If you want to go non fantasy but still interested in Tolkien’s work ( and C. S. Lewis as well) dig up a copy of The Inklings, which goes into detail of those two and few more as professors exchanging letters about their works while at Oxford. It explained how those times going into Mordor equated with Tolkien’s experiences in trenches : sword of the Westerness = American rifle, elven cloak= trench coat, dwarven mail = British uniform, and he was from Lancanshire. Did a report on it in Highschool and it stuck with me.