John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, Better Known By His Pen Name

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, better known by his pen name J.R.R. Tolkien, came from a family that was primarily craftsmen that had emigrated to England from Germany in the 18th century. John was born on January 3rd, 1892 to father Arthur Tolkien and mother Mabel Tolkien in Bloemfontein, South Africa. His family had moved there after his father was promoted to head of the Bloemfontein office of the British bank. John had one sibling, his younger brother, Hilary Arthur Reuel. At age three John, Hilary, and their mother went to visit England but his father stayed in South Africa for a short time, where he later died of rheumatic fever. This left the three in England with no source of income so his mother took him and his brother to live with her parents in Kings Heath, Birmingham. The next year they moved again to Warwickshire. The area around Warwickshire would have great influence on his writing. One such place was his aunt Jane’s farm Bag End which he used in his works. Tolkien was homeschooled by his mother who taught him botany. He enjoyed plants and drew landscapes. He could read by age four and write shortly after. By this time Tolkien had already mastered Latin and Greek and enjoyed making up languages purely for fun. His mother died of diabetes at age 34 when he was 12. Before she died she gave guardianship of John and his brother to Fr. Francis Xavier Morgan. He raised them to be catholic in Edgbaston. He started school at King Edward’s School but later moved to St.