As a schoolboy, Tolkien was thrilled by these lines in Shakespeare:
"Macbeth shall never vanquished be until
Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill
Shall come against him."
Tolkien was very disappointed later in the play when the woods did not actually march against the castle. But the idea was not wasted on him, was it? . . .
Published on May 21, 2012 16:40