John Ronald Reul Tolkien was born on the 3rd of January 1892 in South Africa, in Bloemfontein. His family was from Birmingham in England. They were in Africa because of some business. However, in 1896 J.R.R. Tolkien, his mother and brother returned to England. His father died and because of it they did not move anymore. During his childhood he lived in Warwickshire village. He was admitted to King's Edwards School in Birmingham in 1900. It was not far away from the village they lived and whole family of Tolkien moved to Birmingham. He lost his mother in 1904 because of the illness caused by diabetes. He lived then at the house of Mrs Faulkner and there he met a girl, Edith. In 1911 Tolkien went to the Oxford University to study languages after finishing studies at King Edward. At the university he studied languages. At the age of 21 he planned to marry Edith. When the First World War started in 1914, he was still at the University. He completed the degree in 1915 and went to the army. He served on the western front and arrived there just before the Battle of the Somme. However, he caught a trench fever four months after his arrival and returned to England to recover. He spends the rest of the time with Edith in Staffordshire. Then he started writing "Silmarillion". Be became a professor of Anglo-Saxon at the Oxford University in 1925. The place where he lived during his work at the University was 20 Northmoor Road. During the time he was teaching at the university he wrote his most famous works: "The Hobbit" in 1937 and "The Lord of the Rings" in 1954-55. He died on the 2nd of September 1973.
His works and the date of publication:
1922 - A middle English dictionary
1925 - Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
(translation of a medieval tale, made in collaboration with E. V. Gordon)
1936 - Beowulf: the Monster and the Critics
1938 - The Hobbit
1939 - On Fairy-stories
1945 - Leaf by Niggle
1945 - The Lay of Aotrou
1953 - The return of Beorhnoth son of Beorthelm
1954 - The fellowship of the ring
1955 - The two towers
1956 - The return of the king
1962 - The adventures of Tom Bombadil
1964 - Tree and Leaf
1967 - Smith of Wootton Major
1967 - Farmer Giles of Ham
1977 - The Silmarillion
1980 - Unfinished tales
Movies based on his books:
1978 - The Lord of the Rings ( I and II part )
1978 - The Hobbit
1980 - The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
2001 - The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
2002 - The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers
2003 - The Lord of the Rings: Return of The King
Summary of "The Lord of the Rings"
The first book in the trilogy is "The Fellowship of the Ring". The whole world where the action takes place was invented by Tolkien. It is called the Middle Earth. There is an evil Dark Lord, Sauron, who created the One Ring that gave him tremendous power. However, he lost it during a battle with humans and elves long time ago. Now he wants to find and recover the Ring. With it, he would be able to conquer the whole Middle Earth. The Ring is currently in the possession of a hobbit, Bilbo Baggins. The story how did he find it is told in the books "The Hobbit". At the beginning of "The Lord of the Rings' Bilbo gives the Ring to his nephew Frodo Baggins. As the servants of the Dark Lord come for it, he must run. Suddenly his safe life ends and he becomes the most important person in the approaching war between the light and darkness.
He and his companions travel to Rivendell where the Elves live. However, before they get there they have several adventures. They encounter Tom Bombadil who helps them in troubles. In the city of Bree they meet a mysteries stranger, Aragorn who then escorts them to the land of elves. On the way hey face the servants of Sauron, the Nine Black Riders. Frodo is heavily wounded but they finally arrive at Rivendell. Here the Council that consists of members of all races: humans, elves and dwarfs decide that the Ring must be destroyed. However, there is only one place where it can be done: it is a volcano that lies in the land of Mordor. It is the land under Sauron's rule. To accompany Frodo in this mission, a Fellowship of the Ring is created that consist of 9 members of all races.
Some members of the group die along the way. Gandalf the Wizard falls from the bridge in Moria when he tries to defend the rest from the daemon Balrog. The weakened group continues its journey and enter the forest of elves, Lorien. The lady of elves Galadriel offers them safe haven for some time. Frodo becomes more and more determined to fulfil the quest. However, the Ring is powerful and tempts the people into the tries to get it. Boromir, member of the fellowship tries to get the Ring from Frodo. He is unsuccessful and later understands what a mistake he made. Frodo and Sam, his friend, separate from the rest of the group and go to Mordor only in two, in order not to endanger their friends.
J.R.R. Tolkien is my favourite write. I like him because he tells stories about a world that is completely different from our own. Moreover, he can tell them in such a way that the reader is completely absorbed. He or she cannot stop reading until he or she will finish the book. The characters are very real; we may almost feel their presence. The world described is rich in details and we can easily imagine that we are there.
