Who is Tolkien John Ronald Ruel? Even children, and first of all they, know that this is the creator of the famous “Hobbit”. In Russia, his name became very popular with the release of the cult film. In the writer’s homeland, his works became famous back in the mid-60s, when the circulation of a million copies of The Lord of the Rings was not enough for the student audience. For thousands of young English-speaking readers, the story of the hobbit Frodo has become a favorite. The work that John Tolkien created sold out faster than Lord of the Flies and The Catcher in the Rye.
Hobbit Passion
Meanwhile, in New York, youths were running around with homemade badges that read: “Long live Frodo!”, and stuff like that. There is a fashion among young people to organize hobbit-style parties. Tolkien societies were created.
But not only students read the books that John Tolkien wrote. Among his fans were housewives, rocket scientists, and pop stars. Respectable fathers of families discussed the trilogy in London pubs.
It’s not easy to talk about who fantasy author John Tolkien was in real life. The author of the cult books himself was convinced that the true life of the writer is contained in his works, and not in the facts of his biography.
Childhood
Tolkien John Ronald Ruel was born in 1892 in South Africa. The father of the future writer was there due to his occupation. In 1895, his mother went with him to England. A year later, news arrived announcing the death of his father.
Ronald's childhood (that's what the writer's relatives and friends called him) passed in the suburbs of Birmingham. At the age of four he began to read. And just a few years later he experienced an inexpressible desire to study ancient languages. Latin was like music for Ronald. And the pleasure of studying it could only be compared with reading myths and heroic legends. But, as John Tolkien later admitted, these books existed in the world in insufficient quantities. There was too little such literature to satisfy his reading needs.
Hobbies
At school, in addition to Latin and French, Ronald also studied German and Greek. Quite early on, he became interested in the history of languages and comparative philology, attended literary circles, studied Gothic, and even tried to create new ones. Such hobbies, unusual for teenagers, predetermined his fate.
In 1904, his mother died. Thanks to the care of his spiritual guardian, Ronald was able to continue his studies at Oxford University. His specialty was
Army
When the war began, Ronald was in his last year. And after brilliantly passing his final exams, he volunteered for the army. The junior lieutenant suffered several months of the bloody Battle of the Somme, and then two years of hospitalization with a diagnosis of trench typhus.
Teaching
After the war, he worked on compiling a dictionary, then received the title of professor of English. In 1925, his account of one of the ancient Germanic legends was published, and in the summer of the same year, John Tolkien was invited to Oxford. He was too young by the standards of the famous university: only 34 years old. However, behind him John Tolkien, whose biography is no less interesting than his books, had rich life experience and brilliant works on philology.
Mysterious book
By this time, the writer was not only married, but also had three sons. At night, when family chores were over, he continued the mysterious work he began as a student - the history of a magical land. Over time, the legend became filled with more and more details, and John Tolkien felt that he had an obligation to tell this story to others.
In 1937, the fairy tale “The Hobbit” was published, bringing the author unprecedented fame. The popularity of the book was so great that the publishers asked the writer to create a sequel. Then Tolkien began work on his epic. But the three-part saga came out only eighteen years later. Tolkien spent his entire life developing the Elvish dialect and is still working on it today.
Tolkien characters
Hobbits are incredibly charming creatures that resemble children. They combine frivolity and perseverance, ingenuity and simplicity, sincerity and cunning. And oddly enough, these characters give the world created by Tolkien authenticity.
The main character of the first story constantly takes risks to get out of the whirlpool of all sorts of misadventures. He has to be brave and inventive. With this image, Tolkien seems to be telling his young readers about the limitless possibilities they have. And another feature of Tolkien’s characters is their love of freedom. Hobbits get along well without leaders.
"Lord of the Rings"
Why did the Oxford professor so captivate the minds of modern readers? What are his books about?
Tolkien's works are dedicated to the eternal. And the components of this seemingly abstract concept are good and evil, duty and honor, great and small. In the center of the plot is a ring, which is nothing more than a symbol and instrument of unlimited power, that is, what almost every person secretly dreams of.
This topic is always very relevant. Everyone wants power and is confident that they know exactly how to use it correctly. Tyrants and other terrible figures in history, as contemporaries believe, are stupid and unjust. But the one who today wants to acquire power will supposedly be wiser, more humane and more humane. And perhaps it will make the whole world happier.
Only Tolkien's heroes refuse the ring. In the work of the English writer, there are kings and brave warriors, mysterious magicians and all-knowing sages, beautiful princesses and gentle elves, but in the end they all bow to a simple hobbit who was able to fulfill his duty and was not tempted by power.
In recent years, the writer has been surrounded by universal recognition and received the title of Doctor of Literature. Tolkien died in 1973, and four years later the final version of The Silmarillion was published. The work was completed by the writer's son.
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, also known as Tolkien (January 3, 1892 - September 2, 1973) - English writer, linguist, philologist, best known as the author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Tolkien was Oxford Professor of Anglo-Saxon Language (1925–1945) and English Language and Literature (1945–1959). An orthodox Catholic, he was a member of the Inklings literary society with his close friend C.S. Lewis. On March 28, 1972, Tolkien received the title of Commander of the Order of the British Empire from Queen Elizabeth II.
Anyone who knows the language can say “green sun.” Many people can imagine or draw this. But that's not all - although even this may turn out to be much more impressive than all the numerous stories and stories “from life” that are awarded literary prizes.
