John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born on 3 January 1892 at Bloemfontein in the Orange Free State, but at the age of four, his mother, Mary Suffield, took him together with his younger brother, Hilary, back to England for 'home leave'. After his father's death from rheumatic fever, the family made their home at Sarehole, on the southeastern edge of Birmingham. Ronald spent a happy childhood in the Sarehole countryside, and his sensibility to the rural landscape can clearly be seen both in his writings and in his pictures.

After his mother's death, when Ronald was twelve, he and Hilary became wards of a kindly priest at the Birmingham Oratory. They both attended King Edward's School, Birmingham, where Ronald achieved distinction in Classics, and encountered Anglo-Saxon and Middle English. At this time also, he began to develop his linguistics abilities by inventing languages, which he related to 'fairy' or 'elvish' people.

After taking a First in English Language and Literature at Exeter College, Oxford, Tolkien married Edith Bratt, with whom he had formed an attachment when

The Fellowship heads south and tries to go under the Misty Mountains through Moria, the ancient realm of the dwarves. There, Gandalf falls into the abbys of Khazad-dum while protecting the fellowship from a horrible demon called a Balrog. The rest of the group continues on to Lorien, the forest of the Galadrim elves, where the Lady Galadriel tries their hearts and they all receive gifts that will help them on their journey. From there, they go by boat down the Anduin River. When they must return to land, they cannot decide if they should head toward Mordor on the east or go to the safety of Minas Tirith on the west. Boromir must contain the ring and talks to Frodo about it, who decides that he must go to Mordor. However, Frodo cannot bring his friends with him or allow them the urge for the ring any longer, so he attempts to leave secretly and continue the quest alone. He does not, however, manage to trick his servant Sam, so the two of them set out together for the realm of the Dark Lord.

When Bilbo was ninety-nine he adopted frodo as

‘I will take the Ring,’ he said, ‘though I do not

Some topics in this essay:
Khazad-dum Gandalf, Middle Earth, Sauron Bilbo, Birmingham Ronald, Headington Oxford, Dark Lord, Lord Rings, Mountains Moria, Anglo-Saxon Oxford, Silmarillion Hobbit, lord rings, middle earth, dark lord, frodo baggins, legendary cycle, jrr tolkien, english language, fellowship ring, birmingham ronald, favorite scene,