Have you read:
J.R.R. TOLKIEN: A BIOGRAPHY by Humphrey Carpenter
THE TOLKIEN BIOGRAPHY by Michael White
THE HISTORY OF MIDDLE-EARTH SERIES, edited by Christopher Tolkien, with close focus on Volumes VI-IX, which cover the writing in exhaustive detail of THE LORD OF THE RINGS.
Since this is what I'm going by.
But for what it's worth, what Tolkien did in WWII:
* He did not engage in any kind of war work for the government. He was asked due to his knowledge of German, said no, and the government agreed his skills were not essential and let him get on with his life.
* Acted as an ARP Warden in Oxford, which involved relatively little work as Oxford was never bombed in WWII.
* Kept some chickens in his back garden to aid in rationing.
* Engaged in minor work at the university, giving basic English tutoring lessons to military cadets. This was a drop in the ocean compared to his normal tutoring schedule pre and post-war, which was extremely busy.
* (Right at the very end of the war) bitching at C.S. Lewis for ripping off Middle-earth in some kids' books he was planning to write about a magical wardrobe or something.
In fact, the most stressful period of the war for Tolkien was probably 1943-44, when his son Christopher was stationed in South Africa being trained as a pilot (Tolkien considered aerial warfare to be amoral and obscenely dangerous). And that was the most productive period of writing on LotR, when he wrote almost all of Book IV of LotR (Frodo and Sam meeting Gollum and sneaking into Mordor) in just a few months of frantic activity.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN: A BIOGRAPHY by Humphrey Carpenter
THE TOLKIEN BIOGRAPHY by Michael White
THE HISTORY OF MIDDLE-EARTH SERIES, edited by Christopher Tolkien, with close focus on Volumes VI-IX, which cover the writing in exhaustive detail of THE LORD OF THE RINGS.
Since this is what I'm going by.
But for what it's worth, what Tolkien did in WWII:
* He did not engage in any kind of war work for the government. He was asked due to his knowledge of German, said no, and the government agreed his skills were not essential and let him get on with his life.
* Acted as an ARP Warden in Oxford, which involved relatively little work as Oxford was never bombed in WWII.
* Kept some chickens in his back garden to aid in rationing.
* Engaged in minor work at the university, giving basic English tutoring lessons to military cadets. This was a drop in the ocean compared to his normal tutoring schedule pre and post-war, which was extremely busy.
* (Right at the very end of the war) bitching at C.S. Lewis for ripping off Middle-earth in some kids' books he was planning to write about a magical wardrobe or something.
In fact, the most stressful period of the war for Tolkien was probably 1943-44, when his son Christopher was stationed in South Africa being trained as a pilot (Tolkien considered aerial warfare to be amoral and obscenely dangerous). And that was the most productive period of writing on LotR, when he wrote almost all of Book IV of LotR (Frodo and Sam meeting Gollum and sneaking into Mordor) in just a few months of frantic activity.
A Dance With Dragons
- 22/03/2011 11:43:01 PM
2963 Views
See, I disagree.
- 23/03/2011 01:05:59 AM
2062 Views
Also, I think we all know GRRM has more interest than just writing
- 23/03/2011 05:06:34 AM
1966 Views
...
- 23/03/2011 01:17:57 AM
1941 Views
Yeah but, come on, 6 years? And 5 years for the book before that? *NM*
- 23/03/2011 05:05:01 AM
903 Views
The way I see it ...
- 23/03/2011 03:59:35 AM
1970 Views
what this guy said. so true. not enough time in the day for all the cool stuff. i can wait
*NM*
- 23/03/2011 04:39:35 AM
995 Views
*NM*
- 23/03/2011 04:39:35 AM
995 Views
If people are upset with him, don't buy the book.
- 23/03/2011 07:52:02 AM
1840 Views
Re: If people are upset with him, don't buy the book.
- 23/03/2011 01:22:09 PM
1755 Views
Do you guys literally have nothing else to read?
- 24/03/2011 06:40:51 AM
1736 Views
do you realize how little time is spent on whining and bitching?
- 24/03/2011 10:06:16 AM
1769 Views
Re: Do you guys literally have nothing else to read?
- 24/03/2011 03:58:11 PM
1845 Views
*complain*
- 23/03/2011 10:19:33 PM
1889 Views
*sigh*
- 24/03/2011 10:11:29 AM
2232 Views
Re: *sigh*
- 24/03/2011 01:56:51 PM
1905 Views
Well
- 24/03/2011 02:44:00 PM
1881 Views
Re: Well
- 25/03/2011 12:17:08 AM
1846 Views
apparently you cant read...
