Tolkien

American  

[tohl-keen, tol-] / ˈtoʊl kin, ˈtɒl- /

noun

1. J(ohn) R(onald) R(euel) 1892–1973, English novelist, philologist, and teacher, born in South Africa.

---

Tolkien British  

/ ˈtɒlkiːn /

noun

1. J ( ohn ) R ( onald ) R ( euel ). 1892–1973, British philologist and writer, born in South Africa. He is best known for The Hobbit (1937), the trilogy The Lord of the Rings (1954–55), and the posthumously published The Silmarillion (1977)

---

Other Word Forms

• Tolkienesque adjective

Example Sentences

Tolkien once described his defining high fantasy in a frequently quoted letter as “a fundamentally religious and Catholic work.”

From Salon • Mar. 29, 2026

Colbert, who is well-known to be a JRR Tolkien superfan, will adapt an early section of the first Lord of the Rings novel, The Fellowship of the Ring, with his son, screenwriter Peter McGee.

From BBC • Mar. 25, 2026

"But as Tolkien wrote, it's the small, everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay, small acts of kindness and love," he said.

From Barron's • Feb. 3, 2026

The crisis of World War II provided occasion for Lewis and Tolkien to infuse their early experiments in fantasy with a sense of moral urgency.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 22, 2026

Kenny's a Tolkien freak, which is why we're sort of friends.

From "Things Not Seen" by Andrew Clements