(1892-1973)
T olkien, John Ronald Reuel, English writer, doctor of literature, artist, professor, philologist-linguist. One of the creators Oxford English Dictionary. Fairy tale author hobbit(1937), novel Lord of the Rings(1954), mythological epic Silmarillion (1977).
Father - Arthur Reuel Tolkien, a bank clerk from Birmingham, was forced to seek his fortune in South Africa.
In 1891, a bride, Mabel Suffield, sails to him from Birmingham. April 16, 1891 they get married in the central cathedral of Cape Town. In January 1892, a boy appears in the house of happy parents. With blue eyes, golden-haired, like an elf. The surname Tolkien, translated into Russian meaning “recklessly brave”, largely corresponded to the character of the baby.
It was this boy who was destined to actually confirm one of his fundamental statements. "Man has no higher purpose than the co-creation of the Secondary World."
The writer John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, whose gift is multiplied many times over by the knowledge of an outstanding philologist, has presented us with his own unique Tolkienian world. Fascinatingly immeasurable, magnificent and sometimes terrifying, illuminated by the radiance of many unknown dimensions.
Tolkien created hobbits - "low clicks" - infinitely charming, captivatingly authentic creatures that look like children. Combining perseverance and frivolity, curiosity and childish laziness. Incredible ingenuity with innocence, cunning and gullibility, courage and courage with the ability to avoid trouble.
First of all, it is the hobbits that give such credibility to Tolkien's world.
Fate began to test Tolkien for strength literally from the first steps. Directly behind their house, in Bloemfontein, the open veld began - the wild steppe. Even lions sometimes appeared here. Sometimes inquisitive monkeys penetrated through the fence into the garden. Snakes crawled into the wooden shed from time to time.
When Ronald was just learning to walk, he stepped on a tarantula. The spider bit the baby. Luckily, the efficient nanny sucked the poison out of the child's heel... Perhaps that is why various nightmarish spiders often appear in Tolkien's creations.
The local heat had a bad effect on the health of children. Therefore, in November 1894, Mabel takes her sons to England.
By the age of four, thanks to the efforts of his mother, little John already knew how to read and even dared to write the first letters.
In February 1896, Tolkien's father began to bleed heavily and died suddenly.
Mabel Suffield took care of all the children, striking her relatives with courage, energy and will. John and Hilary's mother received a good education. She spoke French and German, knew Latin. She drew beautifully and played the piano professionally. All her knowledge and skills tirelessly passed on to children.
A great influence on the initial formation of John's personality was also made by his grandfather John Suffield, who was emphatically proud of his pedigree of craftsmen-engravers. John's mother and grandfather strongly supported John's early interest in Latin and Greek.
In 1896, Mabel and his children moved from Birmingham to the village of Sarhole. The heather-covered hills and copses bring the boys into a frenzy of delight. It is in the vicinity of Sarhole that Tolkien falls forever in love with the beauty of the trees, striving with all his might to recognize their endless secrets. It is no coincidence that unforgettable, most interesting trees appear in all of Tolkien's creations. And the mighty giants of Listven amaze the imagination of readers in the famous trilogy - Lord of the Rings.
Tolkien is no less passionate about elves and ... dragons ... Dragons and elves will become the main characters of the first fairy tale composed by Ronald at the age of seven.
John's interest in Latin, and especially in Greek, "for its external brilliance and charming sound" grows.
In 1904, as soon as John was twelve years old, his mother died of diabetes. The guardian of Ronald and Hilary becomes their distant relative, the priest, Father Francis. The brothers again move to Birmingham. Feeling a burning longing for free hills, fields and favorite trees, John is looking for new attachments and spiritual support. More and more fond of drawing, revealing extraordinary abilities in this role. By the age of fifteen, he amazes school teachers with his abilities and obsession with philology. He reads an old English poem Beowulf with genuine delight. Then he returns to Middle English, and the medieval tradition of the Knights of the Round Table awakens in him an increasing interest in history. Soon he independently begins to study the Old Icelandic language. And then he gets to German books on philology.
The joy of learning ancient languages captivates him so much that he ventures on the first mischievous attempt to invent his own language "Nevbosh", that is, "new nonsense", which he recklessly creates in collaboration with his cousin Mary. Composing funny limericks becomes the most exciting fun for young people, and at the same time acquaintance with such pioneers of English absurdism as Edward Lear, Hilaire Belok and Gilbert Keith Chesterton ... Continuing to study Old English, Old Germanic, and a little later Old Finnish, Icelandic and Gothic, John great pleasure, "absorbs in immeasurable quantities" - fairy tales and heroic legends.
“Only in this world there were, in my opinion, too few of them to satisfy my hunger,” the young philologist admits.
At the age of sixteen, John will meet the charming Edith Bratt, his first and last love, which will forever win his heart ... In five years they will get married and live a long, happy life, having given birth to three sons and a daughter. In addition to passionate mutual love, they will be united by a passion for music and fairy tales ... And in the first months of their acquaintance, such naive fun as ... accurately throwing tiny pieces of sugar from the balcony of a cafe onto the hats of passers-by ...
But first, five years of difficult trials will fall to the lot of lovers. John's first failed attempt at Oxford University. The categorical rejection of Edith by Father Francis. Horrors of the First World War. The deadly "trench fever" that John Ronald suffered twice. And only then the long-awaited connection.
