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Tolkien's Private Life In The Lord Of The Rings

1694 Words7 Pages

1. Introduction
J.R.R. Tolkien is one of the world's most famous authors. His book trilogy The Lord of the Rings is one of the most read books of all time and it is said to be the foundation of the Fantasy genre.
1:1 Aim
The aim of this essay is to analyze whether or not the story of The Lord of the Rings and its setting Middle-earth can be connected to Tolkien's own private life, how his experiences may reflect upon the events and environments he describes in his storytelling, and what hidden meanings can be found in the books.
1:2 Method
To write this essay, various sources from the Internet will be used to come to a conclusion regarding the aim of the essay.

2. J.R.R. Tolkien
In this paragraph Tolkien's personal life, from his birth up …show more content…

I like gardens, trees, and unmechanized farmlands; I smoke a pipe, and like good plain food (unrefrigerated), but detest French cooking; I like, and even dare to wear in these dull days, ornamental waistcoats. I am fond of mushrooms (out of a field); have a very simple sense of humor (which even my appreciative critics find tiresome); I go to bed late and get up late (when possible). I do not travel much”, Tolkien said about this, summing up the general personality traits of the hobbits while describing himself.

4:3 The story of Luthien and Beren
The story of Luthien and Beren is a love story between an immortal Elvish woman, Luthien, who gave up her immortality to marry a mortal man, Beren. This story is said to have come to Tolkien after he had watched his own wife, Edith Bratt, dance.
There is also clear proof of this inspiration on the Tolkiens' tombstone – when Edith died in 1971, J.R.R. had ”Luthien” inscribed on her tombstone. When he in his turn died in 1973, he was buried in the same grave, and had ”Beren” inscribed on the stone as well. 3

4:4 The women of Middle-earth
A fact that many have stated and gravely critiziced is that there are almost no women in Tolkien's Middle-earth. Many have blamed him for being misogynist because of this, and while that may be true, there are others that have tried to blame it on the ideals of the time that Tolkien lived

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