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Description
Tolkien served in the British Army in World War I, including the disaster that was the battle of the Somme in 1916. The impact of the war on his writing is a subject of much scholarly debate- not the question of did it impact his writing- it did- but to what degree. One aspect of his work that most are familiar with from the Peter Jackson movie “The Fellowship of the Ring”, 'The Council of Elrond' is Boromir’s dialogue describing Mordor, the “One does not simply walk into Mordor” concluding with a concise summary of Tolkien’s descriptions of Mordor “It is a barren wasteland, riddled with fire, ash, and dust. The very air you breathe is a poisonous fume,” which is also an apt description of the poison gas drenched trenches Tolkien served in in the First World War.

That is an aspect of Tolkien’s writing that is well known and well documented and not disputed. Another aspect, while documented, is not as frequently identified. Astute readers may have already noticed that the character of Sam is distinct from all others, both for his comparatively ‘normal’ name and his lack of any heroic pedigree-even among the Hobbits, Frodo, Merry and Pippin were all already members of distinguished families before the adventures.

This is probably in part because Tolkien did write in answer to a fan’s letter that he intended for Sam to represent the ‘batmen’ and other soldiers he served with in World War I. (letter, written on 16 April 1956 to H. Cotton Minchin, cited in Sam Gamgee and Tolkien’s batmen Posted on 13 February 2014 and citing in turn *“Frodo and the Great War”, in The Lord of the Rings, 1954–2004: Scholarship in Honor of Richard E. Blackwelder, ed. Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull (Milwaukee: Marquette University Press, 2006, johngarth.wordpress.com/2014/0… ). Note to everyone not in the English Army, a ‘batman’ was a regular soldier assigned to assist an officer in the field, he usually prepared meals and sleeping quarters for the officer as well as running errands for him and accompanying him into battle, as can be expected most officers and their batmen knew each other well and were often friends to a limited degree. What is also know is that in the Battle of the Somme a batman, probably assigned to Tolkien, by the name of Thomas Gaskin, was killed. The reason for the assumption of a connection to Tolkien is that “Tolkien preserved a poignant letter from Gaskin’s mother asking about her son.” (Tolkien and Great War, The Threshold of Middle Earth, John Garth, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, New York, 2003, Pg. 171)

The point? After faithful service, heroic deeds and a journey through Mordor Tolkien describes Sam’s fate in the final lines of the Lord of the Rings:
“…there was yellow light, and fire within; and the evening meal was ready, and he was expected. And Rose drew him in, and set him in, and sat him in his chair, and put little Elanor upon his lap.
He drew a deep breath. ‘Well I’m back,” he said.
Tolkien gave Sam’s story the ending that Thomas Gaskin- and so many other young men-never had.

It is my 20 year plus effort to write a Tolkien style epic for science fiction. As he wrote a pre- history of humanity (Lord of the Rings and the events are set on an Earth of legend as it were) mine is a future history of humanity from the perspective of writing about events in our future as if they were a tale from the past. One aspect of the series is that Tolkien’s works have been added to scripture- a desperate move by the church at one point to increase membership (and if you look at how the current versions of the Bible came together not that farfetched of an idea) and is frequently quoted by one of the main characters- gems like “There is no curse in Elvish, Entish, or the tongues of Men bad enough for such greed. ‘Lord of the Rings, Book III, Chapter 4, verse 265.’” As a consequence of my writing I did a lot of research into the background of Tolkien’s writings and I hope you enjoyed this essay elaborating on an aspect of my book. For those who are interested it is the Conquered Armies series, now being released on Patreon in both Spanish and English, at www.patreon.com/user?u=5313643 if you would like to take a look, and if you have any questions please feel free to PM me here on DA. Thanks, John Miller

Description
Tolkien served in the British Army in World War I, including the disaster that was the battle of the Somme in 1916. The impact of the war on his writing is a subject of much scholarly debate- not the question of did it impact his writing- it did- but to what degree. One aspect of his work that most are familiar with from the Peter Jackson movie “The Fellowship of the Ring”, 'The Council of Elrond' is Boromir’s dialogue describing Mordor, the “One does not simply walk into Mordor” concluding with a concise summary of Tolkien’s descriptions of Mordor “It is a barren wasteland, riddled with fire, ash, and dust. The very air you breathe is a poisonous fume,” which is also an apt description of the poison gas drenched trenches Tolkien served in in the First World War.

That is an aspect of Tolkien’s writing that is well known and well documented and not disputed. Another aspect, while documented, is not as frequently identified. Astute readers may have already noticed that the character of Sam is distinct from all others, both for his comparatively ‘normal’ name and his lack of any heroic pedigree-even among the Hobbits, Frodo, Merry and Pippin were all already members of distinguished families before the adventures.

This is probably in part because Tolkien did write in answer to a fan’s letter that he intended for Sam to represent the ‘batmen’ and other soldiers he served with in World War I. (letter, written on 16 April 1956 to H. Cotton Minchin, cited in Sam Gamgee and Tolkien’s batmen Posted on 13 February 2014 and citing in turn *“Frodo and the Great War”, in The Lord of the Rings, 1954–2004: Scholarship in Honor of Richard E. Blackwelder, ed. Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull (Milwaukee: Marquette University Press, 2006, johngarth.wordpress.com/2014/0… ). Note to everyone not in the English Army, a ‘batman’ was a regular soldier assigned to assist an officer in the field, he usually prepared meals and sleeping quarters for the officer as well as running errands for him and accompanying him into battle, as can be expected most officers and their batmen knew each other well and were often friends to a limited degree. What is also know is that in the Battle of the Somme a batman, probably assigned to Tolkien, by the name of Thomas Gaskin, was killed. The reason for the assumption of a connection to Tolkien is that “Tolkien preserved a poignant letter from Gaskin’s mother asking about her son.” (Tolkien and Great War, The Threshold of Middle Earth, John Garth, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, New York, 2003, Pg. 171)

The point? After faithful service, heroic deeds and a journey through Mordor Tolkien describes Sam’s fate in the final lines of the Lord of the Rings:
“…there was yellow light, and fire within; and the evening meal was ready, and he was expected. And Rose drew him in, and set him in, and sat him in his chair, and put little Elanor upon his lap.
He drew a deep breath. ‘Well I’m back,” he said.
Tolkien gave Sam’s story the ending that Thomas Gaskin- and so many other young men-never had.

It is my 20 year plus effort to write a Tolkien style epic for science fiction. As he wrote a pre- history of humanity (Lord of the Rings and the events are set on an Earth of legend as it were) mine is a future history of humanity from the perspective of writing about events in our future as if they were a tale from the past. One aspect of the series is that Tolkien’s works have been added to scripture- a desperate move by the church at one point to increase membership (and if you look at how the current versions of the Bible came together not that farfetched of an idea) and is frequently quoted by one of the main characters- gems like “There is no curse in Elvish, Entish, or the tongues of Men bad enough for such greed. ‘Lord of the Rings, Book III, Chapter 4, verse 265.’” As a consequence of my writing I did a lot of research into the background of Tolkien’s writings and I hope you enjoyed this essay elaborating on an aspect of my book. For those who are interested it is the Conquered Armies series, now being released on Patreon in both Spanish and English, at www.patreon.com/user?u=5313643 if you would like to take a look, and if you have any questions please feel free to PM me here on DA. Thanks, John Miller