On what date did J.R.R. Tolkien die in Bournemouth, England?

J.R.R. Tolkien died in Bournemouth, England, on 2 September 1973.

Tolkien died at the age of 81 after developing a chest infection and complications from a bleeding gastric ulcer. He had been living in Bournemouth with his wife, Edith, before returning to Oxford after her death in 1971. He died at a private hospital in Bournemouth.

Tolkien was buried with Edith in Wolvercote Cemetery, Oxford. Their shared grave is marked with the names Beren and Lúthien, the legendary lovers from Tolkien’s mythology. Edith died in 1971, so Tolkien outlived her by about two years.

His death came before the publication of several posthumous works assembled and edited by his son Christopher. The date is sometimes confused with the date of Tolkien’s birth, 3 January 1892, or with Edith Tolkien’s death date. The exact death date was 2 September 1973.