The longest tram route in the world. The coastal tram is the longest route in the world. The most tourist route

J. R. R. Tolkien(full name - John Ronald Reuel Tolkien / John Ronald Reuel Tolkien) (1892-1973) - English writer. The books The Hobbit or There and Back Again and The Lord of the Rings brought him fame, although he published many other works. After his death, the book The Silmarillion was published on the basis of the surviving records; Subsequently, other of his texts were published, they continue to be published at the present time.

The name John was traditionally given in the Tolkien family to the eldest son of the eldest son. His mother named him Ronald - instead of Rosalind (she thought that a girl would be born). Close relatives usually called him Ronald, and friends and colleagues - John or John Ronald. Ruel is the surname of a friend of Tolkien's grandfather. This name was borne by Tolkien's father, Tolkien's brother, Tolkien himself, as well as all his children and grandchildren. Tolkien himself noted that this name is found in the Old Testament (in the Russian tradition - Raguel). Often Tolkien was referred to by his initials JRRT, especially in his later years. He liked to sign with a monogram of these four letters.

1891 March Mabel Suffield, Tolkien's mother-to-be, sails from England to South Africa. April 16 Mabel Suffield and Arthur Tolkien get married in Cape Town. They go to live in Bloemfontein, the capital of the Boer Orange Republic (now part of South Africa).

1894 February 17 Hilary Arthur Reuel Tolkien, second son of Mabel and Arthur, is born in Bloemfontein.

1896 February 15 In Africa, Arthur Tolkien dies unexpectedly of illness. Mabel Tolkien and the children stay with their parents. In the summer, Mabel Tolkien rents an apartment with her children and lives separately with her children.

1900 spring Mabel Tolkien converts to the Catholic faith (together with children), as a result of which she quarrels with most of her relatives. Tolkien goes to school in the fall.

1902 Father Francis Xavier Morgan, Tolkien's future guardian, becomes Mabel Tolkien's confessor.

1904 November 14 Mabel Tolkien dies of diabetes, father Francis, according to her will, becomes the guardian of her children.

1908 Tolkien, aged sixteen, meets nineteen-year-old Edith Bratt, his future wife.

1909 Upon learning of Tolkien's affair, Father Francis forbids him to associate with Edith until he comes of age (twenty-one).

Tolkien achieves considerable success in the school rugby team.

1913 January 3 Tolkien comes of age and proposes to Edith Bratt. Edith breaks off her engagement to another and accepts Tolkien's proposal.

1914 January 8 Edith Bratt converts to the Catholic faith for Tolkien. Soon there is an engagement. On September 24, Tolkien writes the poem "Earendel's Journey", which is considered the beginning of mythology, the development of which he later devoted his whole life to.

1915 July Tolkien receives a bachelor's degree from Oxford and joins the army as a second lieutenant in the Lancashire Fusiliers.

1916 Tolkien trains as a signalman. He is assigned as a battalion signalman. March 22 Tolkien and Edith Bratt are married in Warwick.

June 4 Tolkien leaves for London and from there to the war in France. July 15 Tolkien (as a signalman) first participates in battle. October 27 Tolkien falls ill with "trench fever" and is returned to England. He himself never fought again.

1917 January-February Tolkien, recovering, begins to write the "Book of Lost Tales" - the future "Silmarillion". November 16 Tolkien's eldest son, John Francis Reuel, is born.

1920 autumn Tolkien takes a position as an English teacher at the University of Leeds and moves to Leeds. In October Tolkien's second son, Michael Hilary Reuel, is born.

1924 Tolkien becomes professor of English at Leeds. November 21 Tolkien's third, youngest son, Christopher John Reuel, is born.

1925 Tolkien is elected Professor of Old English at Oxford and moves there with his family early the following year.

1926 Tolkien meets and becomes friends with Clive Lewis (future famous writer).

1929 end of the year Tolkien's only daughter, Priscilla Mary Ruel, is born.

1930-33 Tolkien writes The Hobbit.

In the early 30s. an informal literary club, the Inklings, gathers around Lewis, which includes Tolkien and other people who later became famous writers.

1936 The Hobbit is accepted for publication.

1937 September 21 The Hobbit is out of print by Allen & Unwin. The book is a success and the publishers are asking for a sequel. Tolkien offers them The Silmarillion, but the publishers want a book about hobbits. By December 19, Tolkien is writing the first chapter of The Hobbit sequel - the future Lord of the Rings.

1949 autumn Tolkien completes the main text of The Lord of the Rings. He does not want to give it to Allen & Unwin, because they refused to publish The Silmarillion and in 1950-52 he tries to give The Lord of the Rings, along with The Silmarillion, to Collins, which at first shows interest.

