When World War I almost left us without "The Lord of the Rings"

That fate is capricious is something that we have all heard at some point. No wonder therefore that when we study the life of a character or, simply, we analyze our own, we are surprised at how things would have changed if at a certain moment one thing or another had happened.

Many, faced with these ramblings, will shudder at the thought of the possible destination and the ease of how it decides our path. In the case of, for example,  JRR Tolkien, fate miraculously saved him from a dire end. Something that, in short, has allowed us to enjoy his work and his wonderful world.

What would have become of fantastic literature if this writer had died at 23? Well surely, without the «Hobbit" or "the Lord of the Rings", this genre would have evolved differently and in the popular imagination, creatures like the hobbits, elves, orcs or dwarves, they would not exist or simply, they would be very different.

Well, yes, only a small circumstance saved Tolkien from certain death long before he wrote the books that placed him on the "Olympus" of fantasy literature . To understand the ins and outs of this, it is necessary to go back to World War I and to one of the most important and horrible battles of this conflict, the Battle of the Somme.

The British writer enlisted at the age of 22 to fight for his country in the Great War. He did it like many of his university companions, all of them eager to defend their country. Duty, therefore, became solely responsible for such a great decision, dragging, in this way, thousands of unfortunate people to the hell of the battlefield.

It became part, after its enlistment, of the 11th Battalion of the Rifle Regiment of Lancashire. Battalion in which he joined as an officer due to his social status and academic studies. In this way, after a period of instruction, came to the front in 1916 just ready to take part in the great battle of the Somme.

This battle, one of the longest and bloodiest of the contest, ended the lives of more than a million men. A true "Apocalypse" in which Tolkien was involved as if from a hobbit en Mordor it was

If the simple fact of having been in this scenario made the survival of the future writer hang on a thin line. During this warlike journey, an event occurred that definitely tipped the balance on the side of life to the detriment of an assured death in combat.

The point is that, in the midst of this space of horror, mud, death and destruction, our character suffered a very frequent illness among the soldiers crowded into the trenches. Fever and weakness struck Tolkien forcing him to abandon his post at the front.  due to the disease called, precisely, "trench".

For this reason, he was transferred by the 75th ambulance company to the rear and from there to an ambulance train back to his home island. The most curious thing is that, while that was happening, the mortar fire and the massive artillery bombardments devastated his battalion, practically annihilating all his former comrades..

This happened a few days after his transfer to the rear. For this reason, We cannot help but think what would have happened if his transfer had been delayed long enough to involve the writer in these bombings.. It should be said that, of all Tolkien's friends, only one managed to survive the war. Data that helps us understand the brutality and high mortality of the Great War.

The conflict did not manage to end him but it did significantly influence the "Lord of the Rings." Aspects such as the march of Frodo to Mordor (the front), the relationship between Frodo y Sam (relationship lived between the officers and their assistant soldiers) and the terrible creatures (war machines of all kinds) are totally interconnected with their experiences and warlike experiences.

Without a doubt, the war almost made the world never know "middle earth" and the creatures that inhabit it. In any case, without this same war, surely the story would have been very different and JRR Tolkien would not have been able to devise the world that so fascinated and continues to fascinate millions of people.