Themes of The Lord of the Rings This is, according to Shippey, a very modern, 20th-century theme, since in earlier, medieval times, power was considered to "reveal character", not alter it. Shippey mentions Lord Acton's famous statement in 1887, that ""Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men..."" He then goes on to point out authors that were dealing in the same themes of power and corruption at around the same time as Tolkien wrote his work. These authors include George Orwell with "Animal Farm" (1945), William Golding with "Lord of the Flies" (1954), and T. H. White with
William Erskine, Lord Kinneder exercise in which he himself delighted." If, as Erskine supposed, Redmond in "Rokeby" is meant for a portrait of himself, Lockhart must have exaggerated Erskine's effeminacy. Erskine wrote several Scottish songs. On 13 September 1800 Kinneder married Euphemia Robison (only daughter of Professor John Robison- Physicist), who died in September 1819. She was buried in the churchyard of Saline, Fife, where there is an epitaph on her tombstone written by Scott. William Erskine's children with Euphemia Robison were: William Erskine, Lord Kinneder William Erskine, Lord Kinneder (1768–1822), was a friend and confidant of Sir Walter Scott, and a scholar and