Tolkien's Great War

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)