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Originally Posted by Legate of Amon Lanc
Random thing that comes to my mind, and I'm not even sure if I haven't read about this somewhere - the scene when Bilbo wakes up after the Battle of the Five Armies, wasn't this somehow connected to some war experiences of Tolkien, or maybe some impressions or things that had occured to him (awakening after the battle when nobody was there anymore)? Does anybody know whether there really wasn't anything written about that anywhere? Or if not, do you think it would be possible that such a thing would be something inspired by the War experiences (I don't know, like, spending some time unconscious and missing a large part of the battle)?
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I feel like I've read somewhere that Tolkien blotting out Bilbo's narrative perspective during the Battle of the Five Armies is a statement on the "glory of war." The Men, Elves, and Dwarves win, but their goodness (their "glory," one might say) is not derived from their war prowess. This makes sense to me, and it puts Tolkien in a position of some opposition to parts of the epic/mythic tradition he is writing in. The reason it makes sense to me is precisely because of his statements in
The Letters about the horrors of war. Who more than a WWI veteran would recognize the futility of war? Even when, as a Catholic, he would be willing to support a Just War, I can't see Tolkien ever glorifying it.
In this connection, Tolkien's other depictions of battles might be interesting to consider. The battles of the First Age that get the most attention are almost the exact opposite of the Battle of the Five Armies: laid out in full detail, but the forces of good are utterly crushed (the Nirnaeth is the main battle that comes to mind, but Túrin's losses on Amon Rûdh, at Nargothrond, and the fall of Gondolin come to mind). The victories in "the Silmarillion," on the other hand, are like the victory in
The Hobbit: the War of Wrath is never given much detail, neither are the first three great Battles of the First Age, such as the victorious Dagor Aglareb ("glorious battle").
The Lord of the Rings is interesting in this respect, and I'm not quite sure if it will fit with the idea I'm running with, since the good guys tend to win the battles that are laid out: Helm's Deep, the Pelennor, and the Morannon. The only thing that springs immediately to mind is that all three battles are eucatastrophes, as outnumbered forces of good win out against the odds--and through the intervention of another force showing up just in time. In other words, one might say that without Gandalf (and the Valar), any one of these battles could have been a minor Nirnaeth.
It's food for thought, anyway--and, as I said, Tolkien's rejection of glory in war is on par for a WWI vet.