In April 1910, Tolkien saw a play in the Birmingham theater Peter Pan, based on the play by James Barry. What he saw was another shock in the life of a young man, and Ronald fell in love with the theater forever. "It's indescribable, but I won't forget it as long as I live," John wrote. "It's a pity Edith wasn't with me."
staging Peter Pan so shocked Tolkien that he responded to the performance with a peculiar bouquet of poems dedicated to his beloved ... elves.
During the spring term, John impressed his classmates with an improv lecture - Modern Languages of Europe: Origins and Possible Ways of Development. And during the debate, acting as the Greek ambassador, he delivered the entire speech in Greek. The next time he stunned his fellow students, when he played a barbarian messenger, he fluently spoke in Gothic.
But to enter the first attempt at Oxford University, John was not lucky. Rather, Tolkien passed all the exams, but did not get the necessary scores to receive a scholarship. And the tuition fee on a common basis was not affordable for John's guardian. In addition, Father Francis, having learned about the affair of his ward, "with a pianist who is three years older than John," considered Tolkien's failure at admission to be the result of frivolity that distracted him from his studies. Francis in the sharpest form demanded from the ward a break with his beloved ... John promised his father Francis to obey, but he himself ... continued to secretly meet with his beloved.
Still, luck smiled at John. After a second attempt at the exams, on December 17, 1910, Tolkien learned that he had been given an open classical scholarship to Exeter College. One of the oldest colleges at Oxford University. And thanks to an exit scholarship from King Edward's School and additional funds provided by Father Francis, Ronald could already afford to go to Oxford.
In the last trimesters, at King Edward's School, John read a lecture on the Icelandic sagas to fellow students, backing it up with passages in the original language. And soon discovered Kalevala by reading the great work without translation, in Finnish.
The last summer term of 1911 ended with a performance in Greek Mira Aristophanes. Tolkien played the merry god Hermes in the play.
During his last summer vacation, John visited Switzerland. He writes in his diary. “Once we went on a long hike with guides to the Aletsch glacier, and there I almost died ...”. Before returning to England, Tolkien bought some postcards. One of them depicted an old man with a white beard, wearing a round wide-brimmed hat and a long cloak. The old man was talking to a white deer... Many years later, having found a postcard at the bottom of one of the drawers of his desk, Tolkien wrote down: "The prototype of Gandalf..." Thus, one of the most famous heroes appeared in John's imagination for the first time. lord of the rings.
Enrolling in the classical department at Oxford, Tolkien meets with the famous self-taught professor Joe Wright. He strongly advises the novice linguist to "take up the Celtic language seriously." John enthusiastically accepts the professor's offer. In addition, with no less zeal, Oxford's rookie continues to "bite into Finnish."
The passion for Ronald and the theater is growing. During the Christmas holidays, Tolkien visits King Edward's favorite school, and plays with great success in Sheridan's play. Rivals role of Mrs Malaprop. By his coming of age, John writes a play himself - Detective, cook and suffragist. For the home theater of their relatives. John successfully plays the main role - Professor Joseph Quilter. At the same time being and an outstanding detective. In the play, everything was dedicated to Tolkien's coming of age. And the opportunity to marry Edith as soon as possible.
Tolkien's theatrical experiences turned out to be not only useful for him, but also necessary. Especially when for many years John mentally reincarnated into incomparable, phantasmagoric characters lord of the rings.
At the beginning of the summer term of 1913, Tolkien parted ways with the classical faculty, and began attending lectures in the English department at Oxford.
Having finally received a discreet encouragement from his guardian Francis, by his coming of age, Tolkien at the beginning of 1914 carried out the long-awaited engagement to Edith Bratt.
In the same year, 1914, the First World War begins. Tolkien is in a hurry to get his degree at Oxford as soon as possible in order to volunteer for the army. Simultaneously with the forcing of the educational process, John enters the courses of radio operators-communicators. In July 1915, Tolkien brilliantly and ahead of schedule passes the exam in English language and literature, for a bachelor's degree, and receives first-class honors ... And after military training in Bedford, he is awarded the rank of second lieutenant. And he is determined to serve in the regiment of Lancashire shooters.
In March 1916 Tolkien marries Edith Bratt. And already on July 14, 1916, junior lieutenant Tolkien goes into the first battle, with his second company of Lancashire riflemen.
Ronald was destined to be in the center of a grandiose meat grinder, on the Somme River, where tens of thousands of his compatriots died. Having known all the "horrors and abominations of the monstrous massacre", John hated the war until the end of his days. As well as "the inspirers of terrible battles ...". At the same time, junior lieutenant Tolkien forever retained admiration for his comrades in arms. "Ordinary Brits. Stubborn, laconic and mocking. Years will pass, and John Ronald will write in his diary - “perhaps without the soldiers next to whom I fought, the country of Hobbitania would not exist. And without Hobbitania and Hobbits there would be no lord of the rings...". Death bypassed John. He wasn't even hurt. But he was overtaken by another terrible misfortune - "trench fever" - typhus ... A disease that claimed more lives in the First World War than bullets and shells. The one who managed to overcome the “trench fever” and survive was considered a rare lucky man ... Tolkien tried to drag typhus into the grave twice, exhausting him for several months ... But John resisted and overpowered the fatal outcome ... From the hospital in Le- Touque, he was sent by ship to England. And upon arrival at home, delivered by train to Birmingham. It was in Birmingham that Edith came to see him.
In the rare hours when a terrible illness releases John, he conceives and begins to implement the first sketches of his fantastic epic - Silmarillion. The story of the three magic rings of omnipotent power.
