Stages of Imagination.
By Irmo
, the Dreamer
For the Anniversary of Oct 4 2001
The significance of myth is not to be pinned on paper
by analytical reasoning.
It is at its best when it is presented by a poet who feels rather than
makes it
explicit what the theme portends, who presents it incarnate in a world
of
history and geography.
J.R.R. Tolkien on Beowulf.
To adequately describe the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, critics have employed many different terms, literary genres, classifications and definitions. One of them which takes its inspiration from the medieval era and digs deep into the Northern soil of myth and poetic tradition is heroic romance. This is the courtly world of Arthurian myth, traditionally involving mysterious quests, tests of love or of valour, deep forests where evil creatures lurk and, naturally, great treasures to be won.
In response to World War 1, countless voices asserted that "chivalry" cannot "redeem the war�s disgrace". - Yet J.R.R. Tolkien never abandoned the path of chivalry � on the contrary.
In this discussion I will try to shed some light on Tolkien�s concept of the heroic and show how he incorporated this into his own mythology.
Tom Shippey, who not only attended the same school as Tolkien, but also followed the same academic interests, taught the same syllabus and has published some of the most significant books on Tolkien�s works, once started a lecture by singing aloud the old King Edward�s School song that he and JRRT both learned as children. The point of this lay in the following lines:
"Oftentimes defeat is splendid! Victory may still be shame"
From this quote, he goes on to suggest that Tolkien was ingrained from an early age with notions asserting "glory even in defeat" and stressing the possibility of "victory without honour" which we later come to find in, for example, the Silmarillion, LotR and the Hobbit. The tales from the Elder Days concerning Elvish and Human resistance to Morgoth�s growing power is largely a tale of heroic defeat � amazing feats of courage and skill among the protagonists will not lift the cloud of impending doom which spreads with Morgoth�s advances on the larger scale: the tragic fall of Elvish strongholds like Doriath, Nargothrond and Gondolin, for example.
This is a concept which is richly exemplified in Tolkien�s special fields of interest. In the following quote from the famous Anglo-Saxon poem "The Battle of Maldon", Tolkien�s English "ancestors" have been attacked by a fierce army of Danish invaders. Although the Vikings are between two branches of the river and thus separated from Byortnoth and his army, pride and over-confidence cause the outnumbered English to let them pass unscathed to do battle. Byortnoth and his brave men are slain until only a small, unflinching band of warriors remain:
"Byorthwold spoke; he grasped his shield; he was an old companion; he
shook his ash spear; full boldly he exhorted the warriors: "Thought shall
be the harder, heart the keener, courage the greater, as our might lessens.
Here lies our leader all hewn down, the valiant man in the dust; may
he
lament for ever who thinks now to turn from this war-play. I am old in
age;
I will not hence, but I purpose to lie by the side of my lord, by the
man so
dearly loved."
This account is a powerful record of heroism � of unwavering loyalty and dedication. It is over a thousand years old, yet in regard to Tolkien, it expresses the same qualities found in, for example, Fingolfin�s desperate duel with Morgoth, the Dark Lord of the First Age or Hurin�s and Huor�s Last Stand, guarding the retreat of their allies, the Elves:
�
Then all the hosts of Angband swarmed against them, and they bridged
the
stream with their dead, and encircled the remnant of Hithlum as a gathering
tide about a rock. There as the sun westered on the sixth day, and the
shadow
of Erid Wethrin grew dark, Huor fell pierced with a venomed arrow in
his eye,
and all the valiant Men of Hador were slain about him in a heap�
Last of all H�rin stood alone. Then he cast aside his shield, and wielded
an
axe two-handed; and it is sung that the axe smoked in the black blood
of the
troll-guard of Gothmog until it withered, and each time that he slew,
H�rin
cried "Aur� entuluva! Day shall come again!" Seventy times he
uttered that
cry; but they took him at last alive, by the command of Morgoth�
Rather than depicting his protagonists in a superior role, Tolkien makes them face adversity and chooses to show only specks of joy and only greatness beset with dangers. The assertion of course being that peace is bought dearly at the cost of sacrifices and continued vigil and awareness of the Enemy. And thus, while painting images of magnificence, yet tinting them with despair, Tolkien crafts his Secondary World as an unceasing inspiration for the protagonists to achieve their highest potential, to constantly test their valour and loyalty. The immediately perceptible effect of this mode is unmistakable and highly characteristic. It serves to imbue characters with the authenticity of medieval Northern temperament and it enhances their heroic qualities in the eye of the reader.
In medieval times, the term romance tended to cover most sorts of adventure stories and while most of these were written in verse at the time, the use of prose for romances was on the rise. Placed in a courtly or chivalric world, these were entertaining tales of the fantastic, the heroic, the mythic dimension. The protagonists were easily identifiable by their daring, yet galant nature and renowned for perilous (if improbable) feats. In Britain, this genre produced the enduring Arthurian cycles. What is perhaps most significant in relation to Tolkien is the underlying vision that characterised the world of romance � something that Pre-Raphaelites and Romantics would later embrace:
"The poets re-create a remote past, an "old world" of romance which
reveals a potent nostalgia� It is almost as if romance has come to
symbolise something which is at once ancient, ideal and liberating�"
Although, Tolkien�s epic tales are undoubtedly coloured by medieval sentiment and, consistently play on "ancient" and "remote" qualities, they are crafted on a unique level of complexity.
Pointing out detailed examples and tracing Tolkien�s lifelong meditations on the nature of Middle-earth are tasks much beyond the scope of this paper. However, as shown in some of the recent studies of his work, LotR alone contains highly developed (yet carefully veiled) notions about:
- the significance of dreams (Frodo�s dreams) and precognition (Galadriel�s mirror),
Something I always like to keep in mind when the theme of time and "ancientry" arises is a reply by Tolkien when an interviewer asked if Middle-earth is "in a sense the world we live in, but at a different era". Puffing at his pipe, Tolkien answered "No� at a different stage of imagination, yes."