J.R.R. Tolkien: Creator of the Modern FantasyEssay Preview: J.R.R. Tolkien: Creator of the Modern FantasyReport this essayJ.R.R. Tolkien: Creator of the Modern FantasyJ.R.R. Tolkien was born in South Africa, although he considered himself a British man throughout his adulthood. He experienced World War I firsthand in the trenches. He was a professor of Old English and other archaic languages and had a strong love for such languages. Tolkien also felt a strong tie for his homeland, England, and desired to create mythology for England. Tolkien was able to write the first modern fantasy novel through his life experiences and his love for archaic languages and British lore.
Tolkiens mother, Mabel Suffield, left England in March of 1891 for South Africa to marry a man by the name of Arthur Tolkien. They had been engaged for years; however Mabels father had denied Mabel her marriage due to her young age. Tolkiens father, Arthur Tolkien, had sailed to South Africa a few years earlier to try out his luck in the diamond discovery craze. Only a few short years later, Arthur and Mabel gave birth to a son, named none other than John Ronald Reuel. Tolkien lived in a village surrounded by wilderness in his first few years and faced several adventures. Three of his pinafores were chewed off by a monkey. He avoided several snakes. He stumbled upon a tarantula, and ran around until his nurse grabbed him and sucked out the poison. Perhaps this is why Tolkien includes poisonous spiders in his future tales (Carpenter 13). Mabel and Arthur gave birth to a second son, and within two years Arthur passed away from a severe case of rheumatic fever.
After Arthurs death, Mabel and Tolkiens younger brother Hilary returned to England to the West Midlands of England. Tolkien was exposed to the rural and industrial sides of England. The area was heavily polluted and could be the reason for Tolkiens hatred of industry and machines in his literature (Doughan). The Tolkien family quickly relocated to Birmingham so that Tolkien could attend King Edward VI School. As an avid reader, Tolkien was influenced by some of the great writers of his day including G.K. Chesterton and H.G. Wells (Rayment). Mabel decided to join the Roman Catholic Church, splitting herself and the children from both sides of the family. In 1904, Mabel Tolkien was diagnosed as having diabetes. She passed away in November of that year leaving the two orphaned boys destitute. The familys priest, Father Francis took over, and took care of the children. Already, Tolkien displayed a remarkable skill for language. He proficiently learned Latin and Greek and was quickly became competent in a number of other languages, including Gothic and Finnish. He was already busy making up his own languages solely for entertainment (Doughan). At his boarding house, Tolkien fell in love with a young woman named Edith Bratt. Tolkien and Edith were caught in affectionate circumstances and so their relationship was frowned upon. Edith began to distract Tolkiens studies, and so Father Morgan split the young couple. At first try, Tolkien failed to enter college. Tolkien temporarily ended his affection and worked fruitfully and was awarded a scholarship to Oxford (Rayment).
While attending Oxford, Tolkien found Edith Bratt and proposed. Edith accepted the proposal and the couple married in 1906. World War I arrived in 1914. Tolkien saw many of his comrades pass away, and he himself would serve as an officer in the front lines at the Battle of the Somme (Rayment). Tolkiens works often include valiant battles, and one can only wonder if his experiences in the war to end all wars helped the creation of the battles. He caught trench fever in 1917 and was sent back to England to recuperate. He would not see front line service again. While grading exam booklets, he saw an exam with the first page blank. In that space he began his work on The Hobbit. The complete work of The Hobbit fell into the hands of George Allen and Unwin which decided to publish the work. “The Hobbit” soon became a best seller and made Professor Tolkien famous. In the late 1930s Tolkien started his sequel to The Hobbit, the Lord of the Rings which he worked on for over ten years. After much turmoil, the story was ultimately published Allen & Unwin once again. The success of the series was far greater than Tolkien or the publisher had hoped (Doughan). After retiring from Oxford, Tolkien and his wife moved to Bournemouth where Edith died in 1971. Tolkien lived on for two years until his death from pneumonia in September of 1973.