1952 Collins refuses to publish The Lord of the Rings and Tolkien arranges to give it to Allen & Unwin.

1954 July 29 The first volume of The Lord of the Rings is published in England. November 11 The second volume of The Lord of the Rings is released in England. Tolkien is urgently required to complete the appendices, which are to be published in the third volume.

1955 October 20 The third volume of The Lord of the Rings comes out of print in England, with appendices but no alphabetical index.

1959 summer Tolkien retires.

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born on January 3, 1892 in Bloemfontein, South Africa, to Arthur Tolkien and Mabel Suffield Tolkien. After the death of Arthur Tolkien from peritonitis, Mabel moved in with 4-year-old J.R.R. (at that time he was called Ronald) and his younger brother Hilary to a village called Sarehole, near Birmingham, England.

Mabel Tolkien died in 1904 and the Tolkien brothers were sent to live in a boarding school with a distant relative of the family and a Catholic priest in Birmington, who took custody of them. J.R.R. He received a first-class education at Exeter College, where he specialized in the study of Anglo-Saxon and Germanic languages ​​and in classical literature. He was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Lancashire Fusiliers and fought in the First World War while trying to keep writing. He survived the bloody battle on the Somme, which brought huge losses, and was released from military service due to illness. At the height of his military service in 1916, he marries Edith Brett.

Career as a scientist and writer

Continuing his studies of linguistics, Tolkien began teaching at the University of Leeds in 1920, and a few years later became a professor at Oxford University. There he founded a writing group called the Inklings, which included such writers as C.S. Lewin and Owen Barfield. It was at Oxford, while checking student papers, that he suddenly wrote a short sentence about "hobbit".

The award-winning fantasy novel The Hobbit follows Bilbo Baggins - short and furry on his feet - and his adventures. The novel was published in 1937 and was attributed to children's literature, although Tolkien himself claimed that the book was not intended for children. He also created over 100 illustrations to accompany the story.

Over the years, while working in scholarly publications, Tolkien created what is considered his masterpiece, the Lord of the Rings series of books, partly inspired by ancient European myths, but with its own set of maps, lore, and languages.

Tolkien published the first part of The Fellowship of the Ring in 1954; The Two Towers and The Return of the King in 1955, ending the trilogy. The books became a rich literary find for readers, populated by elves, goblins, talking trees, and all sorts of fantastical creatures, including such characters as the wizard Gandalf and the dwarf Gimli.

Although The Ring has received its share of criticism, many reviewers and currents among the influx of readers have embraced Tolkien's world, resulting in his books becoming world bestsellers and fans forming Tolkien clubs to learn his fictional language.

Tolkien resigned his professorship in 1959, publishing essays, the poetry collection Tree and Leaf, and the fantasy tale The Blacksmith of Wootton Great. His wife Edith died in 1971, and Tolkien himself died on September 2, 1973 at the age of 81. They left four children.

Heritage

The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings series have become among the most popular books, selling tens of millions of copies worldwide. The Rings Trilogy was adapted into a movie by director Peter Jackson and became a wildly popular, award-winning trio of films starring the likes of Ian McKellen, Elijah Wood, Cate Blanchett and Viggo Mortensen, among others. Jackson also directed a three-part film adaptation of The Hobbit starring Martin Freeman, the first part of which was released in late 2012.

Tolkien's son, Christopher, edited several works that were not completed by his father before his death, including The Silmarillion and The Children of Hurin, which were published posthumously. The drawings for The Hobbit were published in 2012, in celebration of the novel's 75th anniversary, featuring Tolkien's original illustrations for his work.

Quotes

“Do you really want to know how I created Middle-earth? – this is my surprise and delight with our planet as it is, especially its wildlife.”

“Hobbits are what I would like to be, but never have been. They do not know how to fight and always get together to come to an agreement.”

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British writer, outstanding linguist and founder of the fantasy literary genre. He wrote famous novels about Middle-earth: The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, or There and Back Again, and The Silmarillion. He became a pioneer in the creation of fairy tales for adults.

Biography

Tolkien taught Anglo-Saxon and English Language and Literature at Oxford University with great success. He was a member of the Inklings society, which included his good friend Clive Lewis, author of The Chronicles of Narnia. In 1927, Tolkien was awarded the title of Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

Based on the notes and manuscripts of his father, Christopher Tolkien, the son of the famous storyteller, organized the publication of the so-called legendarium - all additional stories, legends, history, explanations and real linguistic works related to the fictional world of Arda. The most popular of Tolkien's unpublished works was The Silmarillion. This happened after the death of the author himself.

Although Tolkien did not become the first to become interested in the fantasy genre, the completeness of his works, the perfection of the idea, the thoughtfulness of the picture of the world make him worthy of the title of the ancestor of fantasy literature.

