MihailoSRB
EDIT:
GOOD GOD, PEOPLE, ARE YOU SERIOUS!?
Similarities between Shire, Serbia, Hobbits, Serbs, War of the Ring and World War I.
I'm not the first, nor the last one who will compare Tolkien's works with historical events. And although Tolkien himself said that LotR is no allegory, that didn't stop people from finding whatever they wanted in good professor's books.
However, these similarities between the Lord of the Rings and Serbian World War I campaign that I will show to you, are really, really interesting, at least in my opinion.
None of this info that I am going to write is mine, I have only extracted it (in shortened form) from a book called ''The Tea Club of Professor Nikolitch'', written by Boyan Meditch, so kudos to him. I talked to him, and, although he said the work is fully fictional, he said it is possible that a young Tolkien knew a lot about Serbian campaign in WWI, partly because of the great pro-Serbian hype that was happening in Britain, during the Great War. More precisely, in the years 1916, 1917 and 1918, the English government celebrated July 28th as the Day of Serbia and the Battle of Kosovo. London was full of propaganda material with lines such as: THINK, PRAY, REBUILD SERBIA! and similar. There was also a thing called Serbian Relief Fund, and a book called Spirit of the Serb was printed a lot, along with abundance of Serbian epic poems. In short, Tolkien could have knew all this info, but in true, he never mentioned Serbs in any of his letters except once when he said that he tried to learn Serbian and Russian languages.
But, enough of that, let's have fun with similarities, shall we?
SHIRE AND HOBBITS = PRE WWI SERBIA AND SERBS:
- Shire was a tiny land far from the so-called civilised world, and was mostly unknown.
- Serbia was a tiny land far from the so-called civilised world, and was mostly unknown (because it fell into obscurity during the Ottoman rule in Balkans).
- Shire was a land of great villages, with almost no industrialisation of the land, and no great difference between the rich and the poor (i.e. no noble class).
- ''Serbia was a land of great villages, with almost no industrialisation of the land, and no great difference between the rich and the poor''* (i.e. no noble class).
*according to the words of Robert Laffan, early 20th century English writer of the book: Serbs - Guardians of the Gate
- Shire's size was 18.000 square miles.
- Serbia's size was 18.600 square miles.
- An old EAST TO WEST road was passing through the Shire.
- An old Roman EAST TO WEST road was passing through Serbia.
- Hobbits are described as peaceful, people, but great in courage and strength, when need be.
- Serbs are described as ''peaceful people with the hearts of small children, but courageous and fierce warriors''*.
*from aforementioned Laffan book.
- Hobbits are very small in size, and simple folk alltogether.
- French newspapers from the time called an average Serbian soldier with the name: Le petit Soldat Serbe (Little/Small Serbian Soldier), not because of the size of Serbian soldiers, but because of their modest weaponry and overall simpleness.
PATH OF THE HOBBITS AND FELLOWSHIP = SERBIAN CAMPAIGN IN WORLD WAR I
- The most important artifact that Sauron needs - The One Ring, is hidden in Shire. He had possesion of most of other rings of power, but he needed the One Ring to have ultimate power.
- ''WWI started because German Empire wanted to control the road from Berlin to Baghdad, creating a Pan-Germanic Chain, a chain of states allied with the German Empire:
Germany-AustroHungary-Bulgaria-Turkey. But one ring was missing from that chain - Serbia, which divided Bulgaria and Austro-Hungary. All other countries were allies of Germany, except Serbia, so the war had to come, one way or the other''*
*again according to Laffan
- Sauron sends Black Riders into the Shire.
- The war has started, Serbs start fighting battles against Austro-Hungary and Germany.
- Hobbits notice that it has become too dangerous to stay in the Shire, so they are leaving it.
- Despite initial ''amazing underdog victories'', Serbia gets cornered by AusHun, Germany and Bulgaria, so the whole army and many more start to retreat from Serbia.
- Hobbits pass through the Old Forest.
- Serbian army passes through the extremely ''foresty'' region of Shumadiya (which translates as Woodland).
- Hobbits arrive in the town of Bree - the last free remnant of the Old Kingdom of Arnor.
- Serbian army arrives at Montenegro - the last free remnant of the old medieval Serbian Empire.
- Bree was kept safe from the evil forces by Rangers - the guerrilla forest warriors.
