Author John Ronald Reuel ‘ J.R.R.’ Tolkien (1892-1973) was born on January 3rd in 1892, the same year my great-great grandmother died at the age of 26. Grandpa Darling, her husband, remarried and moved the family to Chicago. Their daughter, my great grandmother, was only two years old.
Tolkien is my favorite writer of the 20th century. I, like him, am fascinated with Germanic cultures and languages. His re-imagining of the lore supposedly lost after the Norman invasion of Britain is simply fascinating.
ajh