JRR Tolkien was born in South Africa and other quirky facts about his life

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, the author of the iconic novels, Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, lived a rich and fascinating life, which began when he was born in my very own country, South Africa, in 1892. In his life he experienced true love, joy, fun, friendship and tragedy, and in his brilliance, he used those experiences to create an unforgettable legacy.

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Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, to British parents, as his father was a manager at a British Bank in South Africa. Tolkien was apparently such a beautiful baby that one of the black staff members at their home took him home to the kraal one evening to show him off!!! Tolkien was also bitten by a big baboon spider while playing in the garden while he was a toddler. Tolkien was quite a sickly child, so his mother took him back to England when he was 3, in 1895, for a change in climate. His father was due to join them, but died unexpectedly while still in South Africa in 1896.

baboon spider - pixabay

https://www.flickr.com/photos/governmentza/20027017626 - kraal (general usage rights)

Tolkien's mother, Mabel, moved back in with her parents as she was left with no financial support after her husband died. At first Mabel taught Tolkien and his younger brother, and only sibling, Hilary at home and Tolkien began reading at four years. Mabel converted to Catholicism in 1900, despite the vehement protests of her family, who even cut off her financial support, and the family lived in genteel poverty. Sadly Mabel died when she was 34, and Tolkien was 12, of diabetes. Insulin had not yet been discovered at that stage. Tolkien and his brother were transferred to the care of Mabel's priest, Father Francis Xavier Morgan. The brothers moved to Mrs Faulkner's boarding house, and here Tolkien, now 16, met and developed a relationship with Edith Bratt, 19. Father Francis was horrified as Edith was a Protestant and forbade Tolkien from having any contact with her for 3 years, until he was 21. An excerpt from a letter Tolkien wrote to his son explains the situation:                              

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     "I had to choose between disobeying and grieving (or deceiving) a guardian who had been a father to me, more than most fathers ... and "dropping" the love-affair until I was 21. I don't regret my decision, though it was very hard on my lover. But it was not my fault. She was completely free and under no vow to me, and I should have had no just complaint (except according to the unreal romantic code) if she had got married to someone else. For very nearly three years I did not see or write to my lover. It was extremely hard, especially at first. The effects were not wholly good: I fell back into folly and slackness and misspent a good deal of my first year at college."

Exactly on Tolkien's 21st birthday he contacted and then met up soon after with Edith, and they resumed the relationship. (Though she had to break off an engagement first!) Edith converted to Catholicism and they married in 1916. Tolkien attended Exeter College, Oxford, and when World War One broke out in 1914, he didn't immediately enlist but completed his college education. He left for Calais in 1916, and parting from his wife felt like torture. Tolkien's war experiences were grim, he spent time in the trenches, and was present for some of the worst fighting, including the bloody Battle of the Somme. Tolkien lost all but one of his closest friends in the war. He also became seriously ill due to a severe lice infestation, common to those living in the trenches. Tolkien was intermittently ill through 1917 and 1918, alternating with periods of service at home. 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/bluinfaccia/2739646598 (general usage rights)

After the war Tolkien eventually became a professor at Oxford University from 1925-1959, and fitted in well in the teaching world. He was sociable and his lectures were actually quite fun, and one student put it this way: "He could turn a lecture room into a mead hall." He could also be quite the joker. Tolkien was known for his very close friendship with the author CS Lewis, but after a while they disagreed over religious matters, however Tolkien was still gutted when CS Lewis died.

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Tolkien and Edith had 3 sons, and the family was very close. Tolkien's and Edith's love remained strong until her death in 1971, and Tolkien died of a bleeding ulcer and chest infection in 1973. They were buried in the same grave, and Tolkien engraved the names of 2 of his lovestruck fictional characters together with their own names!

@onetree

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._R._R._Tolkien

https://www.tolkiensociety.org/author/biography/

http://mentalfloss.com/article/59736/10-things-you-might-not-know-about-jrr-tolkien