with healing the sea hunting and dogs Brigadier Sir Robert Eric Mortimer Wheeler CH, CIE, MC, FBA, FSA ( September 10, 1890 Glasgow Ancient Rome was a Civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC In ancient Greece, an asclepieion (or asklepieion) was a healing temple, sacred to the god Asclepius. Lydney Park is a 17th century country estate surrounding Lydney House, located at Lydney in the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire, History See also History of Gloucestershire Gloucestershire is a historic county mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in the 10th century ^[41]

Of Tolkien's academic publications, the 1936 lecture "Beowulf: the Monsters and the Critics" had a lasting influence on Beowulf research. " Beowulf The Monsters and the Critics " was a 1936 lecture given by J Beowulf is an Old English Heroic epic poem of anonymous authorship dating as recorded in the Nowell Codex manuscript from between ^[42] Lewis E. Nicholson said that the article Tolkien wrote about Beowulf is "widely recognized as a turning point in Beowulfian criticism", noting that Tolkien established the primacy of the poetic nature of the work as opposed to the purely linguistic elements. ^[43] At the time, the consensus of scholarship deprecated Beowulf for dealing with childish battles with monsters rather than realistic tribal warfare; Tolkien argued that the author of Beowulf was addressing human destiny in general, not as limited by particular tribal politics, and therefore the monsters were essential to the poem. Beowulf is an Old English Heroic epic poem of anonymous authorship dating as recorded in the Nowell Codex manuscript from between ^[44] Where Beowulf does deal with specific tribal struggles, as at Finnsburg, Tolkien argued firmly against reading in fantastic elements. The Finnesburg Fragment is a fragment of an Old English poem of the type called a leoð, or " lay. ^[45] In the essay, Tolkien also revealed how highly he regarded Beowulf: "Beowulf is among my most valued sources," and this influence can be seen in The Lord of the Rings. ^[46]

In 1945, Tolkien moved to Merton College, Oxford, becoming the Merton Professor of English Language and Literature, in which post he remained until his retirement in 1959. See also Wardens of Merton College Oxford. Merton College is also the name of a college in the London Borough of Merton. There are two Merton Professorships of English in the University of Oxford: the Merton Professor of English Language and Literature and the Merton Professor of English Literature Tolkien completed The Lord of the Rings in 1948, close to a decade after the first sketches.

Family

The Tolkiens had four children: John Francis Reuel (17 November 1917 – 22 January 2003), Michael Hilary Reuel (22 October 1920 – 27 February 1984), Christopher John Reuel (born 21 November 1924) and Priscilla Mary Anne Reuel (born 18 June 1929). Events 284 - Diocletian is proclaimed emperor by his soldiers Year 1917 ( MCMXVII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Events 565 - Eutychius is deposed as Patriarch of Constantinople by John Scholasticus. Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 202 BC - Hannibal Barca, leader of the Carthaginians, is defeated by the Roman legions under Scipio Africanus Year 1920 ( MCMXX) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display 1920 of the Gregorian calendar Events 1560 - The Treaty of Berwick, which would expel the French from Scotland, is signed by England and the Congregation Year 1984 ( MCMLXXXIV) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1984 Gregorian calendar) Christopher Reuel Tolkien (born 21 November 1924 is the youngest son of the Author J Events 164 BC - Judas Maccabaeus, son of Mattathias of the Hasmonean family restores the Temple in Jerusalem. Year 1924 ( MCMXXIV) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 618 - Coronation of the Chinese governor Li Yuan as Emperor Gaozu of Tang, the new Emperor of China, initiating three centuries Year 1929 ( MCMXXIX) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Tolkien was very devoted to his children and sent them illustrated letters from Father Christmas when they were young. Father Christmas is a name used in many English speaking countries for the gift-bringing figure of Christmas. There were more characters added each year, such as the Polar Bear, Father Christmas' helper, the Snow Man, the gardener, Ilbereth the elf, his secretary, and various other minor characters. The major characters would relate tales of Father Christmas' battles against goblins who rode on bats and the various pranks committed by the Polar Bear. A goblin is an evil crabby or Mischievous Creature of Folklore, often described as a grotesquely disfigured or Gnome -like phantom

Friendships

C. S. Lewis

C. S. Lewis, whom Tolkien first met at Oxford, was perhaps his closest friend and colleague, although their relationship cooled later in their lives. Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963 They had a shared affection for good talk, laughter and beer, and in May 1927 Tolkien enrolled Lewis in the Coalbiters club, which read Icelandic sagas in the original Old Norse, and, as Carpenter notes, 'a long and complex friendship had begun. Old Norse is the North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age ' It was Tolkien (and Hugh Dyson) who helped C. S. Lewis return to Christianity, and Tolkien was accustomed to read aloud passages from The Silmarillion, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings to Lewis' strong approval and encouragement at the Inklings—often meeting in Lewis' big Magdalen sitting-room—and in private.

It was the arrival of Charles Williams, who worked for the Oxford University Press, that changed the relationship between Tolkien and Lewis. Charles Walter Stansby Williams ( September 20, 1886 – May 15, 1945) was a British Poet, Novelist, Theologian Lewis' enthusiasm shifted almost imperceptibly from Tolkien to Williams, especially during the writing of Lewis' third novel That Hideous Strength. That Hideous Strength is a 1945 Novel by C S Lewis, the final book in Lewis's theological Science fiction Space Trilogy.

Tolkien had for a long time been extremely bothered by what he perceived as Lewis's Anti-Catholicism. Anti-Catholicism is a generic term for Discrimination, hostility or Prejudice directed at the Roman Catholic Church or its followers In a letter to his son Christopher, he declared:

. . . hatred of our Church is after all the only real foundation of the C[hurch] of E[ngland]—so deep laid that it remains when all the superstructure seems removed (C. S. L. for example reveres the Blessed Sacrament and admires nuns!). The Blessed Sacrament, or the Body and Blood of Christ, is a devotional name used in the Roman Catholic Church, Old Catholic and Anglican Yet if a Lutheran is put in jail he is up in arms; but if Catholic priests are slaughtered—he disbelieves it (and I daresay really thinks they asked for it). Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the teachings of the sixteenth-century German reformer Martin Luther ^[47]

Lewis' growing reputation as a Christian apologist and his return to the Anglican fold also annoyed Tolkien, who had a deep resentment of the Church of England. By the mid-forties, Tolkien felt that Lewis was receiving a good deal "too much publicity for his or any of our tastes". ^[48]

Tolkien and Lewis might have grown closer during their days at Headington, but this was prevented by Lewis' marriage to Joy Davidman. Helen Joy Davidman ( April 18 1915 &ndash July 13 1960) was an American Poet and Writer Tolkien felt that Lewis expected his friends to pay court to her, even though as a bachelor in the thirties, he had often ignored the fact that his friends had wives to go home to. Tolkien also may have felt jealous about a woman's intrusion into their close friendship, just as Edith Tolkien had felt jealous of Lewis' intrusion into her marriage. It did not help matters that Lewis did not initially tell Tolkien about his marriage to Davidman or that when Tolkien finally did find out, he also discovered that Lewis had married a divorcee, which was offensive to Tolkien's Catholic beliefs. Tolkien described the marriage as "very strange". ^[49]

The cessation of Tolkien's frequent meetings with Lewis in the 1950s marked the end of the 'clubbable' chapter in Tolkien's life, which started with the T. C. B. S. at school and ended with the Inklings at Oxford.

