John Ronald Reuel Tolkien,
was born on the 3rd January, 1892.
He and his brother Hilary, experienced
a difficult childhood; when Tolkien was
just four, they lost their father, Arthur,
to rheumatic fever.
As a widow with low income, his mother
Mabel, home school the brothers and played
a vital role in their early education and
development.
Tolkien was a smart young boy, with a
fascination and thirst for languages.
Tolkien sat the entrance exam for King
Edward's School, Birmingham and passed.
From the Autumn of 1900, for a fee of
12 pounds a year, Tolkien would be
educated in an environment that would help
fulfil his academic potential.
[John Garth] Going to King Edward's was vitally
important to Tolkien; he was an
exceptionally talented boy. King Edward's
offered him a vast amount of scope and also
the company of other boys who were
similarly talented.
Which was probably quite hard for Tolkien
to find.
[Simon Stacey] Not only did he play rugby but
he was a leading light in the debating society
and the literary society; he was the life and
soul really and he missed the school a
great deal, I think, when he finally had
to leave.
[VO] At the age of just 11, Tolkien and his
brother Hilary, lose their mother, Mabel,
to diabetes. Grief stricken, he plunges
himself into school life more energetically
than before. Academically he excels, but
in 1905, meets his intellectual rival,
Christopher Wiseman.
[John Garth] Tolkien met his greatest friend
at King Edward's, Christopher Wiseman on
the rugby pitch. A musician, a mathematician;
quite different from Tolkien.
They developed such a strong bond on the rugby
field that they called themselves;
"The Great Twin Brethren", which was a phrase
from "Lays of Ancient Rome" by Lord
Macauley.
[Simon Stacey] They also were friendly rivals
in the school, both being very academic
boys. Wiseman had a formidable intellect
and he was interested in a lot of the things
that Tolkien was getting interested in;
languages, I think he was looking at
Egyptian and was looking at hieroglyphics.
[John Garth] Tolkien and Wiseman must have
helped define each other through their
teenage years because they would argue;
they would argue strongly about all their
beliefs in life.
[Simon Stacey] Wiseman was a very talented
musician; Tolkien was supposed to be tone
deaf but that didn't stop them getting on!
[VO] Tolkien also befriends, son of the
headmaster, Rob Gilson. Tolkien, Wiseman
and Gilson, form a strong bond which will
last throughout their school years and beyond.
Outside of King Edward's, Tolkien's life is
about to change, yet again.
[John Garth] Tolkien was living in lodgings
with his brother, Hilary, and when he was 16
he met fellow lodger, Edith Bratt, who was 19
at the time. And she was a beautiful young
girl; talented pianist and also an orphan.
And the two of them bonded on their shared
sadnesses but also on their hopes and dreams.
The difficulty for Ronald, as she called him,
and Edith, was that he was a Roman Catholic
and she was an Anglican.
[VO] Tolkien's Guardian, Father Francis Morgan,
a Catholic Priest, feels this is major
divide; and also believes that Edith will
distract Tolkien from his attempts to get
into Oxford University.
[John Garth] Father Francis Morgan, forbade
them from seeing each other, or even from
communicating. He was thrown back upon his
friendships at King Edward's and it was
this final phase of his time here, that he
began to flourish and make the place his
own; he and his friends ruled the roost.
[VO] Making the most of his final year at
King Edward's and the friendships he has
formed, Tolkien and his peers create an
informal society.
These young intellectuals gather in the school
library and do what they are forbidden to do:
brew tea. Outside of school hours, they meet
in a cafe at Barrow's Stores in Birmingham
and so, self-mockingly, they call themselves
the "Tea Club and Barrovean Society"
or the TCBS for short.
(nostalgic music)
[John Garth] The core of the TCBS was probably
Tolkien and Wiseman and the others
gravitated around them. There was Robert
Quilter Gilson, the son of the headmaster
here; Rob was a cultured and sociable chap,
he was perhaps the social glue of the group;
he would welcome anyone and find common
cause with them. A gentle artistic fellow
who loved to sketch.
[Simon Stacey] He was a gifted artist and
had ambitions to be an architect.
There was a late arrival, Geoffrey Bache Smith,
who was fascinated by mythology, Celtic
mythology; so this gave him common ground
with Tolkien; it was another of Tolkien's
passions.
[Simon Stacey] Smith was quite an accomplished
and advanced poet who recommended contemporary
poetry to Tolkien. When he started writing
poetry, Tolkien was to a certain extent,
inspired by Smith and the wider group.
And that was really the beginnings of
Tolkien as a writer.
[John Garth] From the beginnings which were
mostly about fun, later on, during the war years,
this developed into a fellowship from which
each of them drew tremendous strength and
comfort.
[VO] Later that year, Tolkien's time at
King Edward's comes to an end and he begins
his first term at Oxford, having successfully
gained entrance.
On the eve of his 21st birthday, and his
independence from Father Francis Morgan,
Tolkien writes to Edith and less than a
week later, they are re-united.
Edith is engaged to marry another man,
but despite almost certain ridicule,
she agrees to break the engagement to be
with her Ronald.
Over the next few months, a growing sense of
trouble brews across Europe and on the 28th
of June, 1914, everything changes.
(gun shot sound)
(solemn music)