J.R.R. Tolkien was an English author, born in Orange Free State, Bloemfontein in South Africa, in 1892. He is widely regarded as the father of high fantasy, having significantly contributed to the revival and popularity of the fantasy genre in the 20th century. The Times magazine ranked him among the 50 greatest writers since 1945, a testament to his enduring influence on literature.
Tolkien was not only an author but also a poet, university professor, and philologist. He spent most of his career teaching at the University of Oxford, where he was a distinguished academic in the fields of Old and Middle English and Old Norse. His creative pursuits, however, were mainly confined to his spare time, which he devoted to fantasy works, stories for children, poetry, illustration, and invented languages and alphabets.
Tolkien's most popular works, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, are set in Middle-earth, an imagined world with strangely familiar settings inhabited by ancient and extraordinary peoples. Through this secondary world, Tolkien wrote perceptively of universal human concerns – love and loss, courage and betrayal, humility and pride – giving his books a wide and enduring appeal.
In addition to his literary achievements, Tolkien was an accomplished amateur artist who painted for pleasure and relaxation. He often drew inspiration from his own stories, illustrating many scenes from The Silmarillion, The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien's academic background in Old and Middle English, Old Norse, and Gothic further enriched his understanding of ancient languages and legends from a remote past.
Tolkien served in the First World War before pursuing an academic career teaching Old and Middle English. Alongside his professional work, he invented his own languages and began to create what he called a mythology for England, which he worked on throughout his life. Although best known for The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, he also wrote poetry, children's stories, and fairy tales for adults. Tolkien died in 1973, leaving behind a vast and enduring literary legacy.