J.R.R. Tolkien

John Ronald Reuel or J.R.R. Tolkien was born in South Africa on January 3, 1892, and a professor at Oxford in Britain. A brilliant linguist and fantasy writer.

The Hobbit was just one of the stories he created. Originally written for his children, it came to the attention of a publisher and was an instant hit with young and old. He was soon commissioned to continue the story in the "Lord of the Rings" Trilogy. Tolkien created an entire world for his stories, Arda, where Middle Earth is located. He also made an entire language for them called "Elvenlatin".

Tolkien was home schooled until he was 12. That was when his mother died and he was sent to live with a Catholic priest, Fr. Francis Xavier Morgan. He did well in school until he was 16 when he fell in love. Father Francis noticing how love was affecting his school work, forbid Tolkien from contacting her until he turned 21.

On the evening of his 21st birthday, Tolkien contacted Edith Mary Bratt. She was 3 years older than him, and not surprisingly, engaged to another man. As soon as she realized Tolkien still loved her, she broke off the engagement and agreed to marry him. They were married 3 years later in 1916 and lived happily together until her death in 1971. He followed her in death 22 months later on September 2, 1973.

They were devoted to each other and their children and grandchildren. Buried in the same grave at Wolvercote Cemetery, Oxford, he had the name "Luthien" under her name and "Beren" under his name, after two romantic characters in his story, Of Beren and Luthien from the collection of short stories in his book, "The Silmarillion".