03 Who was J.R.R. Tolkien anyway?
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This article is from the Tolkien FAQ, by William D.B. Loos loos@hudce.harvard.edu with numerous contributions by others.
03 Who was J.R.R. Tolkien anyway?
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, Englishman, scholar, and storyteller
was born of English parents at Bloemfontein, South Africa on Jan. 3,
1892 and died in England on Sept. 2, 1973. His entire childhood was
spent in England, to which the family returned permenantly in 1896
upon the death of his father. He received his education at King
Edward's School, St. Philip's Grammar School, and Oxford University.
After graduating in 1915 he joined the British army and saw action in
the Battle of the Somme. He was eventually discharged after spending
most of 1917 in the hospital suffering from "trench fever". [It was
during this time that he began The Book of Lost Tales.]
Tolkien was a scholar by profession. His academic positions were:
staff member of the New English Dictionary (1918-20); Reader, later
Professor of English Language at Leeds, 1920-25; Rawlinson and Bosworth
Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford (1925-45); and Merton Professor of
English Language and Literature (1945-59). His principal professional
focus was the study of Anglo-Saxon (Old English) and its relation to
linguistically similar languages (Old Norse, Old German, and Gothic),
with special emphasis on the dialects of Mercia, that part of England
in which he grew up and lived, but he was also interested in Middle
English, especially the dialect used in the _Ancrene Wisse_ (a twelfth
century manuscript probably composed in western England). Moreover,
Tolkien was an expert in the surviving literature written in these
languages. Indeed, his unusual ability to simultaneously read the
texts as linguistic sources and as literature gave him perspective
into both aspects; this was once described as "his unique insight at
once into the language of poetry and the poetry of language" (from
the Obituary; Scholar, p. 13).
From an early age he had been fascinated by language, particularly
the languages of Northern Europe, both ancient and modern. From this
affinity for language came not only his profession but also his private
hobby, the invention of languages. He was more generally drawn to the
entire "Northern tradition", which inspired him to wide reading of its
myths and epics and of those modern authors who were equally drawn to
it, such as William Morris and George MacDonald. His broad knowledge
inevitably led to the development of various opinions about Myth, its
relation to language, and the importance of Stories, interests which
were shared by his friend C.S. Lewis. All these various perspectives:
language, the heroic tradition, and Myth and Story (and a very real
and deeply-held belief in and devotion to Catholic Christianity) came
together with stunning effect in his stories: first the legends of the
Elder Days which served as background to his invented languages, and
later his most famous works, _The Hobbit_ and _The Lord of the Rings_.
Inklings; Scholar.
Contributors: WDBL, Wayne Hammond Jr
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