J.R.R. Tolkien, short for John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, was born in South Africa back on January 3, 1892. He died at the age of 81 in England on September 2, 1973. Tolkien authored The Hobbit and the trilogy of The Lord of the Rings and is primarily known for such. He also held several academic positions, such as a University of Oxford professor of Anglo-Saxon language (1925-1945) and English Literature and Language (1945-1959). He had a strong relationship with his religion, which was Roman Catholic. He and C.S. Lewis, another prominent author and catholic, often joined a discussion group called The Inklings. J.R.R Tolkien wrote many more books and volumes, which added to the legendarium of Arda, which is the land in which The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit are set. These books included The Silmarillion and several more published after his death by his son, Christopher Tolkien. Because of the timelessness of The Lord of the Rings and its legendarium, Tolkien has been touted as the “father of modern high fantasy.” Other than these works, Tolkien also wrote childrens’ stories outside of the legendarium. Tolkien and his works have since inspired tons of scholarly writing and research surrounding him, his legendarium, and its influences on Western literature. There have sprung enthusiasts and professors who teach about Tolkien as an academic field.
The Family Name
Tolkien came from a family line primarily known for being craftsmen. The Tolkiens’ ancestors originated in Germany from the Saxony area, originally from the German-surname Tollkiehn, which originated from the German for “foolhardy.” They then migrated to England by around the 1700s, going from Tollkiehn to the more English version: Tolkien. The Tolkiens, upon moving to England, were quickly known to become “intensely English.”
Biography and Life
Childhood and Youth
Born in South Africa, back then known as the Orange Free State, on the 3rd of January, 1892, Tolkien was part of a family of four. His English father, Arthur Tolkien, worked as a bank manager. J.R.R. Tolkien’s mother, Mabel, had the maiden name of Suffield. J.R.R. Tolkien later had a younger brother born on February 17, 2 years after, named Hilary Arthur Reuel. One notable event of his childhood in South Africa was an incident with a tarantula. J.R.R. Tolkien suffered a tarantula bite while in their garden. That was likely the inspiration for Shelob, who later appeared in his Lord of the Rings trilogy. Later on, at the age of three, J.R.R. Tolkien and his family traveled to England for a family visit, but sans his father. Although they intended to stay in England for a while and wait until their father could join their family, Arthur Tolkien suffered from rheumatic feverand passed away before that could happen. With their family’s only breadwinner gone, the Tolkiens went to live in Birmingham with their maternal grandparents. About a year later, come 1896, their family moved again to live in Hall Green, then called Sarehole. It was a Worcestershire village near Birmingham and has since then been annexed into it. Tolkien was fond of that home, often reflecting on his childhood memories of exploring Lickey Hills, Sarehole Mill, Clent Hills, Moseley Bog, and a few other areas. These childhood explorations likely also inspired the idyllic and rural scenery of some areas in his Lord of the Rings legendarium. Even more, parallels were drawn between a real-life Bag End, which was the name of his aunt’s farm and was later used as the name of Bilbo Baggins’ home. Other nearby villages that Tolkien frequented were Alcester, Alvechurch, and Bromsgrove.
J.R.R Tolkien from 1905 to 1908
Ronald and Hilary’s mother Mabel took on the task of educating her children by tutoring them herself. Although Ronald often excelled in his subjects, he gained a love for botany and plants, likely thanks to Mabel’s emphasis on the topics. In those years, Ronald would often take pencil to paper and sketch green landscapes and foliage. However, greater than his love for plants and the earth grew his love of languages. One of the earliest lessons from his mother’s tutoring was Latin rudiments. As early as four years old, Ronald was fluent in reading and writing Latin. His talent at languages only grew when he became a student at King Edward’s School in Birmingham. During that time, he was assigned to take post at Buckingham Palace during the parade at the coronation day of King George V. His college education was taken up later on in Oxford at the St. Philip’s School and Exter College. In 1900, Mabel Tolkien converted into a Roman Catholic. That was unusual and considered a rebellious move to her family, which was Baptist. Her new religion heavily influenced Tolkien throughout the rest of his life.
