Nice point, to a British audience, the specter of appeasement would inevitably
rise whenever "peace" was invoked in such a context. This wouldn't be
allegory, I'll hastily add, but it would be Tolkien's way of invoking some
potent cultural shorthand in the mind of his readers to give them a sense of
what was at stake when Theoden was addressing Saruman.
In a way, Gandalf always reminded me of Churchill-like figure, if we're going
down this road, especially when he's rallying the troops at Minas Tirith.
Ok, no more of the "a*******" word for
tonight!
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"All wizards should have a hobbit or two in their care..."