His friendship with Lewis was nevertheless renewed to some degree in later years. As Tolkien was to comment in a letter to Priscilla after Lewis' death in November, 1963:

So far I have felt the normal feelings of a man of my age - like an old tree that is losing all its leaves one by one: this feels like an axe-blow near the roots. ^[50]

W. H. Auden

W. H. Auden was also a frequent correspondent and long-time friend of Tolkien's, initiated by Auden's fascination with The Lord of the Rings: Auden was among the most prominent early critics to praise the work. Wystan Hugh Auden (21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973 ˈwɪstən ˈhjuː ˈɔːdən who signed his works W Tolkien wrote in a 1971 letter:

I am […] very deeply in Auden's debt in recent years. His support of me and interest in my work has been one of my chief encouragements. He gave me very good reviews, notices and letters from the beginning when it was by no means a popular thing to do. He was, in fact, sneered at for it. ^[51]

Retirement and old age

During his life in retirement, from 1959 up to his death in 1973, Tolkien received steadily increasing public attention and literary fame. The sale of his books was so profitable that he regretted he had not chosen early retirement. ^[17] While at first he wrote enthusiastic answers to reader inquiries, he became more and more suspicious of emerging Tolkien fandom, especially among the hippie movement in the United States. Tolkien fandom is an international informal community of fans of the works of J The Hippie Subculture was originally a Youth movement that began in the United States during the early 1960s and spread around the world The United States of America —commonly referred to as the ^[52] In a 1972 letter he deplores having become a cult-figure, but admits that:

. Tolkien fandom is an international informal community of fans of the works of J . . even the nose of a very modest idol [. . . ] cannot remain entirely untickled by the sweet smell of incense!^[53]

Fan attention became so intense that Tolkien had to take his phone number out of the public directory^[54] and eventually he and Edith moved to Bournemouth on the south coast. Bournemouth ( is a large coastal resort town in the Borough of Bournemouth in Dorset, England.

Tolkien was awarded the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace on 28 March 1972. The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British Order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. For the ship see RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Context States headed by Elizabeth II Buckingham Palace is the official London residence of the British monarch. Events 37 - Roman Emperor Caligula accepts the titles of the Principate, entitled to him by the Senate. Year 1972 ( MCMLXXII) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.

Death

Edith Tolkien died on 29 November 1971, at the age of 82. Oxford is currently bidding for the 2010 Wikimania Conference Oxford () is a city, and the County town of Oxfordshire, Events 1777 - San Jose California, is founded as el Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe Year 1971 ( MCMLXXI) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the 1971 Gregorian calendar. ^[55] Tolkien had the name Lúthien engraved on the stone at Wolvercote Cemetery, Oxford. Character overview Lúthien was the only child of Elu Thingol, king of Doriath, and his queen Melian the Maia. Oxford is currently bidding for the 2010 Wikimania Conference Oxford () is a city, and the County town of Oxfordshire, When Tolkien died 21 months later on 2 September 1973, at the age of 81, he was buried in the same grave, with Beren added to his name. Events 44 BC - Pharaoh Cleopatra VII of Egypt declares her son co-ruler as Ptolemy XV Caesarion. Year 1973 ( MCMLXXIII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the 1973 Gregorian calendar. Character overview He was the son of Emeldir and Barahir, a Man of the royal House of Bëor of Dorthonion. The engravings read:

Edith Mary Tolkien Lúthien 1889 – 1971 John Ronald Reuel Tolkien Beren 1892 – 1973

Views

Tolkien was a devout Roman Catholic, and in his religious and political views he was mostly conservative, in the sense of favouring established conventions and orthodoxies over innovation and modernization; in 1943 he wrote, "My political opinions lean more and more to Anarchy (philosophically understood to mean abolition of control, not whiskered men with bombs)—or to 'unconstitutional' Monarchy. Anarchy (from αναρχία anarchía, "without ruler " may refer to any of the following "Absence of government a state of lawlessness Philosophical anarchism is an Anarchist school of thought which contends that the State lacks moral legitimacy but does not advocate revolution to eliminate Monarchism is the advocacy of the establishment preservation or restoration of a Monarchy as a Form of government in a nation "^[56]

Tolkien had an intense dislike for the side effects of industrialization, which he considered to be devouring the English countryside. is a process of social and economic change whereby a human group is transformed from a Pre-industrial society into an industrial one For most of his adult life, he was disdainful of automobiles, preferring to ride a bicycle. ^[57] This attitude can be seen in his work, most famously in the portrayal of the forced "industrialization" of The Shire in The Lord of the Rings. The Shire is a region of J R R Tolkien 's fictional Middle-earth, described in The Lord of the Rings and other works ^[58]

Many^[59] have commented on a number of potential parallels between the Middle-earth saga and events in Tolkien's lifetime. The Lord of the Rings is often thought to represent England during and immediately after World War II. Tolkien ardently rejects this opinion in the foreword to the second edition of the novel, stating he prefers applicability to allegory. ^[59] This theme is taken up in greater length in his essay "On Fairy-Stories", where he argues fairy-stories are so apt because they are consistent with themselves and some truths about reality. "On Fairy-Stories" is an essay by J R R Tolkien which discusses the fairy-story as a literary form He concludes that Christianity itself follows this pattern of inner consistency and external truth. His belief in the fundamental truths of Christianity and their place in mythology leads commentators to find Christian themes in The Lord of the Rings, despite its noticeable lack of overt religious references, religious ceremony or appeals to God. This is not surprising, since the phenomena which in our real world give rise to religious impulses are, in Middle-earth, an ordinary and expected part of the natural world. Use of religious references was frequently a subject of disagreement between Tolkien and C. S. Lewis, whose work is often overtly allegorical.

His love of myths and devout faith came together in his assertion that he believed that mythology is the divine echo of "the Truth". The word mythology (from the Greek grc μυθολογία mythología, meaning "a story-telling a legendary lore" ^[60] This view was expressed in his poem Mythopoeia,^[61] and his idea that myths held "fundamental truths" became a central theme of the Inklings in general. Mythopoeia (also mythopoesis, after Hellenistic Greek grc μυθοποιία μυθοποίησις "myth-making" is a narrative Genre in modern The Inklings was an informal literary discussion group associated with the University of Oxford, England, for nearly two decades between the early

Religion

Tolkien's devout faith was a significant factor in the conversion of C. S. Lewis from atheism to Christianity, although Tolkien was greatly disappointed that Lewis chose to join the Church of England,^[62] which Tolkien objected to as "a pathetic and shadowing medley of half remembered traditions and mutilated beliefs", instead of the Roman Catholic Church. Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963 Atheism Christianity ( Greek Χριστιανισμός from the word Xριστός ( Christ)is a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England, the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican

In the last years of his life, Tolkien became greatly disappointed by the reforms and changes implemented after the Second Vatican Council, as his grandson Simon Tolkien recalls:

I vividly remember going to church with him in Bournemouth. The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, or Vatican II, was the twentieth century Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church. Bournemouth ( is a large coastal resort town in the Borough of Bournemouth in Dorset, England. He was a devout Roman Catholic and it was soon after the Church had changed the liturgy from Latin to English. A liturgy is the customary public worship done by a specific religious group according to their particular traditions My grandfather obviously didn't agree with this and made all the responses very loudly in Latin while the rest of the congregation answered in English. I found the whole experience quite excruciating, but my grandfather was oblivious. He simply had to do what he believed to be right. ^[63]

