Biography
English writer and professor of literature and English who became world famous with his trilogy LORD OF THE RINGS (1954-55). By the mid-1960s Tolkien's remarkable work had become a sociocultural phenomenon, especially in its appeal to young people. His friend C.S. Lewis at University of Oxford also achieved fame as fantasy writer with his Narnia series.
J.R.R. Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa, but resident in the UK from 1895. He studied in Birmingham and at Oxford. In 1916 Tolkien married Edith Bratt, whom he had met in 1908. After the service in WW I Tolkien began work on SILMARILLION (published 1977) and for the rest of his life he expanded the mythology of his fantasy worlds.
From 1920 to 1925 Tolkien worked as a techer and professor at the University of Leeds and in 1925 Tolkien became Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford University. He was appointed Merton Professor of English at Oxford in 1945, retiring in 1959. His scholarly works included studies on Chaucher (1934) and an edition of Beowulf (1937). He was also interested in the Finnish national epos Kalevala, which formed basis for his imaginary language guenya and influenced several of his stories. Most of the inhabitants of Tolkien's imaginary Middle-Earth are derived from English folklore and mythology, or from an idealized Anglo-Saxon past.
With C.S. Lewis and Charles Williams Tolkien formed an informal literary group called The Inklings, which took shape in the 1930s. Their Tuesday lunchtime sessions in the Bird and Baby pub became well known part of Oxford social life. At their meetings the Inklings read aloud drafts of fiction and other work. Williams died in 1945 and the meetings faded out in 1949. - Other members of the club included Christopher Tolkien, JRRT's son, and Owen Barfield.
While THE HOBBIT (1937) is said to be a work of fantasy for children - originally it was written to the author's children - the epic Lord of the Rings has a depth that also fascinate adult readers. Although critics have seen in the story allegoric allusions to World War II, Tolkien repeatedly rejected all this kind of explanations. He insisted that the story was a "fundamentally religious and Catholic work." However, Tolkien's Catholicism does not appear overtly in the book.
For further reading: J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography, by Humphrey Carpenter (1977, suom. 1998); The Tolkien Companion, by J.E.A. Tyler (1976); Tolkien: The Illustrated Encyclopedia, by David Day (1991); The Inklings, by Humphrey Carpenter (1979); The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, ed. by Humphrey Carpenter and Christopher Tolkien (1981); The Road to Middle-Earth by T.A. Shippey (1982); J.R.R. Tolkien: This Far Land, ed. by Robert Giddings (1983); J.R.R. Tolkien's Themes, Symbols, and Myths by David Harvey (1985); A Tolkien Thesaurus by Richard E. Blackwelder (1990); The Biography of J.R.R. Tolkien: Architect of Middle Earth by Daniel Grotta (1996); Defending Middle-Earth: Tolkien, Myth and Modernity by Patrick Curry (1997)
See also other fantasy worlds: Tove Jansson (The Moomintrolls), C.S. Lewis (Narnia). Tolkien´s influence is also seen in the works of Isaac Asimov, who considered The Ring Trilogy as an allegory of WWII. According to Asimov, the magical ring in the story is a symbol of the modern technology. - Films: Lord of the Rings, 1978, dir. by Ralph Bakshi - More information: The Grey Havens; Forodrim
Selected bibliography: (for furher information, see A Chronological bibliography of the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien)
A Middle English Vocabulary, 1922
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (ed., with E.V. Gordon), 1925
Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics, 1936
Songs for the Philologist, 1936 (collection, with E.V. Gordon and others)
The Hobbit, or there and Back Again, 1937 - Lohikäärmevuori/Hobitti eli sinne ja takaisin
Farmer Gill of Ham, 1949 - Maamies ja lohikäärme
The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm's Son, 1954 (radio play)
The Fellowship of the Ring: being the first part of the Lord of the Rings, 1954 - Sormuksen ritarit, suom. Eila Pennanen
The Two Towers: being the second part of the Lord of the Rings, 1955 - Kaksi tornia, suom. Eila Pennanen
The Return of the King: being the third part of the Lord of the Rings, 1956 - Kuninkaan paluu, suom. Eila Pennanen
The Adventures of Tom Bombardil and Other Verses from the Red Book, 1962
Ancrene Wisse, 1962 (ed.)
Tree and Leaf, 1964
The Tolkien Reader, 1966
The Road Goes Ever On, 1967
Smith of Wootton Major, 1967 - Seppä ja Satumaa
Bilbo's Last Song, 1974
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl, and Sir Orfeo, 1975 (translator, ed. by Christopher Tolkien)
Tree and Leaf, Smith of Wootton Major, The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm's Son, 1975
The Father Christmas Letters, 1976
Bilbo's Last Song, 1977
Silmarillion, 1977 - suom. Silmarillion
Pictures by J.R.R. Tolkien, 1979
Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth, 1980 (ed. by Christopher Tolkien) - Keskeneräisten tarujen kirja
Poems and Stories, 1980
The Letters of J.R.R. Tokien: A Selection, 1981
The Old English Exodus, 1981 (translator)
Mr Bliss, 1982 - Herra Bliss
Finn and Hengest, 1983
The History of Middle-Earth, 1983 (ed. by Christopher Tolkien - publication of posthumous works continues)
The Book of Lost Tales 1-2, 1983-84 (ed. by Christopher Tolkien)
The Monster and the Critics and Other Essays, 1984
Lays of Beleriand, 1985 (ed. by Christopher Tolkien)
The Shaping of Middle-Earth, 1986 (ed. by Christopher Tolkien)
The Lost Road and Other Writings, 1987 (ed. by Christopher Tolkien)
The Return of the Shadow, 1988 (ed. by Christopher Tolkien)
The Treason of Isengard, 1989 (ed. by Christopher Tolkien)
The War of the Ring, 1990 (ed. by Christopher Tolkien)
Sauron Defeated, 1991 (ed. by Christopher Tolkien)
Morgoth's Ring: The Later Silmarillion Part 1, 1993 (ed. by Christopher Tolkien)
The War of the Jewels: The Later Silmarillion Part 2, 1994 (ed. by Christopher Tolkien)
Taken from http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/tammikuu.htm
