Top 3 Biographies of J.R.R. Tolkien
You’ve read The Hobbit. You’ve read The Lord of the Rings. You’ve read The Silmarillion.
But what do you know about the author of those books, J.R.R. Tolkien, the creator of perhaps the best-loved fantasy setting of all time, and the man responsible for the renaissance of fantasy literature in the mid-twentieth century?
The injunction to “never meet your heroes” is a good one. But in Tolkien’s case, learning more about him is rewarding and heartwarming.
Start with A Hobbit, a Wardrobe, and a Great War: How J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis Rediscovered Faith, Friendship, and Heroism in the Cataclysm of 1914-1918 by Joseph Loconte (2017). Tolkien’s experience of military service during World War I affected him profoundly. If you want to know where Tolkien got the idea for the Dead Marshes and for the demolished landscape of Mordor, read this book.
Tolkien’s Modern Reading: Middle-earth Beyond the Middle Ages by Holly Ordway (2021). As a university professor, Tolkien was necessarily well-read in scholarship and in original medieval texts. This book is fascinating because it debunks the commonly-held view that Tolkien looked upon all modern literature with curmudgeonly disdain. Turns out, this is not true: Tolkien enjoyed many titles and authors from the late 1800s and on into the 20th century. Much of it shaped and sparked his imagination as an author.
The Fellowship: The Literary Lives of the Inklings by Philip Zaleski & Carol Zaleski (2015). The Inklings is the name of the informal group of friends at Oxford University of which Tolkien and Lewis were the center. This book delves into the early lives of each of the Inklings, how the Inklings formed, and describes the profound effect these authors had on contemporary arts & letters.
You’ll notice that Humphrey Carpenter’s biography of Tolkien, J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography, is not on this list. After reading Holly Ordway’s book, I’m convinced that Tolkien’s biography needs to be rewritten by someone who didn’t have “an ax to grind” with Tolkien.
You can find all these books and more in the Tolkien section of Clare’s Bookshop.org shop. (Affiliate link: enjoy a nice discount on your purchase, and support your fellow Tolkien-obsessed nerd!)
The 2019 biopic film Tolkien, directed by Dome Karukoski and starring Nicholas Hoult and Lily Collins, is quite good. It was the topic of the very first episode of Splanchnics—listen here.
UPDATE: September 2023: A new book about Tolkien! Two years after her groundbreaking Tolkien’s Modern Reading, professor Holly Ordway has published a deep dive into another aspect of Tolkien’s life in Tolkien’s Faith: A Spiritual Biography.
UPDATE: October 2024: An exciting addition to the biographies of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis: The Mythmakers, by award-winning illustrator and New York Times bestselling author John Hendrix. This is a graphic novel that zeroes in on the friendship between Tolkien and Lewis, with particular emphasis on their famous “Addison’s Walk” conversation. Truly unique! View his presentation at Wheaton College’s Wade Center.
The Marion E. Wade Center on the campus of Wheaton College is one of the largest repositories of Tolkien works, artifacts, and memorabilia. The Wade Center collects and celebrates the work of their seven favorite author: C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Owen Barfield, Charles Williams, Dorothy Sayers, G.K. Chesterton, and George MacDonald. Here’s a link to the Tolkiein page: https://www.wheaton.edu/academics/academic-centers/wadecenter/authors/jrr-tolkien/
Clare has reviewed some of these books for the National Catholic Register:
Tolkien’s Modern Reading in “There and Back Again Through Tolkien’s Library”
The Fellowship in “Inklings Introduced”
Tolkien’s Faith in “7 Things You Didn’t Know About J.R.R. Tolkien’s Catholic Faith”