J. R. R. Tolkien

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (1892-1973) was Professor of Anglo-Saxon at the University of Oxford from 1925 to 1945, and Professor of English Language and Literature from 1945 to 1959. His fascination with languages caused him to invent several languages; later elaborating an entire cosmogony and history of Middle Earth as background. He did much critical work on Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. He was one of the members of the literary discussion group The Inklings, and very close friends with C. S. Lewis.

The Hobbit (1937), intended for children but read by adults as well, achieved popularity. His most famous work was the richly inventive epic three-volume novel The Lord of the Rings (1954-55), which, though a direct sequel to The Hobbit, was intended for a much older audience, drawing upon the immense back-story of Middle Earth that he had constructed and that eventually saw publication as The Silmarillion and in other posthumous volumes. Tolkien at first thought that The Lord of the Rings would be another children's book like The Hobbit, but it quickly grew more dark and serious in the writing.

The Lord of the Rings was, judged both by sales and surveys of readers, one of the most popular works of fiction of the twentieth century. The influence of Tolkien lies heavy over the fantasy genre that grew up after the success of The Lord of the Rings.

Work published in JRRT's lifetime:

• 1937 The Hobbit
• 1945 Leaf by Niggle (short story)
• 1947 [Tree and Leaf]? (essay)
• 1949 [Farmer Giles of Ham]?
• 1954 The Fellowship of the Ring, part 1 of The Lord of the Rings
• 1954 [The Two Towers]?, part 2 of The Lord of the Rings
• 1955 [The Return of the King]?, part 3 of The Lord of the Rings
• 1962 [The Adventures of Tom Bombadil]? and Other Verses from the Red Book
• 1964 [Tree and Leaf]? (On Fairy-Stories and Leaf by Niggle in book form)
• 1967 [Smith of Wootton Major]?

Posthumous non-Middle Earth material

• 1976 [The Father Christmas Letters]?
• 1982 [Mr. Bliss]?
• 1998 Roverandom?

Tolkien continued to work upon the history of Middle Earth until his death. His son [Christopher Tolkien]? with assistance from fantasy writer [Guy Gavriel Kay]? organised some of this material into one volume, published as The Silmarillion (1977).

Christopher Tolkien continued over subsequent years to publish lots of background material on the creation of Middle Earth, beginning with [Unfinished Tales]? (1980), [The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien]? (1981), and an essay collection, [The Monsters and the Critics]? (1983), and continuing with:

The History of Middle-Earth series

• 1983 [The Book of Lost Tales 1]?
• 1984 [The Book of Lost Tales 2]?
• 1985 [The Lays of Beleriand]?
• 1986 [The Shaping of Middle-Earth]?
• 1987 [The Lost Road and Other Writings]?
• 1988 [The Return of the Shadow]? (The History of The Lord of the Rings v.1)
• 1989 [The Treason of Isengard]? (The History of The Lord of the Rings v.2)
• 1990 [The War of the Ring]? (The History of The Lord of the Rings v.3)
• 1992 [Sauron Defeated]? (The History of The Lord of the Rings v.4)
• 1993 [Morgoth's Ring]? (The Later Silmarillion v.1)
• 1994 [The War of the Jewels]? (The Later Silmarillion v.2)
• 1996 [The Peoples of Middle-earth]?

External Links:

• [The Encyclopedia of Arda]