Life And Times Of J.R.R. Tolkin
...many accomplishments throughout his life. To the world he was a very famous author who wrote The Lord of The Rings trilogy.He considered himself to be a creator. He was influenced by his African birthplace, his childhood in Sarehole, his classical education, his experinces in World War I and by the great depression. His love for languages and for the Anglo Saxon time period led him to create a language and mythology of his own.
J. R. R. Tolkien was a famous writer but to get the whole story you must start at the beginning of his life. He was not born in Europe but in South Africa (Burton 1). His full name was John Ronald Reuel Tolkien ("J. R. R. Tolkien" 1120). Tolkien's memories of Africa were slight but vivid (Dougham 3). On February 15, 1846 his father died (Dougham 3) so he and his mother and younger brother Hilary returned to England (Dougham 3). Tolkien grew up in Sarehole near Birmingham (Taylor 2), a country village surrounded by meadows and streams (Carpenter 24). It was located not far from the industrial town of Birmingham where factory chimneys belched smoke into the sky (Carpenter 25).
.Tolkien's mother died on November 14, 1904 (Dougham 4). After she died, Ronald and his brother Hilary lived with various relatives (Dougham 4). However, the local parish priest, Father Francis Morgan, took over and made sure of the boys' spiritual and material welfare. The Oratory was near their house and it soon became their real hom (Carpenter 33).
As a young boy, Tolkien attended King Edward's school (Taylor 2) where he showed an
exceptional aptitude for languages (Carpenter 33). He went on to Exeter College, Oxford in 1911 (Dougham 7). There he immersed himself in the classics, Old English, the Germanic languages, Welsh and Finnish (Dougham 4). He also played sports, joined the Essay Club, the Dialectical Society, and the debating society...
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