Tolkien John Ronald Ruel
After Tolkien's death, his son Christopher published several works based on his father's notes and unpublished manuscripts, including The Silmarillion.
This book, along with The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, forms a single collection of tales, poems, histories, artificial languages and literary essays about the fictional world called Arda and its part of Middle-earth. From 1951 to 1955, Tolkien used the word "legendarium" to refer to much of this collection.
Many authors wrote fantasy works before Tolkien, but due to his great popularity and strong influence on the genre, many call Tolkien the "father" of modern fantasy literature, meaning mainly "high fantasy".
In Russian, the writer’s surname is spelled both “Tolkien” and “Tolkien” in different sources, which often causes disagreements among fans of his work.
To create a Secondary World, where the green sun would be in its place, where we would gain sincere and unconditional Secondary Faith in it - for this, apparently, it is required to apply both thought and work, and in addition, it requires some special skill, similar to the skill elves.
(Quote from “Tree and Leaf”)
Tolkien John Ronald Ruel
In a letter to Richard Jeffery dated December 17, 1972, Tolkien notes: “My last name is always written as Tolkein... I don’t know why - I always pronounce the ending ‘keen’.” Thus, the spelling "Tolkien" more accurately reflects the original pronunciation of the surname. In English, stress is not fixed; some members of the Tolkien family used stress on the last syllable - "kin".
According to surviving information, most of Tolkien's paternal ancestors were artisans. The Tolkien family comes from Saxony (Germany), but from the 18th century the writer’s ancestors settled in England, quickly becoming “native Englishmen.” The surname "Tolkien" is an anglicization of the nickname "Tollkiehn" (German tollkuhn, "recklessly brave"). Grandmother told little Ronald that their family descended from the famous Hohenzollerns.
Tolkien's mother's parents, John and Edith Suffield, lived in Birmingham, where they owned a large store in the city center from 1812.
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born on 3 January 1892 in Bloemfontein, Orange Free State (now Free State, South Africa). His parents, Arthur Ruel Tolkien (1857–1895), an English bank manager, and Mabel Tolkien (née Suffield) (1870–1904), arrived in South Africa shortly before their son's birth in connection with Arthur's promotion. On February 17, 1894, Arthur and Mabel had a second son, Hilary Arthur Ruel.
As a child, Tolkien was bitten by a tarantula, an event that later influenced his work. The sick boy was cared for by a doctor named Thornton Quimby, and is believed to have served as the inspiration for Gandalf the Grey.
I must add something about the many theories and conjectures I have heard or read about the motives and meaning of the story. The main motive was the narrator's desire to try to write a truly long story that could hold the attention of readers for a long time, entertain them, give pleasure or inspire...
Tolkien John Ronald Ruel
At the beginning of 1895, after the death of the father of the family, the Tolkien family returned to England. Left alone with two children, Mabel asks her relatives for help. Returning home was difficult: Tolkien's mother's relatives did not approve of her marriage. After the death of his father from rheumatic fever, the family settled in Sarehole, near Birmingham.
Mabel Tolkien was left alone with two small children in her arms and a very modest income, which was just enough to live on. Trying to find support in life, she immersed herself in religion, converted to Catholicism (this led to a final break with her Anglican relatives) and gave her children an appropriate education, as a result, Tolkien remained a deeply religious person all his life.
Tolkien's strong religious beliefs played a significant role in C.S. Lewis's conversion to Christianity, although, to Tolkien's disappointment, Lewis chose the Anglican faith over the Catholic faith.
As for the various kinds of subtext, this was not the author's intention. The book is neither allegorical nor thematic.
(Preface to The Lord of the Rings)
Tolkien John Ronald Ruel
Mabel also taught her son the basics of Latin, as well as a love of botany, and Tolkien loved to draw landscapes and trees from an early age. He read a lot, and from the very beginning he disliked Stevenson's Treasure Island and the Pied Piper of Hammel by the Brothers Grimm, but he liked Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, stories about Indians, George MacDonald's fantasy works and Andrew's Fairy Book Lang.
Tolkien's mother died of diabetes in 1904, at the age of 34; Before her death, she entrusted the upbringing of her children to Father Francis Morgan, a priest of the Birmingham Church, a strong and extraordinary personality. It was Francis Morgan who developed Tolkien's interest in philology, for which he was later very grateful to him.
Children spend their preschool years outdoors. These two years were enough for Tolkien to complete all the descriptions of forests and fields in his works. In 1900, Tolkien entered King Edward's School, where he learned Old English and began to study others - Welsh, Old Norse, Finnish, Gothic.
He showed early linguistic talent, and after studying Old Welsh and Finnish, he began to develop “Elvish” languages. He subsequently studied at St. Philip's School and Oxford Exeter College.
In 1911, while studying at King Edward's School, Tolkien and three friends - Rob Gilson, Geoffrey Smith and Christopher Wiseman - organized a semi-secret circle called the ChKBO - " Tea Club and Barrovian Society" (eng. T.C.B.S., Tea Club and Barrovian Society).
This name is due to the fact that friends loved tea, which was sold near the school in the Barrow supermarket, as well as in the school library, although this was prohibited. Even after graduation, members of the Cheka kept in touch, for example, they met in December 1914 at Wiseman's house in London.