Tolkien creates despite the breath of death and wins. On November 16, 1917, John Ronald's first son is born... Tolkien is given the rank of lieutenant.
In 1918 the First World War ends. John moves to Oxford with Edith and their young son. "As a most capable linguist-philologist" Tolkien is allowed to compile General New English Dictionary. Here is a review on this subject by a friend of the writer, the remarkable linguist Clive Stiles Lewis. “He (Tolkien) has been inside the language. For he possessed a unique ability to feel both the language of poetry and the poetry of language at the same time.
In 1924, at the age of 32, Tolkien was approved as a professor. And in 1925 he was awarded the chair of the Anglo-Saxon language at Oxford.
At the same time, John Ronald continues to work on Silmarillion, creating a new incredible world. Kind of another dimension. With its own history and geography. Phenomenal animals and plants. Real and unreal beings. By its placement in time.
At the same time, while working on the "great dictionary", Tolkien gets a unique opportunity to think about the composition and appearance of tens of thousands of words. Existing and existing in their native language, incorporating the Celtic origin, Latin, Scandinavian, Old German and Old French influences
It is amazing that this breathtaking work not only did not turn Tolkien into a "priest of sciences." But contrary to all the usual ideas, it even more stimulated the gift of the artist, to revive concepts, words and legends. She helped the true creator to unite the most diverse categories of living beings and different times and spaces into her own Tolkienian world. The world, which received not only an incredibly visible expression, but surprisingly brightly connected the past with the present and the future, “with its prophecies, unchanging striving for good, multidimensionality and complexity of ideas about the interconnections of the most, at first glance, incompatible substances.”
Artist and scientist come together in Tolkien, with a truly Leonardian uniqueness. Unlike many famous philologists, John Ronald never lost his "literary soul". His scientific work is invariably permeated with the imagery of writer's thinking. At the same time, as well as literary creations, they admire the strength of the foundation of scientific justification.
Speaking about the amazing bouquet of Tolkien's talents, one cannot fail to mention his talent as a draftsman. John Ronald, with enviable constancy and enduring mischief, illustrated many of his fairy tales and inventions. Tolkien was especially fond of depicting humanized trees, each time confirming his enduring interest in the secrets of the forest giants. Tolkien the draftsman solved several scenes from The Silmarillion... A special place among the inventions of John Ronald is occupied by the letters of Santa Claus illustrated by him to children ... The letter was specially written in the "trembling" handwriting of Santa Claus, "who had just escaped from a terrible snowstorm." Captivate the children's imagination and attract with their indecipherability, snow-covered footprints on the carpet... the hardly disappeared Santa Claus.
Tolkien's most famous books are inextricably linked. hobbit And Lord of the Rings were written, in total, from 1925 to 1949. That is, 24 years ... It all started with a daily fairy tale for children of Professor Tolkien ... “A hole was dug in the ground. And in this hole there lived and there was a hobbit,” Tolkien wrote on a blank sheet of paper... And before that, there were no hobbits in Tolkien's mythological universe. But then he appeared, was born - this charming people (or rather, people), who had come from nowhere in Middle-earth. Hobbits - "low-minded" - cheerful and agile sweet tooth, inquisitive and plump. Subtly similar to children... The protagonist of the first story of The Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, has the same opportunities for self-expression in a vast and complex world as a child discoverer. Bilbo is constantly taking risks to get out of the waterfall of menacing adventures. He must be inventive and bold all the time. Having conceived just such Bilbo Baggins, Tolkien, as if inadvertently, tells the children about the limitlessness of their possibilities. And one more interesting circumstance. Hobbits are a free people. There are no leaders in the Hobbitania. And the Hobbits do just fine without them. Reflecting on the design of Bilbo's character, Tolkien will say: "I have always been impressed that we all live and have our lives thanks to the indomitable courage shown by the smallest people in seemingly hopeless situations." And after the first, grandiose success of the book will add. “I myself am in many ways a Hobbit. Besides height, perhaps... I love gardens and trees. Good simple food. Patterned vests. I love mushrooms straight from the forest... I stay up late. And, if possible, I get up late.
But The Hobbit is just a prelude. A saying... A lure to an exorbitantly great other world. The key to looking into other dimensions. And a warning. A serious reason for reflection... The Ring of Power, accidentally found by Bilbo, which makes it possible to become invisible, has to be cruelly paid... The action-packed tale repeatedly hints at the world of much more significant improbability lurking behind it. Transitional bridges to the infinite future are two of the most mysterious characters hobbit. Gray mage Gandalf. And a disgusting, elusive like mercury creature named Gollum... But what is very important, the slippery monster Gollum, for all its disgust, causes not only aching sympathy, but also an ever-growing interest... And behind the fantastic figure of the sorcerer Gandalf, the attracting light of another being is already visible.
hobbit was published on September 21, 1937. The first edition was sold out by Christmas.
The tale wins the New York Herald Tribune's Best Book of the Year Award. hobbit becomes a bestseller. And not only for children... But also for those thinking readers who saw in the book a prologue to penetration into other worlds.
epic novel Lord of the Rings has become an elixir of vitality for tens of millions of people on planet Earth. A mind-blowing road into the unknowable. Paradoxical proof that it is the thirst for knowledge of miracles that moves the worlds. Lord of the Rings grew and improved on phantasmagoric soil The Silmarillion. It is no coincidence that all the most incredible inhabitants of the epic novel do not cause even a second of doubt in their reality.
