by Rebecca Williams

Created on: June 03, 2009   Last Updated: June 04, 2009

Prince of Fantasists

An Oxford graduate, World War I veteran, and Oxford professor gave the world a novel set in an England of antiquity, an England with elves, dwarves, wizards, trolls, orcs, and, of course, hobbits. This English native was John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, and this novel was The Lord of the Rings, published as a trilogy. Tolkien was influenced in writing his novel The Lord of the Rings by his love of nature, his study of literature, and especially his deep love of philology.

Tolkien's surname means "foolishly brave" or "stupidly clever," which is why he sometimes employed "Oxymore" as a nom-de-plume. His father was Arthur Reuel Tolkien, who thought of himself as "nothing if not English." He was employed as a bank clerk, and, in the 1890s, moved to South Africa, hoping for a promotion. There, his bride Mabel Suffield joined him, "whose family were not only English through and through, but West Midlands since time immemorial" (Doughan). According to Perry C. Bramlett, both were formerly of Birmingham (2).

Bramlett continues that Tolkien's family moved to Bloemfontein when the city was still young, not yet fifty years old. There were many institutions, including a club for European residents. However, there were few people and much dust, so it was not the nicest place to live (Bramlett 3). John Ronald Reuel was born in this small South African town on January 3rd, 1892 (Bramlett 2).

Ronald was often sick due to hot South African summers and cold, dry winters. The family experienced many problems with local wildlife. Wild dogs, jackals, snakes, and even lions sometimes threatened their security. A wild monkey climbed over their wall and ate three of Ronald's pinafores. When he was two years old, Ronald was bitten on the foot by a tarantula (Bramlett 3). This incident likely influenced his spider-like monster Shelob and her predecessor, Ungoliant.

Anne Neimark declares that Ronald, even from a very young age, was "quick to mark details around him" such as "the wilting boughs of the eucalyptus tree at his first Christmas." He also liked to draw, making sketches of what he observed when he visited his father at work (4).

His father died in 1896, shortly after he moved back to England with his mother and younger brother (Bramlett 3). The family then moved to Sarehole, where Ronald had confrontations with a farmer over mushrooms (Neimark 11), similar to the misadventures of young Frodo with Farmer Maggot. Later, in order to be closer to Prince Edward's,

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