<P> Alfred and his army march to London, and attack the Danes once again . </P> <P> Christopher Clausen has argued that The Ballad of the White Horse was a significant influence on J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings fantasy novel . He argues that the basic structure and themes of the Ballad were borrowed and incorporated into the Lord of the Rings . </P> <P> Robert E. Howard, the American author, poet, and widely known pulp magazine "fictioneer", was much impressed by Chesterton's The Ballad of the White Horse . In a letter to his friend Tevis Clyde Smith, dated 6 August 1926 (when Howard was 20), he writes: "There is great poetry being written now . G.K. Chesterton, for instance ." In another letter to Smith c . September 1927, after a trip to San Antonio from his home in tiny Cross Plains, TX, he writes: "Several books I purchased on my trip, among them G.K. Chesterton's The Ballad of the White Horse . Ever read it? It's great . Listen: ..." which he follows by quoting several stanzas . Howard uses select excerpts from Chesterton's poem to serve as epigraphs for chapter headings in some of his stories . He frequently numbers Chesterton among his favourite poets . </P>

The ballad of the white horse by g.k. chesterton