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John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

1892 - 1973

He was born in South Africa and grew up in a villarge near Birmingham.

At school he was fond of English language and literature. He spoke 6 ancient languages and even made up his own languages.

At Oxford University he studied languages. Tolkien became a professor of English at Oxford University. He was an outstanding linguist.

Tolkien hated technology. He never had a refrigerator or a TV, he refused to buy an electric iron, although he bought cars for his children and grandchildren.

Tolkien loved ancient myths and for his books he borrowed characters from Anglo – Saxon, Scandinavian and other European mythology.

It was while he was correcting exam papers that Tolkien wrote down a strange sentence that started: "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit…"

Obviously, creative writing was more interesting than correcting papers. That's why Tolkien went on to transform the first sentence into a full novel. He created his own world inhabited by…

wizards

elves

dwarves

orcs

hobbits

Hobbits are Tolkien's own envention. The word is a combination of Homo (man) and rabbit .

Hobbits are rather short (about 1 meter) creatures with furry legs.

They are peaceful, home – loving race, fond of their gardens and their cosy underground homes.

They don’t like adventures, but the main character of “Hobbit”, Bilbo Baggins, is forced to take part in a long and dangerous journey full of risk and extraordinary adventures.

In “The Lord of the Rings” Bilbo’s nephew, Frodo Baggins, is given a dangerous task.

Frodo must destroy the magic ring which gives its owner great power. The ring was made by Sauron the Dark Lord.

The ring was lost and found by Bilbo, who didn’t know about its magic power.

If the Ring falls into the hands of Sauron, he and his dark forces will rule the world.

So Frodo has to take the Ring to Mordor, the Dark Lord’s own territory and throw it into the fires of Mount Doom.

The book was an immediate success. Tolkien's magic world caught reader's imagination. For almost 50 years people are not only reading his books – many try to live in his world.

Home, sweet home…

Friends

Friendship

Aragorn

Love

Magic places

Enemies

Wars and battles

East or west – home is best.

“ The Lord of the Rings” was published in 1954. The trilogy is more than 1000 pages. It has been translated into 25 languages.

Tolkien sold the film rights to “The Lord of the Rings” in 1969, but he didn’t believe that a film would ever be made. But he was wrong. It took film – makers 50 years to bring the book to a big screen. The thing that Tolkien hated so much – technology – helped. With modern computer effects it became possible to create a realistic and exact interpretation of the book.

The director of the films is Piter Jackson.

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien is called one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century.