this post was submitted on 21 Apr 2025
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[–] rottingleaf@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

But also easy to forget that it was terrible war, both the fantasy one and the one Tolkien himself participated in, that brought about such a grand story. It is real, to an extent.

It doesn't seem easy to forget for me - I mean, if someone's brain just decides to ignore what "smell of death" means, or what "hewn dead bodies" look like, or the moments where besiegers of Minas Tirith use Osgiliath defenders' heads as projectiles, or how small the events there are compared to the way idiots think of wars, and still how hard for their participants, - then maybe.

And about honor and integrity - people put in a hard place behave this way more often than it would seem. Being in such a situation is a filter itself.

It's not all that unrealistic, there are good and evil in real life too. Sometimes with a contrast bigger than usual even for Tolkien.

[–] RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 2 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

It was real for them (as in Tolkien’s experience, which was translated into the fictional story).

Not us.

We read the stories and forget how horrible war can be, and unless we have actually experienced those horrors, our understanding is only intellectual.

[–] rottingleaf@lemmy.world 1 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

I agree.

But that would be everything written, and also when put in situations very moderately reminiscing such, I had associations with LOTR from my childhood where I didn't have any such experience. Tolkien says literally many thoughts people have when encountering horrors.

[–] RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 1 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago)

That’s what makes a good writer and story.

I cannot argue one way or the other if you’re going to simply take the faintest references and call everything the same.