"Some random dude and the gorgeous immortal demigoddess elf princess who for some reason falls in love with him" is the absolute best way to write yourself and your wife into your book.

Nothing but absolute respect for JRR Tolkien.....he did not chase money, he was an inventor, he was a creator of worlds....

Tolkien made a trip to Switzerland in 1911. It was short, but it made a strong impression. He fell in love with mountains, one can see it in the Hobbit and in LOTR.

One interesting tidbit of Tolkien's biography I love accrued shortly before WWII, when a German publisher contacted him, expressing interest in publishing a German edition of the Hobbit, but asking Tolkien to prove his "Aryan" descent. Tolkien's response was simply glorious: "I regret that I am not clear as to what you intend by arisch. I am not of Aryan extraction: that is Indo-Iranian; as far as I am aware none of my ancestors spoke Hindustani, Persian, Gypsy, or any related dialects. But if I am to understand that you are enquiring whether I am of Jewish origin, I can only reply that I regret that I appear to have no ancestors of that gifted people." In further part of his letter writhing that: " if impertinent and irrelevant inquiries of this sort are to become the rule in matters of literature, then the time is not far distant when a German name will no longer be a source of pride". Possibly the classiest burn of Nazi twats ever.

I got to know his great grandson Royd Tolkien a bit. He is a great guy, who was in the films on the request of Peter Jackson. Over the last year, he did something great, his brother Mike, who suffered from a ALS, had a bucket list, he couldn't complete himself, he passed away in 2015. So Royd completed the bucket list for him. To finance that, he was at comic cons. His brother had asked him, to begin the journey dressed as Gandalf, he did it. It was the original costume from Sir Ian McKellen Peter Jackson send to him to support the project. He's trying to help and supports research on MND like ALS using his name. In a way, I think, J.R.R. Tolkien would have supported that.

The Lord of the Rings series of book saw me through some of the darkest times in my life. Sometimes all that kept me going was the line "courage is often found in unlikely places."

After reading books consistently during my 66 years of life, The Lord of the Rings remains my all-time favorite. Thank you for the excellent biography of this wonderful author.

In high school I had a teacher that tried to make the class examine examples of allegory in "The Hobbit." It was from that point on I knew the teacher had no idea what she was teaching. I turned in a piece of paper with with Tolkien's infamous quote, "I cordially dislike allegory in all its manifestations, and always have done so since I grew old and wary enough to detect its presence. I much prefer history - true or feigned- with its varied applicability to the thought and experience of readers. I think that many confuse applicability with allegory, but the one resides in the freedom of the reader, and the other in the purposed domination of the author." I did not receive the A I deserved. Because I didn't properly cite my quote.

"I never called Edith Luthien - but she was the source of the story that in time became the chief part of the Silmarillion. It was first conceived in a small woodland glade filled with hemlocks at Roos in Yorkshire (where I was for a brief time in command of an outpost of the Humber Garrison in 1917, and she was able to live with me for a while). In those days her hair was raven, her skin clear, her eyes brighter than you have seen them, and she could sing - and dance. But the story has gone crooked, & I am left, and _I_ cannot plead before the inexorable Mandos." (Mandos is the god of the underworld in Tolkien's mythos, whom Luthien pleads with to bring Beren back from the dead.)

Tolkien was the single biggest influence on me as far as people go. I read LOTR when I was in 5th grade at primary school after the school librarian got it in for me to read. (I was a prodigious reader and she thought the book so big it would take me months to read it.) I was forever grateful as it awakened in me a love of myth, ancient history, fantasy, and etymology. Those loves have guided my life ever since. Though circumstance has not given me a chance to do much with any of it, sadly.

The irony of Tolkien's work is that he wrote it as the antithesis of commercial fiction as he saw no real commercial prospects since he was purely writing for himself. But he was able to recognize the law of unintended consequences when Lord of Rings was really gaining popularity in the 60s and how people were taking it to an extreme. Yet his work has become a real cashcow.

A Great Man A Great Genius An amazing Author.

Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky, Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone, Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die, One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie. One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.

I didn't even know that J.R.R. Tolkien attended the school I'm attending right now!

I don't have time to explain why, but his work on constructed languages is absolutely incredible.

Formative years: 1:01 Lúthien and Beren (His wife) : 5:22 The Great War: 7:57 The Professor: 10:37 The Storyteller: 13:05 Accomplishments & Legacy: 18:07

I loved Tolkien’s works as a child. I read the Hobbit and the Trilogy. He engaged my imagination and inspired me. Reading allows me to set my imagination free. I was happy to learn about his life. Thank you, Simon.

