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
As the crow flies navigational methods were introduced, Crows were kept upon ships and released when land was sought. Crows instinctively fly towards land. As the crow flies As the crow flies, similar to "in a beeline", is an idiom for the most direct path between two points. This meaning is attested from the early 19th century, and appeared in Charles Dickens's novel "Oliver Twist": According to BBC Focus, "'As the crow flies' is a pretty common saying but it isn't particularly accurate". Crows do not swoop in the air like swallows or starlings, but they often circle above their nests. Crows do conspicuously