Rod Tolkien

Most biographers agree that the Tolkiens descended from Saxon artisans. In the 17th century, the ancestors of John Tolkien's father settled in England. The writer's surname comes from the word "Tollkiehn", which can be translated as "brave". According to John Ronald's grandmother, even the Hohenzollerns themselves were among their ancestors.

Mabel Suffield, who was destined to become the mother of a great author, was a native Englishwoman. Her parents lived in Birmingham and were quite successful businessmen. Their store in the city center brought a consistently good income.

Childhood

John Tolkien was born on January 3, 1892 in South Africa. At this time, his parents lived in the city of Bloemfontein, where Arthur Reuel Tolkien (1870-1904) held the position of a bank manager. Two years later, the second child appeared in the Tolkien family - Hilary Arthur Reuel.

The terrible heat was an ordeal for small children, and even more dangerous was the local nature. Lions and snakes were part of the everyday life of the British family. The bite of a tarantula caused the most serious illness of a young John. The future writer owed his recovery to the doctor Thornton Quimby. According to critics, it was his image that the writer took as a basis for creating the character of The Lord of the Rings, Gandalf the Gray.

In 1994, the parents took the children back to the UK. In February 1996, Arthur Tolkien passed away. He was tormented by rheumatic fever and, as a result of the bleeding, the head of the Tolkien family left the world, leaving his wife and two sons practically without a livelihood.

Mabel was forced to ask for help from her family, which was not easy for her - her relatives did not approve of her marriage. The Tolkiens settled near Birmingham, in Sairhole. The children liked the tree very much. Magnificent nature, hills and old trees made this place a paradise for boys to play. The family's income was more than modest, they could hardly make ends meet. Being in a difficult situation, the mother of two boys found solace in religion, becoming a Catholic. This decision caused a break with relatives who adhered to the Anglican religion. Thanks to the mother, the children also had strong religious beliefs. John Tolkien was a staunch Catholic until the end of his days. Under the influence of the writer, Clive Lewis also converted to Christianity, but he was closer to the orders of the Anglican Church.

Despite financial difficulties, Mabel's sons received a good education. Their mother was very involved in their upbringing. By the age of four, John Ruel could read. This skill opened the world of literature for the boy, laid the foundation for the formation of literary tastes. He was not interested in the fairy tales of the Grimm brothers, he did not like Treasure Island either, but he reread Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, Lang's Fairy Book and all kinds of stories about Indians with pleasure. In addition to reading, Tolkien was fond of botany and drawing - he was especially good at landscapes. Even as a child, John comprehended the basics of Latin and Greek, which became the first stone in the construction of the incredibly wide linguistic knowledge of the future university professor. In 1900, John became a student at the King Edward School, where his linguistic talent was appreciated. He studies Old English, Old Norse, Gothic, Welsh and Finnish.

John Ronald's mother was only 34 when diabetes took her life. In 1904 the children left Sayrehole, returning to Birmingham. They were taken care of by a church minister and distant relative, Father Francis. Deprived of the open spaces of Sairhole, yearning for his mother, John Ronald is completely immersed in books and painting. He amazes teachers with his erudition, showing a deep interest in medieval literature. Independently takes up the study of the Old Norse language.

The writer's close school friends were Jeffrey Smith, Christopher Wiseman and Rob Gilson. Friends will remain dear to John even after graduation. When Tolkien was fifteen, he and his cousin Mary invented a new language, the so-called Nevbosh. Later, fictional languages ​​would become the hallmark of his writings, and thousands of people would seek to learn Tolkien's Elvish speech.

Youth

Together with twelve friends in 1911, Tolkien made a trip to Switzerland. From a letter written by John in 1968, it is known that it was to this trip that the world owes the birth of the story of Bilbo Baggins' fabulous journey through the Misty Mountains.

In October 1911 Tolkien entered Exeter College, Oxford on his second attempt.

John Ronald met his first love in 1908. Her name was Edith Mary Brett, the girl was three years older than John. Father Francis spoke out categorically against the young man's hobby, because it was precisely because of the love fever that Tolkien failed to enter college on the first attempt. Not in favor of Edith played and her Protestant religion. The guardian made John promise that until he reaches the age of 21 he will not meet with this girl. The writer agreed to Father Francis's demands and did not maintain contact with Edith until he came of age.

At the university, Tolkien, following the advice of Professor Joe Wright, begins to study the Celtic language. He is also deepening his knowledge of Finnish linguistics.

Maturity

On his 21st birthday, John wrote a letter to Edith. In it, he invited the girl to become his wife. But by this time, Edith was already engaged to another young man, believing that the long separation made John Ronald forget about her. Breaking off the engagement, she agreed to Tolkien's proposal. Respecting the religious beliefs of the groom, Edith even adopted the Catholic faith. In 1913, John and Edith officially became engaged in Birmingham.

