J.R.R. Tolkien

        “Tolkien did what Dickens and Dostoyevsky did, create an entire universe with believable characters, depth and details. Very few people manage that,” says Michael White (Jerome). While other heroes marched on battlefields or threw their hats into political rings, Tolkien had other rings in mind and claimed his immortality through his unique works of literature, some of which began as mere bedtime stories. Even more fascinating than his stories is the tale of how this mastermind was created. Through the course of his life, an intriguing personality was formed, and Tolkien, with his epic tale, created a new style of fantasy writing that has stretched far beyond his printed books and lasted five decades.
        Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa where his father, Arther, kept a garden of cypresses, firs, and cedars which launched Tolkien’s love for trees (A Biography 22). That love for trees created the society of Ents, the forests they cultured, and the great armies of Huorns. In a letter to the family, Tolkien’s mother Mabel explained how much Tolkien looked like a fairy all dressed in white and how he looks even more like an elf when he’s undressed (A Biography 22).
        In 1895, because Tolkien’s health was poor, Mabel decided to take Tolkien and his brother to visit family in Birmingham, England. Arther would catch up with them. However Arther died of a hemorrhage, and Tolkien’s stay in England became permanent. The family moved to the country in the hamlet of Sarehole. It is believed that here is where Tolkien got his inspiration for the Shire (“JRR Tolkien”). Even Tolkien said his four years there were “the longest-seeming and most formative part” of his life (A Biography 32). There, Mabel took a leap of faith and became Catholic. Both sides of the family were outraged and disowned her. Tolkien spent the following years moving from place to place and switching from home schooling to King Edward’s School and back again. Finally, the family ended up in Edgbaston which had a cheap Catholic school. There they met Fr. Francis who became a close family friend. When Mabel was diagnosed with diabetes, Fr. Francis still remained an important part of their lives, and after Mabel died in a diabetic coma, Tolkien and his were more or less Fr. Francis’ guardians even though they lived with an aunt (A Biography 40-41). Tolkien deeply studied languages like Greek and soon found that he enjoyed making his own languages through adolescence (A Biography 44). It is very possible that his creation of an alter universe assuaged the pain and grief that must have been nearly unbearable for a youngster.
        In 1916, after wedding his childhood sweetheart, Edith Bratt, Tolkien went off to fight in the Somme as a second lieutenant during WWI. His stay was short and in the same year he was returned to England with “trench fever”. Although his experience in battle was less traumatic than it could have been, it left an indelible impression. Tolkien watched half his company die from machine gun fire (A Biography 91). By war’s end, only Tolkien survived (A Biography 93-94). Many of his characters could trace their beginnings to the rich store of memories Tolkien would forever carry with him. Years later, Tolkien wrote “My ‘Sam Gamgee’ is indeed a reflexion of the English soldier, of the privates and batmen” (A Biography 89). Tolkien’s son, Michael, went on to fight in WWII and in letters from father to son, Tolkien expressed his frustration at not being able to take action (The Letters 54-55). Tolkien saw that the world would never be rid of evil for “Wars are always lost, and The War always goes on,” a theme that reoccurs in his stories. (The Letters 116).
        Finally, Tolkien was able to get back to what he loved: language and literature. He began as a reader in English Language at the University of Leeds. He later became a professor at Oxford, his own college. There he met fellow professor C. S. Lewis, and they became fast friends. They were both members of the Inklings, a writing club where Tolkien was able to test many of his works.
        Despite Lewis’ constant praise, Tolkien despaired as to if anyone would ever read his epic. It is a widely known fact that The Hobbit began while Tolkien was grading exam papers. In 1936, this piece was finally printed. This children’s book was only the beginning. The Hobbit was a best seller in three months (Corday). Stanley Unwin declared that “A larger public will be clamoring next year to hear more from you about hobbits!” (Corday). Thus, Tolkien was nearly forced into creating a sequel. Finally, after 12 years Tolkien was able to say, “It is written in my life-blood” (Corday).
        Once The Lord of the Rings was published, a cry broke out from the critics. Unsure of where it fit in terms of genre, many critics took up the bait and tore it apart. Edmund Wilson called it “a children’s book—a children’s book which has somehow got out of hand” (Yates). JW Lambert complained of the “no religious spirit of any kind, and to all intents and purposes no women” (A Biography 223). However, the spectacular sell out of the trilogy proved that the majority of readers were in love with the books. College students were comparing his works to an acid trip (Jerome). In America, it was accepted with loving arms into the “Sword and sorcery genre” (Yates). Tolkien expected the mixed reviews and merely sat back and laughed.

The Lord of the Rings
is one of those things:
if you like you do:
if you don’t, then you boo!
(A Biography 226).

This uproar in criticism was mainly due to the revolutionary style in Tolkien’s writing. Until now, fantasy was reserved for children. He unknowingly had founded “adult fantasy”. In The Lord of the Rings, adults who missed the fairy tales of childhood connected. This was quite a departure from the aliens of science fiction and the legends of barbarians. Several generations have loved it, and over the decades, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings have been reprinted to satisfy the appetites of his many readers. Movies have been made and two are waiting for release. One can even visit Ebay where dozens of pieces of memorabilia are being auctioned.
Like his pipe smoke, and those of the hobbits, Tolkien’s personality traits hover over his characters. The hobbits embody his old fashioned ideals and his desire to stay close to home. Bilbo never gives up, Frodo procrastinates and Gandalf is just as quick witted as his creator. Perhaps this is the secret of his success. Tolkien took his simple ideas and embellished them into epic proportions with a perfection that has yet to be matched by any other storyteller, creating a new style of fantasy writing that has stretched far beyond his printed books and lasted five decades.

Works Cited JRR Tolkien
Front Door