2017-01-03 Tue

“There is only one Lord of the Ring, only one who can bend it to his will. And he does not share power.” – Gandalf
J.R.R. Tolkien is a very well known writer and poet famous for his fantasy novels The Hobbit (1937) and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Born on 3rd January 1939, he enlisted as a lieutenant in the Lancashire Fusiliers and served the army during World War I at the Battle of Somme but returned due to ill health.

Only after LOTR was published in 1965 was he considered scholarly by Oxford University and developed his legendary cult following and imitators. Tolkien was W. P. Ker lecturer at Glasgow University in 1953. In 1954 both the University of Liege and University College, Dublin awarded him honorary doctorates. He received the Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1972. He also served as the vice-president of the Philological Society and was a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

Despite the immense popularity of his books, he did not greatly benefit from their sales. His son Christopher Tolkien was able to publish some of his works posthumously after his manuscripts were found.

Royal Mail issued a 10 stamp set to commemorate The Lord of the Rings on 26th February 2004. This stamp set is a 1st Class United Kingdom Royal stamp set. These stamps have the image of (clockwise) Map from the Lord of The Rings, The Forest of Lothlórien, The Fellowship of the Ring, Rivendell, The Hall at Bag-End, Fangorn Forest, Minas Tirith, Barad-Dur, Doors of Durin and Orthanc.