Who is Tolkien John Ronald Ruel? Even the children, and first of all it is them, know that this is the creator of the famous "The Hobbit". In Russia, his name became very popular with the release of the cult film. In the writer's homeland, his works gained fame back in the mid-60s, when the student audience of a million copies of The Lord of the Rings was not enough. For thousands of young English-speaking readers, the story of Frodo's hobbit has become a favorite. The work that John Tolkien created was sold out faster than The Lord of the Flies and The Catcher in the Rye.
Hobbit passion
Meanwhile, in New York, children ran around with home-made badges that said, “Long live Frodo!” And all that. Among young people, a fashion has appeared for organizing hobbit-style parties. Tolkienov’s societies were created.
But the books that John Tolkien wrote were not only read by students. Among his fans were housewives, rocket men, and pop stars. Respectable fathers of families discussed the trilogy in London pubs.
Talking about who fantasy author John Tolkien was in real life is not easy. The author of cult books himself was convinced that the true life of the writer is contained in his works, and not in the facts of the biography.
Childhood
Tolkien John Ronald Ruel was born in 1892 in South Africa. There, by occupation, was the father of the future writer. In 1895, his mother went with him to England. A year later, news came that announced the death of his father.
Ronald’s childhood (that is what the writer’s relatives and friends called the writer) passed in the suburbs of Birmingham. At four, he began to read. And just a few years later he experienced an inexpressible desire to learn ancient languages. Latin for Ronald was like music. And the pleasure of studying it could only be compared with reading myths and heroic legends. But, as John Tolkien later admitted, these books did not exist in the world in sufficient quantities. Such literature was too little to satisfy his reading needs.
Hobbies
In school, in addition to Latin and French, Ronald also studied German and Greek. He became interested in the history of languages and comparative philology quite early on, attended literary circles, studied Gothic and Icelandic languages, and even tried to create new ones. Such hobbies, unusual for adolescents, predetermined his fate.
In 1904, her mother died. Thanks to the care of a spiritual guardian, Ronald was able to continue his studies at Oxford University. His specialization was History of English.
Army
When the war began, Ronald was in his last year. And after brilliant passing the final exams, he volunteered for the army. The second lieutenant had a few months of bloody battle at the Somme, and then two years in a hospital with a diagnosis of typhoid fever.
Teaching
After the war, he worked on a dictionary, then received the title of professor of English. In 1925, his account of one of the Old German legends was published; in the summer of that year, John Tolkien was invited to Oxford. He was too young by the standards of the famous university: only 34 years old. However, John Tolkien, whose biography is no less interesting than books, had rich life experience and brilliant works on philology.
Mysterious book
By this time, the writer was not only married, but also had three sons. At night, when family troubles were over, he continued the mysterious work that he had begun as a student, the story of a magical land. Over time, the legend was filled with more and more details, and John Tolkien felt that he was obliged to tell this story to others.
In 1937, the fairy tale “The Hobbit” was published, bringing the author unprecedented fame. The popularity of the book was so great that the publishers asked the writer to create a sequel. Then Tolkien began work on his epic. But the saga of the three parts came out only after eighteen years. Tolkien has been developing an artificial language all his life . Refinement of the elven dialect is ongoing today.
Tolkien characters
Hobbits are incredibly charming creatures resembling children. They combine frivolity and perseverance, ingenuity and simplicity, sincerity and cunning. And strangely enough, these characters give the world created by Tolkien credibility.
The protagonist of the first story, Bilbo Baggins, is constantly risking to get out of the maelstrom of all sorts of misadventures. He has to be brave and inventive. With this image, Tolkien seems to be telling his young readers about the limitless possibilities that they have. And another feature of Tolkien’s characters is freedom. Hobbits are perfectly dispensed with leaders.
"Lord of the Rings"
Why did the professor from Oxford amaze the minds of modern readers? What are his books about?
Tolkien's works are dedicated to the eternal. And the components of this seemingly abstract concept are good and evil, duty and honor, great and small. In the center of the plot is a ring, which is nothing more than a symbol and instrument of unlimited power, that is, what almost everyone secretly dreams of.
This topic at all times is very relevant. Everyone wants power and are confident that they know with accuracy how to properly dispose of it. Tyrants and other terrible personalities in history, as contemporaries believe, are stupid and unjust. But the one who today wants to gain power will be supposedly wiser, more humane and humane. And perhaps it will make the whole world happier.
Only the heroes of Tolkien refuse the ring. There are kings and brave warriors, mysterious magicians and all-knowing sages, beautiful princesses and gentle elves in the work of the English writer, but in the end they all worship a simple hobbit who was able to fulfill his duty and was not tempted by power.
In recent years, the writer has been surrounded by universal recognition, received the title of Doctor of Literature. Tolkien died in 1973, and four years later the final version of The Silmarillion was published. The work was completed by the son of a writer.