[ID: Post by tumblr user tanoraqui
it's just hard not to think about the fact that in 1915, JRR Tolkien went to war not with but certainly in the same army and many of the same battles as his 3 best school friends, all nicely upper class young men who had never known much loss, and only he and one other came back alive - and a couple decades later, he wrote a book in which 3 nicely upper class young men (and one very excellent gardener) who have never known much loss go to war together, or at least they start out together, and they all come home alive. (Though one cannot bear it, and does not stay.)
Original post by @tanoraqui
[ID: Post by tumblr user midydoof
What more it wasn't just losing his friends, he was a commanding officer of a battalion of working class men. All farmers and miners from the same area of Lancashire. He felt affinity for them, but wasn't allowed to socialize between the ranks due to military protocol and he hated it.
"The most improper job of any man... is bossing other men. Not one in a million is fit for it, and least of all those who seek the opportunity."
I don't think it was even 6 months later that he contracted trench fever and was sent home.
His entire command was wiped out in one charge shortly after, the majority of a whole countryside's youths slaughtered while he survived. Youths who were brave and steadfast, but thought of as lesser than their superior officers while still being the ones carrying the actual battle. Youths who deserved fellowship, respect, and above all to go home and dance with their own Rosie.
"My Sam Gamgee is indeed a reflection of the English soldier, of the privates and batmen I knew in the 1914 war, and recognised as so far superior to myself".
Original post by @midydoof
[ID: Post by tumblr user brigwife-deactivated20240426
crying because an elf prince, dwarf lord and a fucking king of men dropped everything and ran over 100 miles with barely any rest, to rescue a couple of halflings (who were worth nothing outside the shire, and functionally little more than a burden) because they were their friends.
screaming and throwing up because the golden boy of gondor, the steward's eldest son and his pride and joy; noble heir of the house of húrin, sacrificed his life for those self-same halflings
Original post by brigwife-deactivated20240426
[ID: Screenshot of tags from tumblr user indelen
merry brandybuck, pippin took, merry and pippin, also pippin is underage he's basically still a kid, and merry is not much older then him, so they saved like the hobbit equivalent of a 17 and a 19 year old, who out of love for their childhood friends and family enlisted into a massive bloody conflict with them, and instead of abandoning. them to die their commanding officers went through hell and back to resue them from behind enemy lines, you can really tell sometimes that Tolkien has seen some serious fucked up shit in WWI and it remained with him, and we wrote a story where the people did better then what he witnessed, i know he didn't like people analyzing. his work through that frame too much but … i mean what's there is there, Tolkien really said friendship is magic and ohana means family, and you are responsible for the people you command and it is your duty as a leader to rescue those who follow you into battle, This fucking story man
Original tags by @indelen
[ID: Post by tumblr user thethermocline
The more despair I endure in life, the more I love Frodo. I'm just. I'm so glad that Tolkien wrote him like that. He was a hero and it broke him. He was given too much to carry. The circumstances were dire, everyone was doing the best they could, and Frodo tried so hard, for such a good cause, and he...broke. And the narrative has pity for him, the characters show him kindness. Even after victory, his hurts did not heal, and it isn't considered his fault. He must go to the undying lands, to seek out peace there. In universe, he is forgiven for being human - don't be pedantic - and his great torment is recognized. He fell. He could not have done it alone. He is still a hero.
And, I think that's important.
Original post by @thethermocline
[ID: Post by tumblr user dduane
Tolkien endured a war that broke its combatants this way... and it was a LONG time before "ordinary people" back at home forgave the combatants for what was widely perceived as a lack of heroism-even cowardice-when the broken came back. He was able to view that scenario with compassion long before most of British society was able to, because he'd been in it with the ones who broke.
[ID: Post by aragornsrockcollection
The hobbits in LotR, every 5 minutes: Our adventure is not like we would have liked at all, it's not fun exciting like Bilbo's was.
Bilbo, who has been telling the bedtime story version of a story whose tragedy still haunts him: Ha, Ha, Ha, right...
Screenshot of tags by tumblr user adhd-edward-teach
not a single one of them like.. processed that bilbo changed aspects of his story, the hobbits: bilbos adventure was so fun and stress free.. why cant ours be like that, gimli; who actually got an acurate recount of the journey from multiple sourses: what the fuck are you kids going on about?
Using you summing up my thoughts perfectly as an excuse to say:
Tolkien's choice here was absolutely commentary on the way the false glory of war was sold to his generation before they were shipped off to die in WWI.
Original post by @aragornsrockcollection
tolkien and the influence of wwi on lotr: a collection of tumblr posts
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