According to a recent article:

[Tolkien] knew that his imaginative and spiritual roots were in the Ancient Church, and he was bewildered by the theological wreckers who would, as he put it, pull up a tree to discover its roots. No matter how scandalized, he reaffirmed his Faith in the Church and the Pope because they defended the Blessed Sacrament and kept it in its prime place as the center of our worship. ^[64]

Politics

Tolkien's views were guided by his strict Catholicism. He voiced support for Francisco Franco's Falangist regime during the Spanish Civil War upon learning that Republican death squads were destroying churches and killing large numbers of priests and nuns. Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco y Bahamonde (born December 4, 1892 in Ferrol, died November 20, 1975 in Madrid This article is about the Spanish political party For the Lebanese Phalange see the Kataeb Party. The Spanish Civil War was a major conflict in Spain that started after an attempted Coup d'état committed by parts of the army against the government of The Second Spanish Republic was the system of government in Spain between April 14 1931, when King Alfonso XIII left the country A death squad is an armed Squad that kills civilians terrorists or guerillas The Red Terror in Spain is the name given to various acts committed by Spanish Republicans during the Spanish Civil War of the 1930s including ^[65][66] He also expressed admiration for the South African poet and fellow Catholic Roy Campbell after a 1944 meeting. Since Campbell had served with Franco's armies in Spain, Tolkien regarded him as a defender of the Catholic faith, while C. S. Lewis composed poetry openly satirising Campbell's "mixture of Catholicism and Fascism". Fascism is a totalitarian nationalist and corporatist ideology ^[67]

The question of racist or racialist elements in Tolkien's views and works has been the matter of some scholarly debate. List of racism-related topics|Racism by country Racism, by its simplest definition is the belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that Racialism is an emphasis on race or racial considerations Racialism entails a belief in the existence and significance of racial categories but not necessarily in a ^[68] Christine Chism^[69] distinguishes accusations as falling into three categories: intentional racism,^[70] unconscious Eurocentric bias, and an evolution from latent racism in Tolkien's early work to a conscious rejection of racist tendencies in his late work. Eurocentrism is the practice of viewing the world from a European perspective with an implied belief either consciously or subconsciously in the preeminence of European (and

Tolkien is known to have condemned Nazi "race-doctrine" and anti-Semitism as "wholly pernicious and unscientific". Nazism, which was a short name for National Socialism (Nationalsozialismus refers primarily to the Ideology and practices of the National Socialist German Antisemitism (alternatively spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism; also rarely known as judeophobia) is the Prejudice against or hostility ^[71] He also said of racial segregation in South Africa,

The treatment of colour nearly always horrifies anyone going out from Britain. The Republic of South Africa (also known by other official names) is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa ^[72]

In 1968, he objected to a description of Middle-earth as "Nordic", a term he said he disliked due to its association with racialist theories. The Nordic race was one of the racial categories into which the Europeans were divided by anthropologists in the first half of the twentieth century ^[73] Tolkien had nothing but contempt for Adolf Hitler, whom he accused of "perverting . Hi and welcome to Wikipedia! Please understand that this article is frequently vandalized and vandalism is reverted immediately . . and making for ever accursed, that noble northern spirit" which was so dear to him. ^[74] However, he could get just as agitated over "lesser evils" that struck nearer home; he denounced anti-German fanaticism in the British war effort during World War II. Anti-German sentiment (or Germanophobia) is defined as a fear or hatred of Germany, its people, and the German language. In 1944, he wrote in a letter to his son Christopher:

It is distressing to see the press grovelling in the gutter as low as Goebbels in his prime, shrieking that any German commander who holds out in a desperate situation (when, too, the military needs of his side clearly benefit) is a drunkard, and a besotted fanatic . Paul Joseph Goebbels (German pronunciation ˈɡœbəls English generally ˈɡɝbəlz (29 October 1897 1 May 1945 was a German politician and Reich Minister of Public . . There was a solemn article in the local paper seriously advocating systematic exterminating of the entire German nation as the only proper course after military victory: because, if you please, they are rattlesnakes, and don't know the difference between good and evil! (What of the writer?) The Germans have just as much right to declare the Poles and Jews exterminable vermin, subhuman, as we have to select the Germans: in other words, no right, whatever they have done. Rattlesnakes are a group of venomous Snakes, genera Crotalus and Sistrurus. The Polish people, or Poles, (Polacy) are a Western Slavic Ethnic group of Central Europe, living predominantly in Poland. PLEASE TAKE NOTE************ Untermensch ( German for under man, sub-man, sub-human; plural Untermenschen is a term from Nazi racial Ideology ^[75]

He was horrified by the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, referring to the Bomb's creators as "these lunatic physicists" and "Babel-builders". The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were nuclear attacks near the end of World War II against the Empire of Japan by the United States at The World War II Manhattan Project developed the first Nuclear weapon (atomic bomb The Tower of Babel (מגדל בבל Migdal Bavel برج بابل Burj Babil) is a structure featured in chapter 11 of the Book of Genesis, an enormous ^[76]

Writing

Beginning with The Book of Lost Tales, written while recuperating from illnesses contracted during The Battle of the Somme, Tolkien devised several themes that were reused in successive drafts of his legendarium. The Book of Lost Tales is the title of a collection of early stories by J The Battle of the Somme, also known as the Somme Offensive, fought from July to November 1916 was among the largest battles of the First World War Tolkien's Legendarium (ISBN 0-313-30530-7 is a collection of scholarly essays edited by Verlyn Flieger and Carl F The two most prominent stories, the tales of Beren and Lúthien and that of Túrin, were carried forward into long narrative poems (published in The Lays of Beleriand). The Tale of Beren and Lúthien is the story of the love and adventures of the mortal Man Beren and the immortal Elf -maiden Lúthien, as told Túrin Turambar ('tuːrɪn tu'rambaɹ is a fictional character in J The Lays of Beleriand, published in 1985 is the third volume of Christopher Tolkien 's 12-volume book series The History of Middle-earth, in which he analyzes

Influences

One of the greatest influences on Tolkien was the Arts and Crafts polymath William Morris. The Arts and Crafts Movement was a British, Canadian, and American Aesthetic movement occurring in the last years of the 19th century and the William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896 was an English Architect, Furniture and Textile designer artist writer and socialist associated Tolkien wished to imitate Morris's prose and poetry romances,^[77] along with the general style and approach, he took elements such as the Dead Marshes in The Lord of the Rings^[78] and Mirkwood. ^[79]

Edward Wyke-Smith's Marvellous Land of the Snergs, with its 'table-high' title characters, strongly influenced the incidents, themes, and depiction of Frodo's race in The Hobbit. ^[80]

Tolkien also cited H. Rider Haggard's novel She in a telephone interview: 'I suppose as a boy She interested me as much as anything—like the Greek shard of Amyntas [Amenartas], which was the kind of machine by which everything got moving. Sir Henry Rider Haggard KBE ( 22 June 1856 &ndash 14 May 1925) was a prolific writer of Adventure novels set She A History of Adventure is a novel by H Rider Haggard, first serialized in The Graphic from October 1886 to January 1887 '^[81] A supposed facsimile of this potsherd appeared in Haggard's first edition, and the ancient inscription it bore, once translated, led the English characters to She's ancient kingdom. In Archaeology, a sherd is commonly a historic or prehistoric fragment of Pottery, although the term is occasionally used to refer to fragments Critics have compared this device to the Testament of Isildur in The Lord of the Rings^[82] and Tolkien's efforts to produce as an illustration a realistic page from the Book of Mazarbul. "Arkenstone" redirects here For the composer of electronic and new age music see David Arkenstone. ^[83] Critics starting with Edwin Muir^[84] have found resemblances between Haggard's romances and Tolkien's. Edwin Muir ( 15 May 1887 &ndash 3 January, 1959) was an Orcadian poet novelist and noted translator born on a farm in Deerness ^[85][86][87]