The credibility of Tolkien's world convinces precisely by the irresistibility of its necessity. In the stunning fantasies of Tolkien's world, all the most complex relationships of its inhabitants are extremely visible. Hobbits and orcs, humans and elves, dwarves and goblins, wizards and fire monsters, monstrous insects and giant Listwins. Even the melting Eye of Evil is exceptionally specifically written out ...
Nothing in Tolkien's novel is accidental. Whether it's the snarled faces that once flickered on the canvases of Bosch and Salvador Dali, or in the works of Hoffmann and Gogol... Everything here has a basis that is twenty times as strong... So the names of the elves came from the language of the former Celtic population of the Welsh peninsula. Gnomes and magicians are named, as the Scandinavian saga suggested. People are awarded names from the Irish heroic epic. Tolkien's own notions of fantastic creatures have the basis of "folk poetic imagination".
When romance Lord of the Rings already begins to bring fame to Tolkien in his lifetime, the writer, jokingly, will say: "... in a sense, this story and all the mythology associated with it may turn out to be true." And a little later, he will add in earnest: “Every writer who creates the secondary world wants to be a real creator to some extent. And he hopes that he draws his ideas from reality ... The world of his fantasies, perhaps, really helps to decorate and enrich the real universe many times over.”
The time of Tolkien's most active work on lord of the rings coincided with World War II. Undoubtedly, all the experiences and hopes of that time, doubts and aspirations of the author could not but be reflected in the life of even his other being. Why exactly in Lord of the Rings the hope for the victory of reason and light acquires such a poignant irresistibility.
One of the main virtues of Tolkien's novel is the prophetic warning about the mortal danger lurking in the boundless Power. The authorities are many-sided and insidious. Sizzling soul and body. Disastrous for all living, creative and constructive. Irreversibly spreading hatred and death. Rapidly multiplying, breeding evil and violence.
Only the unity of the most courageous and wise champions of goodness and reason is capable of resisting this nightmare. Capable of an exorbitant feat to stop the gravediggers of the joy of being.
The boundless Evil of the terrible Power is personified in the novel by the almighty Black Lord Suaron and countless hordes of his subjects. Black ghosts, orcs and goblins. The sorcerer-demagogue Saruman. Fire monster Barlog. And many other predators-destroyers.
The first to take the blows of the forces of evil are the hobbits. Toddlers are “low”, freedom-loving and free. Accustomed to do without leaders.
Brave Frodo is the nephew of the resilient Bilbo Baggins. And Frodo's faithful friend is Sam Scrombie... Of course, the best of the fierce opponents of the Power of Evil rush to the Hobbits' aid... The great sorcerer Gandalf reveals to Frodo a deadly plan to destroy the Ring of Power, inherited by Frodo from Uncle Bilbo. All the brightest inhabitants of Middle-earth enter the battle for life against the Black Ruler of Suaron... The beautiful queen of the elves Galadriel. Most noble Aragorn. The King of Erland is a jovial giant, the guardian of the nature reserve, Tom Bombadil. Proud gnomes and ancient Listvens... The path to freedom turns out to be endlessly difficult and sacrificial... The stern knight Borimor dies from the Ring of Power. The bravest and wisest wizard Gandalf himself categorically refuses to keep the Ring of Power with him until it is destroyed... And only baby Frodo, an ordinary hobbit Frodo, with all his weaknesses and imperfections, carries the disastrous Ring of Power through all incredible trials... With each new step deep into the terrible Mardor - the kingdom of the Black Lord of Suaron, the hobbit Frodo shows more and more courage and dedication.
First two volumes lord of the rings came out in 1954. In 1955, the third volume was published. “This book is like a bolt from the blue,” exclaimed the famous writer C. S. Lewis. - For the very history of the novel-history going back to the times Odyssey- this is not a return, but progress, moreover, a revolution, the conquest of new territory.
The novel was translated into many languages of the world with amazing speed, and first sold a million copies, and today it has surpassed the bar of twenty million.
The book has become a cult among student youth.
Endless detachments of Tolkienists, dressed in knightly armor, to this day, arrange "games, tournaments and campaigns of honor and valor" in the USA, England, Canada, New Zealand.
Time always passes first through the young. The most gifted and educated are the first to respond to the phenomena of the future. No wonder that the multidimensionality and wisdom of the author's talent lord of the rings young intellectuals were the first to appreciate it.
Tolkien's creations first began to appear in Russia in the mid-seventies. Today, the number of fans of the work of one of the best writers of the 20th century. in our country, is not inferior to the number of adherents of Tolkien's world in other countries. Especially among those who immediately feel the blood of the heart of the great poet of Middle-earth, between the lines of his books.
Now that the world's screens have come out The Fellowship of the Ring And Two strongholds, directed by Peter Jackson (magically filmed in New Zealand), a new, huge wave of interest in the novel has risen among the young and very young. Lord of the Rings.
The last story that Tolkien wrote in 1965 is called Blacksmith of Great Wootton.
In 1968, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien and Edith Bratt celebrated their golden wedding.
And in 1971 Edith passed away. In his last years, Tolkien is surrounded by universal recognition and showered with long-deserved honors.
In June 1972, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien received the biggest gift, the title of Doctor of Literature from Oxford University. And in 1973, at Buckingham Palace, Queen Elizabeth herself presents the writer and scientist with the Order of the British Empire of the second degree.
