J.R.R. Tolkien was born January 1892 to Arthur and Mabel in Bloemfontein (one of South Africa’s three capital cities). J.R.R. sounds so formal, does it not? What is this abbreviation short for, you may ask? John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, also known as the author of several world-renowned books that have developed into celebrated movies. The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion to name just a few of his writings. Where does one come up with such whimsical and mystic adventures that are now showcased in the above referenced books and films? Let’s find out.
John had one younger brother, Hilary Arthur Ruel. I can’t help but wonder of the mischievous situations these two must have gotten themselves into! John’s father passed away of rheumatic fever when he was only three years old, leaving the family with no income. Mabel took the boys to live with her parents in England. Many of the nearby towns and villages of Bromsgrove, Alcester and Alvechurch were John’s inspiration for the scenes described in his books.
John’s mother schooled both children at home. Apparently she did an amazing job, because at four years old John could read and began writing shortly after. He was drawn to stories about Native Americans and “Fairy Books” of Andrew Lang. When John was only 12, his mother passed way from acute diabetes. Mabel was only 34 years old and at this time there was no treatment for type 1 diabetes, and there wouldn’t be for two decades. She left the boys in the care of her close friend, Father Francis of the Birmingham Oratory. She asked that he raise them as loyal and upright Catholics. And that is just what he did.
John attended top notch schools and in 1903, won a Foundation Scholarship and returned to King Edward’s. John was a creative and curious intellect even as young teen boy. No shock to discover that later in life, John was a gifted linguist, influenced by Germanic, Celtic, Finnish, and Greek language, and mythology. He and his cousins constructed a new language (Animalic), which scattered seeds of curiosity to be fueled, igniting a desire in John to create another language (later, called Nevbosh). In 1911, while attending King Edwards School, John and his three friends created a “secret society” called T.C.B.S. (Tea Club and Barrovian Society). This dark and cryptic crew took it to the extreme, drinking tea in Barrow’s Stores and sometimes, even in the school library. What rebels! No pinkies up here, folks! After school came to a close, some maturity crept in and all the secret society fun had passed, or so most thought. The group decided to stay connected and held a council, meeting at one of their homes often. These meetings lead to John becoming enticed by poetry, which awakened a hunger within him to read and write it frequently.
But before all of this poetic avidity occurred, there was this girl. Ah yes, here she comes. Ready for her role in John’s life. At the age of 16, young John met Edith. She was three years older, and because she was also an orphan, these two found great comfort in understanding one another. They both knew the other had experienced a longing for affection and attention, (due to their voids from family life), just as much as the other had. Romance was in the air, and these two were sucking it in. No hesitations! Father Francis discovered the two were in love and was not supportive of the duo. After all, Edith was older, a Protestant and distracting John from his studies. Father Francis advised he not talk to, write, or meet with Edith until he was 21. Shockingly, John did as he was told…except for that one time. “That one time” led to Father Francis forcibly threatening to cut off his university career. Obviously, John was a bright fellow and yielded to the threat. He stopped all communication with Edith.
Five exasperating, long years later, on his 21st birthday, John wrote a letter. In this letter, John wrote to Edith, stating that he never stopped loving her and proposed marriage. Sadly, she had already accepted a proposal of someone else. I mean, after five years, I can’t blame the girl! But I don’t think John was a “give-up easy kinda guy”. On January 8th,1913, John bought a train ticket and met Edith’s eyes as he hopped off onto the platform. The pair took a walk, discussing their past, their present and their future. By the end of the day, the two were engaged. She had to end it with her “other” fiancé, who wasn’t too happy hearing of the news. At the time, John barely had any money, no job, and no prospects…aside from the likelihood of being killed in the Great War. Yet, Edith loved him. She made her choice. Aw, I mean, this could be a movie! Am I right?
John didn’t want to go to war and entered a program that allowed him to delay an enlistment until finishing his degree. Once he passed finals in 1915, he was commissioned as a temporary second lieutenant in 1915. He was in training for a long 11 months. Edith and John took advantage of his short return after training and married in March of 1916. John was summoned to France and the newlyweds took lodgings near the camp. He later wrote: “Junior officers were being killed off, a dozen a minute. Parting from my wife then… it was like a death.” I don’t envy these two.
John went to Somme in 1916 and participated in attacks in Schwaben and Redoubt. John contracted trench fever, which is a disease caused by rampant lice infestations. Trench fever can result in weight loss, severe headaches, intestinal pain, and general weakness. He was invalided to England and discovered most of his school mates had been killed in the war, including those part of his long, lost secret society. John’s battalion was also almost entirely killed upon his return to England. Despite his health issues, he stayed in the war, working in hospitals and occupying garrison duties. In his quiet time, he began writing about the mythology of England called, The Books of Lost Tales, which he never completed.
