In the limelight

J.R.R. Tolkien:

The lord of story-telling

Once in a while we come across a work of fiction which could be enjoyed by both children and adults. If you have read 'The Lord of the Rings' by J.R.R. Tolkien, you would know what we mean.

Even if you have not read the book, most of you are sure to have watched the movies based on this three-volume novel. If so, you would know just what an amazing work 'The Lord of the Rings' is. Today we feature the great author whose great imagination resulted in the birth of this masterpiece.

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, born on January 3, 1892, was an English writer, poet and university professor. Although best known for his classic fantasy works The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, these are by no means his only contributions to the world of literature.

He is known as the 'father of modern fantasy literature'; although many fantasy works had been published before him, they gained cult status with his works, earning him this title.

The Tolkien family, of which most members were craftsmen, had its roots in the German Kingdom of Saxony, but had been living in England since the 18th Century. Even the surname Tolkien is believed to be an Anglicized version of the German Tollkiehn.

Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa to Arthur Reuel Tolkien and Mabel. The couple had left England when Arthur was promoted to head the Bloemfontein office of the British bank he worked for. Tolkien had a younger brother, Hilary Arthur Reuel.

Tolkien's father died when he was three years of age and the family went back to England. Thereafter, he lived with his mother's parents in Birmingham. Soon after, in 1896, they moved to Sarehole; the Sarehole Mill, Moseley Bog and the Clent and Malvern Hills of the area, which young Tolkien used to explore, are believed to have inspired the scenes in his books.

The two boys were tutored by their mother. Tolkien could read by the age of four, and could write fluently soon afterwards. His mother allowed him to read many books, some which influenced him later in his own works. He attended King Edward's School, Birmingham and later St. Philip's School.

Mabel died of diabetes in 1904, when Tolkien was 12 years old. Prior to her death, she had assigned their guardianship to Fr. Francis Xavier Morgan of the Birmingham Oratory.

In 1911, while studying at King Edward's School, Tolkien and three of his friends formed a society known as 'T.C.B.S.' (Tea Club and Barrovian Society). It was through this society that he had been influenced to write poetry.

He later studied at Exeter College, which belonged to the University of Oxford. He initially studied Classics but changed to English Language, graduating in 1915. In 1913, he married Edith Mary Bratt, his childhood sweetheart.

The United Kingdom was then involved in the First World War, and Tolkien volunteered for military service and was commissioned in the British Army as a Second Lieutenant in the Lancashire Fusiliers. He was posted in France in June 1916 where he served as a signals officer during the Battle of the Somme and participated in the Battle of Thiepval Ridge.

After catching trench fever, he was sent back to England and was deemed medically unfit for general service. It was at this time that their first son, John Francis Reuel, was born. They had three more children - Michael Hilary Reuel, Christopher John Reuel and Priscilla Mary Anne Reuel. Tolkien was said to be very devoted to his children. During his recovery, Tolkien began working on The Book of Lost Tales, beginning with The Fall of Gondolin. Throughout 1917 and 1918, despite his illness recurring, he did home service at various camps, and was promoted to lieutenant.

Tolkien's first civilian job after the war was at the Oxford English Dictionary, where he worked mainly on the history and etymology(origin) of words of Germanic origin.

In 1920 he served as a Reader in English language at the University of Leeds, and in 1924 was made a professor there. In 1925 he returned to Oxford as Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon.

Around this time, Tolkien wrote The Hobbit and the first two volumes of The Lord of the Rings. In 1945, he moved to Merton College, Oxford, becoming the Merton Professor of English Language and Literature, in which post he remained until his retirement in 1959.

Tolkien completed The Lord of the Rings in 1948, close to a decade after the first sketches. Well-known authors of the day such as C.S. Lewis and W.H. Auden were his friends around this time, also influencing him in his literary works.

During his life in retirement, from 1959 up to his death in 1973, Tolkien received steadily increasing public attention and literary fame. The fame was so great that he had to remove his phone number from the public directory and move to another area.

Tolkien was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in January 1, 1972 and received the insignia(emblems of honour or office) of the Order at Buckingham Palace on March 28, 1972.Edith died on November 29, 1971 and was buried at Wolvercote Cemetery in Oxford.

When Tolkien died 21 months later, on September 2, 1973, at the age of 81, he was buried in the same grave. After his death, his son, Christopher, published a series of works based on his notes and unpublished manuscripts, including The Silmarillion.

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.

In 2008, The Times ranked J.R.R. Tolkien sixth on a list of 'The 50 greatest British writers since 1945'.