J.R.R. Tolkien Biography

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J.R.R. Tolkien was born in South Africa, although he considered himself a British man throughout his adulthood. He experienced World War I firsthand in the trenches. He was a professor of Old English and other archaic languages and had a strong love for such languages. Tolkien also felt a strong tie for his homeland, England, and desired to create mythology for England. Tolkien was able to write the first modern fantasy novel through his life experiences and his love for archaic languages and British lore.

Tolkien's mother, Mabel Suffield, left England in March of 1891 for South Africa to marry a man by the name of Arthur Tolkien. They had been engaged for years; however Mabel's father had denied Mabel her marriage due to her young age. Tolkien's father, Arthur Tolkien, had sailed to South Africa a few years earlier to try out his luck in the diamond discovery craze. Only a few short years later, Arthur and Mabel gave birth to a son, named none other than John Ronald Reuel. Tolkien lived in a village surrounded by wilderness in his first few years and faced several adventures. Three of his pinafores were chewed off by a monkey. He avoided several snakes. He stumbled upon a tarantula, and ran around until his nurse grabbed him and sucked out the poison. Perhaps this is why Tolkien includes poisonous spiders in his future tales (Carpenter 13). Mabel and Arthur gave birth to a second son, and within two years Arthur passed away from a severe case of rheumatic fever.

After Arthur's death, Mabel and Tolkien's younger brother Hilary returned to England to the West Midlands of England. Tolkien was exposed to the rural and industrial sides of England. The area was heavily polluted and could be the reason for Tolkien...

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...orld of JRR Tolkien. URL: http://www.indepthinfo.com/tolkien/biography.shtml (8 May 2005).

Rosebury, Ryan. " Tolkien, J. R. R. ". The Literary Encyclopedia and Literary Dictionary. Ed. Robert Clark, Emory Elliott and Janet Todd. URL: http://www.litencyc.com/

(8 Jan. 2001).

Tolkien, J.R.R. The Fellowship of the Ring. New York: Ballantine Books, 1977.

Tolkien, J.R.R. The Hobbit. New York: Ballantine Books, 1977.

Tolkien, J.R.R. The Return of the King. New York: Ballantine Books, 1977.

Tolkien, J.R.R. The Two Towers. New York: Ballantine Books, 1977.
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