Tolkien. For me, the greatest fantasy writer ever.

One aspect of JRR Tolkien that you missed was his great love of history and mythology. Like HP Lovecraft he felt alienated from the modern industrial world which he quite rightly believed was destroying not only the natural world but human cultures, traditions, languages and mythologies. Both men said on numerous occasions that they wished they had been born in earlier centuries and lamented the concrete, steel, smoke and stench that was replacing field and forest. In Tolkien’s case this feeling would have been reinforced by the horrors he must’ve experienced in the trenches of the Somme. There is much speculation that Mordor is inspired and drawn from these despite his denials of this. One important and very deliberate goal which Tolkien set out to achieve was the creation of a uniquely British mythology. Having studied both Old Norse language and legend as well as Old and Middle English, he came to the conclusion that most if not all myths and legends of Britain had been imported by invaders from other cultures and that they should have their own uniquely English folk histories.

"C.S. Lewis and I were just discussing how you and Jon Snow both know nothing!"

I went from comic books to literature one very long, very hot summer. The nearest almost bookshop was 30 miles away, and it sold more magazines, smoking goods, and candy than books. My father took me once every few weeks to get a new comic and some candy while he reused the adult fiction in the back. My father let me get a copy of "The Fellowship of the Ring" and "Dune" on the same day, instead of the comics and candy. I read both over the next week, causing my parents to worry if I were sick. The little shop didn't get a copy of "The Two Towers" for almost a year. I think that was the longest year of my life. A year later, my father brought home a copy of "The Return of the King" from a business trip. Since then, I've read "The Hobbit", "The Lord of the Rings", and "The Silmarillion" every year or two. Many other books have been added my library over the years, and I finally had to switch to a Kindle from lack of places to keep them all. The first thing I bought for my new Kindle was a complete set of the works of Tolkien. I still have 3 traditional print versions, too, but you never know when they won't come back from a loan.

I thoroughly love your channel! keep teaching us

NOTES: He lost his mother as a young child and was an orphan. He was disturbed by industrialization that was sweeping the country including the mass coal production in exchange of ripping up the earth & trees, and inspiration to what was written about Isengard. He lost all his friends in WWI, and was sadden & depressed about it all his life. He wrote his first line of Middle Earth in the trenches of WWI on the back of a piece of paper to someone he wrote a letter to. He was asked to write a sequel of The Hobbit, he gave the publisher a 1800 page book called 'The Lord Of The Rings' and was angry that the publisher broke it up into 3 books as that wasn't really done before during this era of publishing. Nobody had the courage edit his work because he was the head professor of linguistics and literature in the most preposterous university in the world - Cambridge. His books are timeless as you can relate everything happening in modern times (known as allegory), and yet he claims he did not write the books with allegory related. He was angry when someone asked him why didnt the Eagles just fly Frodo to Mount Doom to destroy the ring saving so much time & destruction, in reply he angrily said, "The Eagles are NOT the taxicabs of Middle Earth!). NY hipsters in the 60's & 70's spraypainted 'Frodo Lives' on the walls of underground train-stations when the book began to cross-over into America in emotional response to Frodo sailing to the 'Undying Lands' with the Elves at the end of the book. He wrote the inspiration for his fictional characters Arwen Evenstar of his wife while alive, and later Lúthien Tinúviel after his wife passed away ahead of him, where he lived in sorrow for the rest of his life due to his loss of his life partner. His favorite book was 'Beowulf' and was the inspiration for Rohan. Tolkien was inpired and borrowed from many ancient tales of other countries accross Europe & Africa, much like George R.R. Martin did with creating his own world within the Game of Thrones series. Tolkien was also horrified from the events he exp. and heard of during his time in WWI, which reflects many elements in his writing. He wrote himself as Gandalf , who loved speaking in riddles and the idea of helping mother earth & society staying healthy void of corruption. There were actually 5 caretaker wizards (Gandalf the grey, Radagast the brown, two twins the blue who went east of middle earth and Sauroman the white - or many colors once he went corrupted crazy). Sauron is equal to the wizards, but is more powerful, once good later corrupted and made an evil general by a defected angel/god 'Morgoth' who was the most powreful of all angels/gods, who saw that the world should be created differently in his own vision (all things we perceive as evil). Morgoth also created Dragons and a legion of Balrogs to take over the world, but after a crazy adventure of waring, was eventually defeated by every being uniting agasint Morgoth which was the only way he could have his greater power over-matched. He is imprisoned for eternality, but Sauron was ordered to take over the world on his behalf in order to free his master 'Morgoth'.