During 1917-1918 his illness continued to reoccur, but he was permitted to work at various camps while living local to home. Finally in 1919, John was discharged with a temporary disability pension. John began tutoring undergraduates privately and then in 1920 took a position at the Oxford English Dictionary, focusing on the etymology of words of Germanic origin beginning with the letter W. In 1925, he returned to Oxford as Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon, with a fellowship at Pembroke College. During his time here, he completed The Hobbit and the first two volumes of The Lord of the Rings. In the 1920s, John undertook a translation of Beowulf, which he finished in 1926, but did not publish. It was finally edited by his son and published in 2014, more than 40 years after John’s death. During his time here as a professor, he began several of his lectures on Beowulf in a noteworthy way. He would enter the room silently with a mysterious look, and suddenly yell the opening lines of the poem in Old English. Undoubtedly this scene left his audience more than just inspired. Beowulf is known to be one of the biggest influences to John’s writing. Both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings were vines descending from this poem, which is still one of most influential studies of Old English literature.
World War II was closing in and John was called upon as codebreaker. In January 1939, he was asked to serve in the cryptographic department of the Foreign Office. Beginning in March, he started an instructional course at the London HQ of the Government Code and Cypher School. But then, after all of this anticipation and training, he was notified that his services would not be required. I wonder if he was relieved or disappointed by this? It seems like this would be right up his alley! In 1945, John moved to Merton College, Oxford, becoming the Merton Professor of English Language and Literature, in which he remained until his retirement in 1959.
John and Edith had four children (three boys and a girl) during their marriage. John was very devoted to his wife and children. To stay connected during the war, he would send them letters and unique drawings. In 1948 John completed The Lord of the Rings, a decade after his first start. His books became widely popular and brought attention and fame to John’s talent. In 1961 John was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature. His humility triggered a lack of expectation for the success of his books.
Due to the thriving popularity of his books, attention from fans became rampant and overwhelming. People became much too eager and would seize any opportunity to call, visit, and write to him, forcing John and Edith to move away to a upper middle-class seaside resort in England. This wasn’t John’s cup of tea, as he preferred to surround himself with his close friends, pubs and small villages. Alas, Edith was so excited to step into a society hostess role and seeing his wife take such delight in this new role offered more satisfaction to him than anything else. Even at this point in life, there was a deep love and adoration for each other…even up until Edith passed away at the age of 82. She was proud of his success and admired his creativity and knowledge. He sacrificed often to make her smile, as that was what he longed for most.
The love for their children and grandchildren kept their family bond strong, despite distances inserting themselves into their children’s new chapters. After Edith passed away, John returned to Oxford, unable to stay away from the small city he had grown quite fond of. He passed away only 21 months later at the age of 81, from a bleeding ulcer and chest infection. John’s love for his family had motivated him to write and perform stories for his children. You might say, without his children, he wouldn’t have thought to create the masterpiece he did. The Hobbit was unintentionally discovered by an employee of the London publishing firm by sheer accident. John had written this book several years before for his own children. When it was published in 1937, the book drew in young and old alike, drawing them in like flies to honey. Requests started soaring in for a sequel and this lead to John composing The Lord of the Rings. His initial intention was for it to be a children’s book, following the same style as The Hobbit. As John wrote, he realized the story was twisting into a darker, more serious tale. He let the story unfold naturally instead of steering it back onto the original course, leading to a successful book of fantasy, anguish and escape.
During his writing of The Lord of the Rings, John became more aware of nature and sought out way to protect it. It connected him to his surroundings in a way he hadn’t experienced before, enticing him to safeguard the wild in any way he was able to. Do you ever wonder what inspires people to write what they do? To paint what they do? To feel inspired at a point in their life and make a conscious choice to reveal something that no one else can see? Is it always a darkness within that is seeking a crack to escape through and offer relief? A piece of suffering that we aren’t sure what to do with? Or …could it merely be a person’s inner most self, the heart and soul of an imperfect being, that never shifts, never fades away or morphs into something else. It sits… it grows… waiting for us to notice it. To lend it a hand and let it unroll on its own time.
“Fantasy is escapist, and that is its glory. If a soldier is imprisoned by the enemy, don’t we consider it his duty to escape?. . .If we value the freedom of mind and soul, if we’re partisans of liberty, then it’s our plain duty to escape, and to take as many people with us as we can!”
-J.R.R. Tolkien
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