# Hard pounding **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 17, 2018, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-pounding/809027 "2018-02-17T23:48:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2018, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-pounding/809027/1 "2018-02-17T23:48:41Z")
In 1968 J.R.R. Tolkien wrote a letter to his son Michael (The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien #306) in which he describes a 1911 hiking trip in Switzerland which was the inspiration for some scenes in The Hobbit. He tells of an incident when he was hiking on a trail across a slope where melting snow had exposed a number of boulders, some of which began rolling down the slope and across his trail. He says > [@Tolkien](#): > > The heat of the day continued the melting and we were alarmed to see many of them starting to roll down the slope at gathering speed: anything from the size of oranges to large footballs, and a few much larger. They were whizzing across our path and plunging into the ravine. ‘Hard pounding’, ladies and gentlemen. They started slowly, and then usually held a straight line of descent, but the path was rough and one had also to keep an eye on one’s feet. The quotes (or “inverted commas” as I think they’re charmingly known in Britain) around “hard pounding” are in the original. This makes me think Tolkien was referring to something specific; either a well known British saying or a literary reference. Does anyone know more about this? Googling the phrase turns up mostly pornography sites, which is probably not what Tolkien had in mind. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2018, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-pounding/809027/2 "2018-02-17T23:59:16Z")
Standard term for artillery fire. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2018, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-pounding/809027/3 "2018-02-18T00:04:25Z")
More specifically, a style of artillery fire relying on sheer volume of ammunition rather than precise targeting or other technical advantages. From the [1910 Encyclopedia Britannica](https://books.google.com/books?id=49uUqs-3skgC&pg=PA693): > [@](#): > > Shielded guns, enhanced rate of fire, perfection in indirect laying apparatus, and many other factors, have modified the lessons of 1870, and complicated the work of achieving victory in the artillery duel so far that the simple “hard pounding” of former days has given way to a variety of expedients for inflicting the desired loss and damage, as to which opinions differ in and within every army. Presumably Tolkien’s point was that all these boulders shooting across their path were like a bombardment. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2018, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-pounding/809027/4 "2018-02-18T00:12:34Z")
Ah, excellent! That’s undoubtedly it. Since Tolkien served in WWI, it makes perfect sense. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2018, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-pounding/809027/5 "2018-02-18T00:14:19Z")
Just doing my job, sir. Enjoy!