Tolkien Reading Day

Today is National Tolkien Reading Day. J.R.R. Tolkein was born January 3, 1892 in South Africa, where his family had settled. Although Tolkien was mainly of German ancestry, his family had immigrated to England over a century before he was born, and it had become thoroughly British. Most of them had been clock makers or made and sold pianos. Tolkien's father was a banker, however. 

When Jon Ronald Reuel was three, his mother took him and his younger brother back to England to visit family, but his father died of rheumatic fever before he could join them. They lived with family members for a while. His aunt's farm was called "Bag End," a name he would later use in his books. His mother died of diabetes when Tolkien was twelve. His mother had converted to Catholicism and noted Father Francis as her boys' guardian.

Tolkien became fascinated with language while in school. After he started college, he met Edith Mary Bratt, who became the love of his life. But Father Francis forbid him to see her, because he hadn't done well on exams after meeting her, and she was a Protestant. From his respect for the father, Tolkien complied until he reached 21. Then, Mary converted to Catholicism and the couple married.

In June of 1916, Tolkien was called to serve in World War I. He wrote that parting from Edith seemed like death itself. He was assigned to lead a group of enlisted men and became know as a leader that inspired love and loyalty from his men. In October, he contracted trench fever, a disease carried by lice, and was sent home to recover. His battalion was almost completely wiped out after he left. Tolkien spent the rest of the war alternating between hospitals and active duty. 

He left the army in November 1920 and began gradually preparing to become a writer, although he probably didn't realize it at first. He became a professor at the University of Leeds. He wrote The Hobbit and the first two volumes of The Lord of the Rings while a professor at Pembroke College. He also wrote some shorter pieces. When World War II broke out, Tolkien became a codebreaker and then a cryptographer. In 1945, he took the position of Professor of English Language and Literature at Merton College, where he stayed until he retired in 1959. He died September 2, 1973, leaving behind a legacy of literature.

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