- Montenegro was kept safe from the years of Ottoman invasions by Haiduks - the guerrilla warriors that hid in the forests.
- Hobbits go over the bridge on the river Horvell (the bridge is described as having three arcs).
- Serbian army goes over the bridge on the Drim river (which has three arcs).
- Hobbits arrive in Rinvendell, where they rest, recuperate and hold a Council (of Elrond).
- Serbian army arrives at the town of Peć, where they rest, recuperate and hold a War Council (to see whether they should counterattack, or continue with the retreat).
- After leaving Rivendell, The Fellowship tries to go over the snowy Misty Mountains.
- After leaving Peć, Serbian army starts going over the snowy mountains of Albania.
- Fellowship goes to the deep and dark Mines of Moria, and is seemingly lost.
- Serbian army is lost in the deep glens of Albania. The world media will report that ''the Serbian army has vanished from the face of planet.''
- Fellowship gets attacked by Orcs in Moria.
- Serbian army constantly gets attacked by Albanian hill-tribes.
- After leaving Moria, the Fellowship rests a bit at the Mirrormere Lake.
- After leaving Albanian mountains, the Serbian army rests a bit at the Skadar Lake.
- Fellowship is found by the Lorien Elves.
- Serbian army is found by the Allies.
- Fellowship is led to Caras Galadhon in the exotic forest of Lothlorien, to rest.
- Serbian army is led to the exotic Island of Corfu, to rest.
- After resting, the Fellowship gets new Elven cloaks, which help them blend in the surroundings.
- After resting, the Serbian army gets new khaki uniforms, which help them blend, in the conditions of trench warfare.
- Fellowship travels with boats, and drops off at Amon Hen.
- Serbian army travels with boats, and drops off at mainland Greece, near Macedonia.
- The Hobbits, Frodo and Sam, leave the Fellowship, and set their destination - Mordor.
- Serbian army sets their destination - Macedonia (which is pretty similar to Mordor geographically, f.e. it's surrounded by mountains from all sides, like Mordor).
- Hobbits go to Emyn Muil - a windy and impassable maze of rocks.
- Serbian army goes through the windy and hard-terrained heights of Kaymakchalan and Dobro Polye.
- Hobbits go to the Dead Marshes.
- Serbian army goes to the marshes of Crna Reka (Black River).
- Hobbits arrive to the Black Gate of Mordor. They concider whether they will go through it or not.
- Serbian army arrives in Macedonia. They concider whether they will go direct route, or not.
- Hobbits decide to go a longer, less noticeable way through the mountain pass of Cirith Ungol.
- Serbian army decides not to make a frontal attack, but to go through a less noticeable way - Macedonian mountain passes.
- The Armies of the West, led by Aragorn, decide to make a frontal attack at the Black Gate, which guards the valley of Gorgoroth. They hope that, by doing that, they will distract the enemy from Hobbits.
- French and English Allies decide to attack frontally through the valley of Vardar River, to attack the armies of Central Powers. They hope that, by doing it, they will distract the enemy from the Serbs, who will attack them from the other side.
- Hobbits travel through a desolate land of Mordor.
- Serbian army travel through a desolate land of Macedonia, which was tactically ravaged by the German and Bulgarian armies, to stop the Allied advance.
- Hobbits take all their clothes off them, and leave all cumbersome things that would slow them down.
- Serbian army, eager to return to Serbia, travels very lightly, removing all unnecessary things, and according to contemporary French journalist: ''The Serbian infantry was running faster than French cavalry''.
- Only two tiny Hobbits destroy the One Ring - all armies of Sauron are defeated.
- A lot smaller Serbian army defeats a Bulgarian army, after which Bulgaria signs a capitulation. A day after, Turkey also capitulates. Soon after, Germany and Austro-Hungary also admit defeat.
- Hobbits, against all odds and expectations, decided the fate of the War of the Ring.
- The last German Emperor Willhelm II, sends a telegraph to the Bulgarian High Command saying:
''62.000 Serbian soldiers decided the fate of the entire war! SHAME ON YOU!
- The War has ended. On the Cormalen Fields, the Hobbits are cheered as great heroes.
- 14. July 1918 - The after-war parade is held at Elysian Fields in Paris, France. When Serbian army arrived: ''the hats of hundreds of thousands people were thrown into the air, and all people started cheering: Vive La Serbie!''
