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Old 07-06-2006, 08:19 AM   #37
The Squatter of Amon Rûdh
Spectre of Decay
 
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Pipe New Mythology?

I don't doubt the probability that Tolkien senior had the dream described, or one very like it. I'm just trying to hedge my bets since we don't have his word for it. As for the dream describing real events, I was trying to demonstrate just how unlikely it was that J.R.R. Tolkien could have found himself in such a real-life situation. The character of his regiment, his own duties and the location of his battalion all point to this being a dream the details of which are built of waking impressions. The 17th Lancers cap badge is very distinctive, and could have been seen in a depot, training or simply a manual of regimental insignia, not to mention that the death's head is a natural symbol for death itself. German elite cavalry were perfectly logical figures of terror for a British infantryman of the First World War (had Tolkien been fighting under Wellington, they would probably have been French Chasseurs), and the basic nature of the dream tallies with what we know of Tolkien: his tendency to feel overwhelmed by circumstances and to feel that he was not equal to the challenges he faced. Even the temptation to fly from death is natural, given the situation. I was just trying to avoid drawing too many conclusions from a third-hand account remembered after so many years. There are shades of inaccuracy beyond simply making something up, which is how legends are created.

Naturally no disrespect intended to Rev. Waddington-Feather, just the apprentice academic flashing an evidential fin.
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