Born in Bloemfontein in 1892, Tolkien was orphaned in childhood, brought up in near poverty and almost thwarted in adolescent romance. Surviving the Battle of the Somme, where he lost some of his closest friends, he returned to academic life, eventually becoming Merton Professor of English at Oxford. Then suddenly his life changed dramatically. One day, marking essays, he found himself writing "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit" and worldwide renown awaited him.