Tolkien Review

Tomorrow is my final for my Tolkien class, which means that I will get my essay on Tolkien and Forgiveness back, and also the end of the class. I honestly think that this class has been my second favorite English class I have taken (first going to Contemporary World Literature which was my first introduction to J.M Coetzee). And I wasn't really looking forward to it. I took it because I had to take a senior level english class, and this was one of the only ones available.
Next semester they are teaching an author study about John Donne. I think I lucked out. (Who knows, maybe I would take the class, and be blogging like I am now)
Anyway, to review for my exam, I'm going to post some thoughts that my professor would have us consider before coming to class and reflect on them.
How Tolkien envisions warfare; how Torhthelm and Tidwald see heroic poetry in relation to reality; what happens when they are confronted by actual remnants of a battle

Tolkien fought in the Battle of the Somme and was a lieutenant during World War 1. He hated war. Two of his three closest friends were killed in World War One. He has often compared war to trying to conquer Sauron with the ring. In War, there is no glory. There is no funeral pyre to honor those who have fallen, and no band to play while you are lowered into your grave. You are dead. You are dead in a field on men who have fallen with you. It is grim. It is not honorable. It is sad.

That is all I have energy for tonight. Good night.