J.R.R Tolkien

Three Rings for the Elven-Kings under the sky, Seven for the dwarf lords in their halls of stone, Nine for mortal men doomed to die, One for the Dark Lord in his dark throne. In the Land or Mordor where the shadow lies.

One Ring to rule them all, One ring to find them, One ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.

In the land of Mordor where the shadows lie... (J.R.R. Tolkien, Rings)

These are the most famous recognized lines in The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkiens' masterpiece. Strong, tall men, fun party loving hobbits, pointy eared elves, short, plump dwarves and slimy, icky, putrid orcs are just a few of the races in Lord of the Rings. (J.R.R. Tolkien, Rings)

This is only a small sample of the information that J.R.R. Tolkien put into his books. Not to mention songs, maps, and plenty more background information. Tolkien created a whole new world for readers with his books. Why did J.R.R. Tolkien have such an interesting life and where did all of his information come from?

It all began when Arthur Reuel Tolkien and Mabel Suffield had their first-born son on January 3, 1982 in Bloemfontein, South Africa. (Darryl Friesen, Early) Tolkien's early years and barely even memorable ones were spent divided between the city and a country farm. During this time, at school, Tolkien was bitten by a huge tarantula, which would later influence one of his stories in Lord of the Rings. (W.J. Rayment, A Bio)

On February 15th, 1896, Tolkien left South Africa with his mother and younger brother, Hilary to return to England. His father however was also suppose to return to England with them within the next few months, but while he waited in South Africa he caught rheumatic fever and soon died. This left the grieving family with a very limited income. (W. J. Rayment, A Bio)

By now Tolkien was showing great interest in languages and had developed remarkable skills with them. He had already mastered Latin and Greek, and was already making up languages on his own. So, naturally, when Tolkien and his family reached Birmingham, England his mother paid for Tolkien to attend King Edward VI School. (David McDonald, Bio Sketch)

In 1900, Tolkiens' mother, along with her sister May were received into the Roman Catholic Church. From then on Tolkien was brought up in the Pio Nono faith and remained a determined Catholic throughout his life. Tolkien was influenced by many of the stories he heard in his religion and greatly influenced his literature. (David McDonald, Bio Sketch)

Life for young Tolkien was very hard on him after his mother, Mabel passed away on October 15th, 1904 after succumbing to diabetes. Tolkien was only twelve years old. (Walter Tompkins, Great)

After Mabel passed away, the two boys, J.R.R. and Hillary, would become orphans. After that a young man from the Catholic Church, Father Francis Morgan, would look over the boys as their guardian. (Tommy Silet, Lord)

After settling into the boarding house, Tolkien, just 16 years old, met a young woman named Edith Bratt. First they formed a great friendship, but soon their feelings began to change and they fell in love. After Father Morgan found out about their relationship, he separated the couple. (W.J. Rayment, A Bio)

After that incident occurred, Tolkien looked toward college studies. At first, Tolkien was rejected from Oxford because of poor study habits, but still determined, he retook the test and was accepted. At Oxford he would major in philology, the study of words and language. There he read Classic literature, Old English, Gothic, Welsh, and Finnish. He was also influenced by Icelandic, Norse and Gothic mythology, which he used in his books. (Oliver Grandy, Famous)

While still studying at Oxford, Tolkien decided to pick up the pieces with his lost love, Edith. At their first meeting since they had been separated, Tolkien proposed to Edith. They married March 22, 1916.

Afterwards, Tolkien received his first class degree in philology. Soon he began writing poems and inventing new languages and would eventually make a new language, Quenya, which was heavily influenced by Finnish which was used later on as one of the Elvish languages in Lord of the Rings. (J.R.R. Tolkien, Apendix A)

Soon his writings would stop for a short while because Tolkien was called to fight in World War I. At first he began second lieutenant in the Lancashire Fusiliers. For months, Tolkien saw virtually no action until he was sent on active duty on the Western Front, just in time for the Somme attack. During free time in the trenches, Tolkien began observing human nature and emotion and used them in his books later on. This is where he began writing his first stories, which are recorded in The Simarillion and The Book of Lost Tales. (Unknown, John Ronald)

After four months in and out of the unsanitary trenches, Tolkien gave in to "trench fever" and was soon sent back to England, where he spent the next month recovering in a hospital in Birmingham. Throughout 1917 and 1918 his illness kept coming back, but while Tolkien was alright he served various camps and was promoted to lieutenant. When he was stationed at Hull, he and Edith would walk in the woods nearby,