Literary Birthdays

Author Birthday JRR Tolkien – 3rd January.

Posted on by Sarah

Born 3rd January 1892 in South Africa, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien is best known for literary works such as Lord of the Rings & The Hobbit. In this series, it’s Author Birthday of JRR Tolkien.

Early Childhood

Tolkien moved to England when he was 3 years old. The family – (Tolkien, his mother & brother) intended to undertake an extended visit to family, but whilst they were here, Tolkien’s father unexpectedly died back in South Africa. This left the family without an income, so they moved in with his maternal grandparents in Kings Heath, Birmingham. The young Tolkien spent a lot of time exploring the local area, enjoying Worcestershire and the Malvern Hills. These areas would later influence scenes in his books, along with places such as Alcester & Alvechurch.

When he was just 12 years old, Tolkien’s mother died of acute diabetes and guardianship of the young orphan and his brother was assigned to Father Francis Xavier Morgan, who gave the boys an upbringing Edgbaston, Birmingham. Tolkien attended King Edwards School, Birmingham and St Philip’s School but he returned to the former in 1903 after winning a scholarship.

Later Years.

At the tender age of 16, Tolkien met his future wife, Edith Mary Bratt. However, as she was 3 years older then him, the potential union did not go down well with Father Francis, who forbade Tolkien to have any communications with Edit until he was 21, even going as far to threaten to bring a swift halt to his university career if there were any transgressions.

On the night before his 21st birthday, Tolkien wrote to Edith and asked for her hand in marriage. By this time however, Edit had accepted the proposal of another, but was obviously still in love with our literary hero and called her previous engagement off. John and Edith were formally engaged in January 1913 and later married on the 22nd March 1916. The couple went on to have 4 children and were married until Edith’s death in 1971.

Of course, in 1914, the first effects of the First World War began to make themselves known and, like so many of the era, Tolkien’s life was not untouched by the horrors of the Great War. In July 1915, Tolkien was commissioned as a temporary Lieutenant in the Lancashire Fusiliers and eventually sent to France a year later. By July 1916, Tolkien was seeing action in the Battle of the Somme, enduring the wretched conditions that are so well documented today. Tolkien contracted Trench Fever and was invalided back to England, where he spent the remainder of the war in and out of hospital and undertaking garrison duties, as he was not deemed fit enough for active service.

By November 1920, Tolkien was demobbed from the Army and began the literary and academic chapter of his life. He worked at Oxford English Dictionary and later as a Reader at the University of Leeds.. It was during this chapter of his life that the writing began and fantasy novels that we know and love today, notable The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion.

Bibliography.

As well as the Middle Earth novels, Tolkien also wrote children’s books and short stories. His many literary works, and indeed lots more detailed information about the great man and his life, can be found on the Tolkien Society’s website. For a complete list of his major publications, visit the JRR Tolkien Bibliography page.

Notable Quotes.

All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.

JRR Tolkien – The Fellowship of the Ring.

There is nothing like looking, if you want to find something. You certainly usually find something, if you look, but it is not always quite the something you were after.

JRR Tolkien – The Hobbit.

The world is full enough of hurts and mischances without wars to multiply them.

JRR Tolkien – The Return of the King.