2. Hillary is a boy’s name?!`?!?
JRR Tolkien Biography
WHAT?!?!?
Hillary is a boy’s name?!`?!?
Full Name: John Ronald Reuel Tolkien
EARLY LIFE:
Born January 3, 1892 in Bloemfontein, Orange Free State,
South Africa, where he lived until he was 3.
His father, Arthur Reuel Tolkien, was a bank
clerk and had moved to South Africa in the
1890s for better prospects of promotion within
the bank.
His mother was Mabel Suffield Tolkien.
His memories of Africa were slight but vivid,
including a scary encounter with a large hairy
spider, and somewhat influenced his writing.
In February 1896, his father died and he, his
mother, and his younger brother Hilary returned
to England.

3. Tolkien studied at home on the edge of Hall Green, Birmingham and learned
Latin from his mother.
Tolkien’s mother converted to Catholicism and they were estranged from the
rest of the family.
Mabel was diagnosed with diabetes (incurable at the time) and died in 1904,
leaving Tolkien and his brother as orphans.
EDUCATION:
At age 12, Tolkien became a ward of a
Catholic priest (Father Francis), and lived in
a series of temporary arrangements and
attended King Edward VI’s school in
Birmingham, where he mastered legend,
literature, and language. He became
fascinated by fantasy, folk, and mythology,
and began to create an orderly mythology out
of the fragmented English past (as seen in the
Arthur legends, Sir Gawain, Beowulf and
other Anglo-Saxon, and Medieval literature).

4. Did I hear someone mention tea?
2. Tolkien mastered Latin and Greek and became competent in a number of other
languages ancient and modern, including Gothic, and Finnish. He began making
up his own languages purely for fun.
3. At King Edward’s School, he made a number of close literary friends and they
formed “TCBC—Tea Club Barrovian Society” named after their meeting
place (Barrow Stores) where they would exchange writings & discuss literature.
While living in a boarding house run by Mrs. Faulkner, JRR Tolkien met and befriended Edith Bratt. At the time, she was 19, and he was 16.
Father Francis saw their relationship blossoming, and forbid Tolkien to see her
until he was 21. Tolkien obeyed this order to the letter.
He attended Exeter College, Oxford in 1911 and studied the Classics, Old
English, the Germanic languages, Welsh and Finnish.
He resumed his relationship with Edith in 1913, and earned a B.A. in 1915.
He earned an M.A. in 1919.
He and Edith married in 1916.
Tolkien taught and published great Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Literature,
such as Beowulf, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
Did I hear someone mention tea?

5. WORLD WAR I
For the next three years, Tolkien served on the front lines in France with the
Lancashire Fusiliers and was discharged with “trench fever,” which was a type
of typhus-like infection common in many unsanitary conditions, he spent the
next month in the hospital recovering.
During these months, all but one of his friends
from the TCBS was killed in action, prompting
him to begin crafting a story (Book of Lost
Tales) which eventually became the basis for the
Lord of the Rings, Silmarillion, and
The Hobbit. He began to write about the
tales of gnomes, elves, along with their
languages.

6. trilogy and it follows the adventures of FRODO’s uncle BILBO BAGGINS
THE HOBBIT
is a prequel to the
LORD OF THE RINGS
trilogy and it follows the
adventures of FRODO’s
uncle BILBO BAGGINS
as he goes on a quest for a dragon’s treasure with a bunch
of DWARVES and the
wizard GANDALF.
It is during this adventure that
BILBO discovers the ring of
power while in a cave with
GOLLUM.

7. “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit…”
The Hobbit was originally published in He decided to make up a story
to answer the above statement that he had written on a blank page in a
student’s exam that he was grading.
Originally told orally to his children (who loved it) and a manuscript eventually
landed in the hands of a publisher who asked him to finish the story.
The Hobbit was an immediate success.
Tolkien became friends with many other writers of
his day, particularly C.S. Lewis, a fellow Christian
and fantasy writer
JRR Tolkien was asked to write something similar to
The Hobbit, and came up with Silmarillion, but the
publisher felt that this was not commercially viable
and urged Tolkien to write The Hobbit 2.
The Lord of the Rings series became the sequels to
The Hobbit as the story of the ring evolved into a
much larger story than even Bilbo Baggins’ original
adventure.