It is also worth mentioning that Tolkien wrote of being impressed as a boy by S. R. Crockett's historical novel The Black Douglas and of basing the Necromancer (Sauron) on its villain, Gilles de Retz. Samuel Rutherford Crockett ( September 24, 1860 - April 16, 1914) was a Scottish Novelist, born at Duchrae Sauron (ˈsaʊrɒn Quenya: /sawrɔn/ literal meaning "Abhorred") is the title character and the principal Antagonist of the Fantasy Gilles de Rais (also spelled Retz) (September 10 1404 – October 26 1440 was a French noble soldier and one-time brother-in-arms of Joan of Arc ^[88] Incidents in both The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings are similar in narrative and style to the novel,^[89] and its overall style and imagery have been suggested as an influence on Tolkien. ^[90]

Tolkien was much inspired by early Germanic, especially Anglo-Saxon literature, poetry and mythology, which were his chosen and much-loved areas of expertise. The Germanic peoples are a historical group of Indo-European -speaking peoples originating in Northern Europe and identified by their use of the Germanic For their language see Anglo-Saxon language. Anglo-Saxon is the term usually used to describe the invading Tribes in the south In prosody, alliterative verse is a form of verse that uses Alliteration as the principal structuring device to unify lines of poetry as opposed to These sources of inspiration included Anglo-Saxon literature such as Beowulf, Norse sagas such as the Volsunga saga and the Hervarar saga,^[91] the Poetic Edda, the Prose Edda, the Nibelungenlied and numerous other culturally related works. Anglo-Saxon literature (or Old English literature) encompasses Literature written in Anglo-Saxon (Old English during the 600-year Anglo-Saxon Beowulf is an Old English Heroic epic poem of anonymous authorship dating as recorded in the Nowell Codex manuscript from between The sagas (from Icelandic saga, plural sögur) are stories about ancient Scandinavian and Germanic history about early Viking voyages The Völsunga saga is a Legendary saga, a late 13th century Icelandic prose rendition of the origin and decline of the Volsung clan Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks is a Legendary saga from the 13th century combining matter from several older sagas The Poetic Edda is a collection of Old Norse poems primarily preserved in the Icelandic mediaeval Manuscript Codex Regius. The Prose Edda, also known as the Younger Edda, Snorri's Edda ( Snorra Edda) or simply Edda, is an The Nibelungenlied, translated as The Song of the Nibelungs, is an epic poem in Middle High German. ^[92]

Despite the similarities of his work to the Volsunga saga and the Nibelungenlied, which were the basis for Richard Wagner's opera series Der Ring des Nibelungen, Tolkien dismissed critics' direct comparisons to Wagner, telling his publisher, 'Both rings were round, and there the resemblance ceases. Der Ring des Nibelungen ( The Ring of the Nibelung) is a cycle of four epic Music dramas by the German composer '

Tolkien himself also acknowledged Homer, Sophocles, and the Finnish and Karelian Kalevala as influences or sources for some of his stories and ideas. Homer ( Ancient Greek:, Homēros) is a legendary ancient Greek epic Poet, traditionally said to be the author of the epic poems the Sophocles (ˈsɒfəkliːz Ancient Greek, sopʰoklɛ̂ːs circa The terms Finns and Finnish people ( Finnish: suomalaiset, Swedish: finländare) are used in English to Karelian is a language closely related to Finnish, with which it is not necessarily Mutually intelligible. The Kalevala is a book and epic poem which the Finn Elias Lönnrot compiled from Finnish and Karelian Folklore in the nineteenth ^[93]

Dimitra Fimi, along with Douglas Anderson, John Garth and many other prominent Tolkien Scholars show that Tolkien also drew influence from a variety of Celtic (Scottish , Welsh and Gaelic) history and legends,^[94][95] though after having the Silmarillion manuscript rejected, in part for it's 'eye-splitting' Celtic names, Tolkien rejected their Celtic origin:

Needless to say they are not Celtic! Neither are the tales. Celtic mythology is the Mythology of Celtic polytheism, apparently the Religion of the Iron Age Celts Like other Iron Age Scottish mythology may refer to any of the mythologies of Scotland. Welsh mythology, the remnants of the Mythology of the pre Christian Britons, has come down to us in much altered form in medieval Welsh manuscripts The Mythology of pre-Christian Ireland did not entirely survive the conversion to Christianity, but much of it was preserved shorn of its religious meanings I do know Celtic things (many in their original languages Irish and Welsh), and feel for them a certain distaste: largely for their fundamental unreason. They have bright colour, but are like a broken stained glass window reassembled without design. They are in fact 'mad' as your reader says—but I don't believe I am. ^[96][97]

A major philosophical influence on his writing is Alfred the Great's Anglo-Saxon translation of Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy, known as the Lays of Boethius. Alfred the Great (also Ælfred from the Old English Ælfrēd ˈælfreːd (c Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius (480&ndash524 or 525 was a Christian philosopher of the 6th century Consolation of Philosophy ( Consolatio Philosophiae) is a philosophical work by Boethius, written in about the year AD 524. The Lays of Boethius is King Alfred 's 9th century Old English version of the Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius ^[98] Characters in The Lord of the Rings such as Frodo, Treebeard, and Elrond make noticeably Boethian remarks. Literature Spirits were sent by Eru Ilúvatar to inhabit the trees which the Vala Yavana had created along with other plants or olvars Character overview Elrond was Lord of Rivendell, one of the mighty rulers of old that remained in Middle-earth in its Third Age. Also, Catholic theology and imagery played a part in fashioning Tolkien's creative imagination, suffused as it was by his deeply religious spirit. ^[99][92]

The Silmarillion

Tolkien wrote a brief summary of the legendarium that the tales of Beren and Lúthien and of Túrin were intended to represent, and that summary eventually evolved into The Silmarillion, an epic history that Tolkien started three times but never published. The Silmarillion is a collection of J R R Tolkien 's mythopoeic works edited and published posthumously by his son Christopher Tolkien in Tolkien hoped to publish it along with The Lord of the Rings, but publishers (both Allen & Unwin and Collins) got cold feet; moreover printing costs were very high in the post-war years, leading to The Lord of the Rings being published in three books. ^[100] The story of this continuous redrafting is told in the posthumous series The History of Middle-earth, which was edited by Tolkien's son, Christopher Tolkien. The History of Middle-earth is a 12-volume series of books published from 1983 through 1996 that collect and analyse material relating to the fiction of J Christopher Reuel Tolkien (born 21 November 1924 is the youngest son of the Author J From around 1936, he began to extend this framework to include the tale of The Fall of Númenor, which was inspired by the legend of Atlantis. Númenor (ˈnuːmɛnɔɹ is a Fictional place in J R R Tolkien 's writings which the author intended to be an allusion to the legendary Atlantis. Atlantis (in Greek,, "island of Atlas " is the name of a Legendary Island, first mentioned in Plato 's dialogues

