Of course, Sir Kohran makes a valid point about the kind of war Tolkien portrayed. Yet it means that we never see the enemies praised for their heroics, or hear songs made commemorating them. And, as I said, the heroes never have to face the consequences of the slaughter they inflict.
So, do the heroes get off easy - of course they put their lives on the line - but they never (from a Christian perspective) endanger their immortal souls - everyone they kill deserves it, & they enemies are, as I say, cowards for whom the reader can feel no sympathy?
One cannot see the M-e equivalent of a Kipling producing a song praising the courage of the enemy - which, in a way, lessens the 'heroics' of the heroes, & reduces the tragedy of the outcome, because there are no tragic heroes among the fallen to be mourned either by the heroes or the reader. Even the human enemies we have in LotR are mentioned only in passing (the Southrons & Easterlings may go down fighting couragously, but this only confirms their delusion - no enemy fights couragously for his side because he believes it is right unless he is deluded).
There is no mutual respect - which is something we do find among warriors in many conflicts - mutual suffering leads to a kind of empathy & respect for a fellow warrior. As I say, we find this in Homer (& in the Mahabharata come to that). Yet it is absent from Tolkien from what I can see. And so far, no-one has addressed the question of whether this 'lessens' the heroes, in that they never have to face any difficult moral questions regarding the rightness of the cause - or at least the rightness of their actions.
So, was Tolkien copping out?
EDIT
And the other thing:
Quote:
’E ’asn’t got no papers of ’is own,
’E ’asn’t got no medals nor rewards,
So we must certify the skill ’e’s shown
In usin’ of ’is long two-’anded swords
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The other 'obligation, if you will - the necessity to record the courage of the enemy in situations where his own people will not or cannot- who will record the heroism of the Southrons & Easterlings - even if it was for the wrong cause?