Simon Mario Reuel Tolkien (born 12 January 1959) is a British novelist and former

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

. He is the grandson of

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...

, and the eldest child of

Christopher Tolkien Christopher John Reuel Tolkien (21 November 1924 – 16 January 2020) was an English and naturalised French academic editor and writer. The son of the author and academic J. R. R. Tolkien, Christopher edited 24 volumes based on his father's P ...

Biography

Simon Tolkien was born in

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

on 12 January 1959, the only child of

and his first wife, Faith Faulconbridge. His parents separated when he was five years old and he grew up with his mother. He was educated at the

Dragon School The Dragon School is a private school across two sites in Oxford, England. The Dragon Pre-Prep (children aged 4–7) and Prep School (children aged 8–13) are both co-educational schools. The Dragon Prep School was founded in 1877 as the Oxfo ...

in Oxford and then

Downside School Downside School (formally The College of St Gregory the Great, Downside but simply referred to as Downside) is an 11–18 mixed, Roman Catholic, independent, day and boarding school in Stratton-on-the-Fosse, Somerset, England. It was establish ...

. He studied modern history at

Trinity College, Oxford Trinity College (full name: The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University of Oxford, of the foundation of Sir Thomas Pope (Knight)) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in E ...

, after which he embarked on a fifteen-year career as a criminal lawyer. He became a

in 1994. In 1984, Tolkien married Tracy Steinberg, who was born in 1962. Steinberg is Jewish. She owned and operated a vintage clothing store in Chelsea, London, called Steinberg & Tolkien, which shut in September 2007. The couple have two children, a son, Nicholas, and a daughter, Anna. Nicholas Tolkien is a playwright and director whose first play, ''Terezin'', was first staged in June 2017. Simon Tolkien currently lives in southern California with his wife.

Writings

In January 2000, he began writing fiction. His first novel, which he has described as a

black comedy Black comedy, also known as black humor, bleak comedy, dark comedy, dark humor, gallows humor or morbid humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally ...

, was not accepted for publication. His second novel, a

courtroom drama Legal drama, also called courtroom drama, is a genre of film and television that generally focuses on narratives regarding legal practice and the justice system. The American Film Institute (AFI) defines "courtroom drama" as a genre of film in wh ...

, was published in the United States as ''The Final Witness'' in 2002 and in the United Kingdom as ''The Stepmother'' in 2003. His second published work, ''The Inheritance'' (the first of a trilogy featuring Inspector Trave of the

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

Criminal Investigation Department The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is the branch of a police force to which most plainclothes criminal investigation, detectives belong in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth nations. A force's CID is disti ...

), was published in 2010. The second book of the Inspector Trave trilogy, ''The King of Diamonds'', was published in 2011. The third and final book in the trilogy, ''Orders from Berlin'', was published in 2012. His 2016 novel ''No Man's Land: A Novel'' was published concurrent with the 100th anniversary of the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme (; ), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and the French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place between 1 July and 18 Nove ...

; the middle third of the novel is set in that months-long

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

battle. The novel follows the life of a poor English child and young adult (Adam Raine), beginning with episodes of labour unrest in London and on to the strikes in coal mining communities, class distinctions, and home front experiences of World War I. Simon Tolkien acknowledges that the experiences of Adam Raine only superficially resemble those faced by his grandfather (J. R. R. Tolkien) in the same large long battle of the war, but he wanted to write something that in part paid tribute to his grandfather's pivotal war experience as a young man, only a few years older than the age of the protagonist of ''No Man's Land''.

Reaction to filmed versions of J. R. R. Tolkien's works

Simon Tolkien disagreed with the policy of his grandfather's estate in regard to ''The Lord of the Rings'' films. When

issued a statement that the "Tolkien estate would be best advised to avoid any specific association with the films", Simon Tolkien broke ranks, offering to cooperate with the filmmakers, stating, "It was my view that we take a much more positive line on the film and that was overruled by my father." Following up a 2001 interview with ''The'' ''Independent'', Simon in 2003 gave interviews to ''The'' ''Daily Telegraph'' and other media in which he discussed his strained relationship with his father, describing it as a permanent breach; however, they subsequently reconciled. As of 2022, he is a consultant on the Amazon TV series '' The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power''.

Bibliography

Inspector Trave novels

* ''The Inheritance'' (2010) * ''The King of Diamonds'' (2011) * ''Orders from Berlin'' (2012)

Theo Sterling novels

* ''The Palace at the End of the Sea'' (2025) * ''The Room of Lost Steps'' (2025)

Other works

* ''The Final Witness'' / ''The Stepmother'' (2002) * ''No Man's Land'' (2016)

References

External links

Simon Tolkien websiteMy Grandfather, JRR Tolkien.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tolkien, Simon 1959 births Living people 21st-century English novelists Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford English mystery writers English barristers English people of German descent People educated at The Dragon School People educated at Downside School English male novelists Simon British expatriates in the United States