One of the things I appreciated most about LOTR was that while Tolkien showed what I would call “campy” combat (Dwarf tossing), he also showed the long term lingering effects of the cost of war on its participants. The fact that Frodo’s wound from the Ring Wraith on Weathertop would never quite heal was a great way to show that war affects its warriors in a deep way.
Tolkien fought in the trenches during WW1. He said “By 1918 all but one of my close friends were dead.” During WW1, the term was “shell shock” and Lord Gort said that shell-shock was a weakness and was not found in “good” units.
At the beginning of World War II, the term “shell shock” was banned by the British Army.
By the Vietnam war, it was called “post-Vietnam Syndrome”.
PTSD was formally recognized as a diagnosis in 1980.
Tolkien wrote The Hobbit from 1932 to 1936. He wrote the Lord of the Rings from 1937 to 1949.
I can’t remember where teh dwarf tossing was. I think the body count contest between Legolas and Gimli is in the book, but I’m not sure. I’ll have to read the books, again, I suppose.
there are worse fates.
As for a link, I didn’t get anything. You could try posting it here. Spam filters say I have 500 messages in the spam file.
There is definitely a body-count game in the book.
The relevant Wonderella is presently the previous strip at nonadventures dot com. I’m not going to try to slip a link past the spam filter if it got caught last time.
htom | 25-Nov-12 at 6:43 pm | Permalink
I can totally see Frodo as a PTSD victim. Tolkien would have called him “shell-shocked”, and maybe even does. Coming home to the Shire … oh yes.
Greg | 26-Nov-12 at 6:18 pm | Permalink
One of the things I appreciated most about LOTR was that while Tolkien showed what I would call “campy” combat (Dwarf tossing), he also showed the long term lingering effects of the cost of war on its participants. The fact that Frodo’s wound from the Ring Wraith on Weathertop would never quite heal was a great way to show that war affects its warriors in a deep way.
Greg | 26-Nov-12 at 6:37 pm | Permalink
Tolkien fought in the trenches during WW1. He said “By 1918 all but one of my close friends were dead.” During WW1, the term was “shell shock” and Lord Gort said that shell-shock was a weakness and was not found in “good” units.
At the beginning of World War II, the term “shell shock” was banned by the British Army.
By the Vietnam war, it was called “post-Vietnam Syndrome”.
PTSD was formally recognized as a diagnosis in 1980.
Tolkien wrote The Hobbit from 1932 to 1936. He wrote the Lord of the Rings from 1937 to 1949.
Drachefly | 27-Nov-12 at 10:43 am | Permalink
Did Tolkein really include actual dwarf-tossing, or is that metonymy for heroicised combat?
(btw – I’m not sure – did you get the comment I submitted with a link to the recent Wonderella comic that dealt with the ineffectiveness of torture?)
Greg | 28-Nov-12 at 6:22 am | Permalink
I can’t remember where teh dwarf tossing was. I think the body count contest between Legolas and Gimli is in the book, but I’m not sure. I’ll have to read the books, again, I suppose.
there are worse fates.
As for a link, I didn’t get anything. You could try posting it here. Spam filters say I have 500 messages in the spam file.
Drachefly | 28-Nov-12 at 7:55 am | Permalink
There is definitely a body-count game in the book.
The relevant Wonderella is presently the previous strip at nonadventures dot com. I’m not going to try to slip a link past the spam filter if it got caught last time.
Greg | 28-Nov-12 at 9:44 pm | Permalink
http://nonadventures.com/2012/11/17/war-on-error/
Greg | 28-Nov-12 at 9:46 pm | Permalink
hm, there is a LOT of spam in my spam filter.
funny comic, by the way.
Barbara Rich | 08-Apr-13 at 6:49 am | Permalink
Dwarf-tossing was STRICTLY movie-verse and an invention of Peter Jackson.
Tolkien NEVER had that in the book.
Greg | 26-Apr-13 at 5:24 am | Permalink
ah, then I misremembered. I wonder if the body-count contest between Legolas and Gimli was strictly a movie invention as well.
My mind is turning to mush.