Curiosities about Tolkien

Tolkien was born in South Africa

• True

• False

Tolkien fought in the Second World War

• True

• False

Answer explanation

He fought in the First World War. He was sent to the front in France in 1916, during the Battle of the Somme.

The first line of The Hobbit was conceived on a blank sheet in an exam paper Tolkien was grading

• True

• False

Answer explanation

"One of the candidates had mercifully left one of the pages with no writing on it (which is the best thing that can happen to an examiner) and I wrote on it: “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit”. Names always generate a story in my mind. Eventually I thought I’d better find out what hobbits were like. But that’s only the beginning."

Tolkien did not know more than three languages

• True

• False

Answer explanation

With his aptitude of languages, Tolkien had learned: Danish, Dutch, French, German, Gothic, Greek, Italian, Latin, Lombardic, Middle and Old English, Old Norse, Norwegian, Russian, Serbian, Spanish, Swedish, Welsh and Medieval Welsh.

Tolkien considered himself a Hobbit

• True

• False

Answer explanation

"I am in fact a hobbit, in all but size. I like gardens, trees, and unmechanized farmlands; I smoke a pipe, and like good plain food (unrefrigerated), but detest French cooking; I like and even dare to wear in these dull days, ornamental waistcoats. I am fond of mushrooms (out of a field); have a very simple sense of humour (which even my appreciative critics find tiresome); I go to bed late and get up late (when possible). I do not travel much."

J. R. R. Tolkien's life has been adapted to the big screen

• True

• False

Answer explanation

Tolkien is a 2019 American biographical film directed by Dome Karukoski and written by David Gleeson and Stephen Beresford. Recounts the life of English teacher, philologist and writer J. R. R. Tolkien, author of The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion, among other books, as well as notable academic works. The film stars Nicholas Hoult and Lily Collins.

Tolkien invented new languages

• True

• False

Answer explanation

One of the first truly expansive languages Tolkien created was Elfin, which he would later rename Qenya.

Around a dozen languages are mentioned in the Lord of the Rings but Tolkien only properly developed two of them - Qenya and Sindarin, the languages used by the elves.