1:05 - Chapter 1 - Formative years 5:25 - Chapter 2 - Luthien & beren 7:55 - Chapter 3 - The great war 10:40 - Chapter 4 - The professor 13:10 - Chapter 5 - The storyteller 18:10 - Chapter 6 - Accomplisments & legacy

Reading the Hobbit for the first time and learning about Tolkin is simply incredible! What a life and extraordinary writer.

This man has shaped my life, and the lives of millions of others, even when I grew up past his time. This man and his son, Christopher Tolkien are legends.

So he died in 1973...... ONE RING TO RULE THEM ALL 9 rings to the men doomed to die 7 rings to the dwarf lords in their mountains and 3 rings to the elves which are no so easily corrupted

one ring to rule them all, one ring to find them, one ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.

One author to rule them all. One author to inspire them. One author to bring them all and in his magic bind them.

JRRT changed my life

My favourite author!! I read his books over and over again when I was younger.

I bought the Two Towers in 1963. It was so good, I out it down and stopped reading, I asked my mother for an advance on my allowance so I could buy the other two books. I finished them in sequence. Since then I've read the three books dozens of times and am still filled with wonder every time.

Tolkien is by far my favorite author of all time. Love his works. Love the love he had for his wife.

When I was a young teen, I loved the Lord of the Ring books. They are awesome. Like this channel. It is awesome!!!

It was wonderful to learn that in the mid-60s The Hobbit was just hitting America... In '64 i was in the fast reading group in 4th grade, and we got to read The Hobbit! My first introduction to Tolkien and I read the Trilogy so many times over the next ten years I lost count... I had no idea Tolkien was even alive then! My dad was at UC Berkeley after the war and he said people would get together and discuss his works... Just like they were doing in Britain! Thanks for sharing this great video!

Great choice for biography!

Did you know that the Lord of the Rings is actually a single book? It was just such a large tome that it had to separated into three volumes.

Without Tolkien my most exciting years of Dungeons and Dragons may have never existed.

A happy childhood, a religious man, a true lover, a good soldier, a good father, a great author. In other words the perfect man.

It's ridiculous how just hearing ABOUT this, makes me wanna watch the movies. Again. Such a good universe he created. Such an inspiration.

If only the world would see more men like J.R.R Tolkien surface today.

Simon You make a great history teacher Love videos. , can't stop watching them .. He was a brilliant man ! What a writer .....

I love how Christopher Lee met him

It always makes me happy when I hear of happy marriages like this

Absolutely brilliant , thank you Simon !

Great choice! Another interesting author I would like to see a bio on some day is Dostoyevsky

Fantastic video about such an influential writer. Very well done Simon and the Biographics crew. *:-)*

Another beautiful presentation! Thank you, Simon.

I never took the time to learn more about Tolkien. So thank you so much for this biography. Two thumbs up again, Simon % Co!

Never read the Lord of the Rings series but the movies were incredible and inspired tons of people who maybe weren't familiar. I did however years after the films read The Hobbit in high school for a science fiction and fantasy class I took. It was a really amazing book and I was thankful for having read it. It was great seeing the backstory to all the movies and experiencing how it all began. Interesting finding out where the man who created it all came from.

He created so many loveable characters... And from all those characters that I could have chosen, I had to take Gollum.

Hey man, I've been enjoying a few of your videos this morning, but this is the one that got me to sub! Thanks so much. Great short biographies.

Fr. Francis was actually made their guardian by Tolkien’s mother, and he raised them in the Birmingham Oratory founded by Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman after his own conversion to Catholicism.

Tolkien, WOW, what a LIFE!!!! NEVER read 'The Hobbit', not really into that type of reading, but now that I find that Tolkien was raised 'Roamn Catholic,' and didn't turn away from his faith, it has PEEKED MY INTEREST!!!!

Thank you again for the in-depth research and very paltable presentation 👍 Your pacing is always easy to listen to and watch. I do hope that some if your various channels and programs are used by educators as supplemental material 🙏

Slowly but surely finding myself subscribed to more and more of your channels throughout the lockdown. Kept me sane haha

Tolkien created his masterpiece of a story. During the Second World War.

