Chronology

1892 - John Ronald Reuel Tolkien born 3^rd January of British parents in Bloemfontein, South Africa. Brother, Hilary, born 1894

1895 - Mother (Mabel Tolkien) takes children back to Birmingham, England. Father (Arthur Tolkien) dies in South Africa.

1900 - Ronald begins to attend King Edward’s Grammar School.

1904 - Mother dies of diabetes, aged 34.

1905 - Orphaned boys move to Aunt’s home in Birmingham.

1908 - Ronald begins first term at Oxford.

1913 - Ronald takes Honours Moderations exams.

1914 - Ronald is betrothed to childhood sweetheart Edith Bratt. Great War declared. Returns to Oxford to complete his degree.

1915 - Awarded First Class Honours degree in English Language and Literature.

Commissioned in Lancashire Fusiliers.

1916 - Married Edith Bratt. Goes to war in France. Sees action on the Somme as second lieutenant. Returns to England suffering from shell shock.

1917 - While convalescing begins writing The Silmarillion.

Birth of first son, John.

1918 - Promoted to full lieutenant, posted to Staffordshire. War ends. Returns with family to Oxford, joins staff of New English Dictionary.

1919 - Works as a freelance tutor in Oxford.

1920 - Appointed Reader in English Language at Leeds University.

Birth of second son, Michael.

1924 - Becomes Professor of English Language at Leeds. Third son, Christopher, is born.

1925 - Tolkien and E. V. Gordon publish Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Tolkien elected Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford.

1926 - Friendship with C. S. Lewis begins.

1929 - Fourth child, Priscilla, is born.

1936 - Tolkien completes The Hobbit. Delivers his lecture, Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics.

1937 - The Hobbit is published. Tolkien begins to write a sequel, which eventually becomes The Lord of the Rings.

1939 - Tolkien delivers his lecture Fairy Stories. Works on The Lord of the Rings fitfully throughout the war years.

1945 - War ends. Tolkien elected Merton Professor of English Language and Literature at Oxford.

1947 - Draft of The Lord of the Rings sent to publishers.

1948 - The Lord of the Rings completed.

1949 - Publication of Farmer Giles of Ham.

1954 - Publication of The Lord of the Rings, Volumes One and Two.

1955 - Publication of The Lord of the Rings, Volume Three.

1959 - Tolkien retires his professorship.

1962 - Publication of The Adventures of Tom Bombadil.

1964 - Publication of Tree and Leaf.

1965 - American paperback editions of The Lord of the Rings are published and campus cult of the novel begins.

1967 - Publication of Smith of Wootton Major, and The Road Goes Ever On.

1968 - The Tolkiens move to Poole near Bournemouth.

1971 - Edith Tolkien dies, aged 82.

1972 - Tolkien returns to Oxford.

Receives CBE from the Queen.

1973 - 2^nd September, J. R. R. Tolkien dies, aged 81.

POSTHUMOUS PUBLICATIONS

1976 - The Father Christmas Letters.

1977 - The Silmarillion.

1980 - Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-Earth.

1981 - The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien.

1982 - Mr Bliss.

1983 - The Monsters and The Critics and Other Essays.

The History of Middle-Earth: The Book of Lost Tales.

1984 - The History of Middle-Earth: The Book of Lost Tales – Part two.

1985 - The History of Middle-Earth: The Lays of Beleriand.

1986 - The History of Middle-Earth: The Shaping of Middle-Earth.

1987 - The History of Middle-Earth: The Lost Road and Other Writings.

1988 - The History of Middle-Earth: The Return of the Shadow.

1989 - The History of Middle-Earth: The Treason of Isengard.

1990 - The History of Middle-Earth: The War of the Ring.

1992 - The History of Middle-Earth: Sauron Defeated.