This two part docu-drama was shown on the Monday and Tuesday of this week. It recounts the events of 1066, the year that England was invaded from the North and South (sounds familiar?) I thought some of you might be interested in seeing the cultural and historical linkages with the Professor's vision. Please note - the battle scenes are very graphic!
Professor Tolkien was very familiar with the history and the languages of this period. Some of the phrases from LotR are literal translations of famous Saxon poems. The program showed in graphic detail the desperate attempts to throw off the invasions, from the perspective of ordinary soldiers and minor officers in each army.
Saxon words found their way into our Middle-earth. The term itself was the Saxon word for the world in which mankind exists - a place between Heaven and Hell. The concept of many worlds at different levels goes far back into prehistory. Orc was a term both for demons, evil spirits and for foreigners; in 1066, it was one of the terms applied to the Normans.
Wikipedia has some more information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orc
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_earth
The perspective of this programme, looking at the wars between rival kings and lords from the view point of ordinary soldiers (many simply drafted into the armies), reminds me of the start of The Two Towers film. There we saw the effects of uruk and Dunlending raids on the farms and villages of Rohan. The Professor and the movie makers recognised that war is not all about huge armies and famous generals. The dying and suffering tend to occur most among the ordinary people, whether in uniform or not. But sometimes, one of those lesser folk does something remarkable, like what Sam and Frodo did.
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The way it was put together made it seem like a history lesson, though just a lot more exciting than the ones I had "when I was a lad"! In fact with so many links to Tolkien's own Middle Earth I felt at times that I was watching a tale from his world that I'd never heard of before. It was a really interesting and well-made programme, I'm glad I watched it! 