Much can be thought out, according to the tastes of lovers of allegories or references to reality. But I have and always have had a sincere dislike of allegory in all its forms, ever since I became old and boring enough to notice it. I much prefer a story, real or fictional, that interacts with the reader's experience in different ways.
(Preface to The Lord of the Rings) Many of the living deserve death, and many of the dead deserve life. Can you give it back to them? Same thing. Then do not rush to condemn him to death. No one, even the wisest of the wise, can see all the intricacies of fate.
(Quote from The Lord of the Rings)
Tolkien John Ronald Ruel
In the summer of 1911, Tolkien visited Switzerland, which he later mentioned in a letter in 1968, noting that Bilbo Baggins's journey through the Misty Mountains was based on the route that Tolkien and twelve companions took from Interlaken to Lauterbrunnen. In October of the same year he began his studies at Oxford University, Exeter College.
In 1908 he met Edith Mary Brett, who had a great influence on his work.
Falling in love prevented Tolkien from immediately entering college; besides, Edith was a Protestant and three years older than him. Father Francis took John's word of honor that he would not date Edith until he turned 21, that is, until he came of age, when Father Francis ceased to be his guardian. Tolkien kept his promise by not writing a line to Mary Edith until this age. They didn't even meet or talk.
In the evening, on the same day that Tolkien turned 21, he wrote a letter to Edith, declaring his love and proposing his hand and heart. Edith replied that she had already agreed to marry another person because she decided that Tolkien had long forgotten her. Eventually, she returned the engagement ring to her groom and announced that she was marrying Tolkien. In addition, at his insistence, she converted to Catholicism.
The engagement took place in Birmingham in January 1913, and the wedding took place on March 22, 1916 in the English city of Warwick, in St. Mary's Catholic Church. Their union with Edith Brett turned out to be long and happy. The couple lived together for 56 years and raised 3 sons: John Francis Ruel (1917), Michael Hilary Ruel (1920), Christopher Ruel (1924), and daughter Priscilla Mary Ruel (1929).
In 1914, Tolkien enlisted in the Military Training Corps in order to delay conscription in order to earn his bachelor's degree. In 1915, Tolkien graduated with honors from the university and went to serve as a lieutenant in the Lancashire Fusiliers; John was soon called up to the front and participated in the First World War.
John survived the bloody Battle of the Somme, where two of his best friends from the Cheka (“tea club”) were killed, after which he hated war, fell ill with typhus, and after long treatment was sent home with disability.
He devoted the following years to a scientific career: first teaching at the University of Leeds, in 1922 he received the position of professor of Anglo-Saxon language and literature at Oxford University, where he became one of the youngest professors (at 30 years old) and soon earned a reputation as one of the best philologists in world.
At the same time, he began writing the great cycle of myths and legends of Middle-Earth, which would later become The Silmarillion. There were four children in his family, for whom he first composed, narrated and then recorded The Hobbit, which was later published in 1937 by Sir Stanley Unwin.
The Hobbit was a success, and Anuin suggested that Tolkien write a sequel, but work on the trilogy took a long time and the book was completed only in 1954, when Tolkien was already preparing to retire.
The trilogy was published and was a tremendous success, which greatly surprised the author and publisher. Anuin expected to lose significant money, but he personally loved the book and was eager to publish his friend's work. For ease of publication, the book was divided into three parts, so that after the publication and sale of the first part it would become clear whether the rest were worth printing.
After the death of his wife in 1971, Tolkien returned to Oxford.
At the end of 1972 he suffered greatly from indigestion, and an x-ray showed dyspepsia. Doctors prescribe him a diet and demand that he completely avoid drinking wine. On August 28, 1973, Tolkien travels to Bournemouth to visit an old friend, Denis Tolhurst.
On Thursday 30 August, he attends Mrs. Tolhurst's birthday party. I didn’t feel very well, I ate little, but I drank a little champagne. It got worse at night and in the morning Tolkien was taken to a private clinic, where they discovered a bleeding stomach ulcer.
Despite optimistic predictions at first, pleurisy developed by Saturday, and on the night of Sunday, September 2, 1973, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien died at the age of eighty-one.
All works published after 1973, including The Silmarillion, were published by his son Christopher.
Even as a child, John and his friends came up with several languages to communicate with each other. This passion for learning existing languages and constructing new ones remained with him throughout his life.
Tolkien is the creator of several artificial languages: Quenya, or the language of the High Elves; Sindarin is the language of the gray elves. Tolkien knew several dozen languages, and composed new languages, largely guided by the beauty of sound.
He himself said: “No one believes me when I say that my long book is an attempt to create a world in which a language consistent with my personal aesthetics could appear natural. However, it is true."
You can read more about Tolkien’s linguistic hobbies in the lecture The Secret Vice (Russian), which he gave at Oxford in 1931.
Works
- Published during his lifetime
* 1925 - “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” (co-authored with E. B. Gordon)
* 1937 - “The Hobbit, or There and Back Again” / The Hobbit or There and Back Again - with this book Tolkien entered literature. The book originally appeared as a work for the family circle - Tolkien began telling the fairy tale about the hobbit to his children. Almost accidentally getting into print, the story about the adventures of the hobbit Bilbo Baggins unexpectedly gained wide popularity among readers of all ages. Already in this fairy tale a huge mythological layer was laid. Now the book is known more as a kind of prologue to The Lord of the Rings.
