J.R.R. Tolkien died in Bournemouth, England, in 1973. He died on 2 September at the age of 81, after a period of illness, and was buried in Oxford alongside his wife, Edith Tolkien.
Tolkien’s death came after the publication of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, but much of his wider mythology remained unpublished during his lifetime. His son Christopher later edited and published major posthumous works, including The Silmarillion in 1977.
The year 1971 is sometimes confused with Tolkien’s death because Edith Tolkien died that year. Their shared grave carries the names Beren and Lúthien for Tolkien and Edith, linking their personal memorial with the mythology he created.