And that's it.
Granted, there are more eye-popping similarities in the book from which I extracted these informations, but, to be honest, I can't write anymore, I'm tired...
And most of those other info does not concern WWI, but other parts of Serbian history (14th and 19th century) which have similarities with Aragorn, etc.
And, I say again, I'm not the author of this ''theory'', and I'm not bragging about my country, nor I'm saying anything against the countries that were against us in the WWI.
This is just for fun.
GOOD GOD, PEOPLE, ARE YOU SERIOUS!?
Okay, since most people clearly got me wrong, and are being dead serious on this subject matter:
1. I posted this only for fun.
1½ I posted this ONLY FOR FUN.
2. This is not my writing.
3. As I said, I talked to the author, and he said that this is FICTIONAL and that he doesn't have a proof that Tolkien actually knew all this - nor does he tries - the book was written as a novel!
4. Hell, it even says that on the back of the freakin' books's cover.
5. This is a well put fiction! Yes, there arre three-arced bridges and forests everywhere, but the fact that it was sorted to go along with the Serbian campaign is great!
6. Which means that I also wanted to hear if anybody else did anything like that - for a different country?
To try and piece together the parts of the nation's history with a fictional work such as Lord of the Rings.
7. No one claims that Tolkien stole the ''idea'' of War of The Ring from us.
8. Serbs already have a mythology - there's no reason for us to claim that we are Hobbits.
9. No, Serbia was not 40.000 sq. miles, it was 18.600, before the Balkan wars.
10. I know Tolkien hated allegories, I said it in the first post.
11. Many who know me from E1200 board know that I am mostly joking, in a sarcastic manner - so no, I didn't start this thread as a serious discussion.
12. I even liked Merlkir ''debunking'' part, because it was a joke!
A mean-spirited, perhaps, but a joke nontheless.
Is it about the chain? I didn't wrote it. Some English guy wrote it 100 years ago.
I mean, you have pointlessly turned this thread in a... nationalistic glorification of my country done by me?
And why?
Because I didn't had any smileys in my first post for you people to know it's a lighthearted thread/joke, and not a serious thing?
1. I posted this only for fun.
1½ I posted this ONLY FOR FUN.
2. This is not my writing.
3. As I said, I talked to the author, and he said that this is FICTIONAL and that he doesn't have a proof that Tolkien actually knew all this - nor does he tries - the book was written as a novel!
4. Hell, it even says that on the back of the freakin' books's cover.
5. This is a well put fiction! Yes, there arre three-arced bridges and forests everywhere, but the fact that it was sorted to go along with the Serbian campaign is great!
6. Which means that I also wanted to hear if anybody else did anything like that - for a different country?
To try and piece together the parts of the nation's history with a fictional work such as Lord of the Rings.
7. No one claims that Tolkien stole the ''idea'' of War of The Ring from us.
8. Serbs already have a mythology - there's no reason for us to claim that we are Hobbits.
9. No, Serbia was not 40.000 sq. miles, it was 18.600, before the Balkan wars.
10. I know Tolkien hated allegories, I said it in the first post.
11. Many who know me from E1200 board know that I am mostly joking, in a sarcastic manner - so no, I didn't start this thread as a serious discussion.
12. I even liked Merlkir ''debunking'' part, because it was a joke!
A mean-spirited, perhaps, but a joke nontheless.
As I said, it's fiction, and we already have our mythology, we do not have a reason to steal anothers.MadVader said:
What lies exactly, kind sir?MadVader said:most of that crap in the OP are serious nationalist distortions or outright lies about WW1.. who would have thought
Is it about the chain? I didn't wrote it. Some English guy wrote it 100 years ago.
I mean, you have pointlessly turned this thread in a... nationalistic glorification of my country done by me?
And why?
Because I didn't had any smileys in my first post for you people to know it's a lighthearted thread/joke, and not a serious thing?
I'm not the first, nor the last one who will compare Tolkien's works with historical events. And although Tolkien himself said that LotR is no allegory, that didn't stop people from finding whatever they wanted in good professor's books.
However, these similarities between the Lord of the Rings and Serbian World War I campaign that I will show to you, are really, really interesting, at least in my opinion.
