Biography

I chose J.R.R. Tolkien because I have always loved his Lord of the Rings books as well as some of his other works. John Ronald Reuel Tolkien "was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa, on January 3, 1892"(Tolkien Society). During Tolkien's childhood, the family moved around constantly. After they retuned to the Wetlands, England from South Africa, the family moved to King's Heath to Birmingham to Edgbaston. The "Tolkien family lived on the genteel side of poverty" (Tolkien Society). In 1904, John's mother, Mabel Tolkien was diagnosed with diabetes. "She died on 14 November of that year leaving the two orphaned boys effectively destitute" since their dad had died on 15 February, 1896 (Tolkien Society). Eventually, the boys pastor, Father Francis began to take care of them. At 16 "Ronald fell in love with Edin Bratt" at an orphanage (Rayment). "[Ronald] went up to Exeter College, Oxford in 1911, where he stayed immersing himself in the Classics, Old English, and Germanic Languages" (Tolkien Society). However, Tolkien "failed to enter college on his fisrt try" (Rayment). In 1914, Tolkien regained word with Edin Bratt, and in 1916, Tolkien proposed.
in 1914, World War I stared. "Tolkien lost many of his friends in the war, and he himself would serve as an officer on the frontlines of the Battle of Somme. He caught trench-fever in 1917 and was sent back to England to recuperate" (Rayment). Once Tolkien came home from the war, he spent most of his time with his wife and four kids. "After the war, he was offered a proffesorship at the University of Leeds" (Rayment). What sparked Tolkien's true writing feelings was when him and a coworker published a different translation of "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight". In 1936, The Hobbit released. Throughout the 1930's, Tolkien wrote the complete series of The Lord of the Rings. "After his retirement at Oxford, he and Edith moved to Bournemouth in 1966. Edith died in 1971. [Tolkien] struggled on for some two years till his death of pneumonia on 2 September 1973" (Rayment). Overall, J.R.R. Tolkien lived a very long and hard life. He was a son of poverty and disease that grew up to become a wise, rich, and peaceful man who wrote some of the greatest novels of all time.

---"'...in huts full of blasphemy and smut, or by candle light in bell-tents, even some down in dugouts under shell fire." (Rayment [Letters 66]).



Work Cited

Doughan, David. "Who was Tolkien?". The Tolkien Society. Wed. 12. Apr. 2010.

http://www.tolkiensociety.org/tolkien/biography.html

Rayment, W.J. "A Biography of J.R.R. Tolkien". InDepthInfo: Information Delivered in Depth

Wed. 12. Apr. 2010.http://www.indepthinfo.com/tolkien/biography.com