|
I think Tolkien did in many respects think of MT in Byzantine terms, or rather as a Rome-Constantinople combo (he did once liken Elessar's coronation to the rise of a new Holy Roman Empire).
On the other hand, there's a parallel to Vienna, too- not only the HRE thing, but also the resemblance of the Pelennor Fields to the siege of Vienna in 1683, when the high-water mark of the Muslim assault on Europe was broken (in great part) by the charge of Jan Sobieski and his Polish knights.
__________________
The entire plot of The Lord of the Rings could be said to turn on what Sauron didn’t know, and when he didn’t know it.
|