Monthly Spotlight

J. R. R. Tolkien

April 2007

Often referred to as the “father of modern fantasy literature”, J. R. R. Tolkien has gained an admirable status among fantasy authors thanks to the enduring influence of his works.

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born on 3^rd January 1892 in South Africa. When he was still young boy, he was bitten by a spider, an event which would later promt events in his stories. At the age of three, Tolkien travelled to England. It was during this trip that his father died, leaving the family with no source of income. Tolkien then lived with his maternal grandparents in Birmingham until 1896 when the Tolkien family relocated to the village of Sarehole in Worcestershire. It is said that the young Tolkien enjoyed exploring Sarehole Mill, Moseley Bog,the Clent Hills and Malvern Hills, local attractions that would later inspire settings in his books. Furthermore, the name of Bag End was taken from his aunt’s farm.

Tolkien was tutored by his mother, Mabel, alongside his younger brother. She taught them botany, which brought out in her eldest son the enjoyment of the appearance and touch of plants. The young Tolkien also liked to draw landscapes and trees. But it was to be the study of languages that proved to be his favourite lessons. Tolkien could read at age four and write fluently shortly after. In addition his mother taught him the rudiments of Latin at a young age. As a child Tolkien found Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” amusing and enjoyed the fantasy works of George MacDonald. In addition, the "Fairy Books" of Andrew Lang were particularly important to him and to some of his later writings.

His mother converted to Roman Catholicism in 1900. She died of diabetes when Tolkien was twelve and for the remainder of his life, Tolkien believed that she was a martyr for her faith. This had a deep effect on his own devout Catholic beliefs.

During his subsequent orphan hood he was brought up by Father Francis Xavier Morgan in Birmingham. He lived there in the shadow of Perrott's Folly and the Victorian tower of Edgbaston Waterworks, which could possibly have influenced his depictions of the dark towers within his works.

Building on the foundations of his mother’s tutorship, Tolkien enrolled at King Edward’s School in Birmingham where his interest in languages developed further. During this time Tolkien fell in love with Edith Bratt. Father Francis forbade him from any communication with her until he was twenty-one.

In 1911 he went to Exeter College, Oxford to read Classics but by 1913 he switched to English Language and Literature. As such Tolkien’s exposure to ideas within fantasy and fiction were greatly expanded, one poem in particular is said to have fascinated him, “Hail Earendel brightest of angels, over Middle earth sent to men” from Cynewulf’s Crist.

On turning twenty-one, Tolkien renewed his relationship with Edith and the two were married in March 1916. In 1925 he returned to Oxford as Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon, with a courtesy fellowship at Pembroke College. During his time at Pembroke, Tolkien wrote “The Hobbit”and the first two volumes of “The Lord of the Rings”. In 1945, he moved to Merton College, Oxford, becoming the Merton Professor of English Language and Literature, in which post he remained until his retirement in 1959. Tolkien completed “The Lord of the Rings” in 1948, close to a decade after the first sketches.

St. Mary’s Books is pleased to offer for sale a very good 1^st edition, 1^st impression of “The Lord of the Rings” in three volumes, bound in the publishers original red cloth with original dust jackets.

The Lord of the Rings became hugely popular in the 1960s and has remained so ever since, ranking as one of the most popular works of fiction of the twentieth century, accoridng to both sales and reader surveys. In 1972, in recognition of his success Tolkien was awarded the CBE by Queen Elizabeth II. The following year Tolkien died on September 2^nd at the age of eighty one. He and his wife Edith are buried in the same grave.

St. Mary’s Books are always interested in being offered of good quality Tolkien. To view our complete Tolkien stock please follow the link below.

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