JRR TolkienJ.RR Tolkien (1892-1973) gained a reputation during the 1960s and 1970s as a cult figure among young people disillusioned by war and the technological age. Its continued popularity is a testament to its ability to evoke the oppressive realities of modern life while drawing audiences into a fantasy world. John Ronald Reuel was born on January 3, 1892 in Bloemfontein, South Africa, where his father, Arthur, had taken a position with the Bank of Africa. In 1895, Tolkien's mother, Mabel Suffield, returned to England with her children, as Tolkien's health was affected by the climate. Arthur Tolkien hoped to return to England soon, but he contracted rheumatic fever the following autumn and died early in 1896. After a few months living with his parents, Mabel Tolkien rented a cottage on the outskirts of Birmingham, and until After her death in 1904, she and her two sons lived in rented houses on the outskirts of the city. After her death, Mabel Tolkien's parish priest, Father Francis Morgan, took responsibility for his sons' education. Tolkien's only way to escape lower-middle-class commercial life was to obtain a university scholarship, which, with some difficulty, he did in 1910, gaining entry to Exeter College, Oxford. In 1908, Tolkien fell in love with Edith Bratt, an orphan like him. In 1910, Father Morgan forbade him from communicating with her until he was of age, which Tolkien obeyed. At Oxford he began studying classics but soon concentrated on English language and literature, achieving first class honors in his final examination in 1915. He visited Edith Bratt five days after her twenty-first birthday, and they were officially engaged in 1914 when, in Tol...... middle of paper ...... the hot desert, in England, the grassy hills, seemed to open his mind. One of the main reasons he wrote was to entertain his children. He told them about his world. And only a small majority of his stories were published (Kroeber 521). JRR Tolkien (1892-1973) gained a reputation in the 1960s and 1970s as a cult figure among young people disillusioned by war and the technological age. Its continued popularity is a testament to its ability to evoke the oppressive realities of modern life while drawing audiences into a fantasy world. Works Cited by Byers, Paula K. Ed. "JRR Tolkien". Encyclopedia of World Biography. Detroit: Gake Research, 1998. 259-260 Grotta, Daniel. JRR Tolkien: Architect of Middle-earth. Philadelphia: Courage Books, 1992. 123-135. Kroeber, Karl. "JRR Tolkien". British Writers. Ed. George Stade, New York: Gale Research, 1980. 519-521