The father of John Ronald Reuel (J.R.R.) Tolkien, Arthur Reuel Tolkien, was a bank clerk. He went to South Africa in the 1980's for better prospects of promotion. Along came his wife, Mabel.
John R.R. Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa, on the 3rd of January, 1892.
He later said that one his clearest memories of living there, was a scary encounter with a large, hairy spider. This influenced his writing of Shelob the spider in his future classic "The Lord of the Rings".
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