Upon learning that Britain was entering the war, Tolkien became an apprentice in the War Training Corps in 1914, which bought him the time he needed to finish university. After graduating with honors, in 1915 John Ronald joined the Lancashire Fusiliers with the rank of second lieutenant. The writer also completed an 11-month training program in Staffordshire - in the 13th battalion.

On March 22, 1916, the long-awaited wedding of John and Edith took place. They married at St Mary's Church in Warwick. The newlyweds were destined for more than 55 years of a happy life together, and these years were full of mutual understanding. Their union produced three sons and a daughter, Priscilla.

Already in July, Tolkien left his young wife and went to the front. The 11th battalion of the British Expeditionary Forces, in which Tolkien served, was sent to France. The future writer remembered this journey with a shudder for many years. Despite the secrecy of his movements, John was able to inform his wife about his location, thanks to a secret code he invented.

November 16, 1917 John Ronald becomes the father of a boy, who was named John Francis Ruel.

War in Tolkien's life

The war turned out to be worse than everyone expected. During the Battle of the Somme, two of John's old friends, Smith and Gilson, were killed. All the horrors he saw made Tolkien a convinced pacifist. At the same time, he developed great respect for his brothers in arms, amazed at the courage that ordinary people are capable of. Although Tolkien escaped a fatal fate, he fell victim to another scourge of war - typhus. The disease was very difficult and twice the comrades no longer looked forward to seeing John Ronald alive, but he was able to overcome the disease, although he became disabled.

November 8, 1916 Tolkien went home. The state of health of the author required close attention for a long time. He returned to Birmingham, where Edith cared for her slowly recovering husband. There he worked on the sketches from which The Silmarillion was later compiled. When the disease receded, Tolkien returned to the military camp, where he soon received the rank of lieutenant.

Career

In 1918, the Tolkien family moved to Oxford, where John Ronald took an active part in the creation of the General Dictionary of the New English Language. In 1922, the writer was offered a professorship at Oxford University. Tolkien taught Anglo-Saxon language and literature. The fame of the brilliant young professor was rapidly spreading throughout the scientific world.

In 1937, thanks to Stanley Unwin, The Hobbit, or There and Back Again, written by Tolkien for his four children, was printed. The author was awarded the New York Herald Tribune Prize. Unprecedented sales made The Hobbit a bestseller. The tale was a resounding success, and Sir Unwin remarked that a sequel should be written. No one expected that Tolkien would take the work on the second work of the Middle-earth cycle so seriously. The Lord of the Rings trilogy was released only in 1954 and in a matter of days won the popularity of British readers. Although Anuin liked Tolkien's work, he did not think that the novel was destined for such a success. The book has been divided into three parts to make it easier for publishers.

John Ronald Reyel Tolkien (1892-1973)

NB The full version of the biography, photos, video interview with Tolkien - see the site http://www.biodata.narod.ru

Professor of Literature and English, famous for The Lord of the Rings (1954-1955). Tolkien's book began its triumphal procession in the mid-60s. The youth especially liked it. Tolkien's Oxford friend, C.S. Lewis, was also credited as the "fantasy" author of Narnia, a series of stories written in the fantasy style.

John Ronald Reyel Tolkien was born into a British family in the South African city of Bloemfontein. When he was three years old, his mother took him to England. At an early age he lost his father. In 1904, his mother dies and the young John Ronald Reyel moves with his brother Hilary to his aunt's house in Birmingham. Since 1908, he studied English language and literature at Oxford, in 1915 he received a diploma with honors. In 1908, Tolkien married Edith Bratt, whom he met back in 1908. During the First World War, Tolkien served in the army and witnessed the events on the river. Somme. He returned to his homeland with a shell shock, during his recovery he began to study ancient languages ​​and began work on the book The Silmarillion (published in 1977). For the rest of his life, Tolkien occupied himself with the mythology of his fantasy world.

In 1918 he joined the group of compilers of the New English Dictionary, and in 1919 he received a position as a freelance teacher at Oxford. He also worked as a lecturer at the University of Leeds. In 1925 he received a professorship in the Anglo-Saxon department at Oxford University. In 1945 he was appointed professor at Merton College*, where he remained until 1959. His scientific works were devoted to Chaucer (1934) and the publication of Beowulf (1937). The scientist was interested in the Finnish national epic “Kalevala”, from where he drew ideas for the invented language “Kuenya”, and which influenced many of his stories. Most of the characters residing in the fictional middle earth go back to the heroes of English folklore and mythology or an idealized Anglo-Saxon history.

