Tolkien fell in love with Edith Bratt when he was 16. They were then separated for five years because his guardian refused to allow him to contact Edith until he was 21. They married on 22 March ...

Then, at about 18, Tolkien fell in love. Edith Bratt was an orphan like himself, lodging in the same boarding house, one floor below him. She and Ronald would lean out their windows to talk at night ...