In what year did J.R.R. Tolkien die?

J.R.R. Tolkien died in 1973. He died on 2 September 1973 in Bournemouth, England, at the age of 81, after suffering from a bleeding ulcer and a chest infection.

Tolkien was born John Ronald Reuel Tolkien on 3 January 1892 in Bloemfontein, then in the Orange Free State. He became an Oxford academic, philologist, and specialist in Old and Middle English before achieving worldwide fame as the author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

His wife, Edith, died on 29 November 1971. Tolkien had “Lúthien” engraved on her gravestone, referring to the immortal Elven princess from his mythology. When Tolkien died less than two years later, “Beren”—Lúthien’s mortal beloved—was added to the same grave, linking the couple to one of his most personal fictional romances.

Tolkien’s Middle-earth writings continued to appear after his death. His son Christopher edited and published The Silmarillion in 1977, followed by many volumes drawn from Tolkien’s unfinished manuscripts and notes.