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Classic Authors: J.R.R. Tolkien

© Susan Jensen

J.R.R. Tolkien (JRRT) spent years creating an imaginary world called Middle-earth. His kingdom thrived with an array of fascinating creatures: men, women, dwarves, elves, goblins, trolls and good-natured hobbits. These fantastical beings lived only in his mind, until he began regaling his children with tales of their exploits and adventures. Eventually, the great linguist released his chronicles to readers everywhere, changing the world of fantasy literature forever.

John Ronald Reuel was born on January 3, 1892, in Bloemfontein, South Africa, to Arthur Reuel and Mabel Suffield Tolkien. Arthur, a bank clerk, had moved the family to the remote country hoping to secure a promotion; when he died in February of 1896, Mabel took her children back to her native England. JRRT spent less than four years in South Africa, but he carried home vivid memories of bathing in the Indian Ocean and an encounter with a large, hairy spider.

The Tolkiens settled in rural Sarehole, where they lived in mild poverty. After joining the Roman Catholic Church in 1900, Mabel found herself and her children estranged from both sides of the family. The small family’s situation became dire when Mabel discovered she had diabetes, a disease that was incurable at the time. She died on October 4, 1904, leaving JRRT and his brother orphans. Relatives assumed their care thereafter.

Even at an early age, JRRT showed great promise as a linguist. He mastered Latin and Greek, as well as other languages, such as Gothic and Finnish. He even created his own languages to keep himself amused.

JRRT received his early education at King Edward’s School in Birmingham. Here, he made several close friends. When he was 16, he met Edith Bratt, a young woman which he very much admired. Alarmed at the growing friendship, JRRT’s guardians barred him from seeing Edith until he was 21. Thus, in 1911, he enrolled at Exeter College, Oxford, where he immersed himself in his studies of Classics, Germanic languages, and Finnish. When he turned 21 in 1913, JRRT focused his attention on winning Edith’s heart. Two years later, he earned a First Class degree from Oxford; the next year, he made Edith his bride.

With the outbreak of World War One, JRRT joined the military. He served in Somme, France, until he developed “trench fever,” a typhus-like condition that thrives in unsanitary conditions. Suffering from severe illness, he returned to England where he convalesced in a hospital and then at home. Although the condition continued to plague him, JRRT served at home as best he could. He also spent the time organizing his thoughts on Middle-earth, the world he had created in his mind; these developed into Book of Lost Tales, which would not see publication in Tolkien’s lifetime.