* 1945 - “Leaf by Niggle” / Leaf by Niggle
* 1945 - “The Ballad of Aotrou and Itroun” / The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun
* 1949 - Farmer Giles of Ham
* 1953 - “The Return of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm’s Son” / The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm’s Son (play)
* 1954–1955 - “The Lord of the Rings” / The Lord of the Rings. A book that, back in the mid-1970s, was one of the most read and published books in the world. Tolkien's central work. The epic, which tells the story of Middle-earth, was published in 1954-1955 in England and after some time gave birth to a real Tolkien cult, which began in America in the 60s.
1954 - “The Fellowship of the Ring” / The Fellowship of the Ring
1954 - “The Two Towers”
1955 - The Return of the King
* 1962 - “The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Other Verses from the Red Book” (cycle of poems).
* 1967 - “The Road Goes Ever On” / The Road Goes Ever On (with Donald Swann)
* 1967 - “The Blacksmith of Big Wootton” / Smith of Wootton Major
Published posthumously
* 1977 - “The Silmarillion” / The Silmarillion
* 1980 - “Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-earth” / Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-earth
* 1983–1996 - “The History of Middle-earth” / The History of Middle-earth
* 1997 - “Roverandom” / The Roverandom
* 2007 - “The Children of Hurin” / The Children of Hurin
* 2009 - “The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun” / The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun
Tolkien's works had a huge influence on world culture of the 20th and even 21st centuries. They have been repeatedly adapted for cinema, animation, audio plays, theater stage, and computer games. Concept albums, illustrations, and comics were created based on them. A large number of imitations of Tolkien’s books, their continuations or antitheses have been created in literature.
Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings was filmed several times, first in the form of animated films by Ralph Bakshi (1978) and Rankin/Bass (1980), and in 2001–2003 Peter Jackson directed three big-budget Lord of the Rings blockbusters, which received numerous awards and grossed more than 2 billion dollars.
There is also a film adaptation of The Hobbit (1977). A number of computer games are based on Tolkien’s books and their film adaptations, the most famous of which are the strategy Battle for Middle-Earth and the MMORPG Lord of the Rings Online. Musical groups such as Blind Guardian, Battlelore, Summoning have composed many songs about characters and events from Tolkien's books.
Many famous fantasy writers admit that they turned to this genre under the influence of Tolkien’s epic, for example Robert Jordan, Nick Perumov, Terry Brooks, Robert Salvatore. Professor Ursula Le Guin, a contemporary of the Professor, notes the poetry and rhythm of his style.
However, many famous authors criticize Tolkien. In particular, China Miéville, while acknowledging that “The Lord of the Rings is undoubtedly the most influential genre of fantasy,” calls it “rural, conservative, anti-modern, terribly Christian and anti-intellectual.”
Objects named after Tolkien
* asteroid (2675) Tolkien;
* sea crustacean Leucothoe tolkieni from the system of underwater ridges Nazca and Sala y Gomez (Pacific Ocean);
* rove beetle Gabrius tolkieni Schillhammer, 1997 (Lives in Nepal (Khandbari, Induwa Khola Valley));
* genus of fossil trilobites Tolkienia from the family Acastidae (Phacopida).
The names of geographical features of Middle-earth and the names of characters appearing in Tolkien's works are named after many real geographical features and animals.
Prizes and awards
* 1957, International Fantasy Award in the Fiction category for The Lord of the Rings (1955)
* 1974, Hugo Award. Gandalf Award “Grand Master of Fantasy”
* 1978, Locus Award in the Fantasy Novel category for The Silmarillion (1977)
* 1978, Hugo Award. Gandalf Award "Book-Length Fantasy" for The Silmarillion (1977)
* 1979, Balrog Awards. Professional Achievement
* 1981, Balrog Awards in the Collection/Anthology category for “Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-earth” (1980)
* 1981, Mythopoeic Awards in the Mythopoetic Fantasy Award category for Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-earth, edited by Christopher Tolkien (1980)
* 1989, Mythopoeic Awards in the category "Mythopoetic Award for Research into the Work of the Inklings" for "The Return of the Shadow (The History of The Lord of the Rings. Part I)" (1988)
* 1990, Great Ring in the category "Large Form (translation)" for "The Two Towers" (1954)
* 1991, Great Ring in the category “Large Form (Translation)” for “The Lord of the Rings” (1955)
* 2000, Mythopoeic Awards in the category “Mythopoetic Award for Research into the Work of the Inklings” for “Roverandom” (1998)
* 2002, Deutscher Phantastik Preis in the category "Best Author"
* 2003, Mythopoeic Awards in the category "Mythopoetic Award for Research into the Work of the Inklings" for "Beowulf and the Critics" (2002)
* 2009, Mythopoeic Awards in the category "Mythopoetic Award for Research into the Work of the Inklings" for "The History of The Hobbit" (2007)
* 2009, Prometheus Awards. Inducted into the Hall of Fame for The Lord of the Rings (1955)
Evil uses enormous forces and with constant success - but only in vain; it only prepares the soil on which unexpected goodness will sprout. This is how it happens in general; this is how it happens in our own lives... 
English science fiction writer and linguist John Ronald Ruel Tolkien was born on January 3, 1892 in the city of Bloemfontein, Orange Republic (now South Africa). His father was a manager of an English bank; his parents settled in South Africa shortly before John's birth due to his father's promotion.
