J.R.R. Tolkien was born on the 3rd of January 1892 to a humble family in Bloefontein, in the Orange Free State. As a child, he was a wide reader and especially enjoyed fantasy by the then famous author George MacDonald. (He absolutely detested such classics as Treasure Island and The Pied Piper, as well as Alice in Wonderland, however.)
At the age of 21, Tolkien proposed to young Edith Mary Bratt, then three years his junior. On the 22nd of March 1916, they were married at the Saint Mary Immaculate Church.
Throughout his adulthood, Tolkien volunteered for military service and served Britain for a time during World War I. During this time, he was inspired many times for certain battle scenes in what would later become his classic fantasy epic, The Lord of the Rings. (It is rumoured that he began to call his wife Edith his "dear Luthien.")
In 1927, Tolkien reunited with his former Oxford classmate C.S. Lewis, and together they formed a strong bond; in later years, they began their separate literary careers together and even traded ideas. (It has been noted that certain names, such as Bree, and other similiar ideas are shared in The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia.) After World War I ended, J.R.R. Tolkien retired to his country home and began to take interest in writing books in addition to reading them; after nearly ten years of scribbling away at his study, he produced his masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings.
His hugely popular fantasy trilogy was soon followed by related books, such as The Silmarillion and Lost Tales.
J.R.R. Tolkien died on the 2nd of September 1973.