Timeline for How much did Tolkien write about the connection between WWI and his work?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
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| Jun 16, 2020 at 9:31 | history | edited | CommunityBot |
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| May 28, 2015 at 18:29 | comment | added | DVK-on-Ahch-To | One thing that I would note is that while Tolkien may not have intended there to be an allegory, some impact may have subconsciously seeped through when writing independent of his intent. Your note on Letter 73 being a clear example. | |
| May 20, 2015 at 1:38 | history | edited | Jason Baker | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| May 18, 2015 at 4:00 | vote | accept | Wad Cheber | ||
| May 18, 2015 at 1:02 | history | edited | Jason Baker | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| May 17, 2015 at 20:46 | comment | added | Wad Cheber | @JasonBaker - you said it better than I could have done. There are too many parallels to count, but the ones he admitted to are dwarfed (no pun intended) by those he didn't. | |
| May 17, 2015 at 20:38 | comment | added | Jason Baker | @WadCheber I don't think it's a stretch to say that Tolkien's writing was influenced by his experiences in the war. But there's a difference between the parallels that exist and the ones Tolkien will admit to; there tends to be more of the former than the latter. This is all I could find (although I'll take another look when I get home in a few hours), but in general Tolkien preferred to talk about the mythic influences over the historical ones | |
| May 17, 2015 at 19:54 | comment | added | Wad Cheber | I might be making too much of this, but then again, Tolkien would definitely remember the infamous "sawback bayonet". I'm trying to leaf through the books again to find my other WWI notations. If I find them, I'll add the relevant quotes to my question. | |
| May 17, 2015 at 19:52 | comment | added | Wad Cheber | I read constantly, almost always non-fiction (LotR is the first fiction I have read in at least 4-5 years). I spent 2-3 years reading about WWI a few years back. When I read, I keep a pencil handy and make notes in the margins, underline stuff I find interesting, etc. I have made several notes in LotR about parallels to WWI. Some are minor details- for instance, the Orc knife Pippin uses to cut his bonds is saw-edged. British soldiers in WWI hated the original German bayonet because it had a saw edge and caused grisly wounds. They would mutilate Germans caught carrying them. | |
| May 17, 2015 at 19:36 | comment | added | Wad Cheber | +1. Your answers are always terrific. And you are so knowledgeable about all things Tolkien that I can't think of many people who would be better equipped to answer this: Is that ALL he had to say about the influence of his time in the war - especially on the Somme (I knew he fought there, and mentioned it in my original question; I've read a lot about WWI, particularly the Somme, Verdun, and Ypres/Passchendaele) - on his writing? I get the impression that he downplayed the role his ordeal had in shaping his stories, but the influence is very apparent to me. | |
| May 17, 2015 at 18:03 | history | answered | Jason Baker | CC BY-SA 3.0 |