J. R. R. Tolkien: He Invented Languages for Fun… Then Built a Whole World

A professor was marking exams.

It was long, boring work.

On a blank page, he wrote one sentence: "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit."

This is the story of JRR Tolkien.

Welcome to brightlivesenglish.com, where we teach real English using real-life stories.

Imaginary. Imaginary means not real, only in your mind.

As a teenager, he invented imaginary languages for fun.

Trench. A trench is a long, deep hole in the ground where soldiers stay during a war.

In 1916, he served in the trenches of the Somme.

Linguist. A linguist is a person who studies languages and how they work.

He became a linguist who loved old languages.

Myth. A myth is a very old story about gods, heroes or the beginning of the world.

He loved the old myths of northern Europe.

Trilogy. A trilogy is a set of three separate books that belong together.

People often call The Lord of the Rings a trilogy, but he saw it as one long story.

Now, one pattern: the more, the more.

When one thing grows, another thing grows too.

The more he wrote, the more his world grew.

Ready? Let's begin.

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born in South Africa in 1892.

He grew up in England, near Birmingham, among fields and an old mill.

His father died when he was four.

His mother taught him Latin and a love of plants, but she died when he was twelve.

A kind priest looked after him and his brother.

He loved words.

As a teenager, he invented imaginary languages for fun.

When he discovered a Finnish grammar book, he later wrote that it was like discovering a cellar full of an amazing wine.

He studied at Oxford and married his love, Edith.

In 1916, he served in the trenches of the Somme.

He later wrote, "By 1918 all but one of my close friends were dead."

After the war, he worked on the great Oxford English Dictionary.

He became a linguist who loved old languages, and later a professor at Oxford.

He loved the old myths of northern Europe.

One day, around 1930, he was marking exams.

On a blank page, he wrote, "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit."

He later wrote, "I did not and do not know why."

So what was a hobbit?

He had to find out.

He told the story to his children, and it grew into a book, with his own drawings and maps.

"The Hobbit" came out in 1937, and the first copies sold out in three months.

The publisher wanted more.

So Tolkien kept writing.

The more he wrote, the more his world grew, with maps, histories and whole languages.

"The Lord of the Rings" took him about 12 years.

It came out in three volumes in 1954 and 1955, because printing one huge book was expensive.

People often call The Lord of the Rings a trilogy, but he saw it as one long story.

He wanted to give England its own legends.

He built a whole imaginary world, and he made its languages feel real.

Tolkien died in 1973.

Today, his books have sold many millions of copies, and readers all over the world still visit the world he built.

Let's review. As a teenager, he invented imaginary languages for fun.

In 1916, he served in the trenches of the Somme.

He became a linguist who loved old languages.

He loved the old myths of northern Europe.

People often call The Lord of the Rings a trilogy, but he saw it as one long story.

And remember: the more he wrote, the more his world grew.

JRR Tolkien's story teaches us: follow your strange ideas.

One day, they may become a whole world.

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