In 1977, the final, complete version is published. The Silmarillion, published by the son of the writer - Christopher Tolkien. As Tolkien's biographer Humphrey Carpenter said, "His true biography is hobbit, Lord of the Rings And Silmarillion for the true truth about him is contained in these books.”
Tolkien's books have no end. They are bottomless, like the greatest books of mankind... The deeper you go into them, the more you see, hear and feel their infinity. For they are consonant with the universe.
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, also known as Tolkien (eng. John Ronald Reuel 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 (1925–1945), English Language and Literature (1945–1959). An orthodox Catholic, along with close friend C. S. Lewis, he was a member of the Inklings literary society. On March 28, 1972, Tolkien received the title of Commander of the Order of the British Empire from Queen Elizabeth II.
Anyone who speaks the language can say "green sun". Many can imagine it or draw it. But that's not all - although even this can be much more impressive than all the numerous stories and novels "from life" that are awarded literary prizes.
Tolkien John Ronald Reuel
After Tolkien's death, his son Christopher produced several works based on his father's notes and unpublished manuscripts, including The Silmarillion.
This book, together with The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, constitutes a single collection of fairy tales, poems, stories, artificial languages and literary essays about a fictional world called Arda and its part of Middle-earth. In 1951-1955, Tolkien used the word "legendarium" to refer to most of this collection.
Many authors wrote fantasy before Tolkien, however, 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 various sources, which often causes controversy among fans of creativity.
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 - this, apparently, requires both thought and work, and besides, it requires some special skill, similar to skill elves.
(quote from "Tree and Leaf")
Tolkien John Ronald Reuel
In a letter to Richard Jeffery dated December 17, 1972, Tolkien notes: "My last name is constantly written as Tolkein ... I don’t know why - I always pronounce the ending as“ keen ”". Thus, the spelling "Tolkien" more accurately reflects the original pronunciation of the surname. In English, the stress is not fixed, some members of the Tolkien family used the stress on the last syllable - "kin".
According to surviving information, most of Tolkien's ancestors on his father's side were artisans. The Tolkien family comes from Saxony (Germany), but since the 18th century the writer's ancestors settled in England, quickly becoming "native English". The surname "Tolkien" is an anglicisation 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 January 3, 1892 in Bloemfontein, Orange Free State (now the Free State, South Africa). His parents, Arthur Reuel 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, and this event later influenced his work. The sick boy was cared for by a doctor named Thornton Quimby, and is thought to have been the model for Gandalf the Grey.
I should add something to the many theories and conjectures I have heard or read about the motives and meaning of the story. The main motive was the desire of the narrator to try to write a really long story that could hold the attention of readers for a long time, entertain them, please or inspire ...
Tolkien John Ronald Reuel
In early 1895, after the death of the father of the family, the Tolkien family returned to England. Left alone with two children, Mabel asks for help from relatives. The return 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 with a very modest income, which was just enough to live on. In an effort 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 dismay, Lewis preferred the Anglican faith to the Catholic one.
As for various kinds of subtext, this was not the intention of the author. The book is neither allegorical nor thematic.
(Foreword to The Lord of the Rings)
Tolkien John Ronald Reuel
Mabel also taught her son the basics of the Latin language, and also instilled a love of botany, and Tolkien liked to paint landscapes and trees from an early age. He read a lot, and from the very beginning he disliked Stevenson's Treasure Island and the Grimm Brothers' Pied Piper, but he liked Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, Indian stories, George MacDonald's fantasy works and Andrew's Book of Fairies Lang.
Tolkien's mother died of diabetes in 1904, at the age of 34; before her death, she entrusted the upbringing of 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.
Preschool children spend in nature. These two years were enough for Tolkien for 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, after studying Old Welsh and Finnish, he began to develop "elvish" languages. Subsequently, he studied at the school of St. Philip (St. Philip's School) and Oxford College Exeter.
In 1911, while studying at the school of King Edward Tolkien with three friends - Rob Gilson (eng. Rob Gilson), Geoffrey Smith (eng. Geoffrey Smith) and Christopher Wiseman (eng. 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 supermarket Barrow (Eng. Barrow), as well as in the school library, although this was forbidden. Even after leaving school, 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 have always had, a sincere dislike of allegory in all its manifestations, ever since I was old and dull enough to notice it. I much more like a story, real or fictional, that interacts with the reader's experience in various ways.
(Foreword to The Lord of the Rings) Many of the living deserve to die, and many of the dead deserve to live. Can you give it back to them? That's the same. Then do not rush to condemn 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 Reuel
In the summer of 1911, Tolkien traveled to Switzerland, which he later mentions in a 1968 letter, noting that Bilbo Baggins's journey through the Misty Mountains was based on the journey Tolkien and his twelve companions made from Interlaken to Lauterbrunnen. In October of that 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 going to college right away, besides, Edith was a Protestant and three years older than him. Father Francis took John's word of honor that he would not meet with Edith until he was 21 years old, that is, until the age of majority, when Father Francis ceased to be his guardian. Tolkien fulfilled his promise by not writing a single line to Mary Edith until that age. They didn't even meet or talk.
In the evening, on the same day when Tolkien turned 21, he wrote a letter to Edith, where he declared his love and offered his hand and heart. Edith replied that she had already agreed to marry another person, because she decided that Tolkien had long forgotten her. In the end, she returned the wedding ring to the 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 the Catholic Church of St. Mary. Their union with Edith Brett proved to be a long and happy one. The couple lived together for 56 years and raised 3 sons: John Francis Reuel (1917), Michael Hilary Reuel (1920), Christopher Reuel (1924), and daughter Priscilla Mary Reuel (1929).
