J.R.R. Tolkien

J.R.R. Tolkien

  • Submitted By: knix3133
  • Date Submitted: 09/22/2008 7:56 AM
  • Category: Biographies
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J.R.R. Tolkien
Best known as the author of high fantasy classics The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien was an English writer, poet, philologist, and a university professor. J.R.R. Tolkien was born John Ronald Reuel Tolkien on January 3rd, 1812 (Heims 32). He was born in Bloemfontein, Orange Free State which is part of South Africa (Heims 35). His father’s name was Arthur Reuel Tolkien, and his mother’s name was Mabel, nee Suffield (Heims 40). On his father’s side, most of Tolkien’s ancestors were craftsmen, but on his mother’s side, his ancestors were all businessmen some of which owned their own stationery and book stores.
Tolkien lived in South Africa for most of his childhood (Southam). A lot of events in his storied were inspired from memories he had there (Southam). One of these events is when he was three years of age he was bitten by a baboon spider (Southam). When Tolkien got a little older, he moved to England with his mother. In England, he loved to explore places around his house, such as Sarehole Mill and Moseley Bog (Southam). All of the places he explored were used as ideals for scenery in his books. Tolkien loved spending time there and couldn’t wait for his father to move there, but shortly before his father was due to leave, he died of yellow fever.
Tolkein’s mother started tutoring him at a very early age. He was able to read at a fifth grade level by the age of four (Southam). Tolkien attended elementary and high school at King Edward’s School (Southam). It was there that he and all his friends opened up their own book and reader’s club. At the age of sixteen, he was entered into Oxford University. That was where he met Edith Mary Bratt who he soon fell in love with (Southam). She was seen as a distraction by his guardians and his school funding was cut off until he agreed to stop seeing her (Southam). They started dating again soon after he graduated from Oxford.
Some of Tolkien’s earliest writings were done when he was...

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