J.R.R Tolkien was a great author. He wrote the Lord of the Rings series. The "J.R.R. stands for John Reuel Ronald. He was known as Ronald for a long time. He was born in 1892 in Bloomfontien, South Africa. In 1894, two years later, his brother, Hilary Arthur Reuel Tolkien, was born. His parents were Mabel and Arthur Tolkien. When J.R.R. Tolkien was little he was bitten by a tarantula. Also he had a monkey climb through his window and chew up his pinafores. Eventually Mable thought it was too much so she took the children and moved in with her parents. Arthur had to stay in Africa because of his job. A few weeks later they found out that Arthur was very ill. Soon after, Arthur died of a severe hemorrhage on February 15, 1896. By the time Mabel, Ronald and Hilary found out, Arthur had already been buried in Africa. After Arthur's death the Tolkien family bid farewell to Mabel's relatives and went to find their own house. After they found a house, Mable discovered she had diabetes. Later she fell into a diabetic coma. Six short days later Ronald and Hilary were orphans. Their guardian became Father Francis Morgan, a friend of Mabel's family. In 1908 they moved. Ronald went to King Edward's Academy where his father had gone to school. At King Edward's he studied Greek, Latin, Shakespeare, and the Invasion of the Normans. In his spare time he liked to play rugby and read. He liked to read fantasy books. While playing rugby, Ronald cut his tongue and broke his nose. Ronald worked with the headmaster of his school sometimes. He loved learning about Latin, Greek, and history. A book that t he was introduced to was called Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. After that he started studying Old Norse (Scandinavian). He learned to read in all different languages such as Greek, Latin, Anglo- Saxon, Old Norse and German. His family wouldn't let him learn Spanish so he tried to teach himself. Tolkien applied for a scholarship at Oxford University. None of his relatives had attended a university before and he couldn't afford it on his own. His application was rejected and he didn't get the scholarship. In the summer of 1911 he took his final exam at King Edward's. He explored the world after college and when he returned he took a teaching job at Oxford. He became engaged to Edith Bratt in 1914. He also became a second lieutenant in a British regiment called the Lancashire Fusiliers. On March 22, 1916 Ronald and Edith were married. During the war he caught "trench fever." Most of the soldiers recovered from the disease quickly, but Tolkien was taken to a hospital back in Birmingham. As he left the hospital in 1917 Ronald decided that he would write a "literary masterpiece." within days of returning home Ronald began "The book of the Lost Tales." Later to be known as The Simarillion. On November 17, 1917 Ronald and Edith had their 1st child named John Francis Reuel Tolkien. On November 11, 1918 World War 1 ended. In October of 1920 Ronald had a second child named Michael Hilary Reuel Tolkien. In 1929 they had a girl named Pricilla Mary Reuel Tolkien. In that same year Tolkien came up with the character Bilbo Baggins Later put into his book The Hobbit. In September of 1937 the first copy of The Hobbit was released. J.R.R. earned the title Master of Fantasy. After 12 years the sequel to The Hobbit was finished. In the end there were four books in the series. The Hobbit, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King. On November 29, 1971 Edith Tolkien died at the age of 82. Tolkien died on September 2, 1973 at the age of 81. The news was a tragedy to most people. Unfortunately Tolkien didn't receive any credit for his work since they were not copyrighted.