In a hole in the trench there lived a soldier

[Galadriel55]

Originally Posted by Legate of Amon Lanc

However, I shouldn't have a say on this at all since I am not a native English speaker, so I have no idea which connotations the word might have in general.

This word isn't really used now, as they became things of the past by WW2 (yes, I also use this abbreviation). I only came upon this term in my research for History class. And I thought of the description of what Bag-End wasn't.

Generally speaking, though, I think one would think "nasty, dirty, wet, squished, rat-infested, etc, hole in the mud that does little but keep the rain off your head". Not a very pleasant description. The quote from TH is certainly much milder.

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)?

http://www.thecuttingedgenews.com/in...&pagename=Arts

I found this article. It doesn't say anything about JRRT being unconcious. However, I see other instances that repeat themselves in the legendarium. It mentions the Dead Marshes in the end. Mrs. Sumner is like Rosie, Captain Evers is like Gandalf, and Tolkien himself is like Faramir. The list could go on forever.

However, I don't want to turn this into yet another thread that looks for direct parallels between the WWs and LOTR/TH/The Sil. I'm looking more for the subtle things, such as accidental references or descriptions that match an experience.


You could say that Sam's thoughts about the dead Haradrim in Ithilien were a reflection of Tolkien's own reaction to the War, though I'm not sure it's accidental.

Edit: xed with Form

Originally Posted by Form

Tolkien's rejection of glory in war is on par for a WWI vet.

Most certainly!