Author

 J.R .R. Tolkien is the author of __The Hobbit__, __The Lord of the Rings__, and  many more. John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born on January 3rd, 1892 in Bloemfontein, South Africa. He had a younger brother named Hilary Tolkien.

Tolkien was a close friend of C.S. Lewis.  Tolkien's father, Arthur Tolkien, was a banker in South Africa. His father died in 1896. Because of his father's death his mother, Mabel Suffield, took him to his father's native village of Sarehole, near Birmingham, England. After his mother's death in 1904 he was looked after by Father Francis Xavier Morgan a Roman Catholic priest of the Congregation of the Oratory. From 1915 to 1918 he fought in World War I with the Lancashire Fusiliers. It  is believed that his experiences during the Battle of Jutland may have been fueled the darker side of his subsequent novels.

He was a professor of Anglo Saxon Language at Oxford from 1925 to 1945, and of English studies English language and literature, also at Oxford, from 1945 to 1959. He was a strongly committed Roman Catholic.

__The Hobbit__ began as a bed time story for his children that in his own words "grew in the telling". He wrote Lord of the Rings over a period of about 14 years which started by him sending his children bits and pieces of the story in his letters. Tolkien also discussed parts of his novels with fellow Oxfordian and fantasy writer C.S. Lewis during their 'meetings'. He was trying to create a fantasy world so that he could explain how he had invented certain languages, and in doing so created 'Middle Earth'. However among his peers at Oxford his works were not well received as they were not considered 'scholarly'.

He was made an honorary fellow of Exeter College, and an honorary member of Hid islenzka Bokmennta-felag. Despite the immense popularity of his books today Tolkien did not greatly benefit from their sales. His son Christopher Tolkien was able to publish some of his works posthumously after his manuscripts were found.  Tolkien died on September 2nd, 1973 in Bournemouth, Dorset, England, UK from a bleeding ulcer and chest infection.  Tolkien's grave is in Oxford.

For more information on J. R. R. Tolkien go to [|this site]. For Fun Facts about J. R. R. Tolkien go to [|this site].

**__List of Tolkiens books.__**
**The Hobbit**
 * The Lord of the Rings **
 * **The Fellowship of the Ring**
 * **The Two Towers**
 * **The Return of the King**


 * The Silmarillion**
 * Unfinished Tales**
 * The Adeventures of Tom Bombadil**


 * The History of Middle Earth Series **
 * 1) **The Book of Lost Tales**, Part 1
 * 2) **The Book of Lost Tales**, Part 2
 * 3) **The Lays of Beleriand**
 * 4) **The Shaping of Middle-Earth**: The Quenta, The Ambarkanta and the Annals
 * 5) **The Lost Road and Other Writings**
 * 6) **The Return of the Shadow**: The History of the Lord of the Rings, Part One
 * 7) **The Treason of Isengard**: The History of the Lord of the Rings, Part Two
 * 8) **The War of the Ring**: The History of the Lord of the Rings, Part Three
 * 9) **Sauron Defeated**: The History of the Lord of the Rings, Part Four
 * 10) **Morgoth's Ring**: The Later Silmarillion, Part One : The Legends of Aman
 * 11) **The War of the Jewels**: The Later Silmarillion : Part Two : The Legends of Beleriand
 * 12) **The Peoples of Middle-Earth**

__** Non-Middle Earth Books **__ __Some of Tolkiens Quotes__ “All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost.” “It is the job that is never started that takes longest to finish.” “The wise speak only of what they know.” “Courage is found in unlikely places.” "The wide world is all about you; you can fence yourselves in, but you cannot forever fence it out.” “So comes snow after fire, and even dragons have their ending.” “He should not vow to walk in the dark, who has not seen the nightfall.” “Handsome is as handsome does.” "...to crooked eyes truth may wear a wry face.” "The world is full enough of hurts and mischance without wars to multiply them.” “Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends.” “hope is not victory” “He who breaks a thing to find out what it is, has left the path of wisdom.” “The burned hand teaches best.” “Deep roots are not reached by frost.”**
 * Roverandom**
 * Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl, Sir Orfeo**
 * Smith of Wootton Major and Farmer Giles of Ham**
 * Letters from Father Christmas**
 * The Father Christmas Letters**
 * Finn and Hengest**
 * The Monsters and the Critics**
 * Tree and Leaf