John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born January
3, 1892 in the Orange Free State of Africa. His father was a banker and his mother, a
missionary. He was born frail and sickly, and a few years later, his brother was born with
the same condition. Consequently, their mother took them to live in England, hoping that
the climate would better suite them. They moved to Sarehole, a rural village outside of
Birmingham where Tolkien would live until 1903. In 1896, Arthur, his father died of
pneumonia that went untreated, before they could meet again.
Tolkien's mother taught him the academic basics (Latin, Greek, mathematics,
and Romantic literature). However, Tolkien was more interested in inventing languages than
learning them, and made several of his own at a very young age. However, he kept none of
them and therefore, never found their way into The Lord of the Rings. Unlike one would
suspect, Tolkien was a lazy student and later a lazy professor, but nonetheless he was
quite productive. His mother also introduced him to fantasy, or Faerie-stories as the
English called them, his favorite being Mallory's account of King Arthur's quest.
Upon barely grasping an exhibition (scholarship) to Exeter College (one
of the Oxford University colleges), Tolkien began to study the English languages instead
of the Classics. His choice was not a popular one at the time and consisted of four years
rather than the standard three, but his love of language inspired him to stay the extra
year. In 1915, he received a first class honors degree in English Language and Literature.
His first preminition was to marry Edith Mary, since they were adults by then, but
instead, joined the military to fight in World War I.