4 years later, Mabel Tolkien died due to diabetes. At the time, Tolkien was twelve years old, and they lived in a rented Fern Cottage at Rednal. Her death left Tolkien believing in her martyrdom and cemented his Catholic religion. Tolkien’s faith was so strong that he became a primary cause for C.S. Lewis’s conversion into Christianity. However, Lewis instead chose the Anglican church instead of the Roman Catholic church, disappointing Tolkien. In the event of Mabel Tolkien’s death, Ronald and his brother’s care went to Father Francis Xavier Morgan from Birmingham Oratory. The oratory was located in Edgbaston, Birmingham. When Ronald moved there, he lived near the Edgbaston waterworks and its iconic Victorian tower. Tolkien scholars have speculated that it had a measure of influence on the great and dark towers in the Lord of the Rings. There too were Perrot’s Folly and the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. Among the main pieces collected in the museum were paintings by the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and Edward Burne-Jones. The styles were primarily romantic-medieval, which could also have brought Tolkien’s works’ high fantasy medieval setting.
4 years later, Mabel Tolkien died due to diabetes. At the time, Tolkien was twelve years old, and they lived in a rented Fern Cottage at Rednal. Her death left Tolkien believing in her martyrdom and cemented his Catholic religion. Tolkien’s faith was so strong that he became a primary cause for C.S. Lewis’s conversion into Christianity. However, Lewis instead chose the Anglican church instead of the Roman Catholic church, disappointing Tolkien. In the event of Mabel Tolkien’s death, Ronald and his brother’s care went to Father Francis Xavier Morgan from Birmingham Oratory. The oratory was located in Edgbaston, Birmingham. When Ronald moved there, he lived near the Edgbaston waterworks and its iconic Victorian tower. Tolkien scholars have speculated that it had a measure of influence on the great and dark towers in the Lord of the Rings. There too were Perrot’s Folly and the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. Among the main pieces collected in the museum were paintings by the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and Edward Burne-Jones. The styles were primarily romantic-medieval, which could also have brought Tolkien’s works’ high fantasy medieval setting.
J.R.R. Tolkien from 1908 to 1916
In his young adulthood, at 16 years old in 1908, Tolkien met Edith Mary Bratt. She was three years older than him. When Father Francis learned of this, he prohibited Tolkien from speaking or even writing to Bratt until he had finished his education by 21 years old. Tolkien obeyed. During his years in education, Tolkien formed a close friendship with three other friends: Christopher Wiseman, Geoffrey Smith, and Rob Gilson. By the age of 19, in 1911, Tolkien and his friends were all attending the King Edward’s School in Birmingham. They called their group of friends the “Tea Club and Barrovian Society.” They usually abbreviated this name into “the T.C.B.S.” for short. They chose this name from their regular tea meetings at the nearby Barrow’s Store and sometimes even in their school library. Their friendship remained strong even after their graduation. At the end of 1914, in Wiseman’s home in London, they met in a “council.”
Each of the friends ended the meeting with different realizations, and Tolkien’s was his renewed dedication to his love of poetry-writing. A significant event during his young adulthood was a holiday to Switzerland in 1911. He joined a twelve-person party in hiking the mountain range starting at Interlaken to Lauterbrunnen. They set camp past Mürren. Tolkien later wrote in a letter from 1968 that this specific trip inspired Bilbo’s traversal of the Misty Mountains in The Hobbit. In that same letter, Tolkien writes about the nostalgia and regret of leaving the snowy landscape of Siilberhorn and Jungfrau. The party of twelve had also crossed Kleine Scheidegg, Grindelwald, Gross Scheidegg and into Meiringen. Further past was their journey through Grimsel Pass, Valais to Brig, and finally to Zermatt and Aletsch glacier.
Each of the friends ended the meeting with different realizations, and Tolkien’s was his renewed dedication to his love of poetry-writing. A significant event during his young adulthood was a holiday to Switzerland in 1911. He joined a twelve-person party in hiking the mountain range starting at Interlaken to Lauterbrunnen. They set camp past Mürren. Tolkien later wrote in a letter from 1968 that this specific trip inspired Bilbo’s traversal of the Misty Mountains in The Hobbit. In that same letter, Tolkien writes about the nostalgia and regret of leaving the snowy landscape of Siilberhorn and Jungfrau. The party of twelve had also crossed Kleine Scheidegg, Grindelwald, Gross Scheidegg and into Meiringen. Further past was their journey through Grimsel Pass, Valais to Brig, and finally to Zermatt and Aletsch glacier.
