Trevor Collins

You don't have video of all things, obviously.

And so, yeah, a lot of things do rely on word of mouth and believing of facts, which I think is a very interesting cornerstone to this particular topic.

But before we get away from it, though, I did kind of gloss over the Blackgate of Mordor metaphor.

Christian, were you able to find if there was any inspiration taken from this particular story?

I mean, it would not surprise me.

I know some battles in particular definitely motivated his description of death and helped him paint a very vivid world.

I mean, he was a World War I soldier.

He fought in World War I. So whether it's this battle or another or the greater war at hand, obviously it played a large part in his experience.

So

But it is funny that you mentioned it because that was definitely on my mind.

Okay, so now thinking about some of your instincts, your questions, those will play out interestingly here in the aftermath.

So after the story was published, it instantly became popular.

So much so that in the months after its publication, many people called into the newspaper to request reprints of the story.

Like, hey, I've heard about it.

I didn't get that copy.

Print it again.

I want it.

I want to read it.

Macken then decided, I would say wisely, to publish a novel entitled The Bowman and Other Legends of the War.

This was in 1915.