J.R.R. Tolkien and the First World War
Dan Snow's History Hit
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Tolkien and the Land of the Rings
Tolkien was born in Blumfentain, which is now South Africa. He came back with his mother when he was very young because of the torrid climate. Tolkien settled just outside Birmingham, a little hamlet called Sairhole. There's still a Sairhole mill there, which went on to inspire the mill in Hobbiton. His childhood fed into his image of the Shire and San Gamgee.
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