John Rhys-Davies on how The Lord of the Rings may have been influenced by World War I.
“Tolkien’s experience of war left him with ‘a deep sympathy and feeling for the “tommy,” especially the plain soldier from the agricultural counties.’ He based the character of Samwise Gamgee on common soldiers that he had known during the war, men who kept their courage and stayed cheerful when there was not much reason to hope.
Samwise’s origin was the context in which I learned that “batman” had nothing to do with Gotham.
Of course, this has been treated at length, in somewhat scholarly fashion, by John Garth in his book Tolkien and the Great War. I recently reread it; it is excellent.