Married Life and Adulthood
Having followed Father Francis’ instruction to restrain his contact with Edith Bratt, Tolkien finally wrote a letter to her on the same day that he turned 21 years old. In that letter, Tolkien declared to Edith his love and proposed to her. It turned out that Edith had already been engaged to a different man because, throughout their lack of contact, she believed that they no longer had an understanding. With Tolkien free to meet her in person, they met near a viaduct, and Edith agreed to marry him. They became officially engaged in January of 1913 in Birmingham. Tolkien insisted that Edith convert to Catholicism, and she consented. The two were finally married by March 22, three years later. The wedding took place in Warwick, England. The couple later grew into a family of six. John Francis Reuel was born in 1917 on November 17. Three years later, Michael Hilary Reuel was born. Christopher John Reuel and Priscilla Anne Reuel were born in 1924 and 1929, respectively. In 1914, Tolkien decided to visit Cornwall, motivated by his love for the landscape and coast. One of his favorite parts of the visit was the sea and coastline of the area.
Tolkien’s Death
On the 29th of November in 1971, Edith Tolkien died. She was 82 years old when she passed. She was buried in Oxford at the Wolvercote Cemetery. On the 2nd of September, two years later, Tolkien died and arranged to share his wife’s grave. Tolkien’s and Edith’s gravestones also held the names “Beren” and “Luthien” respectively alongside their names. After his death, an asteroid and a road were named after Tolkien. Tolkien Road can be found in East Sussex at Eastbourne. The asteroid was indexed as 2675 Tolkien. Although there is another road called Tolkien Way that can be found on Stoke-on-Trent, it is named after John Francis Tolkien, who was Tolkien’s son and a priest in the Church of Our Lady of the Angels & St. Peter in Chains, which was Roman Catholic.
Career
Military Service
Tolkien finished his college education at the University of Oxford. In 1915, he graduated with an English Language degree. Afterward, he was drafted into the World War I British Army. He was assigned the rank of second lieutenant and was enlisted into the LancashireFusiliers, the eleventh battalion. In 1916, the eleventh battalion was transferred to France. There, Tolkien became their communications officer. He served until the Battle of the Somme on the 27th of October, where he contracted trench fever. By November 8, he has pulled away from the army and back to England. He was one of the few survivors among his battalion and friend group. However, his post-war recovery was the time of the creation of most of his works.
He stayed in Great Haywood in Staffordshire in a simple cottage. There he began the story of The Fall of Gondolin, which became the first written part of The Book of Lost Tales. However, he continued to suffer from illness between 1917 and 1918. By 1918 he was well enough to serve at nearby military camps and was given the rank of lieutenant. One station he was assigned to was that of Kingston upon Hull. The story of Beren and Luthien was inspired by a specific memory that took place there. In the nearby woods of the camp, Tolkien and his wife Edith found a thick hemlock grove. There, Edith began dancing. How Beren met Lúthien in the story was based on the image of Edith dancing among the white flowers. Tolkien since then held on to that story and often called Edith “his Lúthien.” Their gravestones even had a reference to Beren and Luthien engraved on them.
It became an essential piece among Beowulf’s academic literature because it emphasized the poetic aspect of the literary work instead of the typical linguistic analysis standard at the time. It was no secret how greatly Tolkien admired Beowulf, as The Lord of the Rings revealed many references to it. After years at Pembroke College, Tolkien took up tenure at Merton College in Oxford as well. There he taught the English Language and Literature. This was his last professional career until he retired 14 years later, in 1959. During his time at Merton, he finished the trilogy of The Lord of the Rings, ending in 1949, almost an entire decade starting from its conception. In his latter years leading up to retirement, Tolkien was often found at John Francis’ home, his son’s, during the holidays. They lived in Stoke-on-Trent. During this time, the English countryside was advancing in industrialization.
