Tolkien's Monsters - (Full Episode) In this episode of "Clash of the Gods" we enter J.R.R. Tolkien's fantastical world of hobbits, orcs and wizards, and uncover the real life influences that shaped the world's most renowned modern myth, "The Lord of the Rings." | World Ethnographies

Before The Lord of the Rings enchanted millions, J.R.R. Tolkien survived one of history's deadliest battles. In 1916, young Lieutenant Tolkien faced the horrors of the Somme—trench warfare, disease, and devastating loss. Trench fever sent him to hospital, inadvertently saving him when his battalion was wiped out days later. Nearly all his friends perished. But from that darkness, during months of painful recovery, the mythology of Middle-earth was born. The battlefields became Mordor, and his gr

WATCH: Holly Ordway, author of “Tolkien's Faith: A Spiritual Biography,” sheds light on J.R.R. Tolkien’s conversion from Anglicanism to Catholicism and the impact it had on his life. Get “Tolkien's Faith” or learn more at wordonfire.org/tolkien. | Word on Fire Catholic Ministries