John Ronald Reuel
Tolkien, better known as J.R.R. Tolkien, author of The Lord of the Rings and
The Hobbit, was born on January 3rd, 1892, in Bloemfontein, South Africa. After
his father's death on February 15th, 1896, he and his family returned to the West
Midlands of England. Growing up, his childhood was a mix of rural England's
beautiful hills and industrial Birmingham's smog. Once he reached school age,
he was sent to King Edward's School, and his family moved to King's Hearth and
into a house backed onto a rail line. From his home, Tolkien's fascination with
languages began from coal train destinations such as "Nantyglo"
Penrhiwceiber" and "Senghenydd".
Eventually, the family
moved to the more pleasant area of Edgbaston, where his mother and aunt were
baptized into the Roman Catholic Church and estranged from both sides of the
family. In 1904, Tolkien's mother was diagnosed with diabetes, which was fatal
before the creation of insulin. After her death on November 14th, 1904, Tolkien
and his brother were taken in by Father Francis, the local parish priest.
During this time, his linguistic abilities began to show through his mastery of
Latin and Greek and his competency in modern and ancient languages, such as
Finnish, while creating his languages for fun. The summer before he went to
college, Tolkien joined a party on a walking holiday in Switzerland. At Exeter
College, Oxford, he became immersed in Germanic languages, classics, old
English, Welsh, and Finnish. Although he initially began as a Classics major,
he switched to English Language and Literature after a disappointing
second-class degree in Classics.
Although World War 1
broke out on July 28th, 1914, Tolkien returned to Oxford to achieve a
first-class degree, which he obtained in June 1915. He began many poetic
attempts throughout this time while working on his invented languages.
Eventually, Tolkien enlisted as a second lieutenant in the Lancashire Fusiliers
while working on his story of Earendel the Mariner and his journeys. Finally,
he was sent to depart for France, so he married his childhood love Edith on
March 22nd, 1916, before he was sent to the front lines. There, Tolkien fought
during the Somme Offensive and spent four months in and out of the trenches
before he got "trench fever." In early November, he was sent back to
England, where he stayed a month to recover before returning to Edith by
Christmas.
His illness continued
throughout 1917 and 1918, but he continued to develop his stories. Once the war
had ended, Tolkien was appointed assistant lexicographer for the New English
Dictionary, later known as the Oxford English Dictionary. While working on the
dictionary, he presented one of his lost tales, which he had begun
constructing, and his bouts of illness. In the summer of 1928, he became an
associate professor in the English language at the University of Leeds, where
he collaborated with E.V. Gordon on the famous edition of Sir Gawain and the
Green Knight while refining The Book of Lost Tales and his invented languages.
During his professorship
and grading exam papers, Tolkien discovered a student had left one page of the
answer book blank. Yet on the page, he wrote, "In a hole in the ground
there lived a Hobbit." Thus began the investigation into the character of
the Hobbit. Where it lived, what it did, why it lived in a hole, what sort of
hole it was, all became questions ingrained in the tales Tolkien told his
children before bed. Eventually, this tale morphed beyond the bedroom and into
an incomplete typescript in 1936 when it was discovered and presented to
Stanley Unwin, the chairman of a publishing firm. Thus, The Hobbit was
published in 1937 and met with immediate success.
After the decision that
his completed works were not commercially publishable, Tolkien began the
arduous task of creating a sequel for The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings was
born. Stanley's son Rayner, who was now involved with the company, had to manage
Tolkien during this time, along with the author's many delays and temperamental
moments. However, the book was eventually published in three parts during 1954
and 1955, and its publication was met with immediate public praise. By 1965,
The Lord of the Rings was put in a pirated paperback version, where a massive
copyright dispute gave the book a substantial American audience that wanted
something new but relatable to their experiences. However, the book's success
led Tolkien to feel both honored and wealthy, but also overwhelmed by the
obnoxious nature of some of his fans who would call him in the middle of the
night or show up at his home. So, Tolkien changed addresses, moved to a South
Coast resort with his wife, and made his phone ex-directory. Tolkien continued
to write and publish articles, which continued after his death through the work
of his sons. Eventually, Tolkien's incomplete writings were published in
Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-earth, and after a monumental
investigation into the study of Middle-earth, History of Middle-earth was
published.
Tolkien's creative
process was long and complicated. He had to picture, sketch, and perfect the
many objects and places he included in his works. After he had set the
foundation for his world, he constructed his drafts. He looked at these with
harsh criticism and often changed places, people, characters, and names and
would draw them out with the knowledge that they would likely be revised later
if he did not like them. Tolkien created his works by telling stories to his
children and allowing them to develop and unravel themselves as he spoke. In a
way, Tolkien was improvising his stories and rewriting the things he did not
like. This method is much like the one Nick Cave uses as he sits in the studio
with Warren writing his songs, which he details in Faith, Hope and Carnage.
Both improvise as they go, yet their many improvisations are edited and
narrowed down to a product they are happy with.
LOTR has always been an interesting series to me and I think that one of the parts that makes it so great is how in depth everything is. There is lore about basically everything, he even created entire languages for his world. I think that really speaks to his creative genius because creating such a fleshed out and continuous world is a very difficult task yet he does it so well. LOTR has also had such an impact on fantasy stories, you can see elements of it in so many fantasy stories that followed it which I think only further speaks to how great the world he created is.
ReplyDeleteTolkien's habit of collecting languages is very interesting. From your post, it seems almost as if he mixed around the many languages he was familiar with to create his made-up ones. It seems like an interesting pattern of exploring and fusing.
ReplyDeleteThe world of LOTR has always been such an impressive work of art, and I have always been fascinated by Tolkien's habit of collecting languages. I have not read the Silmarillion, which sheds more light on his creative process, and I am looking forward to finding the time. It is also interesting to read this with the news that there is a new release of his coming sometime soon. I believe it is a book of poetry.
ReplyDeleteI love LOTR; the story building is amazing, and so is the imagery. Collecting languages is so impressive and being able to mix them around is even more so.
ReplyDeleteThat's so cool that he allows his kids to participate in his creative process. I feel like many great creatives can get a little too consumed with their work and believe they are the only ones capable of such awesomeness that they might come off as a bit arrogant. Kids really do have a wilder imagination than adults and having that change in perspective is really important for the development of a story, especially one that is fantastical.
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