Inspiration to J.R.R. Tolkien and the Legendarium
The inspiration of J.R.R. Tolkien and the Legendarium below are not exhaustive.
J.R.R. Tolkien was also a dedicated academic as well as a dedicated Roman Catholic. The Anglo-Saxon mythology, Greek mythology, Northern European and Germany Mythology and the Bible were major influences for J.R.R. Tolkien’s work and creatin of the world of the Legendarium.
History such as the invasion by the Huns and the Mongolian Empire was also a great inspiration as well. J.R.R. Tolkien’s personal life including his love life with Edith was a great positive inspiration for his work as well as the natural environments he witnessed when he was young.
The cruel reality of war also became the basis of the J.R.R. Tolkien’s definition of evil and the antagonists. J.R.R. Tolkien also disliked the defects of the industrial revolution as he had great fondness to nature and saw the collapse of human ethics after the industrialization.
Early Life of J.R.R. Tolkien – Birth and Roman Catholicism
John Ronald Philip Reuel Tolkien was born on 3rd of January 1892, in Bloemfontein which is the current capital of Republic of South Africa.
He had a younger brother Hilary Arthur Reuel Tolkien born to Arthur Tolkien and Mabel née Suffield. J.R.R. Tolkien relocated to England, while his father passed away by rheumatic fever in South Africa before his father could rejoin them in England.
In 1904, J.R.R. Tolkien’s mother also passed away after she converted to a Roman Catholic. J.R.R. Tolkien also became a devoted Roman Catholic and believed that his mother was a martyr that held his faith.
J.R.R. Tolkien was accompanied by a Father Franics Xavier Morgan at the Birmingham Oratory where many of the towers, towns and buildings have influenced Tolkien’s work. J.R.R. Tolkien also faced a fatal wound by a spider bite in his youth which brought him the ide of the ungoliant.
Life of J.R.R. Tolkien – School years and Marriage
J.R.R. Tolkien attended King Edward’s School of Birmingham. He once went on a trip to the mountains of Switzerland which became the snowy vast landscapes inspired him of creating the mountain lines of the Legendarium.
J.R.R Tolkien joined friends at a secret society called the Tea Club, Barrovian Society also named T.C.B.S with his friends during his years at King Edward’s School of Birmingham.
The T.C.B.S. members would hold a ‘council’ or regular meetings and the meeting inspired J.R.R. Tolkien to commit himself to English literature and poetry. J.R.R. Tolkien married Edith Mary Bratt in 1913 after they’ve first met when J.R.R. Tolkien was 16. Edith Mary Bratt(Edith Mary Tolkien) declined an already arranged marriage.
Tolkien and Edith first shared their love when they’ve first met but haven’t been in an engagement while Edith’s family arranged a different marriage,
Tolkien asked for her love which eventually Edith accepted and even converted to a Roman Catholic. J.R.R. Tolkien takes a trip to Cornwall shortly after his marriage which gave him inspiration of the vast seas that he shall create in the Legendarium. J
.R.R. Tolkien graduates from the University of Oxford in 1915 with a degree in English. With Edith, J.R.R. Tolkien had four children John Francis Reuel Tolkien Michael Hilary Reuel Tolkien, Christopher John Reuel Tolkien, and Priscilla Anne Reuel Tolkien
Life of J.R.R. Tolkien - WW1 and post-war career
J.R.R. Tolkien joined the military during WW1 as a signaling officer (communication officer) for the Lancashire Fusiliers. He had to suffer a lot of losses of his friends during WW1 and J.R.R. Tolkien himself participated in combat such as one of the largest battles during WW1, the Battle of Somme.
The dreadful trench-warfare environment, the shell blast craters created by artillery and experiences of troopers drowning in those craters and many other experiences were inspirations for J.R.R. Tolkien in creating the Death marshes, the Nazgul etc.
J.R.R. Tolkien eventually was pulled back from the front after he suffered from trench fever. After the war, J.R.R. Tolkien briefly work for the Oxford English Dictionary and eventually became a professor at Oxfords.
J.R.R. Tolkien and the Legendarium
J.R.R. Tolkien has been working on numerous works throughout his whole life. While J.R.R. Tolkien lectured at Oxford, he made stories to tell his children which was the legendary story ‘The Hobbit’. After The Hobbit gained fame, the publishing company asked Tolkien for a sequel series which happened to be ‘The Lord of the Rings’.
During J.R.R. Tolkien’s work with ‘The Lord of the Rings’, he exchanged opinions with another author Clive Staples Lewis, C.S. Lewis the author of ‘The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe’ and the chronicles of Narnia.
‘The Lord of the Rings’ became the most famous work of J.R.R. Tolkien. J.R.R. Tolkien’s work started to become referred as the Legendarium, which was a chronicle of the Arda, the mythical Earth where The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and the Silmarillion took place.
J.R.R. Tolkien worked on the prequel of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings while establishing the Legendarium but eventually he appointed his son Christoper Tolkien to finish Silmarillion before he passed away in 2nd of September 1973.
Late life and death of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.J.R.T. Tolkien
While he gained fame as an author, J.R.R. Tolkien retires at 1959 and continues to work on his work of the Legendarium. Tolkien was awarded a CBE(Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace on March 28, 1972 and eventually passed away in 2nd of September 1973
.
Christopher John Reuel Tolkien became the editor of his father J.R.R. Tolkien’s work. He also served in the Royal Air Force during World War II and became a lecturer at the University of Oxford similar to his father’s foot prints. C.J.R Tolkien was able to assemble the map of the middle-earth while J.R.R. Tolkien had some errors that C.J.R.T would clarify later after his father’s death.
C.J.R Tolkien finished the Silmarillion which included the unfinished work such as the sinking of Númenor. In the 2000’s, C.J.R.T also completed the works of The Children of Húrin, Beren and Lúthien and The Fall of Gondolin before he passed away in January of 2020.
Legendarium – Tolkien Mythology
J.R.R. Tolkien’s Mythology is referred as the Legendarium which is a mythical earth named Arda created by Arda’s almighty Eru Ilúvatar and the stories that occur in Arda. The publication of the major backbone of the Legendarium is as below.
The Hobbit – 21st September, 1937
The Fellowship of the Ring(Lord of the Rings) – 29th July 1954
The Two Towers – 11th November 1954
The Return of the King – 20th October, 1955
The Silmarillion – 15th September, 1977
Although it was published later, The Silmarillion refers from the Year of the Lamps or the creation of Arda by Arda’s creator and God Eru Ilúvatar to the end of the Second Ages.
The Hobbit and the Lord of the Ring series take place during the Third Age despite the publications were published before the Silmarillion.
The Children of Húrin, Beren and Lúthien and The Fall of Gondolin, the publications by C.J.R.T are stories of events that occurred during the timeline of the Silmarillion in details of important characters and events.
The Legendarium or Tolkien Mythology became the foundation of almost every fantasy world for novels, publication, media and games etc. J.R.R. Tolkien even invented a functional language the Elvish Quenya and Sindarin while he constructed the Legendarium.