Children's books

In addition to his mythopoetic compositions, Tolkien enjoyed inventing fantasy stories to entertain his children. Mythopoeia (also mythopoesis, after Hellenistic Greek grc μυθοποιία μυθοποίησις "myth-making" is a narrative Genre in modern ^[101] He wrote annual Christmas letters from Father Christmas for them, building up a series of short stories (later compiled and published as The Father Christmas Letters). Father Christmas is a name used in many English speaking countries for the gift-bringing figure of Christmas. The Father Christmas Letters is a collection of letters written and illustrated by J Other stories included Mr. Bliss, Roverandom, Smith of Wootton Major and Farmer Giles of Ham. Mr Bliss is a children's Picture book by J R R Tolkien, published posthumously in book form in 1982. "Roverandom" is a story written by JRR Tolkien, originally told in 1925 Smith of Wootton Major, first published in 1967, is a Novella by J "Farmer Giles of Ham" is a Novella written by J R R Tolkien in 1937 and published in 1949 Roverandom and Smith of Wootton Major, like The Hobbit, borrowed ideas from his legendarium. The Hobbit or There and Back Again is an award-winning fantasy

The Hobbit

Tolkien never expected his stories to become popular, but by sheer accident a book he had written some years before for his own children, called The Hobbit, came in 1936 to the attention of Susan Dagnall, an employee of the London publishing firm George Allen & Unwin, who persuaded him to submit it for publication. The Hobbit or There and Back Again is an award-winning fantasy ^[102] However, the book attracted adult readers as well, and it became popular enough for the publisher to ask Tolkien to work on a sequel.

The Lord of the Rings

Even though he felt uninspired on the topic, this request prompted Tolkien to begin what would become his most famous work: the epic three-volume novel The Lord of the Rings (published 1954–55). The Lord of the Rings is an epic Tolkien spent more than ten years writing the primary narrative and appendices for The Lord of the Rings, during which time he received the constant support of the Inklings, in particular his closest friend Lewis, the author of The Chronicles of Narnia. The Inklings was an informal literary discussion group associated with the University of Oxford, England, for nearly two decades between the early Both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are set against the background of The Silmarillion, but in a time long after it. The Hobbit or There and Back Again is an award-winning fantasy The Lord of the Rings is an epic The Silmarillion is a collection of J R R Tolkien 's mythopoeic works edited and published posthumously by his son Christopher Tolkien in

Tolkien at first intended The Lord of the Rings to be a children's tale in the style of The Hobbit, but it quickly grew darker and more serious in the writing. ^[103] Though a direct sequel to The Hobbit, it addressed an older audience, drawing on the immense back story of Beleriand that Tolkien had constructed in previous years, and which eventually saw posthumous publication in The Silmarillion and other volumes. In Narratology, a back-story (also back story or backstory) is the history behind the situation extant at the start of the main story In J R R Tolkien 's fictional legendarium, Beleriand was a region in northwestern Middle-earth during the First Age. The Silmarillion is a collection of J R R Tolkien 's mythopoeic works edited and published posthumously by his son Christopher Tolkien in Tolkien's influence weighs heavily on the fantasy genre that grew up after the success of The Lord of the Rings. Fantasy is a Genre that uses magic and other Supernatural forms as a primary element of plot, theme, and/or setting

The Lord of the Rings became immensely popular in the 1960s and has remained so ever since, ranking as one of the most popular works of fiction of the 20th century, judged by both sales and reader surveys. ^[104] In the 2003 "Big Read" survey conducted by the BBC, The Lord of the Rings was found to be the "Nation's Best-loved Book". The Big Read was a 2003 survey carried out by the BBC, with the goal of finding the "Nation's Best-loved Book" by way of a viewer vote via the Web SMS and telephone Australians voted The Lord of the Rings "My Favourite Book" in a 2004 survey conducted by the Australian ABC. My Favourite Book was a 2004 survey carried out by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation toidentify the nation's favourite books The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly abbreviated to the 'ABC' is Australia's national public broadcaster. ^[105] In a 1999 poll of Amazon.com customers, The Lord of the Rings was judged to be their favourite "book of the millennium". Amazoncom Inc ( is an American electronic commerce ( E-commerce) company in Seattle Washington. ^[106] In 2002 Tolkien was voted the 92nd "greatest Briton" in a poll conducted by the BBC, and in 2004 he was voted 35th in the SABC3's Great South Africans, the only person to appear in both lists. Great South Africans was a South African television series that aired on SABC3 and hosted by Noeleen Maholwana Sangqu and Denis Beckett. His popularity is not limited to the English-speaking world: in a 2004 poll inspired by the UK’s "Big Read" survey, about 250,000 Germans found The Lord of the Rings to be their favourite work of literature. ^[107]

Posthumous publications

Tolkien had appointed his son Christopher to be his literary executor, and he (with assistance from Guy Gavriel Kay, later a well-known fantasy author in his own right) organized some of the unpublished material into a single coherent volume, published as The Silmarillion in 1977—his father had previously attempted to get a collection of 'Silmarillion' material published together with The Lord of the Rings. The Tolkien Estate is the legal body which manages the property of the late J Christopher Reuel Tolkien (born 21 November 1924 is the youngest son of the Author J Guy Gavriel Kay (born November 7, 1954) is a Canadian author of Fantasy fiction.

In 1980 Christopher Tolkien followed The Silmarillion with a collection of more fragmentary material under the title Unfinished Tales. Unfinished Tales (full title Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth) is a collection of stories and essays by J In subsequent years (1983–1996) he published a large amount of the remaining unpublished materials together with notes and extensive commentary in a series of twelve volumes called The History of Middle-earth. The History of Middle-earth is a 12-volume series of books published from 1983 through 1996 that collect and analyse material relating to the fiction of J They contain unfinished, abandoned, alternative and outright contradictory accounts, since they were always a work in progress, and Tolkien only rarely settled on a definitive version for any of the stories. There is not complete consistency between The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, the two most closely related works, because Tolkien never fully integrated all their traditions into each other. He commented in 1965, while editing The Hobbit for a third edition, that he would have preferred to completely rewrite the entire book due to the style of its prose. ^[108]

More recently, in 2007, the collection was completed with the publication of The Children of Húrin by HarperCollins (in the UK and Canada) and Houghton Mifflin in the USA. The Children of Húrin is an epic High fantasy Novel which forms the completion of a tale by J HarperCollins is a Publishing company owned by News Corporation. Houghton Mifflin Company is a leading educational Publisher in the United States. The novel tells the story of Túrin Turambar and his sister Nienor, children of Húrin Thalion. Túrin Turambar ('tuːrɪn tu'rambaɹ is a fictional character in J Appearance and history. was shorter in stature than other men of his kin in this he took after his mother's people but in all else he was like Hador his grandfather The material was compiled by Christopher Tolkien from The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, The History of Middle-earth and unpublished works. The Silmarillion is a collection of J R R Tolkien 's mythopoeic works edited and published posthumously by his son Christopher Tolkien in Unfinished Tales (full title Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth) is a collection of stories and essays by J The History of Middle-earth is a 12-volume series of books published from 1983 through 1996 that collect and analyse material relating to the fiction of J