None of this info that I am going to write is mine, I have only extracted it (in shortened form) from a book called ''The Tea Club of Professor Nikolitch'', written by Boyan Meditch, so kudos to him. I talked to him, and, although he said the work is fully fictional, he said it is possible that a young Tolkien knew a lot about Serbian campaign in WWI, partly because of the great pro-Serbian hype that was happening in Britain, during the Great War. More precisely, in the years 1916, 1917 and 1918, the English government celebrated July 28th as the Day of Serbia and the Battle of Kosovo. London was full of propaganda material with lines such as: THINK, PRAY, REBUILD SERBIA! and similar. There was also a thing called Serbian Relief Fund, and a book called Spirit of the Serb was printed a lot, along with abundance of Serbian epic poems. In short, Tolkien could have knew all this info, but in true, he never mentioned Serbs in any of his letters except once when he said that he tried to learn Serbian and Russian languages.
But, enough of that, let's have fun with similarities, shall we?
SHIRE AND HOBBITS = PRE WWI SERBIA AND SERBS:
- Shire was a tiny land far from the so-called civilised world, and was mostly unknown.
- Serbia was a tiny land far from the so-called civilised world, and was mostly unknown (because it fell into obscurity during the Ottoman rule in Balkans).
- Shire was a land of great villages, with almost no industrialisation of the land, and no great difference between the rich and the poor (i.e. no noble class).
- ''Serbia was a land of great villages, with almost no industrialisation of the land, and no great difference between the rich and the poor''* (i.e. no noble class).
*according to the words of Robert Laffan, early 20th century English writer of the book: Serbs - Guardians of the Gate
- Shire's size was 18.000 square miles.
- Serbia's size was 18.600 square miles.
- An old EAST TO WEST road was passing through the Shire.
- An old Roman EAST TO WEST road was passing through Serbia.
- Hobbits are described as peaceful, people, but great in courage and strength, when need be.
- Serbs are described as ''peaceful people with the hearts of small children, but courageous and fierce warriors''*.
*from aforementioned Laffan book.
- Hobbits are very small in size, and simple folk alltogether.
- French newspapers from the time called an average Serbian soldier with the name: Le petit Soldat Serbe (Little/Small Serbian Soldier), not because of the size of Serbian soldiers, but because of their modest weaponry and overall simpleness.
PATH OF THE HOBBITS AND FELLOWSHIP = SERBIAN CAMPAIGN IN WORLD WAR I
- The most important artifact that Sauron needs - The One Ring, is hidden in Shire. He had possesion of most of other rings of power, but he needed the One Ring to have ultimate power.
- ''WWI started because German Empire wanted to control the road from Berlin to Baghdad, creating a Pan-Germanic Chain, a chain of states allied with the German Empire:
Germany-AustroHungary-Bulgaria-Turkey. But one ring was missing from that chain - Serbia, which divided Bulgaria and Austro-Hungary. All other countries were allies of Germany, except Serbia, so the war had to come, one way or the other''*
*again according to Laffan
- Sauron sends Black Riders into the Shire.
- The war has started, Serbs start fighting battles against Austro-Hungary and Germany.
- Hobbits notice that it has become too dangerous to stay in the Shire, so they are leaving it.
- Despite initial ''amazing underdog victories'', Serbia gets cornered by AusHun, Germany and Bulgaria, so the whole army and many more start to retreat from Serbia.
- Hobbits pass through the Old Forest.
- Serbian army passes through the extremely ''foresty'' region of Shumadiya (which translates as Woodland).
- Hobbits arrive in the town of Bree - the last free remnant of the Old Kingdom of Arnor.
- Serbian army arrives at Montenegro - the last free remnant of the old medieval Serbian Empire.
- Bree was kept safe from the evil forces by Rangers - the guerrilla forest warriors.
- Montenegro was kept safe from the years of Ottoman invasions by Haiduks - the guerrilla warriors that hid in the forests.
- Hobbits go over the bridge on the river Horvell (the bridge is described as having three arcs).
- Serbian army goes over the bridge on the Drim river (which has three arcs).
- Hobbits arrive in Rinvendell, where they rest, recuperate and hold a Council (of Elrond).
- Serbian army arrives at the town of Peć, where they rest, recuperate and hold a War Council (to see whether they should counterattack, or continue with the retreat).