In the 30s, together with K.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, Tolkien created the informal literary association "Inklings", which also later included Tolkien's son, Christopher Tolkien and Owen Barfield. They all loved storytelling and would gather every Tuesday for lunch at the Bird and Baby pub. At these meetings, one of the Inklings would read out an excerpt from his essay, not necessarily fantastic, and over time such meetings became a noticeable phenomenon in the cultural life of Oxford. Williams died in 1945, in 1949 the meetings stopped.

While The Hobbit (1937) is considered a fantasy story for children (the writer created it for his children), the epic tale The Lord of the Rings has a deep meaning and is intended for an adult audience.

Although critics have seen The Lord of the Rings as allusions to World War II, Tolkien has repeatedly denied all such interpretations. The Lord of the Rings is, of course, basically a religious and Catholic work, unconsciously at first, but consciously in a revised edition,” Tolkien wrote in 1953 to Robert Murray, a Jesuit priest. “That's why I shouldn't include or should cut out almost all references to anything like 'religion', cults or practices in the fantasy world. Since the religious component is included in the plot and symbolism.” (“Letters of R.J.J. Tolkien”, 1981). Tolkien's Catholicism is not explicitly expressed in the book. On the other hand, the use of biblical language gives the book an archaic flavor. In his preface to the work, Tolkien expresses his rejection of allegory: “As for any inner meaning or 'message', it was not the intention of the author. Neither allegorical nor topical… It was written long before the 1939 foreshadowing became a threat of imminent disaster, and from that point of view the narrative would have developed in essentially the same way if this misfortune had been averted.”

In the mid-1960s, paperback editions of The Lord of the Rings became extremely popular and the book became a cult classic. In 1968, the Tolkiens moved to Poole, near Bournemouth, but after the death of his wife in 1971, Tolkien returned to Oxford. In 1972, the Queen awarded John Ronald Reyel Tolkien an MBE, 2nd Class. Tolkien died on September 2, 1973.

The Hobbit was published when the author was forty-five. The history of Middle-earth was continued in The Lord of the Rings. The book came out when Tolkien was in his sixties. His desire to create a new mythological world arose from a passion for folklore and myths: “From the very beginning, I was saddened by the poverty of my country: it did not have its own stories, it did not have those qualities that I sought out and found in the legends of other countries. Greek, Celtic, Roman, Germanic, Scandinavian and Finnish - but nothing English, except the contents of pathetic collections of folk art. Another reason was his rejection of modern England. He seldom watched films, occupied himself mainly with the Old English dialects of the West Midlands (the central counties of England) and was content with the company of other professors. Tolkien also liked to draw, although he never came out well with realistic figures. He admired the portraits of Frans Hals and Van Dyck, he was impressed by such Italian masters as Fra Filippo Lippi, Giotto and Botticelli. Tolkien's mother was a gifted artist and taught her son how to draw and paint.

The worlds of Tolkien's epics are inhabited by elves, dwarves, magicians and evil monsters. He saw himself as a hobbit: “I love gardens, trees, farmlands devoid of traces of mechanization. I smoke a pipe, I like simple healthy food…” The writer created languages ​​for the races inhabiting his “Middle-earth”. As a basis for his works, he developed a complex geographical, historical and social component. But he also wanted the action to go beyond that, and for others to develop his ideas further. Since the publication of The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien's admirers around the world have continued his work, forming an entire industry of computer games, fantasy literature and other related genres of creativity.

“One painting in particular haunted him. It all started with a leaf fluttering in the wind - but the leaf hung on a branch, and then a trunk appeared - and the tree began to grow and cling to the ground with fantastically bizarre roots. Strange birds flew in and landed on boughs - they, too, should have been dealt with. And then the landscape began to unfold around the tree. The surroundings were overgrown with forest, mountains covered with snow could be seen in the distance. Melkin forgot to think about the rest of the pictures; and others he simply took and put on the sides to a large picture with a tree and mountains. The result was such a huge canvas that Melkin had to get a stepladder. […]
- What is the name of this area?
The shepherd was surprised.
- Don't you know? This is Melkin Country, he said proudly.
- How? Prihott exclaimed. - Did you come up with all this, Melkin? I had no idea how smart you are. Why were you silent?
- He tried to tell you for a long time, but you did not pay attention. Then he had only a canvas and a box of paints, and you - or someone else there, it doesn't matter - wanted to patch the roof with this canvas. All this around - this is what you called "Melkin's daub".
"But it wasn't like the real thing back then," Prihott muttered.
“Yes, it was only a gleam,” said the shepherd, “but you could catch it if you wanted to.
- It's my own fault, - Melkin intervened. - I should have explained to you, but I didn't understand what I was doing. Oh well, it doesn't matter now... You see, I have to go. Maybe we'll meet again. Goodbye!"
R. J. J. Tolkien. "Melkin's sheet".

