J. R. R. Tolkien

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J. R. R. Tolkien - 1916
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J. R. R. Tolkien - 1916

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (January 3, 1892September 2, 1973) was a writer. He wrote The Hobbit and also The Lord of the Rings. The Lord of the Rings is his most famous work.

He was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa but his parents were both from England. He fought in World War I, and after the war he found a job helping to produce the Oxford English Dictionary. Tolkien was very interested in languages, and he had studied at Oxford University. Soon he became a professor of English Language at the University of Leeds. He was then a professor at Oxford University until 1959, when he retired. He also was good friends with many other writers and scholars, most notably C. S. Lewis, who wrote the Narnia books, The Screwtape Letters, and many essays on Christian theology. Tolkien himself was a devout Catholic.

He created and worked on the fictional fantasy world of Middle-earth for most of his life, and his most famous books are set in that world. Through this he is often considered the "father of high fantasy" which made the fantasy genre very popular.

Tolkien wrote other books, for example Farmer Giles Of Ham, and also illustrated (drew the pictures and maps) for The Lord of the Rings. The Lord of the Rings was published in three parts and has been made into several motion pictures. The Lord of the Rings took 12 years to write.

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