j.r.r. tolkien

            
             John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born January 3rd, 1892, in Bloemfontein , .
             His parents were Arthur and Mabel Tolkien. Hilary John's brother .
             was born when he was 3. Tolkien probably didn't remember his town of birth very .
             well because at the age of four his father died so they moved to the West Midlands .
             in England. This was a mixture of industrial and rural area. Shortly after that they .
             moved to more pleasant Birmingham suburb of Edgebaston. Tolkien's family didn't .
             live well but they were not in poverty. .
             In 1904, something tragic happened, Mabel Tolkien was diagnosed with .
             diabetes which was incurable. She died later on that year which left her two boys .
             orphaned. The family's Catholic minister looked after the boys, but they were .
             boarded with their aunt Beatrice Suffield , and then with Mrs. Faulkner. Tolkien .
             made many friends at his school King Edward's, and had spent some time making .
             up his own languages. When Tolkien was sixteen he became close with a friend .
             Edith Bratt. His minister, Father Francis found out about this and disallowed him .
             from seeing her for three years. .
             .
             Tolkien attended Exeter College, Oxford in 1911. While he enrolled there he .
             spent most of his time studying classic languages such as: Old English, the .
             Germanic languages (especially gothic), Welsh, and Finnish. He studied these until .
             1913, when he got back together with Edith. He only finished with a second degree .
             in Honour Moderations of a 4 year "Greats" (ie.classics) course. He then went to .
             school for english language and literature, because of the result of his other course. .
             War broke out in England but Tolkien went back to Oxford. He worked hard and .
             achieved his first degree. .
             Later, he was sent to fight in the war on the Western Front. After four .
             months in the insanitary conditions of the war he caught "trench fever." With the .
             exception of himslef and all but one of his close friends died in the war. During .