The English literature style during most all of Tolkiens lifetime is the modern period of literature. Many works during this period include lonely individual fighting to find peace and comfort in a world that has lost its absolute values and traditions. The literature of the period had an idea that man is nothing except what he makes of himself (Adams). The period brought along the loss of the hero in literature, the destruction made possible by technology, and thanks to Tolkien, the mixing of fantasy with nonfiction (Adams). Tolkien wrote about mythical experiences in somewhat unfamiliar lands. However, unlike those before him, he included blended his works with nonfiction. Tolkiens works were often quite lengthy and unorganized. Many of his works actually included portions of the languages he had developed. And most distinctively, Tolkiens works surrounded the battle of good against evil.
Tolkiens works included consistent themes. The most distinctive of these is of course that good always triumphs over evil. Frodo experiences this triumph when the evil Sarumon falls after the evil ring of power is destroyed in Mount Doom (Tolkien, King 370). His novels often elude to the reader his view that power corrupts the individual. Tolkiens character Gandalf fears corruption when he tells Frodo, “Do not tempt me! For I do not wish to become the Dark Lord himself,” after Frodo offers the ring to Gandalf (Tolkien, Fellowship 95) His heroes perfectly illustrate selfless sacrifice for the greater good. Boromir, a knight of Tolkiens tale gives his life to defend two hobbits and the quest to destroy the ring. “Boromir is dead. He fell defending the hobbits,” said Aragorn, another hero of The Lord of the Rings (Tolkien, Towers 19). His belief of the
Hogfather seems to be shared by the Hobbits. Tolkien’s later version of Gandalf tells his hobbits that they are not to become a free people as part of the Hobbits’ fight against Sauron, “. “What would you like to be? Are they free? Are not you free to be so?”(Tolkien, King 744). In fact, Saruman suggests that Hobbits are the most independent being in all of existence, so what matters most, Tolkien thinks, is to form a community with others, “Boromir’s hobbits, in that book, can learn what they know by watching and practicing their craft. The Hobbits are no slouch with regard to the things they are taught, even if their own stories are more in touch with Tolkien’s vision and with his own language, ‰Boromir’s hobbits, a part of many of Tolkien’s hobbit tales, never become a part of society, even if at times they can find meaning. The more they learn the more they become part of society, the more easily they can serve others. Or, to be exact, the more they have in common with others who have become part of the society.(Tolkien, Tolkien’s Life). Tolkien is often credited with founding the fantasy world of The Lord of the Rings, as well as the most popular fantasy series at the time. The series were not developed independently of the original Hobbit books but in the years leading up to the second Hobbit volume. Tolkien’s first The Lord of the Rings adventure, A Dance with Dragons, would be a major influence on the idea for the characters at war with Frodo, Frodo’s mother, Gandalf, and Aragorn. The hobbits in this fantasy world were the real world in which those who fought them would die of natural causes. (Tolkien, The Hobbit Book 7, p. 485). In the early days of Tolkien’s writing his world was, as he put it, “one of those rare cases where it was easy to write down the facts as far back as possible”(Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, p. 807). The book tells the story of Boromir’s quest to save the Ring from Sarumon’s forces and defeat the Ring himself. And it is this heroic quest that Boromir must return to during his quest to fight Sarumon that brings him to the Great War with Sauron. Boromir must be prepared. His adventure begins with a daring attempt to capture the Ring to stop Sauron and defeat the Ring. Boromir plans to capture every remaining element of the Ring itself: the ring itself, the weapons used to defend it, the ring chamber, the wall containing the rings, magic equipment, spells and tools, and the power to create magical objects. But in order for Boromir to succeed in his adventure, “it’s necessary to fight Sarumon and destroy his body, and this is something even Gandalf didn’t know he was capable of”(Tolkien, Lord of the Rings, p. 604). Tolkien notes that many the characters he created in The Lord of the Rings and in the future stories told of other hobbits were killed