While automobiles were becoming the norm, Tolkien much preferred traveling by bicycle. During those years, Tolkien developed a distaste for the industrializing of the area, and this informed the antagonistic, violent nature of the “Scourging of the Shire” toward the end of The Lord of the Rings. During the years of The Lord of the Rings’ writing, Tolkien received support from his peer, the poet Wystan Hugh Auden. They had often corresponded through letters, beginning a friendship thanks to how deeply interested Auden was by Tolkien’s works. At the time, Auden was one of the few critics who lauded Tolkien’s trilogy, and Tolkien was aware that this might have tainted Auden’s reputation at the time.
He stayed in Great Haywood in Staffordshire in a simple cottage. There he began the story of The Fall of Gondolin, which became the first written part of The Book of Lost Tales. However, he continued to suffer from illness between 1917 and 1918. By 1918 he was well enough to serve at nearby military camps and was given the rank of lieutenant. One station he was assigned to was that of Kingston upon Hull. The story of Beren and Luthien was inspired by a specific memory that took place there. In the nearby woods of the camp, Tolkien and his wife Edith found a thick hemlock grove. There, Edith began dancing. How Beren met Lúthien in the story was based on the image of Edith dancing among the white flowers. Tolkien since then held on to that story and often called Edith “his Lúthien.” Their gravestones even had a reference to Beren and Luthien engraved on them.
Professorhood and Tenure
After World War I had ended, Tolkien took up a job at Oxford English Dictionary to become his first civilian career. By 1920, he became a Reader at the University of Leeds for the English Language. By 1924, he was promoted to professor. But a mere year later, he transferred his career to Pembroke College at Oxford as a professor teaching Anglo-Saxon. During his tenure at Oxford, Tolkien helped with the uncovering of the Roman Asclepeion. Sir Mortimer Wheeler led the excavation in Lydney Park in 1928. Later down the years, Tolkien finished writing The Hobbit, The Fellowship of the Ring, and The Two Towers. Tolkien finished academic writings as well, such as his lecture on Beowulf written in 1936. It was called “Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics.”It became an essential piece among Beowulf’s academic literature because it emphasized the poetic aspect of the literary work instead of the typical linguistic analysis standard at the time. It was no secret how greatly Tolkien admired Beowulf, as The Lord of the Rings revealed many references to it. After years at Pembroke College, Tolkien took up tenure at Merton College in Oxford as well. There he taught the English Language and Literature. This was his last professional career until he retired 14 years later, in 1959. During his time at Merton, he finished the trilogy of The Lord of the Rings, ending in 1949, almost an entire decade starting from its conception. In his latter years leading up to retirement, Tolkien was often found at John Francis’ home, his son’s, during the holidays. They lived in Stoke-on-Trent. During this time, the English countryside was advancing in industrialization.
While automobiles were becoming the norm, Tolkien much preferred traveling by bicycle. During those years, Tolkien developed a distaste for the industrializing of the area, and this informed the antagonistic, violent nature of the “Scourging of the Shire” toward the end of The Lord of the Rings. During the years of The Lord of the Rings’ writing, Tolkien received support from his peer, the poet Wystan Hugh Auden. They had often corresponded through letters, beginning a friendship thanks to how deeply interested Auden was by Tolkien’s works. At the time, Auden was one of the few critics who lauded Tolkien’s trilogy, and Tolkien was aware that this might have tainted Auden’s reputation at the time.
Retirement and Post-Retirement
When Tolkien retired in 1959, his publications were gaining more and more traction. He rose to fame in the literary scene and became a prominent figure both nationally and internationally. His trilogy and books sold so well that Tolkien himself said he might as well have retired early. He also treated the emerging fans of his books differently. Although he appreciated the individual fans who wrote to Tolkien about his works, he was warier of “fandoms” and “movements” surrounding his works. When he learned of one such group among the American hippie movement, Tolkien wrote about his distaste for becoming a “cult” idol. Tolkien and his works only grew in popularity as he lapsed into old age. He was so public and prominent a figure that he removed his home phone number from the phonebook. Tolkien and his wife eventually moved out of their home to a new place, Bournemouth, near the southern coast. He was later awarded the title of Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 1972 by Queen Elizabeth II herself. It took place on the 28th of March in Buckingham Palace.
