Tragedy struck again in 1904, when Tolkien's mother was diagnosed with diabetes, which at the time was untreatable. By the end of the year she had died and Ronald and his brother were left orphaned.

J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth — the world of The Lord of the Rings and now the new animated film The War of the Rohirrim — was born, first and foremost, from Tolkien’s intense and lifelong love for ...