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John Ronald Reuel Tolkien,

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was born on the 3rd January, 1892.

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He and his brother Hilary, experienced

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a difficult childhood; when Tolkien was

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just four, they lost their father, Arthur,

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to rheumatic fever.

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As a widow with low income, his mother

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Mabel, home school the brothers and played

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a vital role in their early education and

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development.

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Tolkien was a smart young boy, with a

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fascination and thirst for languages.

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Tolkien sat the entrance exam for King

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Edward's School, Birmingham and passed.

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From the Autumn of 1900, for a fee of

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12 pounds a year, Tolkien would be

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educated in an environment that would help

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fulfil his academic potential.

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Going to King Edward's was vitally

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important to Tolkien; he was an

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exceptionally talented boy. King Edward's

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offered him a vast amount of scope and also

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the company of other boys who were

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similarly talented.

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Which was probably quite hard fork Tolkien

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to find.

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Not only did he play rugby but he was a

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leading light in the debating society and

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the literary society; he was the life and

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soul really and he missed the school a

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great deal, I think, when he finally had

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to leave.

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At the age of just 11, Tolkien and his

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brother Hilary, lose their mother, Mabel,

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to diabetes. Grief stricken, he plunges

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himself into school life more energetically

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than before. Academically he excels, but

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in 1905, meets his intellectual rival,

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Christopher Wiseman.