If He Hadn't Seen Combat, JRR Tolkien May Have Never Written A Word

I had actually heard something about this, and you know, it is probably really true. Combat changes a person that is sure, but sometimes it opens up new patterns of thought and can make a nobody person into somebody. I say it that way because some people I have met believed that, even though they served, their contributions to the service, or to their country, was so infinitesimal to not even have existed at all. Tolkien was a part of my life for many years, in his books, the animated films, even the Lord of the Rings movies, that I have even started my own kids on the series.

Going back to the nobody comment, Tolkien may not have covered himself in glory and won medals and been a hero for the generations to worship, but he shared his worlds with us and let us imagine with him a new and exciting land. He served his country, and even if he did not become a military legend, we should still recognize that he served and there are far to few these days that will even consider it. I personally have never seen combat, but there are many friends I know that have. Their capacity to see beyond what has happened to them is very impressive and I would not be surprised if one of them turns into another Tolkien. Sometimes what people survive can bring out portions of themselves that will live on well beyond their own lives, and influence others in a way perhaps not conceived of when they originally thought of what they created.

Loved the Hobbit and the Trilogy. Must reading in the 70s military.

Read The Hobbit and the trilogy while in Germany in '70s. While freezing in Graf and Hohenfels, on buses and trains, while freezing in a 52 ton hunk of metal. Have read every decade of my life since and get something new each time. Thank you Mr Tolkien. Movies are ok but my imagination was better.