In 1914, Tolkien enrolled in the Military Training Corps in order to delay conscription and complete his bachelor's degree. In 1915, Tolkien graduated with honors from the university and went to serve as a lieutenant in the Lancashire Rifles, soon John was called to the front and participated in the First World War.
John survived the bloody battle on the Somme, where two of his best friends from the Cheka (“tea club”) died, after which he hated war, fell ill with typhus, and after a long treatment was sent home with a 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 the world.
At the same time, he began to write the great cycle of myths and legends of Middle-Earth (Eng. Middle-Earth), which would later become The Silmarillion. There were four children in his family, for them 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 Unwin suggested Tolkien write a sequel, but work on the trilogy took a long time and the book was not finished until 1954, when Tolkien was about to retire.
The trilogy was published and was a huge success, which surprised the author and publisher a lot. Unwin expected to lose considerable money, but he personally liked the book very much, and he was very eager to publish his friend's work. For the convenience of publication, the book was divided into three parts, so that after the publication and sale of the first part, it became clear whether it was worth printing the rest.
After the death of his wife in 1971, Tolkien returned to Oxford.
At the end of 1972, he suffers greatly from indigestion, X-ray shows dyspepsia. Doctors prescribe him a diet and require him to completely eliminate the use of wine. August 28, 1973 Tolkien goes to Bournemouth, to an old friend - Denis Tolhurst.
August 30, Thursday, he attends Mrs. Tolhurst's birthday party. Felt not very well, ate little, but drank some champagne. It got worse at night and in the morning Tolkien was taken to a private clinic, where he was found to have a bleeding stomach ulcer.
Despite optimistic forecasts at the beginning, 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 comrades came up with several languages in order to communicate with each other. This passion for learning existing languages and constructing new ones stayed 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 dozens of languages, 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 the language that corresponds to my personal aesthetics could turn out to be natural. However, it's true."
You can read more about Tolkien's linguistic hobbies in the lecture The Secret Vice (Russian), read by him at Oxford in 1931.
Artworks
- Published during his lifetime
* 1925 - "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" (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 arose as a work for the family circle - Tolkien began to tell the tale of the hobbit to his children. Appearing almost by accident in print, the story of 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
* 1945 - The Lay of Aotrou and Itrun
* 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. The book, back in the mid-1970s, was among the most read and published books in the world. The central work of Tolkien. The Middle-earth epic was published in 1954-1955 in England and after some time gave rise to a real Tolkien cult, which began in America in the 60s.
1954 - The Fellowship of the Ring
1954 - "Two fortresses" / The Two Towers
1955 - The Return of the King
* 1962 - "The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Other Verses from the Red Book" / The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Other Verses from the Red Book (verse cycle).
* 1967 - The Road Goes Ever On (with Donald Swann)
* 1967 - 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
* 1997 - "Roverandom" / The Roverandom
* 2007 - "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 impact on the world culture of the 20th and even the 21st century. They have been repeatedly adapted for cinema, animation, audio plays, theatrical stage, and computer games. They created concept albums, illustrations, comics. 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 has been filmed numerous times, first as animated films by Ralph Bakshi (1978) and Rankin/Bass (1980), and in 2001-2003 Peter Jackson directed three big-budget blockbusters The Lord of the Rings, which won numerous awards and grossed at the box office. more than 2 billion dollars.
There is also a film adaptation of The Hobbit (1977). A number of computer games have been created based on Tolkien's books and their adaptations, the most famous of which are the strategy Battle for Middle-Earth and the MMORPG Lord of the Rings Online. Music 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. A contemporary of Professor Ursula Le Guin notes the poetic and rhythmic nature of his style.
However, many well-known authors criticize Tolkien. Thus, in particular, China Mieville, acknowledging that “The Lord of the Rings, without a doubt, had the most influence on the fantasy genre,” calls it “village, conservative, anti-modernist, terribly Christian and anti-intellectual.”
Objects named after Tolkien
* asteroid (2675) Tolkien;
* marine crustacean Leucothoe tolkieni from the system of underwater ridges Nazca and Sala y Gomez (Pacific Ocean);
* rove beetle Gabrius tolkieni Schillhammer, 1997 (Inhabits Nepal (Khandbari, Induwa Khola Valley));
* genus of fossil trilobites Tolkienia from the family Acastidae (Phacopida).
The names of geographical objects of Middle-earth and the names of characters appearing in Tolkien's works are named after many real geographical objects 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 for Book-Length Fantasy for The Silmarillion (1977)
* 1979, Balrog Awards. Professional Achievement (Professional Achievement)
* 1981, Balrog Awards in the Collection/Anthology category for Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-earth (1980)
* 1981, Mythopoeic Awards in the Fantasy Mythopoeic Award category for Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-earth, edited by Christopher Tolkien (1980)
* 1989, Mythopoeic Awards in the Inkling Mythopoeic Research Award for The Return of the Shadow (The History of The Lord of the Rings. Part I) (1988)
* 1990, Grand Ring in the Large Form (Translation) category for The Two Towers (1954)
* 1991, Grand Ring in the Large Form (Translation) category for The Lord of the Rings (1955)
* 2000, Mythopoeic Awards in the Inkling Mythopoeic Research Award category for Roverandom (1998)
* 2002, Deutscher Phantastik Preis in the category "Best Author"
* 2003, Mythopoeic Awards in the Inkling Mythopoeic Research Award category for Beowulf and the Critics (2002)
* 2009, Mythopoeic Awards in the Inkling Mythopoeic Research Award for The History of The Hobbit (2007)
* 2009, Prometheus Awards. Inducted into the Hall of Fame for The Lord of the Rings (1955)
Evil sets in motion enormous forces and with constant success - but only in vain; it only prepares the ground on which unexpected goodness will sprout. This is how it happens by and large; so it is with our own lives... 
