In later years, Tolkien indignantly declared that those who searched his works for parallels to the Second World War were entirely mistaken: One has indeed personally to come under the shadow of war to feel fully its oppression; but as the years go by it seems now often forgotten that to be caught in youth by 1914 was no less hideous an experience than to be involved in 1939 and the following years.
在以后的岁月中，托尔金愤慨地表明那些在他作品中寻找和二战相照应的部分的人完全弄错了： 一个真正亲身处于过战争阴影下的人才能完全体会到它的压迫；但当时间流逝，现在似乎忘记了在1914年被卷入其中的青年的经历不比在1939年及以后的经历少一分丑恶。