This is a beta version of NNDB Search: All Names Living people Dead people Band Names Book Titles Movie Titles Full Text for J. R. R. Tolkien AKA John Ronald Reuel Tolkien Born: 3-Jan
Birthplace: Bloemfontein, South Africa
Died: 2-Sep
Location of death: Bournemouth, Dorset, England
Cause of death: unspecified
Remains: Buried, Wolvercote Cemetery, Oxford, England
Gender: Male
Religion: Roman Catholic
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Author Nationality: England Executive summary: Author of Lord of the Rings trilogy Military service: Lancashire Fusiliers (WWI, 1915-18) J.R.R. Tolkien is the author of the most famous and influential of swords-and-sorcery fiction works: The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings books The Fellowship of the Ring The Two Towers , and The Return of the King . Tolkien was an accomplished scholar with professorships in English Language and Literature as well as Anglo-Saxon at Oxford University, and was an expert in word origins, mythology, and languages including Old English, Old Norse, and Finnish. In total he has some forty books to his credit and is regarded as one of the most popular authors of all time. Unfortunately the little family was soon dealt another blow. Mabel, who had been diagnosed with diabetes (then incurable), died in 1904. The development rendered the two young Tolkien brothers both orphaned and destitute. Yet although such family as remained to them was of minimal comfort and support, they were supported and guided by the local priest, Father Francis Xavier Morgan, who took it upon himself to oversee their affairs. (Mabel had converted to Catholicism in 1900.) Thanks to Morgan the boys' schooling continued, at King Edward's School in Birmingham, and it was not long before the linguistically fascinated J.R.R. had mastered Latin and Greek, and was gaining competency in a number of other languages as well. Morgan's influence was to leave a lasting mark on Tolkien, so much so that in later years his own devotion would help him convert friend and fellow author | |
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