One of the greatest novelists of the 20th century would be the fabled John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, more commonly known as J.R.R. Tolkien. Though Tolkien wrote many books, he is best known for the epic The Lord of the Rings and his fascinating world, Middle-Earth. Tolkien created a rich and diverse world with its own culture, history, and languages, in which he wrote an epic tale that empowered Christian themes and grasped the hearts of millions the world over.

Tolkien was born on January 3, 1892, in Bloemfontein, South Africa, where he lived for four years. When his father died, the family could no longer support themselves and they moved to the West Midlands, which is in rural England. In 1900, Tolkien's mother joined the Roman Catholic Church and Tolkien learned through religion. After Tolkien's mother died in 1904, he had to live with Mrs. Faulkner, a friend of the...