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Tolkien wrote The Hobbit for his four children.

He didn’t know what a hobbit was or why it would live in a hole in the ground, but he wanted to find out. One day, when marking exam papers, Tolkien wrote on the blank back of a page ‘ In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit’. These stories (and others Tolkien wrote while at Oxford) describe the pre-history of an incredibly rich alternative world to our own, Middle-earth. His impressive academic background, along with the unique experience of his childhood and the First World War greatly influenced his two most famous works, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien’s superb knowledge of languages and literature was deepened by his interest the fairy tales, mythology and folklore of Europe. Throughout his academic career, Tolkien published substantial academic works on early literature, translation and philology. He then started lecturing, first at Leeds University and then returning to Oxford.

By 1918, Tolkien had lost all but one of his close male friends.Īt end of the war, Tolkien worked as a lexicographer on the New English Dictionary (which would later become the Oxford English Dictionary).

He suffered continuous health problems throughout the war, which took him off the front lines and probably saved his life. Tolkien was sent to France just in time for the Battle of the Somme a year later. Upon its completion, and under much social and familial pressure, he enlisted as a second lieutenant in the Lancashire Fusiliers in July 1915. Tolkien did not immediately enlist, but instead chose the unpopular path of postponing so he could finish his degree. He was still studying when World War I broke out in 1914. He began with a focus on the Classics, Old English and Germanic languages but then moved into English language and literature.

These skills eventually led him to study at Oxford. He mastered Latin, Greek, Finnish and Gothic (ancient German) and even invented his own. Notably for Tolkien fans, his Aunt Jane’s Worcestershire farm was called Bag End!įrom an early age, Tolkien showed an affinity for languages. If you ever visit England, go see the rolling hills of Shropshire and Staffordshire – you’ll see the Shire around every turn. Tolkien spent much of his childhood in and around Birmingham in England. John Ronald Reuel Tolkien is often referred to as the father of modern fantasy fiction.