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 the Hardy, Lord of Douglas with Douglas and another Scottish prisoner Thomas de Morham; both were later committed to the Tower of London on 12 October 1297 with Douglas meeting his end there in 1298 due to mistreatment. William the Hardy was twice married and had three sons. By Elizabeth, daughter of Alexander Stewart, 4th High Steward of Scotland: By Eleanor de Lovaine of Groby, daughter-in-law of William de Ferrers, 5th Earl of Derby and great-great-granddaughter of Godfrey III of Leuven: William the Hardy, Lord of Douglas Sir William Douglas ""le Hardi"" ("the Bold"), Lord of Douglas (1255 – January 24, 1298) was a Scottish