Tolkien talks about how the beginning of the story “The Hobbit, or there and back again” suddenly appeared: “…And I remember picking up a paper and actually throwing... I nearly gave an extra mark for it, an extra five marks actually - there was one page on this particular paper left blank - glorious - nothing to read. So I scribbled on it - I can "t think why: “In a hole in the ground, there lived a Hobbit.”

_____
Tolkien (Tolkien) (Tolkien) John Ronald Reyel (1892-1973), English writer, philologist. Fairy tale "The Hobbit, or There and Back Again" (1937). In the fabulously chivalrous epic trilogy The Lord of the Rings (the novels The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, both 1954, The Return of the King, 1955; revised edition 1966) - a pessimistic concept of the irreversible influence of evil on historical development. Monographs on J. Chaucer (1934) and "Beowulf" (1937), a dictionary of Middle English.

LEWIS (Lewis) Clive Staples (1898-1963), English writer, philologist, Christian thinker and essayist. During the 1st World War he served in France, from 1918 to 1954 in Oxford, in 1954-63 professor of medieval studies at Cambridge. Wrote St. 40 books, including about the work of J. Bunyan, fantasy novels. World fame brought him the story "Letters of Balamut" (1942), philosophical and religious treatises "Love", "Suffering", "Miracle", in which Lewis acted as an energetic apologist for Christianity. The cycle for children "The Chronicles of Narnia" was written in 1950-56.

SOMMA (Somme), a river in northern France. 245 km, basin area 5.5 thousand km2. Falls into the strait. English Channel. The average water consumption is 45 m3/s. navigable. It is connected by canals to the Oise and the Scheldt. During the 1st World War, 1.7-18.11.1916, the Anglo-French troops in the north (east of Amiens) unsuccessfully tried to break through the positional defenses of the 2nd German Army; Both sides lost St. 1.3 million people. On the Somme, on September 15, British troops used tanks for the first time.

Merton (College) - Merton (-College) is one of the oldest colleges at Oxford University, founded in 1264.

It's no secret that the universe that John Tolkien created in his books and manuscripts is one of the most carefully worked out, and therefore the most interesting and deep literary universes. Studying all its nuances is a real test of strength. However, if you want to navigate the whole variety of Tolkien stories - from The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit to The Silmarillion and other Hurins - then our new material will be of interest to you. After reading this article, you will stop wandering around the world of Tolkien, as if through a dense forest, and set off for free swimming according to the fantasy of one of the richest minds of the last century.

Foreword

On September 2, 1973, John Tolkien died, leaving a grandiose collection of manuscripts, notes and notes. Christopher Tolkien, the writer's son, devoted his entire life to editing and publishing his father's records. During his lifetime, Tolkien managed to publish only two of his key works - The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Both of these books, in turn, relied on a wide layer of traditions and legends, some of which Tolkien wrote in full, some he compiled schematically and in fragments. Moreover, Tolkien regularly refined and rewrote most of the records about his universe throughout his life, sometimes changing not only names and titles, but also the course of events. Christopher Tolkien has done a truly titanic work, editing and publishing to date almost all the legends from the world of Middle-earth.

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

Remarkably, Tolkien compiled a small digression into his universe himself - in a letter to Milton Waldman from the Collins publishing house, dated at the end of 1951. In this rather voluminous letter, which is often published as a preface to The Silmarillion, Tolkien not only explained how the events of his universe are connected, but also told how the idea of ​​​​the entire cycle of his works was born. In this article, we will mainly rely on this letter, and we recommend that the most devoted fans of Middle-earth read it in full.

On the way to Middle-earth

It all began, as Tolkien himself wrote, with two hobbies: young John loved to invent new languages ​​(and becoming a professional philologist only strengthened his skills) and burned with a passion for myths and fairy tales, especially for heroic legends. However, Tolkien was upset by the almost complete absence of worthy legends in his homeland, in England:

There are Greek and Celtic epics, Romanesque, Germanic, Scandinavian and Finnish (the latter made a strong impression on me); but absolutely nothing English, except cheap editions of folk tales.

Beowulf - the hero of the epic poem of the same name, which influenced Tolkien

Actually, Tolkien's original idea was to create a cycle of legends - from legends of a global, cosmogonic scale to a romantic fairy tale - which he could dedicate to England.

... possessing (if I could only achieve it) that magical, elusive beauty, which some call Celtic (although it is rare in the authentic works of the ancient Celts), these legends should be "sublime", cleansed of everything gross and obscene, and fit more to the mature mind of the earth, imbued with poetry since ancient times. I would present some of the legends in full, but many I would outline only schematically, as part of the general plan.