The Department of Special Collections and University Archives of John P. Raynor,S. J. , Library at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin preserves many of Tolkien's manuscripts;^[109] other original material is in Oxford University's Bodleian Library. Marquette University is a private coeducational Jesuit, Roman Catholic University located in Milwaukee Wisconsin. The University of Oxford (informally "Oxford University" or simply "Oxford" located in the city of Oxford, Oxfordshire, England is the The Bodleian Library ( the main Research library of the University of Oxford, is one of the oldest libraries in Europe, and in England Marquette has the manuscripts and proofs of The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit and other works, including Farmer Giles of Ham, while the Bodleian holds the Silmarillion papers and Tolkien's academic work. ^[110]

Languages and philology

Linguistic career

Both Tolkien's academic career and his literary production are inseparable from his love of language and philology. A language is a dynamic set of visual auditory or tactile Symbols of Communication and the elements used to manipulate them See Comparative linguistics for the narrower field of "comparative philology" He specialized in Ancient Greek philology in college, and in 1915 graduated with Old Norse as special subject. The Ancient Greek language is the historical stage in the development of the Hellenic language family spanning the Archaic (c Old Norse is the North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age He worked for the Oxford English Dictionary from 1918, and is credited with having worked on a number of W words, including walrus, over which he struggled mightily. The Oxford English Dictionary ( OED) published by the Oxford University Press (OUP is a comprehensive Dictionary of the English The walrus ( Odobenus rosmarus) is a large flippered Marine mammal with a discontinuous circumpolar distribution in the Arctic Ocean and ^[111] In 1920, he went to Leeds as Reader in English language, where he claimed credit for raising the number of students of linguistics from five to twenty. Leeds ( is located on the River Aire in West Yorkshire, England Linguistics is the scientific study of Language, encompassing a number of sub-fields He gave courses in Old English heroic verse, history of English, various Old English and Middle English texts, Old and Middle English philology, introductory Germanic philology, Gothic, Old Icelandic, and Medieval Welsh. Heroic verse consists of the rhymed Iambic line or Heroic couplet. English is a West Germanic language which originated from the Anglo-Frisian Dialects brought to Britain by Germanic settlers Middle English is the name given by Historical linguistics to the diverse forms of the English language spoken between the Norman invasion of The Germanic languages are a group of related languages that constitute a branch of the Indo-European (IE Language family. Gothic is an extinct Germanic language that was spoken by the Goths. Old Norse is the North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age Middle Welsh (Cymraeg Canol is the label attached to the Welsh language of the 12th to 14th centuries of which much more remains than for any earlier When in 1925, aged thirty-three, Tolkien applied for the Rawlinson and Bosworth Professorship of Anglo-Saxon, he boasted that his students of Germanic philology in Leeds had even formed a "Viking Club". Early modern publications dealing with Old Norse ( Viking Age) culture appeared in the 16th century e ^[112] He also had a certain, if imperfect, knowledge of Finnish. Finnish ( or suomen kieli) is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland (92% As of 2006) and by ethnic Finns outside ^[113]

Privately, Tolkien was attracted to "things of racial and linguistic significance", and he entertained notions of an inherited taste of language, which he termed the "native tongue" as opposed to "cradle tongue" in his 1955 lecture English and Welsh, which is crucial to his understanding of race and language. The term race or racial group usually refers to the concept of categorizing Humans into Populations or groups on the basis of various sets As an adjective "English and Welsh" refers to England and Wales. He considered West Midlands dialect of Middle English to be his own "native tongue", and, as he wrote to W. H. Auden in 1955, "I am a West-midlander by blood (and took to early west-midland Middle English as a known tongue as soon as I set eyes on it)". The West Midlands is an official Region of England, covering the western half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. Middle English is the name given by Historical linguistics to the diverse forms of the English language spoken between the Norman invasion of Wystan Hugh Auden (21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973 ˈwɪstən ˈhjuː ˈɔːdən who signed his works W ^[114]

Language construction

See also: Languages of Middle-earth

Parallel to Tolkien's professional work as a philologist, and sometimes overshadowing this work, to the effect that his academic output remained rather thin, was his affection for the construction of artificial languages. The Languages of Arda are artificial languages invented by J R An artificial language is a Language created by a person or a group of people for a certain purpose usually when this purpose is hard to achieve by using a Natural The best developed of these are Quenya and Sindarin, the etymological connection between which formed the core of much of Tolkien's legendarium. Quenya 'kwɛɲa is one of the fictional languages spoken by the Elves (the Quendi, "those who speak with voices" because when Sindarin is an Artificial language developed by J R R Tolkien. Language and grammar for Tolkien was a matter of aesthetics and euphony, and Quenya in particular was designed from "phonaesthetic" considerations; it was intended as an "Elvenlatin", and was phonologically based on Latin, with ingredients from Finnish, Welsh, English, and Greek. Aesthetics or esthetics ( also spelled æsthetics) is commonly known as the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values sometimes called Finnish ( or suomen kieli) is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland (92% As of 2006) and by ethnic Finns outside ^[115] A notable addition came in late 1945 with Adûnaic or Númenórean, a language of a "faintly Semitic flavour", connected with Tolkien's Atlantis legend, which by The Notion Club Papers ties directly into his ideas about inability of language to be inherited, and via the "Second Age" and the story of Eärendil was grounded in the legendarium, thereby providing a link of Tolkien's twentieth-century "real primary world" with the legendary past of his Middle-earth. In the fiction of J R R Tolkien, Adûnaic ("language of the west" was the language of the Men of Númenor during the Second Age Númenor (ˈnuːmɛnɔɹ is a Fictional place in J R R Tolkien 's writings which the author intended to be an allusion to the legendary Atlantis. The Semitic languages are a Language family whose living representatives are spoken by more than 467 million people across much of the Middle East, Atlantis (in Greek,, "island of Atlas " is the name of a Legendary Island, first mentioned in Plato 's dialogues The Notion Club Papers is the title of an abandoned novel by J The Second Age is a time period from J R R Tolkien 's Middle-earth fantasy writings This article deals with the Half-elven Eärendil For the Gondorian king see Eärendil of Gondor.

Tolkien considered languages inseparable from the mythology associated with them, and he consequently took a dim view of auxiliary languages: in 1930 a congress of Esperantists were told as much by him, in his lecture A Secret Vice, "Your language construction will breed a mythology", but by 1956 he had concluded that "Volapük, Esperanto, Ido, Novial, &c, &c, are dead, far deader than ancient unused languages, because their authors never invented any Esperanto legends". An international auxiliary language (sometimes abbreviated as IAL or auxlang) or interlanguage is a Language meant for communication between people from A Secret Vice is the title of a lecture written by J R R Tolkien in 1931 given at an Esperanto conference Volapük (volaˈpyk or ˈvɒləpʊk in English is a Constructed language, created in 1879-1880 by Johann Martin Schleyer, a Roman Catholic priest is by far the most widely spoken constructed International auxiliary language in the world Ido (ˈiːdoʊ is a Constructed language created with the goal of becoming a universal second language for speakers of different linguistic backgrounds as a language easier Novial ("new" + ''IAL International Auxiliary Language'' is a constructed International auxiliary language (IAL intended to facilitate international ^[116]

The popularity of Tolkien's books has had a small but lasting effect on the use of language in fantasy literature in particular, and even on mainstream dictionaries, which today commonly accept Tolkien's idiosyncratic spellings dwarves and dwarvish (alongside dwarfs and dwarfish), which had been little used since the mid-1800s and earlier. He also coined the term eucatastrophe, though it remains mainly used in connection with his own work. Eucatastrophe is a term coined by J R R Tolkien which refers to the sudden turn of events at the end of a story which result in the Protagonist 's well-being

