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Originally Posted by Rumil
I'm still wondering about the WWII thing. Must say I'm with Burra on the allegoricalness. However, did the state of the War affect Tolkien's mood, and the 'vibe' of the book, while he was in the process of writing? Considering that he wrote nothing during the darkest days of 1940-41, can anyone further entertain the possibility?
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Originally Posted by Mansun
Would the LOTR been the same if WWII never happened? Inspiration may have subconciously occurred within the grim context of war, and war itself was central to much of the events in the LOTR.
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I find it hard to believe there wasn't some effect on his writing from the war, but at the same time whatever effect it might have had probably wasn't as big as one could expect.
As Morthoron posted:
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Originally Posted by Tolkien
The crucial chapter, 'The Shadow of the Past', is one of the oldest parts of the tale. It was written long before the foreshadow of 1939 had yet become a threat of inevitable disaster, and from that point the story would have developed along essentially the same lines, if that disaster had been averted. Its sources are things long before in my mind, and little or nothing in it was modified by the war that began in 1939 or its sequels.
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Though WWII was a world changing event of the 1900's and its impact is still felt heavily today, WWII tends to get broken down into good vs. evil, light winning against darkness, (the evil Axis vs the vitreous Allies), and the ideas of good vs. evil are ones that go back to the first stories told word of mouth from parent to child. Tolkien's work can be compared to other world events that had just as profound effects. That doesn't mean that's where Tolkien found influence for his world. As I said before the joy of his work is the ability to allow the reader to find a connection to their own life, to other events in the world. Though it doesn't mean that's where Tolkien was coming from it doesn't make the reader wrong. Good literature is open to interpretation.