Writing and Works
The Legendarium
Tolkien’s construction of the legendarium began with The Book of Lost Tales. He wrote this collection while recovering from the trench fever he suffered at the Battle of Somme. In this first work, he wrote the main themes involved in his succeeding works within Arda. There were two tales that stood out in particular: TurinTurambar and Beren and Luthien. These were eventually rewritten into narrative poems and included in The Lays of Beleriand. Tolkien knew these two tales were part of the mythology of the legendarium. Although he tried to summarize it at first, he eventually attempted three times to write them into what would later become The Silmarillion, a posthumous publication collected by his son Christopher Tolkien. It was intended to be released alongside the Lord of the Rings trilogy, which was set against the mythology laid out in The Silmarillion. Still, printing was expensive at the time, which also caused the Lord of the Rings to be released as a trilogy instead of one of two volumes. More narratives were eventually included in what would become The History of Middle-Earth. By then, the books also included The Fall of Númenor.
Tolkien’s works were primarily inspired by Germanic, Finish, Norse, and Greek mythology, as well as the Bible; specifically the Kalevala, Beowulf, the Volsunga, and Hervarar sagas, and the Poetic Edda. Some less prominent influences that Tolkien personally mentioned were that of Oedipus and Homer. He borrowed some more modern literary pieces from the Anglo-Saxon translation of the Lays of Boethius by King Alfred. These were more seen in characters’ lines rather than story arcs. Tolkien was not limited to writing within his legendarium. In fact, he loved writing children’s stories and wrote The Hobbit as one such. It was initially written to entertain his family, but upon being published (C.S. Lewis convinced him to do so) in 1937, Tolkien became visible in the fantasy genre. Not only did young readers enjoy The Hobbit, but older readers as well. Allen & Unwin, Tolkien’s publisher, requested Tolkien to continue the story. Tolkien was not particularly motivated to continue The Hobbit, but he turned it into The Lord of the Rings trilogy, by which he is most known until the present. The writing of The Lord of the Rings took over ten years.
In those ten years, he wrote most of the narrative and even the appendices. Although it was a long period, his close friend C.S. Lewis and The Inklings supported him throughout. Despite being a sequel to The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings held a darker and more adult tone than its predecessor. When Tolkien realized that The Lord of the Rings could not maintain the lighthearted children’s story theme of The Hobbit, he made the trilogy pull more from the tales of Beleriand and the Silmarills that he had already created prior. These books have become so influential in the high fantasy genre that many fantasy writers still look up to and are inspired by them. The weaving of Middle-Earth did not end with the release of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Even in his old age, Tolkien continued to write within it. After Tolkien had died, much of his writings of the tales of Beleriand were disorganized. Instead, Christopher Tolkien and Guy Gavriel Kay, Tolkien’s son and a fantasy writer respectively, took it upon themselves in 1977 to organize and publish the finished stories into The Silmarillion.
Three years later, they published the book Unfinished Tales, which contained the less finished works surrounding The Silmarillion. Even more unfinished and even conflicting writings left by Tolkien were published into The History of Middle-Earth, composed of twelve volumes. In these three sets of publications were stories that Tolkien himself never managed to complete and fully connect. Even The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings had some inconsistencies between them because Tolkien did not intend to write The Lord of the Rings until after The Hobbit’s success. In 1965, Tolkien even said that he would have opted to rewrite The Hobbit if only to integrate it better into his legendarium. Ever since The Lord of the Rings was published, it has never left the public eye of readers.
