Tolkien in the marshes of the Great War

[knivesout]

Here's an interesting link I've put up elsewhere, too.

If you've thrilled to the battle scenes in the Lord of the Rings, you may be interested in reading more about Tolkien's own experiences as a soldier in World War 1, alluded to in his Foreword to LotR:

"One has personally to come under the shadow of war to feel fully its oppression; but as the years go by it seems now often forgotten that to be caught in youth by 1914 was no less hideous an experience than to be involved in 1939 and the following years. By 1918 all but one of my close friends were dead."

This article describes those days in more detail: http://toosvanholstein.nl/greatwar/t.../tolkiene.html

[I, Brian]

I've seen people stating that Tolkien was inspired a lot by WWII for elements in the "War of the One Ring" - but I'm sure I've read a Tolkien interview where he roundly rejects such a claim (actually, I think it was the introduction to my print edition of LOTR).