JRR Tolkien

J.R.R Tolkien was born in South Africa in 1892. After serving in The First World war he emberked on a distinguished academic career and was regarded as on of the finest philologists in the world. He is however best know as the creator of Middle-Earth and author of such classic works as The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion.

Born John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, he was professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford, a fellow of Pembroke College, and a fellow of Merton College until his retirement in 1959.

He enlisted in the British army during World War 1 and served on the Somme. He came down with trench fever and was deemed unfit for duty and returned to England to recover. It was during this time he began writing what became £The Book of Lost Tales"

Later when he was professor of Anglo-Saxon from 1925 to 1959 at the University of Oxford, he also wrote his most works The Hobbit (1937) and The Lord of the Rings (1954-1955)

The success of Tolkien's fantasy writings have inspired many others over the past 50 years.

J.R.R Tolkien died in 1973 aged 81 and is buried at Wolvercote Cemetery, Oxford, England. He with his wife Edith had four children one of whom Christopher published a series of works based on his extensive notes and unpublished manuscripts, including The Silmarillion. See J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography for more.

J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography

JRR Tolkien on "The Hobbit"