1. By John Merhar

2. Table of Contents: A The Lad B The Soldier C The Professor D The Author E Middle-Earth F Personal Fantasy World Setting Creation G Q&A and commentary

3.  Young Tolkien was born to Arthur and Mabel Tolkien in 1892.  Tolkien’s middle name “Reuel” translates in Hebrew to “friend of God” or “God is his friend.”  As a young reader, Tolkien enjoyed reading books such as: Alice in Wonderland, Treasure Island, and The Pied Piper.

4.  While being a student at Oxford University, he began drilling in the university parks with the Officers’ Training Corps.  He enjoyed the combination of his military drilling regime and academics.  In 1915 Tolkien graduated from Oxford University with First Class Honors and afterwards he gained commission as second lieutenant in the Lancashire Fusiliers,13 th Battalion of the British Army.  On Friday, October 27, 1916 Tolkien became infected with “pyrexia of unknown origin”, which was commonly known among the soldiers as trench fever.

5.  J.R.R. Tolkien became a professor of Anglo-Saxon in 1925 and attained the Bosworth and Rawlinson Professorship in the autumn of that year.  In the autumn of 1937, Professor Tolkien published The Hobbit, and then began working on its sequel, The Lord of the Rings.

6.  1937 Publication of The Hobbit  1949 Publication of Farmer Giles of Ham  1954 Publication of the first two volumes of Lord of the Rings which were titled: The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers  1955 Publication of the third volume of the trilogy Lord of the Rings which is titled: The Return of the King  1967 Publication of Smith of Wootton Major

7.  It is opinion, that J.R.R.T. really no idea how vast and expansive the impact of his creation of Middle- Earth would become after his publication of The Hobbit and his trilogy “Lord of the Rings”.  Games: These publications have stimulated the generation of multitudes of games (RPG, Live Action, M.M.O.’s, PBM’s, Board Games, Video Play Station, and many others).  Writings: These publications have stimulated the generation of Fantasy Word Setting Creations (for paper based and electronic RPGs, settings for stories, and movies), Writings ( of all varieties), and the publication of a multitude of scholarly books.

8.  I read The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings trilogy when I was in 5 th grade. Reading these books has helped me to have the ability to create over twenty Fantasy World Settings from scratch for Table Top Role-Playing Games that I have ran proceeding after 5 th grade. Through twenty-five years of running Fantasy RPGs I became a Grandmaster Game Master. Now, I am now currently at work on a new Fantastical World Setting which I have named “The Idea Metaphorical.” Since beginning this Fantasy World Setting creation, I have already published one short story which is set in the setting under creation which is titled, “The Demise of Harsh Harlan.”

11.  The Hobbit and Lord of The Rings Trilogy By J.R.R. Tolkien  J.R.R. Tolkien, Architect of Middle-Earth A Biography by Daniel Grotta-Kurska  J.R.R. Tolkien, a biography by Humphrey Carpenter  Personal reading, research, and endeaver  My PBWiki website: “J R R Tolkien’s Process for Creating Middle-Earth and Personal Fantasy World Creation”

12.  For further information and details contact:  John Merhar  elo@ipfw.edu