Sean Bean died during the making of this video.

I never grow tired rereading Tolkien's stories

Love these! Keep going cause I'm learning so much! Brilliant! ❤️

Thank you. Tolkien has been a big part of my life growing up in the 60s and 70s his books heavily influenced the music in which I listen to, the first book I ever read was The Hobbit I am dyslexic and struggle to read but I read The Hobbit about six times the man was a genius

Thank you for doing this biography! I adore Tolkien

Wonderful! Thank you for this fun and informative video. One of the best I have seen so far.

What a courageous guy. Although an artist and scholarly fellow, he still answered his country's call to arms and fought bloody battles in the trenches alongside his countrymen. If for no other reason, that right there deserves great respect.

I remember asking for you guys to do a bio on Tolkien! Thank you so much! Love the channel!

Keep up the great videos Simon :) Edith Piaf and Terry Pratchett, please..?

Excellent! I've watched a lot of Tolkein docs and this was still fresh and had new information and a more personal approach. Great job!

I knew the story of the Hobbit since primary school. I was even in a play version of it playing Bomber. I didn't read The Lord of the Rings till i was 40 after the first film came out which had a huge effect on me. It is now my favourite piece of literature. I even have tattoos of the film characters. There is so much in these books. Friendships, bravery, sacrifice, honor and even fear. I wish i could live in Middle Earth if that were a possibility. Thank you for an interesting video. I love your channel. I would love to see you make a video about Agatha Christie.

C.S. Lewis next please :)

“The Lord of the Rings is of course a fundamentally religious and Catholic work; unconsciously so at first, but consciously in the revision" J.R.R. Tolkien

So well done. Masterful biographic.

Lived this. THANK YOU!

Excellent choice!

Before you can understand why Tolkien made moral courage a central theme of his works, you have to understand the context of his mother's diabetes. Although the diagnosis did mean death in those days, she could have prolonged her life by years with a diet centered around meat and dairy; her body could burn protein and fats, but not carbs. The typical affluent diet of Britain would have fit the bill nicely, and she had well-off relatives who would have been more than happy to provide it for her--on condition that she abandon her Catholic conversion and return to Protestantism. Otherwise the diet of the British poor (a high-carb diet based on beans and bread) would kill her in a year. Her family didn't reckon on the depth of her religious convictions, however. So diabetes whittled her away before her son's eyes, leaving him to regard her as a martyr.

Love this channel please never stop these videoes

Brilliant as always, Simon!

I love all of the channels that Simon is a part of. That being said, am I the only one who couldn't stop staring at what appears to be his crookedly trimmed mustache? Having done this myself, I know how much it sucks.

I used to live by sarehole mill, it was strange seeing the landscape and knowing it was the inspiration of the shire.

Excellent biography, a master story teller and poet.

Excellent thanks. Love all Tolkien' s books.

Wow this was a really good episode. You should make one on Jimi Hendrix next.

Could you do a biography of CS Lewis?

Thank you for this. I have been reading Tolkien since my college days and they never grow old.

Thank you sooooo much! I absolutely love, Love, LOVE the topic of this video, J.R.R. Tolkien!

It's strange, Tolkien died in 1973, 3 rings for the Elves. 7 Rings for the Dwarves. 9 Rings for the Man & 1 Ring to rule them all.

J.R.R Tolkien a fascinating man Sadly in modern times some solace corporation is buttering his work. 💍🌋

My favourite author of all time. Excellent bio sir.

This was amazing thank you ♡

I met his great-grandson and i wanted to hate him `coz he got all the cash from the films!! but he was one of the nicest,humblest blokes i have ever met.

Great episode next Edward teach

As boys my younger brother and I was mesmerized watching the animated version. Tolkien was a genius

Beren and Luthien! Rest In Peace, and thanks for all the great memories:)

Is there a Bio of George Orwell? Have I somehow missed it?

I love these videos, one suggestion I have is Alfred Hitchcock

Thanks Simon! One of my favourite authors!

What is the first melody in the background called? heard it used so many times, but can´t find it anywhere

I wish I could meet Tolkien.

As a Finn i always knew that Tolkien knew Finnish but why exactly they taught a language spoken by 3 million people at the time? Maybe it drew attention in academic circles because Finland just gained Independence (1917)? Just because it's hard for English speakers? :)

Great video about The Professor, shared it all around

Thank you Simon. Fantastic tribute to the brilliant J R R Tolkien. 👌