Edith Tolkien

Edith Mary Tolkien (January 21, 1889 – 29 November 29, 1971; née Bratt) was the wife of J.R.R. Tolkien. She became inspiration for the Elf character Lúthien Tinúviel.
== Biography ==
Edith Bratt was born in Wolverhampton, Staffordshire. Her mother, Frances Bratt, was the unmarried daughter of a shoe and bootmaker.Humphrey Carpenter, J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography, pg. 38 Edith was raised in Handsworth, a suburb of Birmingham, by her mother and her cousin. When Edith was 14 her mother died and she was sent to live at the Dresden House boarding school in Evesham. Here she developed her love for the piano.The Tolkien Family Album, pg. 27 Her guardian, solicitor Stephen Gateley, had her stay at Mrs. Faulkner's boarding house at 37 Duchess Road, Birmingham.Humphrey Carpenter, J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography, pgs. 38-39
Edith met Ronald Tolkien (i.e. "John Ronald Reuel") in early 1908, when he and his brother moved into 37 Duchess Road. At this time, Tolkien was 16 years old and Edith 19, and she lived in the floor below his. When their relationship began and became known to Tolkien's guardian, Fr. Francis Xavier Morgan, he viewed Edith as a distraction to Tolkien's schoolwork, and was bothered that she was Anglican. He forbade them to meet again until Tolkien turned 21.John Garth, Tolkien and the Great War: The Threshold of Middle-earth, pg. 12 Tolkien obeyed Father Morgan, but on the evening of Tolkien's 21st birthday he wrote a letter to Edith asking her to marry him. She replied that she was already engaged, but implied that she did so because she thought Tolkien had forgotten her. Tolkien journeyed to Cheltenham, where he and Edith met at the railway station. She returned her ring and later would announce that she was engaged to Tolkien.Humphrey Carpenter, J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography, pgs. 67-69) 
Soon after Tolkien's and Edith's wedding, Tolkien embarked on a course at the British Army signals school at Otley. In order to be closer to John she moved into a cottage in the village of Great Haywood, with her cousin Jennie Grove.John Garth, Tolkien and the Great War: The Threshold of Middle-earth, pgs. 134 & 231 Tolkien was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the Lancashire Fusiliers, then transferred to the 11th (Service) Battalion with the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and arrived in France on June 4, 1916.John Garth, Tolkien and the Great War: The Threshold of Middle-earth, pgs. 89, 138, 147 When Tolkien was serving in the Battle of the Somme it was very hard for Edith, for she feared that any knock on the door might carry news of her husbands death. In order to get around the British Army's postal censorship, Tolkien sent coded letters to Edith in order for her to track his movements on the Western Front.
A biography of Edith's life until 1917 is given in The Gallant Edith Bratt, published in 2021, of the Cormarë Series.
== Portrayal ==
In the 2019 film Tolkien, a young Edith Tolkien is portrayed by English-American actress Lily Collins.
== References ==
Category:Real people
Category:Relatives of J.R.R. Tolkien
Category:Characters of the film Tolkien (2019)
 
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