You read right. Famous writer, J.R.R Tolkien is indeed from South Africa. Even though the writer identifies as British, he was born in Bloemfontein in 1892.
The writer’s short time in South Africa
John Ronald Reuel (J.R.R.) was born on 3 January 1892 in Bloemfontein when his father, Arthur Reuel Tolkien became a bank manager in SA. His parents left England when Arthur was promoted to head of the Bloemfontein office of a British bank called The Bank of Africa.
Before Tolkien was born, his parents were married in the Cathedral Church of St George the Martyr in Cape Town in the Cape Colony on 16 April 1891. From there, the couple moved on to the Orange Free State Republic, now known as Bloemfontein.
When Tolkien was only three years old, his mother, Mabel, took him and his brother on a trip to England. And because his father was so busy with work at the time, it was arranged that he would join the family later. According to Tolkien, the separation from his father had a huge influence on him and he recalled his father painting “A.R. Tolkien” on their cabin trunk.
Sadly, Tolkien’s father never rejoined the family as he had developed Rheumatic Fever in Bloemfontein and died from complications. He was buried near the old Cathedral in Bloemfontein in what is now the President Brand Cemetery. From there, Tolkien’s mother decided to stay in England and raise her two boys there. For many years his father’s grave was lost and was unmarked until in 1992 the Tolkien family was able to trace the grave and consecrate a new headstone.
Did South Africa influence Tolkien in any way?
Because Tolkien was still so young when he left SA, there are many debates whether his time spent in the country actually influenced him in any way. Many believe that his encounter with a baboon spider in SA led him to write about the “Shelob” in The Lord of the Rings later in his life, for example.
One of the most significant influences SA made on Tolkien, however, was his future love of languages. And this love led him to invent and imagine an entirely new language – any hardcore fan of The Hobbit is swept away with the Elvin language.
According to researchers, the Afrikaans language played a role in Tolkien’s love for languages and perhaps even influenced the Elvin language a bit. It is said that Tolkien’s father learned to speak a little “Dutch” whilst in SA, and Mabel interacted with local Bloemfontein residents in English and Afrikaans.
Tolkien nearly returned to South Africa
Tolkien applied for a professorship of English Literature at the University of Cape Town in 1920. He would have been sponsored by the De Beers Mining consortium.
His application was approved, however, in the end, Tolkien had to decline the offer due to family reasons. Instead, he retained his post as a reader at the University of Leeds and was later appointed professor at Oxford.
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