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His name is John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, but most of us know him as J.R.R.Tolkein.

He is the author of the wildly popular book series, 'Lord of the Rings,' and while these books merit their own recognition for Tolkien's genius, he was so much more than a writer of fantasy. He immersed himself in literature and language actually creating the entire elvish languages spoken by the characters in the Lord of the Rings series itself. Languages, plural with an s. His elvish languages would go one long after Tolkein's passing to become the official elfish langue used by future writers as fantasy.

Today, March 25th is Tolkien Reading Day.

Type " elfish language" into Google and Tolkiens contribution will be the first notation you see. This is just one aspect of the heart and soul he put into his work, but again, he was so much more than a fantasy writer.

For as many fans as Tolkein has, few people know that he was a revered linguist, an expert on Old English and Old Norse literature. He was also known as a tireless professor at Oxford University from 1925 until 1959 who was charged in his contract with producing 30 lectures annually. Tolkein instead produced on average 70 to 100 each year instead and considered his fantasy as a mere hobby. He felt his scholarly work was a more important literary contribution.

Here he is in his own words, in a Youtube provided by Roman Styran.

Tolkien was raised by a Catholic priest, waiting years to marry the love of his life who was born a Protestant and he served during WWI.

If you would like to know more about this prolific writer who has been crowned the KING of fantasy fiction, be sure to peruse the Tolkein Society website here or even better, read any of his phenomenal books.

KEEP READING: Here are the most popular baby names in every state

Using March 2019 data from the Social Security Administration, Stacker compiled a list of the most popular names in each of the 50 states and Washington D.C., according to their 2018 SSA rankings. The top five boy names and top five girl names are listed for each state, as well as the number of babies born in 2018 with that name. Historically common names like Michael only made the top five in three states, while the less common name Harper ranks in the top five for 22 states.

Curious what names are trending in your home state? Keep reading to see if your name made the top five -- or to find inspiration for naming your baby.

 

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