Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford from 1925 to 1945, and Merton Professor of English Language and Literature from 1945 to 1959. He was a close friend of C. S. Lewis and they were both members of the informal literary discussion group known as the Inklings. Tolkien was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II on 28 March 1972.

After his death, Tolkien’s son, Christopher, published a series of works based on his father’s extensive notes and unpublished manuscripts, including The Silmarillion. These, together with The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, form a connected body of tales, poems, fictional histories, invented languages, and literary essays about an imagined world called Arda, and Middle-earth within it. Between 1951 and 1955 Tolkien applied the word legendarium to the larger part of these writings.

Tolkien is  identified as the “father” of modern fantasy literature. Tolkien’s writings have inspired many other works of fantasy and have had a lasting effect on the entire field. In 2008, The Times ranked him sixth on a list of “The 50 greatest British writers since 1945″.

Thanks for your legacy Mr. Tolkien!

HarperCollins is to publish a new book by the late Lord of the Rings author J R R Tolkien. The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún, edited and introduced by Tolkien’s son Christopher, will be published in hardback in May 2009.

The previously unpublished work was written while Tolkien was professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford University during the 1920s and ’30s, before he wrote The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. The publication will make available for the first time Tolkien’s extensive retelling in English narrative verse of the epic Norse tales of Sigurd the Völsung and the Fall of the Niflungs.

Christopher Tolkien edited Tolkien’s most recent title The Children of Húrin in 2007.

Further details about the contents of the book will be revealed closer to publication.

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J.R.R. Tolkien was born on 3rd January 1892 at Bloemfontein in the Orange Free State. When he was four years old his mother, Marry Suffield, and his younger brother Hilary, went to England. At that time his father was ill and soon died of rheumatic fever. After his father’s death the family lived at Sarehole, on the south-eastern edge of Birmingham. Ronald spent his childhood there and later scenes from this area would be depicted in his pictures and writings.

Another tragic event occurred when J.R.R. Tolkien was 12 – the death of his mother who died of diabetes. He and his brother Hilary became wards of a priest at the Birmingham Oratory. The boys attended King Edward’s School in Birmingham. At school Ronald was interested in Classic as well as Anglo-Saxon and Middle English. At that time he began to develop his linguistic talent by creating his own languages with grammar and history. Not surprisingly that Tolkien was First in English Language and Literature at Exeter College.

J.R.R. Tolkien was married to Edith Bratt. He had known her since they had both lived in the same house in Birmingham. Ronald loved Edith and continued to do so despite being forbidden by Father Morgan to contact her when he studied at college. Considering that it would ruin Ronald’s career, Father Morgan would not give his consent to an early marriage.

Tolkien was commissioned in the Lancashire Fusiliers and participated in the battle of the Somme. After the war he obtained a post on the New English Dictionary, and began to write the mythological and legendary cycle which he originally called “The Book of Lost Tales” but which eventually became known as “The Silmarillion”.

Later Tolkien was appointed as Reader in the English Language at the University of Leeds. Among the students he was famous for his strong and popular teaching. Then Professor Tolkien was elected to continue work at Oxford, as a Professor of Anglo-Saxon. He taught Anglo-Saxon and English right up until his retirement in 1959. Honestly, many of the world scientists supposed that Tolkien had been one of the most gifted and clever philologists.

By that time the Tolkien’s family consisted of four children (three sons and a daughter) and more than anything father liked to tell his children about mythical beings – elves, hobbits, etc. At first such stories were simply fairy tales. And the first book, which made him famous worldwide, “the Hobbit” (published in 1937) was written in the genre of a fairy tale. The book was a huge success and the public demanded a sequel. Thus, a popular trilogy “the Lord of the Rings” came into being.

Having retired, Tolkien and his wife lived first in the Headington area of Oxford, then moved to Bournemouth. His wife died in 1971 and after that Tolkien decided to return to Oxford.

He was diagnosed as having a bleeding gastric ulcer, and despite some reassuring reports died on September 2nd 1973, aged 81. Tolkien and his wife are buried together in a single grave in the Catholic section of Wolvercote cemetery in the northern suburbs of Oxford.

Although the greatest master of fantasy passed away, he left the door open for anyone to an enchanting world of his stories, the key to which is love, kindness and loyalty. These are the qualities that help Tolkien’s characters to win over Evil.

As part of that allegation, the lawsuit claims New Line sent millions of dollars to Time Warner Inc.’s AOL, improperly claiming they were for advertising expenses. The lawsuit also claims the studio built production offices and facilities in New Zealand and listed them as expenses for the “Lord of the Rings” films, although the heirs claim they are now being used for other New Line projects. New Line’s attorneys successfully argued that Tolkien’s heirs had to demonstrate a “public wrong” under New York law – which governs the contracts – to claim punitive damages if they win at trial. Jones ruled that the heirs’ grievance “is clearly seeking to vindicate private wrongs.”

Tolkien signed agreements in 1969 with United Artists governing the movie rights to the “Lord of the Rings” books as well as “The Hobbit.” After the author’s death, his heirs created The Tolkien Trust, a British charity. The charity’s trustees, which include Tolkien’s heirs, joined publisher HarperCollins to sue the studio in February. Besides damages, the lawsuit seeks a court order that would terminate New Line’s rights to make a two-film prequel based on “The Hobbit.”

Attorneys for New Line and The Tolkien Trust did not immediately return calls seeking comment on Thursday. New Line now has 10 days to answer the lawsuit. A trial has been scheduled for October 2009. The studio was absorbed into Warner Bros. Entertainment in February.

We’ll update this information as soon as possible