Until now, it is still among the most popular and widely-read fictional books of the 1900s. Sales, but more importantly, reader surveys and ranking lists, can attest to this. Amazon.com voted The Lord of the Rings as the “book of the millennium” in a survey held in 1999. The BBC conducted a survey in 2003 called the “Big Read,” with The Lord of the Rings coming out on top of the “Nation’s Best-loved Book” list. In 2004, The Lord of the Rings was voted as “My Favorite Book” among Australians. Even non-English-speaking countries held Tolkien and his trilogy highly. The German translation,Der Herr der Ringe, had a reader base of around 250,000. Tolkien himself is still a popular figure up til now in the twenty-first century. The BBC conducted a poll in 2002 with Tolkien coming up as the 92nd “Greatest Briton.” In 2004, he was ranked as 35th among SABC3’s Greatest South Africans. No other person has been ranked among both of these lists.
Tolkien’s works were primarily inspired by Germanic, Finish, Norse, and Greek mythology, as well as the Bible; specifically the Kalevala, Beowulf, the Volsunga, and Hervarar sagas, and the Poetic Edda. Some less prominent influences that Tolkien personally mentioned were that of Oedipus and Homer. He borrowed some more modern literary pieces from the Anglo-Saxon translation of the Lays of Boethius by King Alfred. These were more seen in characters’ lines rather than story arcs. Tolkien was not limited to writing within his legendarium. In fact, he loved writing children’s stories and wrote The Hobbit as one such. It was initially written to entertain his family, but upon being published (C.S. Lewis convinced him to do so) in 1937, Tolkien became visible in the fantasy genre. Not only did young readers enjoy The Hobbit, but older readers as well. Allen & Unwin, Tolkien’s publisher, requested Tolkien to continue the story. Tolkien was not particularly motivated to continue The Hobbit, but he turned it into The Lord of the Rings trilogy, by which he is most known until the present. The writing of The Lord of the Rings took over ten years.
In those ten years, he wrote most of the narrative and even the appendices. Although it was a long period, his close friend C.S. Lewis and The Inklings supported him throughout. Despite being a sequel to The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings held a darker and more adult tone than its predecessor. When Tolkien realized that The Lord of the Rings could not maintain the lighthearted children’s story theme of The Hobbit, he made the trilogy pull more from the tales of Beleriand and the Silmarills that he had already created prior. These books have become so influential in the high fantasy genre that many fantasy writers still look up to and are inspired by them. The weaving of Middle-Earth did not end with the release of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Even in his old age, Tolkien continued to write within it. After Tolkien had died, much of his writings of the tales of Beleriand were disorganized. Instead, Christopher Tolkien and Guy Gavriel Kay, Tolkien’s son and a fantasy writer respectively, took it upon themselves in 1977 to organize and publish the finished stories into The Silmarillion.
Three years later, they published the book Unfinished Tales, which contained the less finished works surrounding The Silmarillion. Even more unfinished and even conflicting writings left by Tolkien were published into The History of Middle-Earth, composed of twelve volumes. In these three sets of publications were stories that Tolkien himself never managed to complete and fully connect. Even The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings had some inconsistencies between them because Tolkien did not intend to write The Lord of the Rings until after The Hobbit’s success. In 1965, Tolkien even said that he would have opted to rewrite The Hobbit if only to integrate it better into his legendarium. Ever since The Lord of the Rings was published, it has never left the public eye of readers.
Until now, it is still among the most popular and widely-read fictional books of the 1900s. Sales, but more importantly, reader surveys and ranking lists, can attest to this. Amazon.com voted The Lord of the Rings as the “book of the millennium” in a survey held in 1999. The BBC conducted a survey in 2003 called the “Big Read,” with The Lord of the Rings coming out on top of the “Nation’s Best-loved Book” list. In 2004, The Lord of the Rings was voted as “My Favorite Book” among Australians. Even non-English-speaking countries held Tolkien and his trilogy highly. The German translation,Der Herr der Ringe, had a reader base of around 250,000. Tolkien himself is still a popular figure up til now in the twenty-first century. The BBC conducted a poll in 2002 with Tolkien coming up as the 92nd “Greatest Briton.” In 2004, he was ranked as 35th among SABC3’s Greatest South Africans. No other person has been ranked among both of these lists.
