Did Tolkien's Experience in Battle Influence the Battles in The Lord of The Rings?

Focuses on the battles of WWI and their relation to battles in LOTR.

Tolkien and WWI

Tolkien rarely spoke about the links between his fiction and his own life. However, those links undoubtedly exist. As is the case with each of us, our personal experiences directly influence our views on the world around us. For creatives like Tolkien, that inevitably bleeds into the text, either consciously or subconsciously. One of the most interesting lenses to see Tolkien’s work through is the lens of war. War plays a massive role in The Lord of The Rings and obviously played a significant role in Tolkien’s own life. It is fascinating to examine how the War for Middle-Earth compares and contrasts with Tolkien’s experience in World War I.

Tolkien joined the British Army in 1915.

Within WWI

Firstly, it is important to note that Tolkien was clearly not writing the Battle of Helm’s Deep or the Battle of Pelennor Fields with the explicit intention of mirroring the style of warfare that took place in World War I. These battles, from the weapons and battle tactics used, to the grandiose nature of the speeches, and the fantastical dramatic events draw more literally from previous historical fiction and history itself. After all, The Lord of The Rings is a fantasy story above all else.

There are examples within the battles themselves that do, however, mirror Tolkien’s own experience. A hallmark of several of the battles in The Lord of The Rings is the Deus Ex Machina. When all hope is lost and defeat is all but assured, the tide of battle turns in the final moments and the battle is won. The Deus Ex Machina is not an uncommon trope in fiction, but it is especially fitting for Tolkien considering he served as a real life version on several occasions. According to John Garth, Tolkien’s battalion was attacking a german stronghold in 1917 when they received word that a friendly battalion was pinned down by enemy artillery and gunfire a half mile away. Tolkien’s battalion came to their aid and helped to extricate their allies from failure.