In February 1896, the father died, the mother and children returned to England and settled in Sarehole near the city of Birmingham. In 1904, his mother died, and John and his younger brother remained under the care of the Catholic priest Francis Morgan.
Since 1920, Tolkien taught at the University of Leeds, in 1924 he was confirmed as a professor, and from 1925 to 1959 he taught at the University of Oxford.
In 1922, Tolkien's Dictionary of Medieval English was published. He researched the works of Geoffrey Chaucer and the medieval epic Beowulf, and prepared editions of three Middle English monuments: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, with Eric Gordon, and Ancrene. Wisse) and "Sir Orfeo" (Sir Orfeo). Tolkien even “finished” the lost verses of the famous “Elder Edda,” a collection of Old Icelandic myths from the 13th century.
Tolkien invented several of his own languages - for example, Quenya (the language of the High Elves), Sindarin (the language of the Gray Elves), Khuzdul (the secret language of the Dwarves). Their invention influenced his literary work.
In the 1920s, he began writing the cycle of myths and legends of Middle-earth that later became The Silmarillion (published after Tolkien's death in 1977).
In the early 1930s, an informal literary club "Inklings" (Inklings; inkling - "hint"; sometimes the name of the circle is considered as a derivative of the word ink - "ink") gathered around Tolkien's friend, the writer Clive Lewis, a number of whose members were fond of northern mythology. The club soon disbanded, but a new one was formed with the same name by Oxford graduate Tanji Lin, which also included Tolkien and Lewis. The Inklings met regularly for two decades, reading excerpts from their writings and discussing them. It is known that Tolkien read to the Inklings chapters from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, which he was writing at the time.
The Hobbit was published in 1937 and was illustrated with over one hundred drawings by Tolkien that explained the story. "The Hobbit" was an extraordinary success immediately after its publication, receiving the New York Herald Tribune Award as the best book of the year.
In 1954-1955, Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy (The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King) was published. The epic novel was translated into many languages of the world and first sold a million copies, and today it has surpassed the twenty million mark. The novel gave impetus to the development of the fantasy genre and the role-playing movement. The book has become a cult among young people in many countries. Detachments of Tolkienists, dressed in knightly armor, to this day in the USA, England, Canada, New Zealand. There is also a Tolkienist movement in Russia.
The film rights to the novel were sold by Tolkien in 1968, but the film epic appeared only in 2001. In 2012-2014, a film trilogy based on The Hobbit was released, which describes the story preceding the events of The Lord of the Rings.
During John Tolkien's lifetime, the story "Leaf by Niggle" (1945), the poem "The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun" (1945), and the fairy tale "Farmer Giles" were also published. of Ham, 1949), a collection of poems “The Adventures of Tom Bombadil” (The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, 1962), the story “The Blacksmith of Big Wootton” (Smith of Wootton Major, 1967), etc.
In the last years of his life, Tolkien was surrounded by universal recognition. In June 1972, he received the title of Doctor of Letters from Oxford University, and in 1973, at Buckingham Palace, Queen Elizabeth awarded the writer the Order of the British Empire, second class.
All of his works published after 1973 were published by his son Christopher. Among them are “The Father Christmas Letters” (1976), “The Silmarillion” (1977), “Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-earth” (1980), “Monsters and Critics” “(The Monsters And The Critics And Others Esseys, 1983), “The History of Middle-earth” in 12 volumes (The History of Middle-earth, 1983-1986), “Tales from the Perilous Realm” (1997) , “The History of The Hobbit” (2009), “The Fall of Arthur” (2013), etc.
John Tolkien's previously unpublished novella, The Tale of Beren and Luthien, is expected to be published in the UK in May 2017.
John Tolkien was married to Edith Brett in 1916; the couple lived together for 55 years and raised three sons and a daughter.
The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources
John Tolkien is a famous English writer and philologist. One of the founders of modern fantasy. Author of the novels "The Hobbit, or There and Back Again", "The Lord of the Rings", "The Silmarillion".
Biography of the writer
John Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein in the Orange Republic. Now this is the territory of South Africa. In 1892. He worked at Pembroke College and Oxford University. He taught Anglo-Saxon language. He held the position of professor. He was a researcher of English language and literature. Together with his friend and writer Clive Lewis, he was a member of the informal literary society "Inklings", which valued new works of fiction and was especially fond of fantasy.
His most famous novels are The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion. His son Christopher published the last one after his father’s death. These three novels form a collection of works about the fictional world of Middle-earth. John Tolkien himself united his novels with the word “legendarium”. This is a literary collection of fairy tales or legends.
It is worth noting that before Tolkien, many authors wrote fantasy novels. However, his popularity was so great, and his novels had such an influence on the development of the entire genre, that today Tolkien is officially called the father of fantasy. Speaking primarily about high fantasy.
In the list of the greatest writers of the 20th century, according to the authoritative British newspaper The Times, John Tolkien ranks sixth.
At war
The English writer did not remain aloof from the key military conflicts of the 20th century. Although in 1914 he literally shocked his relatives by not immediately enlisting as a volunteer for the front. He first decided to get a degree. Only after this did John R.R. Tolkien enter the army with the rank of second lieutenant.
