The Ring Maker, JRR Tolkien...

I will never forget that I had a ring myself. Of course, it did not come out of the ‘Lord of the Rings’, but I did have a rather ‘cool’ feeling, ever since I had put it on. It is lost now, and there are times when I do think of it, rather lovingly. After all, it was My Precious!!

 

And then the books happened, ‘Lord of the Rings’ and then ‘The Hobbit’. Funnily enough, the ‘ring’ stayed with me, all through the times I read the book, 'Lord  of the Rings'. 

But recently, as I began to read and watch ‘The Hobbit’, I cannot seem to find it! Maybe, I will find it when I am reading, ‘The Silmarillion’.  Wish me luck…

Of course, it was a silver ring, and whatever it said was in my mind!! :) Or maybe it was blank or…

Anyway, to the books and the author, we go now, Folks…

JRR Tolkien

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born on the 3^rd January 1892.  He was a writer, poet, philologist and a university professor. He was married when he was 16, to Edith Mary Bratt and she was the inspiration for fictional characters, such as Arwen Evenstar and Luthien Tinuviel. His paternal ancestors were craftsmen who made and sold clocks, watches and pianos in Britain. His family had emigrated from Germany in the 18th century.

What fascinated me about Tolkien’s books was his work as a philologist, which reflected in his works. Philology is the study of language in written historical sources.

Over the years, Tolkien conceived numerous languages. Am glad, he wrote Elvish, Khuzdul, Rohirrim, Black Speech, Valarin, and even Entish! Imagine, if we could speak even half these languages, it would be so cool. (I can’t even imagine speaking Indian languages; there are so many of them)  If you are a fan of his books, you will notice many of his languages!  His love for language is legendary.

Another enthralling factor of his books is his ability to create places beyond our imagination. Starting from Arda or earth, we are shoved into Gondor, Rivendell, Rohan, Mordor etc. Not just these, there are lands like Brown Lands, Undying Lands, etc all placed in Middle Earth. Middle Earth was the central continent in the mythological past created by Tolkien.

 

Also, there are several peoples, such as Men, Dwarves, Hobbits, Ainur, Ents and Elves. Then, creatures such as orcs, trolls, and sapient animals like eagles, wargs, dragons or ‘worms’, or even Huan.

Okay, stop! I could go on and on, but I think from the lone ring, I might have come a long way. All, I am saying is, if one guy could come up with so many and so much and if he had lived even today, how much more could he have come up with!!

His imagination for fantasy is epic. He was popularly known as ‘father’ of modern fantasy literature. The bibliography of his writings is here, do check it out! Also, need to thank Wikipedia for most of everything!! :)