The Hobbit Research Paper

Silas Kornexl
Gee
Honors language Arts 7th
21 October 2015
British Author Study Project.
John Ronald Reul Tolkien was born on January Third, 1892, and died at age 81, on September Second, 1973. He married Edith Mary Bratt in 1916, at age 24. He had met her when he was 16, and she was 19. He courted her, but did not marry her for many years due to his father’s dislike of her. “Eventually Father Francis took a hand, and forbade Ronald to see or even correspond with Edith for three years, until he was 21. Ronald stoically obeyed this injunction to the letter.” (Tolkien Society, Biography). Tolkien’s father did not like that she was older than him, or that she distracted him from his exams. His father banned him from having any contact with her until he was 21, which he obeyed. At 21, he wrote to her that he wanted to marry her, and she wrote back that she was already engaged, but did not really want to be. She then called off the marriage, and married Tolkien instead. That was his only known marriage. Tolkien had four children. John Francis Reul Tolkien was his first son, who was born in 1917. He then had Michael Hilary Reul Tolkien, in 1920. Next was Christopher John Reul

He lived through both world wars. He also served in the First World War. Those were both important events in the world’s history. Tolkien’s works were strongly influenced by both his time in the war, and by his childhood. He did not enjoy his experience in the Army, and it left some bad impressions on him. It also made him more cynical. This showed up in some of his writings. Tolkien’s childhood was a major influence as well. The places he visited and grew up in often feature in his works. For example, much of the scenery in the hobbit was based off a trip he took as a child. The trip he took to Scotland as a child shows up in his Bilbo’s crossing of the Misty Mountains in The Hobbit. He wanted to go back over the rest of his life, but never had the