In 1916, as part of the 11th Expeditionary Battalion, he arrived in France. He served as a signalman in northern France, near the Somme River. In these places he took a direct part in the battle on the Thiepval ridge. Stormed the Swabian redoubt.
At the end of 1916, he fell ill with trench fever, or as it is also called Volyn fever. Its carriers were lice that bred in British dugouts at that time. In November 16th he was commissioned and sent to England.
During World War II he was considered for a position as a codebreaker. He even received training at the London headquarters of the Government Communications Centre. However, in the end, the government declared that it did not need his services. So he never served again.
Death of Tolkien
By the middle of the 20th century, John Tolkien, whose books sold in large numbers, was a famous and successful writer. In 1971 he lost his wife and returned to Oxford.
A little over a year later, doctors diagnosed him with dyspepsia, a disorder of the normal functioning of the stomach. The disease was accompanied by constant indigestion. Doctors prescribed him a strict diet and forbade him to drink wine.
In the summer of 1973 he was visiting friends in Bournemouth. On August 30, at Mrs. Tolhurst's birthday party, he hardly ate, but drank some champagne. Late in the evening I felt bad. By morning he was hospitalized. Doctors diagnosed him with a stomach ulcer. A few days later pleurisy developed.
"The Hobbit, or There and Back Again"
Tolkien's very first famous novel about the world of Middle-earth, The Hobbit, or There and Back Again, was published in 1937. It tells the fascinating story of the journey of the hobbit Bilbo Baggins. He sets off on his journey after meeting the powerful wizard Gandalf. The goal of his campaign is the treasures that are stored on the Lonely Mountain, guarded by the terrible dragon Smaug.
Initially, Tolkien wrote this book with only one purpose - to entertain his own children. However, the manuscript of this fascinating novel catches the eye first of his friends and relatives, and then of British publishers. The latter immediately became interested in the new original work and asked the author to finish the manuscript and provide it with illustrations. Which is what John Tolkien did. The Hobbit first appeared on bookstore shelves in the fall of 1937.
This novel was the first about the Middle-earth universe, which the author developed over several decades. The reviews were so positive from both critics and readers that the novel brought fame and profit to the author.
In their reviews, readers noted that for many this novel is in first place in their personal reading rating, that it is not like any other work, despite its large volume, everyone should read it.
"Lord of the Rings"
John Tolkien, whose biography was closely connected with the fantasy genre, released his new novel “The Lord of the Rings” in 1954. This is already a whole epic, which the publishers had to divide into several independent parts. The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King.
The main character of the previous work, the hobbit Bilbo Baggins, retires. He leaves his nephew Frodo a magic ring that can make anyone who possesses it invisible. The powerful magician Gandalf appears again in the story, who initiates Frodo into all the secrets of this ring. It turns out that this is the Ring of Omnipotence, created by the dark lord of Middle-earth himself, Sauron, who lives in Mordor. He is the enemy of all free peoples, which includes hobbits. At the same time, the Ring of Omnipotence has its own will, capable of enslaving its owner or extending his life. With its help, Sauron hopes to subjugate all other magic rings and conquer power in Mordor.
There is only one way to prevent this - to destroy the ring. This can only be done in the place where it was forged, in the mouth of the Fire Mountain. Frodo sets off on a dangerous journey.
"The Silmarillion"
The Silmarillion was published after Tolkien's death. The book was published by his son Christopher.
The new work is, in fact, a collection of legends and myths of Middle-earth, describing the history of this fictional Universe from the very beginning of time. "The Silmarillion" tells about the events that occurred from the creation of the world during the Middle Ages.
For example, the first part is called Ainulindale. It tells how the Universe of Middle-earth was born. It turns out that music played a key role in this. This part of the novel is framed as a legend written by the elf Rumila.
The second part describes the characteristics of the main divine beings of this world. One of the parts is dedicated to the founding and fall of one of the largest states in Middle-earth, Numenor.
It's no secret that the universe that John Tolkien created in his books and manuscripts is one of the most carefully crafted, and therefore the most interesting and deep literary universes. Studying all its nuances is a real test of strength. However, if you want to navigate the whole variety of Tolkien’s plots - from “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” to “The Silmarillion” and other “Hurins” - then our new material will be interesting for you. After reading this article, you will stop wandering through the world of Tolkien, as if through a dense forest, and set off on a free voyage according to the imagination of one of the richest minds of the last century.
Preface
On September 2, 1973, John Tolkien died, leaving behind an enormous collection of manuscripts, notes and notes. Christopher Tolkien, the writer's son, devoted his entire life to editing and publishing his father's writings. During his lifetime, Tolkien managed to publish only two of his key works - The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Both of these books, in turn, were based on a wide layer of traditions and legends, some of which Tolkien wrote in full, some of which he compiled schematically and in fragments. Moreover, Tolkien regularly revised and rewrote most of the records about his universe throughout his life, sometimes changing not only names and titles, but also the course of events. Christopher Tolkien has done a truly titanic job, editing and publishing almost all the legends from the world of Middle-earth to date.
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien
What is noteworthy is that Tolkien himself compiled a short excursion into his universe - in a letter to Milton Waldman from the Collins publishing house, dated the end of 1951. In this rather voluminous letter, which is often published as a preface to The Silmarillion, Tolkien not only explained how the events of his universe are connected, but also told how the idea for the entire cycle of his works originated. In this article we will mainly rely on this letter, and we recommend that the most devoted fans of Middle-earth read it in its entirety.