- After leaving Rivendell, The Fellowship tries to go over the snowy Misty Mountains.
- After leaving Peć, Serbian army starts going over the snowy mountains of Albania.
- Fellowship goes to the deep and dark Mines of Moria, and is seemingly lost.
- Serbian army is lost in the deep glens of Albania. The world media will report that ''the Serbian army has vanished from the face of planet.''
- Fellowship gets attacked by Orcs in Moria.
- Serbian army constantly gets attacked by Albanian hill-tribes.
- After leaving Moria, the Fellowship rests a bit at the Mirrormere Lake.
- After leaving Albanian mountains, the Serbian army rests a bit at the Skadar Lake.
- Fellowship is found by the Lorien Elves.
- Serbian army is found by the Allies.
- Fellowship is led to Caras Galadhon in the exotic forest of Lothlorien, to rest.
- Serbian army is led to the exotic Island of Corfu, to rest.
- After resting, the Fellowship gets new Elven cloaks, which help them blend in the surroundings.
- After resting, the Serbian army gets new khaki uniforms, which help them blend, in the conditions of trench warfare.
- Fellowship travels with boats, and drops off at Amon Hen.
- Serbian army travels with boats, and drops off at mainland Greece, near Macedonia.
- The Hobbits, Frodo and Sam, leave the Fellowship, and set their destination - Mordor.
- Serbian army sets their destination - Macedonia (which is pretty similar to Mordor geographically, f.e. it's surrounded by mountains from all sides, like Mordor).
- Hobbits go to Emyn Muil - a windy and impassable maze of rocks.
- Serbian army goes through the windy and hard-terrained heights of Kaymakchalan and Dobro Polye.
- Hobbits go to the Dead Marshes.
- Serbian army goes to the marshes of Crna Reka (Black River).
- Hobbits arrive to the Black Gate of Mordor. They concider whether they will go through it or not.
- Serbian army arrives in Macedonia. They concider whether they will go direct route, or not.
- Hobbits decide to go a longer, less noticeable way through the mountain pass of Cirith Ungol.
- Serbian army decides not to make a frontal attack, but to go through a less noticeable way - Macedonian mountain passes.
- The Armies of the West, led by Aragorn, decide to make a frontal attack at the Black Gate, which guards the valley of Gorgoroth. They hope that, by doing that, they will distract the enemy from Hobbits.
- French and English Allies decide to attack frontally through the valley of Vardar River, to attack the armies of Central Powers. They hope that, by doing it, they will distract the enemy from the Serbs, who will attack them from the other side.
- Hobbits travel through a desolate land of Mordor.
- Serbian army travel through a desolate land of Macedonia, which was tactically ravaged by the German and Bulgarian armies, to stop the Allied advance.
- Hobbits take all their clothes off them, and leave all cumbersome things that would slow them down.
- Serbian army, eager to return to Serbia, travels very lightly, removing all unnecessary things, and according to contemporary French journalist: ''The Serbian infantry was running faster than French cavalry''.
- Only two tiny Hobbits destroy the One Ring - all armies of Sauron are defeated.
- A lot smaller Serbian army defeats a Bulgarian army, after which Bulgaria signs a capitulation. A day after, Turkey also capitulates. Soon after, Germany and Austro-Hungary also admit defeat.
- Hobbits, against all odds and expectations, decided the fate of the War of the Ring.
- The last German Emperor Willhelm II, sends a telegraph to the Bulgarian High Command saying:
''62.000 Serbian soldiers decided the fate of the entire war! SHAME ON YOU!
- The War has ended. On the Cormalen Fields, the Hobbits are cheered as great heroes.
- 14. July 1918 - The after-war parade is held at Elysian Fields in Paris, France. When Serbian army arrived: ''the hats of hundreds of thousands people were thrown into the air, and all people started cheering: Vive La Serbie!''
And that's it.
Granted, there are more eye-popping similarities in the book from which I extracted these informations, but, to be honest, I can't write anymore, I'm tired...
And most of those other info does not concern WWI, but other parts of Serbian history (14th and 19th century) which have similarities with Aragorn, etc.
And, I say again, I'm not the author of this ''theory'', and I'm not bragging about my country, nor I'm saying anything against the countries that were against us in the WWI.
This is just for fun.