8. Tolkien was humbled and grateful for the success of his books (The Hobbit,
Fellowship of the Ring, Two Towers, Return of the King) but he was deeply
troubled that the fans of the books so closely associated the books with drug
use in the 60s (LSD was the drug of choice). Fans, high on drugs would call
Tolkien in the middle of the night to try to discuss Frodo and his adventures
with him. Eventually he began to seclude himself somewhat from society to
avoid all of the obsessive fans.
Tolkien continued to be a lecturer/professor on
Medieval and Anglo-Saxon literature at Oxford
University, and he died on September 2, 1973.

9. KEY FACTS ABOUT THE HOBBIT:
Narrator: The narrator is very playful and humorous, making the story easier
to read.
Setting: The Third Age of Middle-Earth,
Begins the story of the
ring of power, the
central point about
which the Lord of
the Rings books
revolves around.

10. ARCHETYPES
UNLIKELY HERO—The Hobbit is first and foremost, the story of Bilbo
Baggins and his becoming an unlikely hero. The story is filled with events that
build Bilbo and draw out his inner character. Gandalf makes a claim early in
the book that, “there is more to the little hobbit than meet the eye.” The major
theme of all of Tolkien’s books is that heroes come in all shapes and sizes. As
such, he uses the “unlikely hero/anti-hero, unexpected hero” archetype to
define Bilbo. Bilbo’s inner character emerges when he is under pressure.
OTHER UNLIKELY HEROES:

11. ARCHETYPES
SAGE—Gandalf represents the archetype of the sage. The sage is the
mentor of the hero. Sages are typically mysterious, old, powerful and wise.
They often appear in the story to start the hero’s journey and training.
WHERE MY SAGES AT?

12. ARCHETYPES
SOCIAL OUTCAST--Gollum represents the social outcast of the story.
Social outcasts are often shunned by society. They live in the wilderness apart
from society. They don’t really fit in with any group and are often a wild card in
terms of what role they will play in the storyline—occasionally aligning with one
side only to flip to join the other side when the moment is right.
SOCIAL OUTCASTS

13. 1. THE HERO’S JOURNEY--the hero’s journey is the framework for the
story. A hero must go on a journey, face trials along the way, and accomplish
some great task. Bilbo’s journey is to the Lonely Mountain to help the dwarves
recover their gold. His quest is to outsmart or defeat the dragon and serve as
their burglar
Race/Lineage/Character—the differences between the various races in the
novel are a major focus of the novel (dwarves, elves, hobbits, wizards, trolls, etc).
The characters begin to learn to appreciate the differences in each other and
work together for the common good.
Medieval/Anglo-Saxon Literature—Tolkien had a deep love for the old myths
and fantasy stories from the Anglo-Saxons and the Medieval time period.
Tolkien’s great love of these stories, particularly Beowulf, and Sir Gawain
and the Green Knight, led to his desire to seeing this type of literature
become popular again. Many of his character types and plot devices come
directly from Beowulf and Sir Gawain and various other Anglo-Saxon and
Medieval myths and legends. (epic story, test of hero, mythological/
supernatural characters, distant time and place, swords and wizards, dragons,
good vs. evil, etc.)

14. Storytelling—Tolkien did not like allegories and had a love for storytelling.
He wanted to tell a grand epic that the reader could enjoy. He did have
influences and themes, but he didn’t want to preach, but rather sought to
entertain in an enlightening way.
Language—Tolkien’s tremendous linguistic skills led him to create whole
languages for his characters (elvish, etc.) His love of language also led to the
style of his writing.
Christianity—Tolkien was well-known for being a Christian intellectual, and he
and his friend C.S. Lewis sought to create great works of myth/folklore that
would carry with them the great themes and messages of Christian theology.
(temptation of the ring/sin to all characters, good vs. evil, all-powerful being,
angelic-type characters (Gandalf, elves) that can fall into darkness
(Saruman, orcs) and the humility with which Frodo undertakes his quest to
destroy the ring and save Middle-Earth, which makes him a somewhat
Christ-like character.)
Good Vs. Evil—Tolkien’s writing has a pretty strong focus on the cosmic
struggle between good and evil working within society, individuals, and in the
world (nature) itself. The innocence of the Hobbits mirrors a purity or
goodness that contrasts with the darker more sinister characters of the story.

15. The Road
Goes Ever
On and
On…