Years of life: from 01/03/1892 to 09/02/1973
English writer, philologist, professor at Oxford University, founder of "high fantasy", author of a number of fairy tales and the trilogy "The Lord of the Rings"
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born in 1892 in what is now South Africa, then the Orange Free State, where his father was transferred to.
In 1895, Tolkien's father dies of a tropical fever and the family is forced to return to England. Tolkien's mother Mabel, seeking to find support in life, turns to religion, accepts Catholicism and passes on her deep religiosity to her children: John Tolkien remains a zealous Catholic until the end of his life.
In 1900, Tolkien entered the King Edward's School, where the writer's bright linguistic abilities soon showed up. He studies Old English, Welsh, Old Norse, Finnish, Gothic, on the basis of which he will later develop the "elvish" language.
In October 1911, Tolkien entered Oxford, where he studied at Exeter College.
After graduating from university in 1915, Tolkien went to serve as a lieutenant in the Lancashire Rifles and soon got to the front - the First World War was on.
Having lost two friends in the war, Tolkien is going through a severe shock and, having suffered typhus, returns to his homeland.
From this moment begins the scientific career of the writer. At first he taught at the University of Leeds, and 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).
At this time, he begins to write a cycle of myths and legends of Middle-earth, known to us as
For his children, he composes a fairy tale, which is published by the writer's friend Sir Stanley Unwin. The book is an unexpected success, and Unwin asks Tolkien to write a sequel. However, the work was delayed and was completed only in 1954.
In 1971, the writer's wife dies, whose death was a severe shock to Tolkien. He himself survived her by only two years, dying of a short serious illness in 1973.
As a child, Tolkien was bitten by a tarantula, from the poison of which the boy fell ill. The patient was cared for by Dr. Thornton Quimby, who, as some researchers suggest, became one of the prototypes of Gandalf the Grey.
Tolkien met his wife Edith Marie Brett in 1908, but she was older than him and a Protestant. Tolkien's guardian was against this marriage, so he set a condition: young people should not meet or write to each other until Tolkien is 21 years old.
When that day came, Tolkien wrote a letter to his beloved, in which he confessed his love to her and asked her to become his wife. She replied that she was engaged to another because she thought that he had forgotten her over the years. In the end, she returned the ring to the 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 the Catholic Church of St. Mary. Their union with Edith Brett proved to be a long and happy one. The couple lived together for 56 years and raised 3 sons: John Francis Reuel (1917), Michael Hilary Reuel (1920), Christopher Reuel (1924), and daughter Priscilla Mary Reuel (1929).
Named after Tolkien:
asteroid(2675) Tolkien;
sea crustacean Leucothoe tolkieni from Nazca and Sala y Gomez (Pacific Ocean);
rove beetle Gabrius tolkieni Schillhammer, 1997 (Inhabits Nepal (Khandbari, Induwa Khola Valley));
genus of fossil trilobites Tolkienia from the family Acastidae (Phacopida).
The names of geographical objects of Middle-earth and the names of characters appearing in Tolkien's works are named after many real geographical objects and animals.
Members of the rock group The Beatles, who liked The Lord of the Rings, wanted to make a musical film based on the book and star in it themselves. Paul McCartney was to play Frodo, Ringo Starr was Sam, George Harrison was Gandalf, and John Lennon was Gollum. Tolkien was shocked by such an idea.
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien- English writer, linguist and philologist. Best known as the author of the story "The Hobbit, or There and Back Again", the trilogy "The Lord of the Rings" and their background - the novel "The Silmarillion".
Born in Bloemfontein, Orange Free State (now the Free State, South Africa). His parents, Arthur Reuel Tolkien (1857-1896), an English bank manager, and Mabel Tolkien (Sufffield) (1870-1904), arrived in South Africa shortly before their son was born.
In early 1895, after the death of their father, the Tolkien family returned to England. The family settled in Sarehole, near Birmingham. Mabel Tolkien had a very modest income, which was just enough to live on.
Mabel taught her son the basics of the Latin language, and instilled a love of botany. Tolkien liked to paint landscapes and trees from an early age. He read a lot, and from the very beginning he disliked "Treasure Island" and "Gammeln Pied Piper" by the Brothers Grimm, but he liked "Alice in Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll, stories about Indians, fantasy works of George MacDonald and "The Fairy Book" by Andrew Lang .
Tolkien's mother died of diabetes in 1904, at the age of 34. Before her death, she entrusted the upbringing of 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.
Before entering school, Tolkien and his brother spent a lot of time outdoors. The experience of these years was enough for Tolkien for 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, after studying Old Welsh and Finnish, he began to develop "elvish" languages. Subsequently, he studied at the school of St. Philip (St. Philip's School) and Oxford College Exeter.