Legacy

Adaptations

Main article: Works inspired by J. R. R. Tolkien

In a 1951 letter to Milton Waldman, Tolkien writes about his intentions to create a "body of more or less connected legend", of which

The cycles should be linked to a majestic whole, and yet leave scope for other minds and hands, wielding paint and music and drama. The works of J R R Tolkien have served as the inspiration topainters musicians film-makers and writers to such an extent that Tolkien is sometimes seen as the "father" ^[117]

The hands and minds of many artists have indeed been inspired by Tolkien's legends. Personally known to him were Pauline Baynes (Tolkien's favourite illustrator of The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Farmer Giles of Ham) and Donald Swann (who set the music to The Road Goes Ever On). Pauline Baynes ( September 9, 1922 - August 1, 2008) was an English book illustrator whose work encompassed more than 100 books notably The Adventures of Tom Bombadil is a collection of poetry written by J "Farmer Giles of Ham" is a Novella written by J R R Tolkien in 1937 and published in 1949 Donald Ibrahím Swann ( September 30, 1923 – March 23, 1994) was a British composer musician and entertainer This article is about the song cycle book and recording For the individual songs of this name see The Road Goes Ever On (song. Queen Margrethe II of Denmark created illustrations to The Lord of the Rings in the early 1970s. Early life Princess Margrethe was born, to Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Ingrid. She sent them to Tolkien, who was struck by the similarity they bore in style to his own drawings. ^[118]

However, Tolkien was not fond of all the artistic representation of his works that were produced in his lifetime, and was sometimes harshly disapproving. In 1946, he rejected suggestions for illustrations by Horus Engels for the German edition of The Hobbit as "too Disnified",

Bilbo with a dribbling nose, and Gandalf as a figure of vulgar fun rather than the Odinic wanderer that I think of. Odin (ˈoʊdɪn from Old Norse Óðinn) is considered the chief god in Norse paganism. ^[119]

Tolkien was sceptical of the emerging Tolkien fandom in the United States, and in 1954 he returned proposals for the dust jackets of the American edition of The Lord of the Rings:

Thank you for sending me the projected 'blurbs', which I return. Tolkien fandom is an international informal community of fans of the works of J The Americans are not as a rule at all amenable to criticism or correction; but I think their effort is so poor that I feel constrained to make some effort to improve it. ^[115]

In 1958, after receiving a screenplay for a proposed movie adaptation of The Lord of the Rings by Morton Grady Zimmerman, Tolkien wrote:

I would ask them to make an effort of imagination sufficient to understand the irritation (and on occasion the resentment) of an author, who finds, increasingly as he proceeds, his work treated as it would seem carelessly in general, in places recklessly, and with no evident signs of any appreciation of what it is all about. See also Pre-production Screenwriting A screenplay or script is a written plan authored by a Screenwriter, for a Film or Television ^[120]

Tolkien went on to criticize the script scene by scene ("yet one more scene of screams and rather meaningless slashings"). But Tolkien was in principle open to the idea of a movie adaptation. He sold the film, stage and merchandise rights of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings to United Artists in 1968. This article is about the film studio Previously it was affiliated with a cinema chain bearing its name now owned by Regal Entertainment Group. However, guided by an intense hatred of their past work, Tolkien expressly forbade that The Walt Disney Company should ever become involved in any future productions.

United Artists never made a film, although director John Boorman was planning a live-action film in the early 1970s. John Boorman (born January 18, 1933) is an English filmmaker currently based in Ireland best known for his feature films such as Point In 1976 the rights were sold to Tolkien Enterprises, a division of the Saul Zaentz Company, and the first movie adaptation of The Lord of the Rings appeared in 1978, an animated rotoscoping film directed by Ralph Bakshi with screenplay by the fantasy writer Peter S. Beagle. Tolkien Enterprises (TE a trading name for the Saul Zaentz Company owns the worldwide exclusive rights to certain elements of J Saul Zaentz (ˈzænts born February 28, 1921) is an American Film producer and former record company executive JRR Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings is a 1978 animated Fantasy film directed by Ralph Bakshi. Rotoscoping is an Animation technique in which Animators trace over live-action film movement frame by frame for use in Animated films Originally Ralph Bakshi (born October 29 1938 is an American director of animated and occasionally live-action films Peter Soyer Beagle (born April 20 1939) is an American fantasist and author of novels nonfiction and screenplays It covered only the first half of the story of The Lord of the Rings. ^[121] In 1977 an animated TV production of The Hobbit was made by Rankin-Bass, and in 1980 they produced an animated The Return of the King, which covered some of the portions of The Lord of the Rings that Bakshi was unable to complete. J R R Tolkien 's The Hobbit was adapted into an animated Television movie by Rankin/Bass Productions in 1977 Rankin/Bass Productions Inc (formerly Videocraft International Ltd The Return of the King is an animated adaptation of the novel by J

From 2001 to 2003, New Line Cinema released The Lord of the Rings as a trilogy of live-action films that were filmed in New Zealand and directed by Peter Jackson. New Line Cinema, founded in 1967 is one of the major American Film studios Though it initially began as an independent film studio it became a The Lord of the Rings film trilogy consists of three Live action Fantasy Epic films The Fellowship of the Ring ( 2001 New Zealand is an Island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses (the North Island and the South Island Peter Robert Jackson, CNZM (born 31 October 1961 is a three-time Academy Award -winning New Zealand director producer and writer best known for directing The series was successful, performing well commercially and winning numerous Oscars. "The Oscar" redirects here for the film see The Oscar (film.

Memorials

Posthumously named after Tolkien are the Tolkien Road in Eastbourne, East Sussex, and the asteroid 2675 Tolkien discovered in 1982. Eastbourne ( is a large town and borough of East Sussex, on the south coast of England with an estimated population of 94816 as of 2007 East Sussex is a county in South East England. It is bordered by the counties of Kent, Surrey and West Sussex, and to the Asteroids, sometimes called Minor planets or planetoids', are bodies—primarily of the inner Solar System —that are smaller than planets but 2675 Tolkien is a small main belt Asteroid, which was discovered by M Tolkien Way in Stoke-on-Trent is named after Tolkien's eldest son, Fr. Stoke-on-Trent ( often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city in Staffordshire, England which forms a linear Conurbation almost 12 miles (19 John Francis Tolkien, who was the priest in charge at the nearby Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady of the Angels and St. Peter in Chains. ^[122] There is also a professorship in Tolkien's name at Oxford, the J. The meaning of the word professor ( Latin: professor, person who professes to be an expert in some art or science teacher of highest rank) varies R. R. Tolkien Professor of English Literature and Language. ^[123]

Blue plaques

There are six blue plaques that commemorate places associated with Tolkien, one in Oxford, one in Harrogate, and four in Birmingham. Sarehole Mill ( is a Grade II listed water mill (in an area once called Sarehole) on the River Cole in Hall Green, Birmingham In the United Kingdom, a blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person or event Oxford is currently bidding for the 2010 Wikimania Conference Oxford () is a city, and the County town of Oxfordshire, Harrogate (or Harrogate Spa) is a large wealthy Spa town in North Yorkshire, England. Birmingham ( ˈbɜːmɪŋəm Ber -ming-um The Birmingham plaques commemorate three of his childhood homes right up to the time he left to attend Oxford University. The University of Oxford (informally "Oxford University" or simply "Oxford" located in the city of Oxford, Oxfordshire, England is the The Oxford plaque commemorates the residence where Tolkien wrote The Hobbit and most of The Lord of the Rings. The Hobbit or There and Back Again is an award-winning fantasy The Lord of the Rings is an epic The Harrogate plaque commemorates the residence where Tolkien convalesced from trench fever. Trench fever is a moderately serious Disease transmitted by body lice.

