TIMELINE OF
J. R. R. TOLKIEN’S LIFE

1892 John Ronald Reuel Tolkien is born in Bloemfontein, South Africa

1896 Ronald’s father, Arthur Tolkien, dies

1900 Ronald’s mother, Mabel Tolkien, converts to Catholicism

1904 Mother dies

1908 Meets Edith Bratt

1916 Fights in the Battle of the Somme

1920 Becomes a professor at Leeds University

1926 Tolkien family moves to Oxford

1937 The Hobbit is published

1942 Warehouse containing copies of The Hobbit is destroyed by a bomb

1947 Rayner Unwin reads The Lord of the Rings

1954 The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers are published

1955 The Return of the King is published

1959 Retires from teaching

1971 Edith Tolkien dies

1973 John Ronald Reuel Tolkien dies

1977 The Silmarillion is published