Emma Clawson Mrs. Miller English 12 4 January, 2017 The thundering crash of bombs, constant sounds of never ceasing gunfire, and the indiscernible cries of dying men. This was the constant horror that soldiers faced during WWI. How would one cope with constant mind-numbing fear? Unfortunately the truth is that many did not. But for the ones that did, methods were used depending on the soldier, Writing was J.R.R. Tolkien creative escape from the war. Very early on, he started writing about mythical creatures such as orcs, gnomes, and elves.The war was the birthplace of one of his brilliant works that is know as the Lord of the Rings. Because of his experiences in the trenches, the Lord of the Rings has many similarities to WWI. Although Tolkien himself claimed the his work was not a retelling of the WWI. Although his writings are not a direct allegory of his experiences, there are many similarities that need to be addressed. From his experiences in the Trenches that occurred in WWI, Tolkien based certain characters, events, and lesson learned from this into his work …show more content…
As mentioned before, WWI was the first time Mustard gas was used in warfare. “The gas cleared large sections of soldiers from the front lines, who fled once exposed, and ultimately killed 5,000 opposing troops. Chlorine gas burns the throats of its victims and causes death by asphyxiation, much like smoke kills people during a house fire” (Briggs). During the battle, mists and fumes were everywhere. Horses although were unaffected by this, and the German riders wore gas masks in order to breathe. Because of this when they spoke it was a pitch hissing noise, similar to that of the Nazgul in the Lord of the Rings. Also the Nazgul wore black cloaks to hide their true identity while searching for the ring. The German soldiers also had uniforms to mask and protect who they really were from the opposing