J. R. R. Tolkien's influences he goes. Fate eventually catches up with him when he unwittingly kills his own brother, who in turn mortally wounds him. Similarly, Turin accidentally kills his friend Beleg with his sword. J. R. R. Tolkien's influences While highly creative, the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien was influenced by a number of sources. Tolkien was inspired by his academic fields of philology and early Germanic literature, especially poetry and mythology, as well as a wide range of other beliefs, culture, and experiences. "The Lord of the Rings" is a sequel to "The Hobbit" and so shares influences with it. At
J. R. R. Tolkien Literature, in which post he remained until his retirement in 1959. He served as an external examiner for University College, Dublin, for many years. In 1954 Tolkien received an honorary degree from the National University of Ireland (of which U.C.D. was a constituent college). Tolkien completed "The Lord of the Rings" in 1948, close to a decade after the first sketches. Tolkien also translated the Book of Jonah for the "Jerusalem Bible", which was published in 1966. The Tolkiens had four children: John Francis Reuel Tolkien (17 November 1917 – 22 January 2003), Michael Hilary Reuel Tolkien (22 October 1920