Appreciating the battles in The Lord of the Rings on a new level

[sunnyskywalker]

I stumbled upon a blog by a military historian who analyzes pop culture, and his series on the Battle of Helm's Deep and the Siege of Gondor are fascinating. He analyzes both the book and movie versions of the battles (which have some crucial differences). And is fair enough to note that while the movie versions usually make far less sense and have

Comments

Brent and his analysis

[mary_j_59]

I hope I have his name right! Those were FANTASTIC! and I don't even like military history, nor do I see LOTR primarily as a war story--though it is, of course, a story set in a war. But it's fascinating to see how Tolkien shows character through command decisions. That blog is exceptional.

Oh--I'm also really, really enjoying Matt Mikalatos on C.S. Lewis over on tor.com. Well worth a look for any Lewis fans!

Re: Brent and his analysis

[sunnyskywalker]

I'm not a military history person either, and do not care whether the catapults are torsion or whatever the other kind was, but I really liked how he related all that stuff to the characters. Like Book!Denethor's decisions being callous but also sensible, and the characters reacting to time pressure.

Also thanks for the rec!

Brent and his analysis

[mary_j_59]

I just tried to respond, at some length, and got told I am spam!

Re: Brent and his analysis

[sunnyskywalker]

Oh no! I have un-spammed the one comment that showed up, which I hope is it.