Philologist and writer, born in Bloemfontein, EC South Africa. He studied in Birmingham and at Oxford, where he became professor of Anglo-Saxon (1925-45) and Merton professor of English language and literature (1945-59). His scholarly works include Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics (1936).
His expertise in Anglo-Saxon literature, particularly saga and folklore, and his interest in mediaeval languages led to his books about a fantasy world in which the beings have their own language and mythology, notably The Hobbit (1937), which developed from bedtime stories written for his children. The same characters appear in The Lord of the Rings (3 vols, 1954-5, filmed 2001-3), a longer and more ambitious work in which he creates a history and mythology for a past time known as ‘Middle Earth’. The Silmarillion (1977) was published posthumously, as was Unfinished Tales (1980).