Christopher Tolkien, who has died aged 95, edited and published a huge body of writings left by his father, JRR Tolkien, extending the world of Middle-earth created in The Hobbit (1937) and The Lord of the Rings (1954-55), but also providing an unparallelled portrait of a creative life. Christopher was born in Leeds, the third son of Edith (nee Bratt) and John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, professor of English language at the university there. Christopher Tolkien said he grew up in Middle-earth and found the cities of The Silmarillion ‘more real than Babylon’. This, his 24th volume on his father’s work, was consciously his last. • Christopher Reuel Tolkien, editor and scholar, born 21 November 1924; died 16 January 2020

Source: The Guardian January 20, 2020 17:38 UTC