On the way to creating Middle-earth
It all started, as Tolkien himself wrote, with two hobbies: young John loved to invent new languages (and, becoming a professional philologist, only strengthened his skills) and had a burning passion for myths and fairy tales, especially heroic legends. However, Tolkien was upset by the almost complete absence of worthy legends in his homeland, England:
There are Greek and Celtic epics, Romanesque, Germanic, Scandinavian and Finnish (the latter made a strong impression on me); but absolutely nothing English, except for cheap editions of folk tales.
Beowulf is the hero of the epic poem of the same name, which influenced Tolkien
Actually, Tolkien’s original idea was to create a cycle of legends - from legends of a global, cosmogonic scale to a romantic fairy tale - which he could dedicate to England.
...possessing (if only I could achieve it) that magical, elusive beauty that some call Celtic (although it is rarely found in the authentic works of the ancient Celts), these legends should be “sublime”, purified from all that is coarse and obscene and correspond to more to the mature mind of the earth, imbued with poetry since ancient times. I would present some legends in full, but I would outline many only schematically, as part of the overall plan.
The First World War had a great influence on Tolkien’s work, in the battles of which the writer took a direct part. Having gone into reserve and deeply affected by the devastating war, in 1916-1917 Tolkien began work on The Book of Lost Tales - a work that was left unfinished, but included the first prototypes of those myths and legends that would later make up The Silmarillion. The first of Tolkien’s key plots was “The Fall of Gondolin,” which we talk about in more detail below.
Published books and legends of Tolkien
Here is a list of the main works in the Tolkien universe, indicating the year of first publication:
- The Hobbit, or There and Back Again (1937)
- The Lord of the Rings (1954–1955)
- The Silmarillion (1977)
- Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-earth (1980)
- The Children of Hurin (2007)
- Beren and Luthien (2017)
- The Fall of Gondolin (to be published in 2018)
It is these books that make up the main legendarium of Middle-earth. During his lifetime, John Tolkien published only the first two books. The Silmarillion and other publications are the merit of his son Christopher, who took upon himself the responsibility to bring his father's original plans to life.
Separately, it is worth noting the 12-volume edition of Tolkien's manuscripts:
- The History of Middle-earth (1983–1996)
This publication cannot be unambiguously attributed to the main legendarium, since it contains many original manuscripts, subsequently rewritten and changed. Most of the volumes of The History of Middle-earth are of only research interest to Tolkien fans and are not recommended for the untrained reader.
The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales
The main part of the legends about the creation and structure of Arda (the world of Middle-earth), as well as a detailed description of the events of the First Age, is set out in “The Silmarillion” - a book that many call the Bible of Middle-earth. The contents of this book are divided into several important parts:
- “Ainulindale”, or “Music of the Ainur” - a myth about the creation of the world;
- "Valaquenta" - a description of the Valar and Maiar, the divine entities of Arda;
- “Quenta Silmarillion”, or “The History of the Silmarils” - the main section of the book, describing the initial events of the world and the events of the First Age, which began shortly after the creation of the Sun and the Moon;
- “Akallabeth”, or “The Overthrow of Numenor” - a legend about the central events of the Second Age;
- “Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age” is a brief description of the events of the Second and Third Ages, touching on the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.
Morgoth and Fingolfin. Drawing by John Howe
The Silmarillion is essentially a brief history of Middle-earth that ties together all of Tolkien's plots. This is a kind of single plot tree, some of the branches of which turned out to be much more developed than others and turned into separate full-fledged works.
The cycles begin with a cosmogonic myth: “The Music of the Ainur.” God and the Valar (or powers; called gods in English) are revealed. The latter are a kind of angelic forces, each Valar is called upon to perform its specific task. Immediately after this we move on to "The History of the Elves."
It tells of the fall of the elves, which is very similar to the Christian fall of the angels.
“The Silmarillion” tells how the Elves were expelled from Valinor (the abode of the Gods, a kind of Paradise), how they returned to their native abode - Middle-earth, and how they fiercely fought the Enemy. The title of the book was chosen for a reason - the connecting thread for all events is the fate and essence of the Primordial Gems, or Silmarils.
The main villain of The Silmarillion is Melkor (Morgoth), the enemy of the Valar gods and the personification of world evil. Many wars raged at the beginning of time and during the First Age due to the fault of Morgoth, but The Silmarillion ends with the final capture and expulsion of the villain from Arda.
Attack on Nargothrond. Drawing by Pete Amahri
In the book “The Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth,” published three years later, Christopher Tolkien included those stories of his father that were not completed, but important additions to the legendarium of “The Silmarillion.” The distinctive feature of Unfinished Tales is that it focused around the events of the Second and Third Ages.
Together, The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales constitute the most important body of legends in Tolkien's universe, upon which the masterpiece The Lord of the Rings rests.
"Children of Hurin", "Beren and Lúthien" and "The Fall of Gondolin"
In addition to The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien had several other stories that he considered key to his universe. Christopher Tolkien devoted separate books to the three most important of them - the “great tales,” as the writer himself called them, despite the fact that all these stories were part of The Silmarillion in one form or another.