- 25/03/2011 12:37:51 AM
1880 Views
Seriously? You don't know how Jordan's illness manifested itself?
- 25/03/2011 02:19:23 AM
1944 Views
I'm glad you mentioned LotR
- 25/03/2011 03:21:46 AM
1800 Views
Can we please stop making baseless comparisons to Lord of the Rings? Thanks.
- 25/03/2011 06:22:50 AM
1803 Views
And can we try to strive for accuracy in what we are saying? Thanks.
- 25/03/2011 08:24:51 AM
1828 Views
Yeah, and im sure WWII, which his son was fighting in, wasn't a distraction at all
- 25/03/2011 01:09:22 PM
1812 Views
He still went to work, bucko.
- 25/03/2011 06:57:26 PM
1672 Views
Question
- 25/03/2011 09:00:08 PM
1807 Views
Are you seriously that naive?
- 25/03/2011 01:07:39 PM
2007 Views
I think you're relying on math way too much to interpret the situation.
- 25/03/2011 08:48:32 PM
2144 Views
I don't care at all after so long a wait, but I do love watching the fanboys scramble to defend him. *NM*
- 24/03/2011 01:20:15 AM
973 Views
Your complaints would find more resonance if he hadn't announced a publication date yet.
- 24/03/2011 01:55:01 PM
1625 Views
Re: A Dance With Dragons
- 24/03/2011 02:06:48 PM
1856 Views
Re: A Dance With Dragons
- 24/03/2011 03:08:27 PM
1752 Views
But Sanderson's book was a mess.
*NM*
- 24/03/2011 09:35:56 PM
888 Views
*NM*
- 24/03/2011 09:35:56 PM
888 Views
Was it really? Which one was this? *NM*
- 25/03/2011 03:40:58 AM
985 Views
ToM. Still was better than what Jordan was writing, though.
- 25/03/2011 06:21:49 AM
1513 Views
Interesting.
- 27/03/2011 11:32:39 PM
1804 Views
I thought it was pretty damn good, personally. *NM*
- 25/03/2011 05:13:25 AM
1049 Views
I enjoyed it a lot more than I enjoyed any of Jordan's recent books.
- 25/03/2011 06:20:47 AM
1864 Views
This thread is becoming vaguely ridiculous.
- 25/03/2011 01:31:40 PM
1887 Views
I think about half of the responses are just from Malkierknight. *NM*
- 25/03/2011 05:11:18 PM
894 Views
These threads are always ridiculous. I'm both astounded & not at all surprised that there's another
- 25/03/2011 06:39:34 PM
1757 Views
Are you familiar with Minecraft?
- 25/03/2011 07:05:56 PM
1756 Views
It always astounds me that the developers at Valve aren't hanging from street lamps outside their HQ
- 25/03/2011 09:07:56 PM
1728 Views
Whoops.
- 26/03/2011 09:25:28 PM
1672 Views
I'd delete it for you to tidy up, but I think two posts by CNRedDragon is a good thing.
*NM*
- 27/03/2011 07:49:55 AM
870 Views
*NM*
- 27/03/2011 07:49:55 AM
870 Views
Jaysus, it's not like he's maliciously holding back the book on you
- 25/03/2011 03:46:00 PM
1765 Views
Re: Jaysus, it's not like he's maliciously holding back the book on you
- 25/03/2011 04:31:31 PM
2030 Views
Re: Your math up above
- 25/03/2011 04:45:23 PM
1715 Views
Re: Your math up above
- 26/03/2011 02:43:03 PM
1948 Views
That was gentle ribbing, not ad hom. Calm down.
- 26/03/2011 04:22:24 PM
1667 Views
Re: That was gentle ribbing, not ad hom. Calm down.
- 26/03/2011 05:09:19 PM
1918 Views
When you see people like Nate, Tash, or Rebekah, you don't have to worry.
- 26/03/2011 06:59:01 PM
1715 Views
- 26/03/2011 06:59:01 PM
1715 Views
I see that I need to work on my reputation.
- 28/03/2011 05:49:30 PM
1777 Views
Perhaps it is the same as one does not speak ill of fairies or elves.
- 28/03/2011 11:22:17 PM
1740 Views
A very wise man once informed people that George R. R. Martin is not their bitch.
- 26/03/2011 09:26:15 PM
1797 Views
He hasn't only been working on A Dance With Dreams. So Chill Already! *NM*
- 27/03/2011 04:26:17 PM
962 Views

*NM*