J.R.R. Tolkien

Hello, my name is John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, but most people knew me as Ronald. My story begins not in the rolling green hills of England that I came to love, but in a much hotter, dustier place. I was born on January 3rd, 1892, in Bloemfontein, South Africa. I don't remember much of it, as my mother brought my brother and me to England when I was only three. Sadly, my father passed away in Africa before he could join us, and a few years later, in 1904, my dear mother also died. As an orphan, I found comfort in two things: my Catholic faith and the magic of languages. My mother had taught me the basics of Latin and French, and I fell in love with the sounds and histories of words. It was the beginning of a lifelong passion that would shape everything I did.

At King Edward's School in Birmingham, I met three brilliant friends. We formed a secret club we called the T.C.B.S., which stood for the 'Tea Club and Barrovian Society.' We shared everything—our dreams, our poems, our art. We promised to change the world with our creativity. It was also during these years that I met the love of my life, Edith Bratt. While studying at Oxford University starting in 1911, I dove deeper into ancient languages like Anglo-Saxon and Old Norse, the languages of myths and epic heroes. But our world was changing. In 1914, the Great War, now called World War I, began. After I finished my degree in 1915, I knew I had to serve. I married my dear Edith in March of 1916, and soon after, I was sent to the battlefields of France as a signals officer. The war was a terrible, heartbreaking experience. I saw true courage, but I also lost two of my dearest T.C.B.S. friends. The horrors of the trenches and the strength of the ordinary soldiers I served with would stay with me forever.

After the war, I came back to England, sick with something called trench fever. While recovering, I began to write down the stories that had been bubbling in my mind for years—a mythology for England. This was the start of what would become 'The Silmarillion.' My life became that of a quiet academic. Edith and I raised a wonderful family of four children. In 1925, I became a professor at Oxford University, where I taught ancient languages and literature. To my students, I was just a professor, but at home, I was building a secret world. One day, while grading a very boring exam paper, I found a blank page. On it, I scribbled a sentence that came to me out of nowhere: 'In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.' I had no idea what a hobbit was, but I had to find out. This little sentence sparked a story I told my children, which eventually became a book.

At Oxford, I was part of a group of friends, all writers and thinkers, called 'The Inklings.' We would meet at a pub or in my friend C.S. Lewis’s rooms to read our latest works aloud. It was to this group that I first read chapters from my hobbit story. They encouraged me to finish it, and on September 21st, 1937, 'The Hobbit' was published. To my surprise, people loved it. My publisher asked for a sequel. I knew the new story had to be bigger, a story for adults that explored the themes of good and evil, courage, and friendship that I had seen in the war. It took me more than ten years to write. I drew maps, invented languages, and wrote thousands of pages of history for my world, which I called Middle-earth. This enormous tale was 'The Lord of the Rings.'

Because 'The Lord of the Rings' was so long, my publishers decided to release it in three parts. 'The Fellowship of the Ring' and 'The Two Towers' came out in 1954, and 'The Return of the King' followed in 1955. The books didn't become famous overnight, but over the years, more and more people discovered the world of hobbits, elves, and dwarves. They connected with the journey of Frodo Baggins, a small hobbit tasked with a world-saving quest, and his loyal friend Sam. The story was about a great war, but it was really about how ordinary people can show extraordinary bravery and how the bonds of friendship can overcome the darkest of evils.

I retired from my professorship in 1959 and spent the rest of my years writing and enjoying my family. I lived a full life, filled with words, family, and imaginary worlds, for 81 years. Today, my stories are read all over the globe, reminding us that even in the darkest of times, there is always hope, and that even the smallest person can change the course of the future.