What was the name of J.R.R. Tolkien’s wife and lifelong literary partner?

J.R.R. Tolkien’s wife and lifelong literary partner was Edith Tolkien.

Tolkien met Edith Bratt when he was a teenager, and they married in 1916. Their relationship influenced Tolkien’s fiction, especially the tale of Beren and Lúthien, in which a mortal man and an immortal Elf-woman overcome extraordinary obstacles to be together. Tolkien regarded the story as deeply connected with his own relationship with Edith.

Edith was also the inspiration for Lúthien in Tolkien’s personal mythology. On their shared gravestone in Oxford, Tolkien is identified as “Beren” and Edith as “Lúthien.” Edith and Tolkien had four children, including Christopher, who later edited much of Tolkien’s posthumously published work. Edith should not be confused with Mabel, Tolkien’s mother, or Priscilla, his youngest child.