Posted on 08/13/2013 7:34:19 PM PDT by NYer
FYI, ping!
IIRC the LOTR was written in serial form and Tolkien revised his concept as events transpired which changed his point of view on things.
Exquisite!
Tolkien was a mensch.
I am currently re-reading the LOTR. One of the main themes I am finding is that Tolkien thought that big government, trying to control he population, to be an evil that must be eradicated and the ideal type of government was one where people were allowed to go about their business with as little interference as possible.
For a moment I was worried that the author was going to claim Tolkien was pro-Nazi!
That explains why they ended up with a King.
I read that letter by Tolkien with envy: If only I could write so well. Remarkable.
They ended up with a king, after Tolkien wrote LOTR?
That’s an interesting observation.
One of the greatest bitch-slappings ever.
Time to scour the Shire.
No ... LOTR battles end with the land of middle earth having a King, or are we reading a different version of the book? A benevolent king, but a king nonetheless.
While stationed in Germany I picked up a copy of “Der Kleine Hobbit”.
The art work was interesting: Goblins/Orcs were equipped with something like a Japanese Katana.
My normal short hand for Tolkien was
(1) Elves were the English Protestants,
(2) Men were (French) Catholics,
(3) Dwarves were Jews
(4) Goblins/Orcs were Germans.
No clue what to do with the Ents.
VERY Intresting and Proud Ping!
Compare this letter from Tolkien to the ones sent to Adolph Hitler by Mahatma Gandhi. You’ll never have any respect for Gandhi again
Tolkien was African by birth.....
Imagine how the Krauts heads would have burst knowing that.
“Their time was mostly spent growing food and eating it, brewing beer and drinking it. The rest was spent throwing up.”
I believe the last act of the book, prior to Frodo and Sam going west, was the cleaning of the Shire. It was an act of people, who were in the process of being subjugated, to fighting for their freedom.
My understanding is The LOTR was written by Tolkien as a single work but released as a trilogy at the insistence of the British publisher. Tolkien “hated” allegory and always insisted that World War II, during which much of the book was written, and his own service in WWI bore no relationship with his masterpiece. But it’s awfully easy to see similarities between the pure evil that was Hitler / Nazism and Sauron’s domains and creatures. It is certainly clear that his service in the trenches informed how he wrote about the brutality of war.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.