In 1908 he met Edith Marie Brett, who had a great influence on his work.
Falling in love prevented Tolkien from going to college right away, besides, Edith was a Protestant and three years older than him. Father Francis took John's word of honor that he would not meet with Edith until he was 21 years old - that is, until the age of majority, when Father Francis ceased to be his guardian. Tolkien fulfilled his promise by not writing a single line to Mary Edith before reaching that age. They didn't even meet or talk.
On the evening of the same day, when Tolkien turned 21, he wrote a letter to Edith, where he declared his love and offered his hand and heart. Edith replied that she had already agreed to marry another person, because she decided that Tolkien had long forgotten her. In the end, she returned the wedding ring to the 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 the Catholic Church of St. Mary. Their union with Edith Brett proved to be a long and happy one. The couple lived together for 56 years and raised 3 sons - John Francis Reuel (1917), Michael Hilary Reuel (1920), Christopher Reuel (1924), and daughter Priscilla Mary Reuel (1929).
In 1915, Tolkien graduated with honors from the university and went to serve, soon John was called to the front and participated in the First World War.
John survived the bloody battle on the Somme, where two of his best friends died, after which he began to hate war. Then he fell ill with typhus, and after a long treatment was sent home with a 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 the University of Oxford, where he became one of the youngest professors (at 30 years old) and soon earned a reputation as one of the best philologists in the world.
At the same time, he began to write the great cycle of myths and legends of Middle Earth (Middle Earth), which would later become the "Silmarillion". There were four children in his family, for them 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 Unwin suggested Tolkien write a sequel, but work on the trilogy took a long time and the book was not finished until 1954, when Tolkien was about to retire. The trilogy was published and was a huge success, which surprised both the author and the publisher. Unwin expected to lose considerable money, but he personally liked the book very much, and he was very eager to publish his friend's work. The book was divided into 3 parts, so that after the publication and sale of the first part, it became clear whether it was worth printing the rest.
After the death of his wife in 1971, Tolkien returned to Oxford. Soon he became seriously ill and soon, on September 2, 1973, he died.
All of his works published after 1973, including The Silmarillion, were published by his son Christopher.
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born on January 3, 1892 in Bloemfontein, South Africa, to Arthur Tolkien and Mabel Suffield Tolkien. After the death of Arthur Tolkien from peritonitis, Mabel moved in with 4-year-old J.R.R. (at that time he was called Ronald) and his younger brother Hilary to a village called Sarehole, near Birmingham, England.
Mabel Tolkien died in 1904 and the Tolkien brothers were sent to live in a boarding school with a distant relative of the family and a Catholic priest in Birmington, who took custody of them. J.R.R. He received a first-class education at Exeter College, where he specialized in the study of Anglo-Saxon and Germanic languages and in classical literature. He was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Lancashire Fusiliers and fought in the First World War while trying to keep writing. He survived the bloody battle on the Somme, which brought huge losses, and was released from military service due to illness. At the height of his military service in 1916, he marries Edith Brett.
Career as a scientist and writer
Continuing his studies of linguistics, Tolkien began teaching at the University of Leeds in 1920, and a few years later became a professor at Oxford University. There he founded a writing group called the Inklings, which included such writers as C.S. Lewin and Owen Barfield. It was at Oxford, while checking student papers, that he suddenly wrote a short sentence about "hobbit".
The award-winning fantasy novel The Hobbit follows Bilbo Baggins - short and furry on his feet - and his adventures. The novel was published in 1937 and was attributed to children's literature, although Tolkien himself claimed that the book was not intended for children. He also created over 100 illustrations to accompany the story.
Over the years, while working in scholarly publications, Tolkien created what is considered his masterpiece, the Lord of the Rings series of books, partly inspired by ancient European myths, but with its own set of maps, lore, and languages.
Tolkien published the first part of The Fellowship of the Ring in 1954; The Two Towers and The Return of the King in 1955, ending the trilogy. The books became a rich literary find for readers, populated by elves, goblins, talking trees, and all sorts of fantastical creatures, including such characters as the wizard Gandalf and the dwarf Gimli.
Although The Ring has received its share of criticism, many reviewers and currents among the influx of readers have embraced Tolkien's world, resulting in his books becoming world bestsellers and fans forming Tolkien clubs to learn his fictional language.
Tolkien resigned his professorship in 1959, publishing essays, the poetry collection Tree and Leaf, and the fantasy tale The Blacksmith of Wootton Great. His wife Edith died in 1971, and Tolkien himself died on September 2, 1973 at the age of 81. They left four children.
Heritage
The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings series have become among the most popular books, selling tens of millions of copies worldwide. The Rings Trilogy was adapted into a movie by director Peter Jackson and became a wildly popular, award-winning trio of films starring the likes of Ian McKellen, Elijah Wood, Cate Blanchett and Viggo Mortensen, among others. Jackson also directed a three-part film adaptation of The Hobbit starring Martin Freeman, the first part of which was released in late 2012.
Tolkien's son, Christopher, edited several works that were not completed by his father before his death, including The Silmarillion and The Children of Hurin, which were published posthumously. The drawings for The Hobbit were published in 2012, in celebration of the novel's 75th anniversary, featuring Tolkien's original illustrations for his work.
Quotes
“Do you really want to know how I created Middle-earth? – this is my surprise and delight with our planet as it is, especially its wildlife.”
“Hobbits are what I would like to be, but never have been. They do not know how to fight and always get together to come to an agreement.”
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