The Children of Hurin, released in April 2007, concerns mainly the adventures of Túrin Turambar and greatly expands on Chapter 21 of The Silmarillion. Having begun writing the book in 1918, Tolkien worked on it for most of his life and never managed to publish it. Christopher Tolkien spent thirty years piecing together scattered sketches and creating a complete book with minimal revisions. This is how the general public learned about the high and tragic fate of Turin Turambar - the slayer of the dragon Glaurung and, unknowingly, the husband of his own sister.
Murder of Glaurung. Drawing by Ted Nesmith
Tolkien considered the central plot of his entire life to be the legend “Beren and Lúthien” - the love story of a mortal man and an immortal elf, the creation of which was significantly influenced by the real love story between the writer and his future wife Edith.
The main of the legends of The Silmarillion, and, moreover, the most detailed, is “The Tale of Beren and the Elven maiden Luthien.”
Here, among other things, we first encounter the following motif (it will become dominant in The Hobbit): the great events of world history - the “wheels of the world” - are often turned not by lords and rulers, but by simple and unknown heroes. Beren, an outcast from the mortal race, with the help of Lúthien, a weak maiden, albeit of a royal family, succeeds where all armies and warriors have failed: he penetrates the stronghold of the Enemy and obtains one of the Silmarils of the Iron Crown. Thus he wins the hand of Lúthien, and the first marriage between a mortal and an immortal is concluded.
Unlike The Children of Hurin, the book Beren and Lúthien, published by Christopher in 2017, contains practically no new material and is a collection of several versions of the legend already known from The Silmarillion.
Lúthien. Drawing by Ted Nesmith
A similar approach will be applied in the book “The Fall of Gondolin” - in it we will see several versions of the same legend. “The Fall of Gondolin” is, in fact, Tolkien’s first work about Middle-earth, written by him under the impression of the Battle of the Somme - one of the bloodiest battles of the First World War.
Gondolin is a secret elven city built by King Turgon during the First Age. It was built surrounded by mountains, where only one secret passage leads. This path was revealed to Turgon by the lord of the waters, Ulmo, one of the Valar. Construction lasted half a century, and the city stood for about 400 years, until one day Turgon's nephew Maeglin revealed its location to Morgoth. Maeglin loved Idril, daughter of Turgon, but she refused him, and the Eldar did not approve of marriages of such close relatives. The thirst for power, rejected feelings and hatred of Tuor - the man who took Idril as his wife - forced Maeglin to betray.
Tuor comes to Gondolin. Drawing by Ted Nesmith
Thus, by 2018, Christopher Tolkien completed the publication of all the key works of his father and summed up the development of the Middle-earth legendarium. We can only take off our hat to Christopher and give him a deep bow for his dedication and boundless diligence.
"The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit"
Here we come to the main works of Tolkien, known throughout the world - the books “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings”. The events of these books take place at the end of the Third Age of Middle-earth - several thousand years after the events of the three “great tales”. The outlines of Middle-earth changed greatly, part of the continent was destroyed.
Morgoth's fallen banner was taken up by his powerful servant Sauron, and because of his wiles the human race suffered many misfortunes. The key event of the Second Age was the destruction of the island of Numenor: this is told in the legend Akallabeth, included in The Silmarillion. The people who survived the disaster moved to Middle-earth and founded the kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor there. Over the course of the Third Age, Arnor gradually faded away and fell under the onslaught of the forces of evil, and Gondor became the main goal of Sauron in his war, which was called the War of the Ring and formed the basis of the book “The Lord of the Rings.”
The Overthrow of Numenor. Drawing by John Howe
One of the main events of the Second Age of Middle-earth was the creation of the rings of power. This story is told in the final section of The Silmarillion. Sauron tricked the Elves who remained in Middle-earth into creating rings of power to slow the Elven "decline." At the same time, the rings enhanced the innate abilities of the owner, and also had some other properties: for example, they made material objects invisible and the essence of the invisible world visible.
The Elves of Eregion created, almost exclusively by the power of their own imagination, without prompting, Three incredibly beautiful and powerful rings aimed at preserving beauty: these did not impart invisibility. But secretly, in the underground Fire, in his Black Earth, Sauron created the One Ring, the Ruling Ring, which contained the properties of all the others and controlled them, so that the wearer could see the thoughts of all those who used smaller rings, could control all of them actions and could ultimately enslave them completely. However, Sauron did not take into account the wisdom and sensitive insight of the elves. As soon as he put on the One Ring, the elves learned about it, comprehended his secret plan and were afraid. They hid the Three Rings so that even Sauron could not find them, and they remained undefiled. The elves tried to destroy the rest of the Rings.
Sauron forges the One Ring. Image from the game Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor
A war began that plunged Middle-earth into darkness. The War of the Last Alliance ended the history of the Second Age. Elves and people united against Sauron and destroyed his material shell, ridding him of the One Ring. However, due to an unfortunate omission, the ring was not destroyed, and it was this fact that gave rise to the development of the events of the books “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings”.
Sauron in the War of the Last Alliance. Art by Matt DeMino
We will not describe the events of “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings” - these are such well-known and popular works (including thanks to Jackson’s film adaptation) that there is hardly anyone among science fiction fans who is not at least superficially familiar with the books .
“The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings” not only worthily completed the body of legends conceived by Tolkien, but also, undoubtedly, became the crown of the writer’s creation and had a colossal influence on the development of the genre in literature. Although for Tolkien himself these books were only a small part of one great cycle.
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