13 things you might not know about Tolkien

On the 40th anniversary of the death of the man who brought us ‘The Hobbit’ and the ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy, we bring you 13 things you might never have known about him.

No we’re not talking about director and screenwriter Peter Jackson, who’s still very much alive and kicking, we’re referring to author J.R.R. Tolkien – the man behind the books. Middle-earth was first conjured up in his incredible imagination before being adapted for the big screen more than 60 years later.

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1. Tolkien was born in South Africa and spent the first three years of his life there before moving to the West Midlands with his mother after the death of his father.

2. While growing up in Africa Tolkien apparently had a scary encounter with a very large hairy spider, which is rumoured to have been the inspiration for Shelob, the gigantic spider in ‘The Lord of the Rings’. However Tolkien admitted he had no first-hand recollection of the incident. Shelob appears in Peter Jackson’s third film adaptation of Lord of the Rings ‘The Return of the King’.

3. Tolkien was left orphaned at the age of 12 when his mother died from diabetes and he was put in the care of a Catholic priest.

4. He fell in love with his wife Edith Bratt when he was 16 and she 19, but he was forbidden by his guardian from contacting her until he was 21. He stuck to the rule and managed to woo her back all those years later.

‘The Hobbit’ was born when Tolkien was marking exam papers in the school holidays; a task he described as ‘boring’. One student had left a page in the paper completely blank so Tolkien scribbled on it ‘In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit,’ for reasons he couldn’t explain. He later went on to finish the story and the book was published in 1937. The first Hobbit film ‘An Unexpected Journey’ was released in 2012. Two more: ‘The Desolation of Smaug’ (watch the trailer above) and ‘There and Back Again’ are in the pipeline, scheduled for release later this year and next.

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6. The popularity of smoking in Middle-earth was based on his own love of his pipe. His smoking was so tied to his writing that he admitted he couldn’t write without it.

7. Tolkien achieved a first-class honours degree in English from Oxford.

8. Twenty seven copies of the book were supposedly used to create the first ‘Lord of the Rings’ screenplay. Copies were highlighted, annotated and pages pulled out which is why so many were needed.

9. Actor Christopher Lee, who played Saruman in the films, was the only person in the cast to have actually met Tolkien in person.

10. Although named John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, he was known as Ronald to his family and early friends. The name Reuel has been passed down through the Tolkien family from his father to his own children and grandchildren.

11. Tolkien had a love of languages mastering Latin, Greek, Gothic, Welsh and Finnish. As a boy he used to make up languages just for fun. He explained that his work was ‘fundamentally linguistic in inspiration’. The stories were created to provide a world for the languages. He admitted he would have preferred to write in Elvish – the language of elves.

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12. Fans used to call Tolkien’s home at all hours of the day and night to demand answers to questions such as did Balrogs have wings? This prompted him to change address and go ex-directory. Incidentally although Tolkien didn’t clarify in his books if they did indeed have wings, they appear as large winged-monsters in Peter Jackson’s film adaptations.

13. Tolkien and his wife Edith died two years apart in 1971 and 1973 respectively and are buried in a single grave near Oxford. The names 'Luthien' and 'Beren' that appear on their headstone are characters from 'The Silmarillion'.