Address	Commemoration	Date unveiled	Issued by
Sarehole Mill Hall Green, Birmingham	"Inspired" 1896–1900 (i. Sarehole Mill ( is a Grade II listed water mill (in an area once called Sarehole) on the River Cole in Hall Green, Birmingham Hall Green is an area and ward in south Birmingham, England. It is also a council constituency, managed by its own District committee Birmingham ( ˈbɜːmɪŋəm Ber -ming-um e. lived nearby)	15 August 2002	Birmingham Civic Society and The Tolkien Society[124]
1 Duchess Place Ladywood, Birmingham	Lived near here 1902–1910	Unknown	Birmingham Civic Society[125]
4 Highfield Road Edgbaston, Birmingham	Lived here 1910–1911	Unknown	Birmingham Civic Society and The Tolkien Society[126]
Plough and Harrow Hagley Road, Birmingham	Stayed here June 1916	June 1997	The Tolkien Society[127]
20 Northmoor Road Oxford	Lived here 1930–1947	3 December 2002	Oxfordshire Blue Plaques Board[128]
96 Valley Drive Harrogate

Bibliography

Please see Bibliography of J. R. R. Tolkien

Notes and references

General references

• Biography: Carpenter, Humphrey (1977). Humphrey William Bouverie Carpenter ( April 29 1946 – January 4 2005) was an English biographer, Author, and Tolkien: A Biography. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 0-04-928037-6.  
• Letters: Carpenter, Humphrey and Tolkien, Christopher (eds. ) (1981). The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien. The Letters of J R R Tolkien (ISBN 0-618-05699-8 is a selection of J London: George Allen & Unwin. Allen & Unwin, formerly a major British publishing house is now an independent book publisher and distributor based in Australia. ISBN 0-04-826005-3.  

Further reading

A small selection of books about Tolkien and his works:

• (2004) in Anderson, Douglas A. , Michael D. C. Drout and Verlyn Flieger: Tolkien Studies, An Annual Scholarly Review Vol. I. West Virginia University Press. ISBN 0-937058-87-4.  
• Carpenter, Humphrey (1979). The Inklings: C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, Charles Williams and Their Friends. ISBN 0-395-27628-4.  
• (2003) in Chance, Jane: Tolkien the Medievalist. London, New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-28944-0.  
• (2004) in Chance, Jane: Tolkien and the Invention of Myth, a Reader. Louisville: University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0-8131-2301-1.  
• Curry, Patrick (2004). Defending Middle-earth: Tolkien, Myth and Modernity. ISBN 0-618-47885-X.  
• (2006) in Drout, Michael D. C. : J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment. The JRR Tolkien Encyclopedia, subtitled Scholarship and Critical Assessment, edited by Michael D New York City: Routledge. ISBN 0-415969425. .  
• Duriez, Colin (2001). The Inklings Handbook: The Lives, Thought and Writings of C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, Owen Barfield, and Their Friends. ISBN 1-902694-13-9.  
• Duriez, Colin (2003). Tolkien and C. S. Lewis: The Gift of Friendship. ISBN 1-58768-026-2.  
• (2000) in Flieger, Verlyn and Carl F. Hostetter: Tolkien's Legendarium: Essays on The History of Middle-earth. Carl F Hostetter (born 1965 is a computer scientist at NASA 's Goddard Space Flight Center, and a key figure of the Elvish Linguistic Fellowship. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-30530-7. DDC 823. 912. LC PR6039. .  
• Fonstad, Karen Wynn (1991). The Atlas of Middle-earth. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-618-126996.  
• Garth, John (2003). Tolkien and the Great War. Harper-Collins. ISBN 0-00-711953-4.  
• Gilliver, Peter; Marshall, Jeremy; Weiner, Edmund (2006). Peter Gilliver (b June 14, 1964) is a Lexicographer and Associate Editor of the OED The Ring of Words. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0198610696.  
• Glyer, Diana Pavlac]] (2007). The Company They Keep: C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien as Writers in Community. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press. ISBN 978-0-87338-890-0.  
• Haber, Karen (2001). Meditations on Middle-earth: New Writing on the Worlds of J. R. R. Tolkien. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-27536-6.  
• (2003) in Harrington, Patrick: Tolkien and Politics. London, England: Third Way Publications Ltd. ISBN 0-9544788-2-7.  
• (2005) in Lee, S. D. , and E. Solopova: The Keys of Middle-earth: Discovering Medieval Literature through the Fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 1-4039-4671-X.  
• O'Neill, Timothy R (1979). The Individuated Hobbit: Jung, Tolkien and the Archetypes of Middle-earth. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 0-395-28208-X.  
• Pearce, Joseph (1998). Tolkien: Man and Myth. London: HarperCollinsPublishers. HarperCollins is a Publishing company owned by News Corporation. ISBN 0-00-274018-4.  
• Perry, Michael (2006). Untangling Tolkien: A Chronology and Commentary for The Lord of the Rings. Seattle: Inkling Books. ISBN 1-58742-019-8.  
• (Spanish) (2003) in Pytrell, Ariel: El Señor de los Anillos. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Mondragón Argentina. ISBN 987-20607-0-3.  
• Shippey, Tom (2000). Thomas Alan Shippey (born September 9, 1943) is a scholar of Medieval literature, including Anglo-Saxon England, and of modern Fantasy J. R. R. Tolkien – Author of the Century. Boston, New York: Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 0-618-12764-X, ISBN 0-618-25759-4 (pbk).  
• Strachey, Barbara (1981). Journeys of Frodo: an Atlas of The Lord of the Rings. Journeys of Frodo An Atlas of J R R Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings by Barbara Strachey (ISBN 0-04-912016-6 1981) is an atlas based London, Boston: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 0-04-912016-6.  
• Tolkien, John & Priscilla (1992). The Tolkien Family Album. London: HarperCollins. ISBN 0-261-10239-7.  
• White, Michael (2003). Tolkien: A Biography. New American Library. ISBN 0-451-21242-8.  

External links

• HarperCollins Tolkien Website
• Tolkien Biography (The Tolkien Society)
• Tolkien Archives at the Raynor Library, Marquette University
• The Tolkien Library
• The Tolkien Collector's Guide
• Works by or about J. R. R. Tolkien in libraries (WorldCat catalog)

Persondata
NAME	Tolkien, J. WorldCat is a Union catalog which itemizes the collections of more than 10000 libraries which participate in the OCLC global cooperative R. R.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Tolkien, John Ronald Reuel
SHORT DESCRIPTION	British philologist and author
DATE OF BIRTH	3 January 1892(1892-01-03)
PLACE OF BIRTH	Bloemfontein, Orange Free State
DATE OF DEATH	2 September 1973
PLACE OF DEATH	Bournemouth, England

Events 1431 - Joan of Arc is handed over to the Bishop Pierre Cauchon. Year 1892 ( MDCCCXCII) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year Events 44 BC - Pharaoh Cleopatra VII of Egypt declares her son co-ruler as Ptolemy XV Caesarion. Year 1973 ( MCMLXXIII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the 1973 Gregorian calendar.

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