Interesting Facts You Might Not Have Known About J. R. R. Tolkien
| Features
A world-renowned author, everyone has heard of J.R.R. Tolkien, or at least his work - Lord of the Rings (1, 2 and 3) and The Hobbit are household titles! But how well do you really know the man behind the fame?
Family history.
He had a younger brother, Hilary Arthur Reuel Tolkien.
He was destined to be a writer.
Tolkien could read and write fluently by the age of four.
In English, please?
Tolkien was talented for languages, he had learnt: Danish, Dutch, French, German, Gothic, Greek, Italian, Latin, Lombardic, Middle and Old English, Old Norse, Norwegian, Russian, Serbian, Spanish, Swedish, Welsh and Medieval Welsh.
More by luck than judgement...
The Hobbit was published thanks to a 10-year-old boy's review, the publisher's son, who convinced his father that the story was good enough for children aged 5 and 9.
With all those languages, we're not suprised!
During World War ll, Tolkien was earmarked as a codebreaker.
Existing languages weren't enough, apparently!
The first language he created by himself was Naffarin.
Religious beliefs
Tolkien was a devout Roman Catholic.
A romantic at heart
Tolkien met the love of his life at the age of 16 and they got married at the age 21.
A bit of a prankster...
At one point during his first semester at Oxford, Tolkien stole a city bus as a prank and took his friends on a joyride.
During the war...
Tolkien fought in World War l and lost all but one of his childhood friends there.
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