J.R.R Tolkien author page

J.R.R. Tolkien biography

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was an English writer, philologist, and academic. He is best known for his high-fantasy works The Hobbit (1937), The Lord of the Rings trilogy (1954–1955), and The Silmarillion (published posthumously in 1977). Tolkien served as Professor of Anglo-Saxon at the University of Oxford from 1925 to 1945 and as Merton Professor of English Language and Literature from 1945 to 1959.

Tolkien’s first major published work, The Hobbit, was released by George Allen & Unwin in 1937. The book received immediate success and has remained in continuous print. The Lord of the Rings, published in three volumes between 1954 and 1955, expanded the world introduced in The Hobbit and established Tolkien as a leading figure in modern fantasy literature. The Silmarillion, a collection of mythopoeic stories edited by his son Christopher Tolkien, was published in 1977.

Tolkien’s academic work included contributions to the study of Old and Middle English literature, notably his lecture “Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics” (1936). He was a founding member of the literary group known as The Inklings, which included C.S. Lewis.

Tolkien was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1972. The Lord of the Rings was awarded the International Fantasy Award in 1957. His works have been translated into numerous languages and have sold millions of copies worldwide.

The Hobbit was first published in 1937 by George Allen & Unwin.