The First World War had a great influence on Tolkien's work, in the battles of which the writer was directly involved. Having gone to the reserve and being deeply impressed by the devastating war, in 1916-1917 Tolkien began work on The Book of Lost Tales - a work that was left unfinished, but included the first prototypes of those myths and legends that later constituted The Silmarillion. The first of Tolkien's key plots was The Fall of Gondolin, which we discuss in more detail below.

Published books and Tolkien legends

Here is a list of major works in Tolkien's universe, with year of first edition:

• The Hobbit, or There and Back Again (1937)
• The Lord of the Rings / The Lord of the Rings (1954-1955)
• The Silmarillion / The Silmarillion (1977)
• Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-earth (1980)
• Children of Hurin / The Children of Hurin (2007)
• Beren and Luthien / Beren and Luthien (2017)
• The Fall of Gondolin (to be published in 2018)

It is these books that make up the main legendarium of Middle-earth. During his lifetime, John Tolkien published only the first two books. The Silmarillion and other publications are the merit of his son Christopher, who took upon himself the responsibility to realize his father's original plans.

Separately, it is worth noting the 12-volume edition of Tolkien's manuscripts:

• History of Middle-earth / The History of Middle-earth (1983-1996)

This edition cannot be unequivocally attributed to the main legendarium, since it contains many original manuscripts, subsequently rewritten and modified. Most of the volumes of The History of Middle-earth are only of research interest to Tolkien fans and are not recommended to the unprepared reader.

The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales

The main part of the legends about the creation and structure of Arda (the world of Middle-earth), as well as a detailed description of the events of the First Age, is set out in The Silmarillion, a book that many call the Bible of Middle-earth. The content of this book is divided into several important parts:

• "Ainulindale", or "Music of Ainur" - the myth of the creation of the world;
• "Valakventa" - a description of the Valar and Maiar, the divine essences of Arda;
• "Quenta Silmarillion", or "History of the Silmarils" - the main section of the book, describing the initial events of the world and the events of the First Age, which started shortly after the creation of the Sun and Moon;
• "Akallabeth", or "The overthrow of Numenor" - a legend about the central events of the Second Age;
• "On the Rings of Power and the Third Age" is a brief account of the events of the Second and Third Ages, touching on the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

Morgoth and Fingolfin. Drawing by John Howe

The Silmarillion is essentially a brief history of Middle-earth that ties together all of Tolkien's plots. This is a kind of single plot tree, some of the branches of which turned out to be much more developed than others and turned into separate full-fledged works.

The cycles begin with a cosmogonic myth: "The Music of the Ainur". God and the Valar (or authorities; called gods in English) are revealed. The latter are a kind of angelic force, each Valar is called to fulfill his specific task. Immediately after that, we move on to "History of the Elves."

It tells about the fall of the elves, which is very reminiscent of the Christian fall of the angels.

The Silmarillion tells how the elves were expelled from Valinor (the abode of the Gods, a kind of Paradise), how they returned to their native abode - Middle-earth and how fiercely they fought the Enemy. The title of the book was chosen for a reason - the fate and essence of the Primordial Gems, or the Silmarils, becomes the connecting thread for all events.

The main villain of The Silmarillion is Melkor (Morgoth), the enemy of the Valar gods and the personification of world evil. Many wars thundered at the beginning of time and during the First Age through the fault of Morgoth, but the Silmarillion ends with the final captivity and expulsion of the villain from Arda.

Attack on Nargothrond. Drawing by Pete Amahri

In his book The Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-earth, published three years later, Christopher Tolkien included those of his father's stories that were not completed, but were an important addition to the Silmarillion legendarium. A distinctive feature of Unfinished Tales is that it focused around the events of the Second and Third Ages.

Together, The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales constitute the most important collection of legends in Tolkien's universe, upon which the masterpiece The Lord of the Rings rests.

The Children of Hurin, Beren and Lúthien, and The Fall of Gondolin

In addition to The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien had several other stories that he considered key to his universe. The three most important of them - "great tales", as the writer himself called them - Christopher Tolkien dedicated separate books, despite the fact that all these stories were part of The Silmarillion in one form or another.

The Children of Hurin, released in April 2007, deals primarily with the adventures of Túrin Turambar and greatly expands on Chapter 21 of The Silmarillion. Starting writing the book in 1918, Tolkien worked on it for most of his life and never had time to publish it. It took Christopher Tolkien thirty years to piece together the disparate drafts and, with minimal edits, recreate a full-fledged book. So the general public learned about the high and tragic fate of Turin Turambar - the killer of the dragon Glaurung and, unknowingly, the husband of his own sister.

Killing Glaurung. Drawing by Ted Nesmith

Tolkien considered the legend "Beren and Lúthien" to be the central plot of his whole life - the love story of a mortal man and an immortal elf, the creation of which was significantly influenced by a real love story between the writer and his future wife Edith.