Other Works
The Hobbit was only one of many children’s tales that Tolkien wrote. He also wrote letters as if from Father Christmas to send to his children. These eventually came together into short stories and were later published in a book called The Father Christmas Letters. He had several other children’s stories, such as Leaf by Niggle, Mr. Bliss, Smith of Wootton Major, Roverandom, and Farmer Giles of Ham. Leaf by Niggle was at one point identified as a possibly autobiographical story. A few of the other children’s stories seem to be set in the same legendarium as The Hobbit.
Manuscripts
The manuscripts of his works were sold after its official publication. The University of Milwaukee bought “The Magic Ring” (which was the first working title of The Lord of the Rings) for about 1,500 pounds at the time. They also bought the first manuscripts of The Hobbit. The Oxford Bodleian Library, on the other hand, holds the initial papers of The Silmarillion, Farmer Giles of Ham, and some of Tolkien’s scholarly writings. Tolkien had academic lectures and an essay published posthumously by his son Christopher Tolkien in 1983. It was known as The Monsters and The Critics and contained his Beowulf lecture from 1936, plus five other lectures and a single essay. In 1977, authorized biography of Tolkien was published by Humphrey Carpenter. It also held a chronicle of Tolkien’s published works. Come the twenty-first century, Tolkien and his manuscripts would be featured in works about him and his legendarium. Examples were the 2015 publication called The Art of The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien and 2017 one of Tolkien: Maker of Middle-Earth.
Languages
Tolkien’s love for languages was evident in all of his fictional and academic works. In college, he studied Greek philology. When he had graduated, he specialized in Old Icelandic. A mere three years after, he made his first contributions to the Oxford English Dictionary. When he taught at Leeds, he handled English subjects from Old English to Middle and Old English texts, English philology, and philologies of many other languages and cultures such as Gothic, Medieval Welsh, Germanic, and Old Icelandic. One of his proud moments in Leeds was being able to increase the number of linguistics students significantly. They even formed a “Viking Club,” which Tolkien himself included in his application for Professorship at Rawlinson and Bosworth in 1925.
Tolkien loved all things linguistically and racially significant. He had an impression of an inherited or innate taste for languages. He called the concept “native tongue,” which he mentioned many times in his English lectures. As for his own “native tongue,” he thought it to be Middle English from west-midland England. Although Tolkien was not as prolific with his linguistic and philological work, he instead wrote and constructed his languages. The most fully-developed and constructed languages were Sindarin and Quenya, which were central to his legendarium.
The connection and fictional origins of the languages also played a big part in his stories of Beleriand. As for the language itself, Tolkien revolved its grammar around euphony and “phonaesthetic” aspects. Quenya was mainly meant to be a somewhat Elvish Latin with mixtures of Latin, Greek, and Finnish within it. The following well-constructed language was Numenorean, the language of the high-blooded mannish race of Middle-Earth. The connections between the Elvish languages and the Mannish languages had to do with Tolkien’s idea of language inheritability and also linked the different ages of his legendarium to each other.
Tolkien loved all things linguistically and racially significant. He had an impression of an inherited or innate taste for languages. He called the concept “native tongue,” which he mentioned many times in his English lectures. As for his own “native tongue,” he thought it to be Middle English from west-midland England. Although Tolkien was not as prolific with his linguistic and philological work, he instead wrote and constructed his languages. The most fully-developed and constructed languages were Sindarin and Quenya, which were central to his legendarium.
The connection and fictional origins of the languages also played a big part in his stories of Beleriand. As for the language itself, Tolkien revolved its grammar around euphony and “phonaesthetic” aspects. Quenya was mainly meant to be a somewhat Elvish Latin with mixtures of Latin, Greek, and Finnish within it. The following well-constructed language was Numenorean, the language of the high-blooded mannish race of Middle-Earth. The connections between the Elvish languages and the Mannish languages had to do with Tolkien’s idea of language inheritability and also linked the different ages of his legendarium to each other.
Portrayal in Films
Tolkien was a biographical film released in 2019 directed by Dome Karukoski under Fox Searchlight Pictures about the youth and adulthood of J.R.R. Tolkien. Nicholas Hoult, an English actor, portrayed Tolkien. This film is the first and only time thus far of Tolkien being represented in film. The film grossed a total of $9 million worldwide. It received mixed reviews from critics with a 51% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
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