Reading and vocabulary builder Level III

J. R. R. Tolkien – short life story

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was a famous British writer. He is best known for his
fantasy books The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.
Tolkien was born on 3rd January 1892, in South Africa. When he was four years old,
the family moved to England. In 1900, his mother became a Roman Catholic and four
years later, when his mother died, Tolkien was taken care of by a Catholic priest. He
attended King Edward’s School in Birmingham and then Exeter College, Oxford. He
was very good at languages. He studied not only Latin and Greek, but also Gothic and Finnish. He studied
Anglo-Saxon (Old English), Germanic languages and classic literature.
Tolkien met his future wife when she was 16 years old. As Edith was a Protestant and Tolkien Catholic, it was
forbidden to see each other. When he was 21, Tolkien stated his love to Edith, who was then engaged to
another man. But she broke her engagement and the couple remained together until their deaths, for 55
years. She was the inspiration for the character of Lúthien (the most beautiful elf princess that has ever lived).
In the same year they married, he was sent to war to the Western Front. Soon he became ill and was sent
back to England. After the war, Tolkien taught English language and literature at the University of Leeds.
Later he became a professor at Oxford University. There he started a writing group called The Inklings. One
of the members of this group was C.S. Lewis (‘The Chronicles of
Narnia’), who became one of Tolkien’s closest friends. They shared
great enthusiasm for the myths, sagas, and languages of northern
Europe. Over the course of his life he invented several languages,
such as „Elvish“, „Dwarvish“, „Entish“ and „Black Speech“, purely for
fun.

In summer 1930 he saw a blank piece of paper on his desk.

Suddenly inspiration came and he wrote the first sentence of The
Hobbit: “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit “. In 1937,
Professor Tolkien published The Hobbit, with his own drawings. He
wrote it as bedtime stories for his own children. The book became
immediately successful and the publisher asked Tolkien if he had
more material. It took him seventeen years to publish The Lord of
the Rings, in 1954. The Lord of the Rings was written for older
children, the same audience who had grown up since The Hobbit
was published. As it was quite a big story it had to be published in
three parts. It became a global bestseller at once.

J. R. R. Tolkien died from a stomach ulcer on 2nd September 1973, at the age of 81.
His son Christopher later edited several works that weren't completed.

A film version of The Lord of the Rings by New Zealand director Peter Jackson, released
in three parts (2001–03) achieved worldwide critical and financial success. The films
won 17 Academy Award nominations, and The Return of the King (the 3rd part) holds the
record for most Oscars ever.
The Return of the King is also the only fantasy film to have won the Academy Award for
Best Picture (best film).
Jackson then also adapted The Hobbit as a trilogy (2012-14) with three Academy Award
nominations which also became a hit among the Tolkien’s fans worldwide.
a) Read the text and answer the following questions.

1 Where was J. R. R. Tolkien born?

_________________________________________________________________
2 What did Tolkien study at Oxford?
_________________________________________________________________
3 Who was the inspiration for the character of Lúthien?
_________________________________________________________________
4 Where did Tolkien became a professor and started teaching?
_________________________________________________________________
5 What was the name of the writing group that Tolkien started?
_________________________________________________________________
6 Why did he start to write a story about a hobbit?
_________________________________________________________________
7 Who adapted The Lord of the Rings into a trio of films?
_________________________________________________________________

b) Are these sentences true (T) or false (F)?

1 J. R. R. Tolkien’s mother died when he was 8. _____

2 Tolkien fought in the WW I. _____
3 Tolkien returned to England when World War I ended. _____
4 After the war, Tolkien taught English language and literature at the University of Manchester. ____
5 Tolkien was friends with C. S. Lewis. _____
6 Tolkien was the first writer to invent languages for elves, dwarfs, ents etc. _____
7 It him took seven years to publish LOTR after The Hobbit. _____
8 Some of Tolkien's stories were published for the first time after his death. _____
9 Director Peter Jackson is from Australia. _____
10 J. R. R. Tolkien died in 1973. _____
 KEY
a)

1 Where was J. R. R. Tolkien born? Bloemfontein, South Africa

2 What did Tolkien study at Oxford? Anglo-Saxon, Germanic languages and classic literature
3 Who was the inspiration for the character of Lúthien? Tolkien’s wife Edith
4 Where did Tolkien became a professor and started teaching ? at Oxford
5 What was the name of the writing group that Tolkien started? The Inklings
6 Why did he start to write a story about a hobbit? as bedtime story for his children
7 Who adapted The Lord of the Rings into a trio of films? Peter Jackson

b)

1 J. R. R. Tolkien’s mother died when he was 8. __T___

2 Tolkien fought in the WW I. __T___
3 Tolkien returned to England when World War I ended. __F___
4 After the war, Tolkien taught English language and literature at the University of Manchester. __F__
5 Tolkien was friends with C. S. Lewis. __T___
6 Tolkien was the first writer to invent languages for elves, dwarfs, ents etc. __T___
7 It him took seven years to publish LOTR after The Hobbit. __F___
8 Some of Tolkien's stories were published for the first time after his death. __T___
9 Director Peter Jackson is from Australia. __F___
10 J. R. R. Tolkien died in 1973. ___T__