R. R. Tolkien
R. R. Tolkien (1892-1973). British scholar and writer. He is best known for the epic trilogy The Lord of the Rings (1954-55), which is set in Middle Earth, a world inhabited by hobbits, elves, and other fantasy creatures, complete with its own history, culture, and languages. The Hobbit (1937) was written as an introduction to the trilogy. His son Christopher edited The Silmarillion (1977), a collection of tales and legends of Middle Earth written by Tolkien at various times. As a professor of Anglo-Saxon and later of English at Oxford, Tolkien also wrote a number of scholarly works. Although The Lord of the Rings sold millions of copies, Tolkien continued to live quietly at his college.
