“‘Go back?’ he thought. ‘No good at all! Go sideways? Impossible! Go forward? Only thing to do! On we go!’”
-Bilbo Baggins, The Hobbit
This quote, taken from a novel written by J. R. R. Tolkien, is merely a small sample of his incredible writing, which even today is recognized and loved by many. While his writing is still very popular, even after his death, he is also well known today for many other attributes and actions he took during his lifetime.
J. R. R. Tolkien, otherwise known as John Ronald Reul Tolkien, began life in Bloemfontein, South Africa, on January 3, 1892. His first few years were spent there with parents, Mabel Suffield Tolkien and Arthur Tolkien, and also his younger brother, Hilary Tolkien. His memories of that place were few and far apart, except for an encounter with a large baboon spider, which is suggested to have influenced some of his writings.
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He later changed his profession to teach English Language and Literature at Oxford, where he remained until his retirement in 1959. He also met several new friends at Oxford, some of which were Owen Barfield, Charles Williams, and Clive Staples Lewis. Together, they formed a group called The Inklings, and would meet regularly to chat and discuss what they were currently writing.
It was also during this time that J. R. R. Tolkien first began writing one of his most famous novels, The Hobbit. While grading the examination papers of a student, he noticed that they had left an answer page blank. For reasons unknown, Tolkien took his pen and wrote on the page, “In a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit.” Afterwards, he felt a desire to research this further, to find out what exactly a hobbit was, and later arranged and published his writings as a novel. It was originally considered a children’s story, but today is read and enjoyed by all