The main of the legends of the Silmarillion, and, moreover, the most detailed is the Tale of Beren and the elf maiden Lúthien.

Here, among other things, we first encounter the following motif (in The Hobbit it will become dominant): the great events of world history - the "wheels of the world" - are often turned not by lords and rulers, but by simple and unknown heroes. Beren, an outcast from the race of mortals, with the help of Luthien - a weak maiden, albeit a royal family - succeeds where all armies and warriors have failed: he penetrates the stronghold of the Enemy and extracts one of the Silmarils of the Iron Crown. Thus he wins the hand of Lúthien, and the first marriage between a mortal and an immortal is made.

Unlike The Children of Hurin, Beren and Luthien, published by Christopher in 2017, contains virtually no new material and is a collection of several versions of the legend already known from the Silmarillion.

Luthien. Drawing by Ted Nesmith

A similar approach will be taken in the book "The Fall of Gondolin" - in it we will see several versions of the same legend. The Fall of Gondolin is, in fact, Tolkien's first work about Middle-earth, written by him under the influence of the Battle of the Somme - one of the bloodiest battles of the First World War.

Gondolin is a secret elven city built by King Turgon during the First Age. It was built surrounded by mountains, where only one secret passage leads. This path was opened before Turgon by the lord of the waters, Ulmo, one of the Valar. Construction lasted half a century, and the city stood for about 400 years, until one day Turgon's nephew Maeglin revealed his location to Morgoth. Maeglin loved Idril, daughter of Turgon, but she refused him, and the Eldar did not approve of the marriage of such close relatives. The thirst for power, rejected feelings and hatred for Tuor - the man who married Idril - forced Maeglin to commit betrayal.

Tuor comes to Gondolin. Drawing by Ted Nesmith

Thus, by 2018, Christopher Tolkien completed the publication of all the key works of his father and summed up the development of the Middle-earth legendarium. We can only take off our hats to Christopher and give him a low bow for dedication and boundless diligence.

The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit

So we got to the main works of Tolkien, known to the whole world - the books "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings". The events of these books take place at the end of the Third Age of Middle-earth - several millennia after the events of the three "great tales". The outlines of Middle-earth have changed a lot, part of the mainland has been destroyed.

The fallen banner of Morgoth was taken up by his powerful servant Sauron, and because of his machinations the human race underwent many troubles. The key event of the Second Age was the destruction of the island of Numenor: the Akallabeth legend, included in the Silmarillion, tells about this. The survivors of the catastrophe moved to Middle-earth and founded the kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor there. Arnor with the course of the Third Age gradually faded away and fell under the onslaught of the forces of evil, and Gondor became the main goal of Sauron in his war, which was called the War of the Ring and formed the basis of the book "The Lord of the Rings".

The downfall of Numenor. Drawing by John Howe

One of the main events of the Second Age of Middle-earth is the creation of the rings of power. This story is told in the final section of The Silmarillion. Sauron tricked the elves who remained in Middle-earth into creating rings of power that slowed down the elven "decline". At the same time, the rings enhanced the innate abilities of the owner, and also had some other properties: for example, they made material objects invisible and visible - the essence of the invisible world.

The elves of Eregion created, almost exclusively by the power of their own imagination, without prompting, Three unspeakably beautiful and powerful rings aimed at preserving beauty: these did not endow with invisibility. But secretly, in the underground Fire, in his Black Earth, Sauron created the One Ring, the Ruling Ring, which contained the properties of all others and controlled them, so that the wearer could see through the thoughts of all those who used the lesser rings, could control all of them. actions and ultimately could completely and completely enslave them. However, Sauron did not take into account the wisdom and sensitive insight of the elves. As soon as he put on the One Ring, the elves learned about it, comprehended his secret plan and were afraid. They hid the Three Rings so that even Sauron could not find them and they remained undefiled. The elves tried to destroy the rest of the Rings.

Sauron forges the One Ring. Image from the game Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor

A war broke out that plunged Middle-earth into darkness. The War of the Last Alliance ended the history of the Second Age. Elves and people united against Sauron and destroyed his material shell, saving him from the Ring of Omnipotence. However, due to an unfortunate omission, the ring was not destroyed, and it was this fact that set the stage for the development of the events of the books The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

Sauron in the War of the Last Alliance. Drawing by Matt DeMino

We will not describe the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings - these are such well-known and popular works (including thanks to the film adaptation of Jackson) that it is unlikely that among fans of science fiction there will be at least someone who is not familiar with the books at least superficially .

The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings not only adequately completed the set of legends conceived by Tolkien, but undoubtedly became the crowning achievement of the writer and had a tremendous impact on the development of the genre in literature. Although for Tolkien himself, these books were only a small part of one great cycle.

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