Gloriana

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f Preface
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In the Spring of 1968 while I was studying the Old English poem
Beowulf with Dr. Rudolph Bambas, my colleague and classmate Judith Moore
suggested that I might enjoy reading a new work by J:R.R. Tolkien, known to
us as the editor of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and the author of that
seminal article -- “Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics.” The Hobbit and
The Lord of the Rings delighted me that summer. In the fall, at the urging
of another colleague, I enrolled in the Old Norse seminar. That conjunction
of events proved to be the beginning of a lifelong study of Northern
literature and its contributions to the cauldron of story which produced The
Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, The Silmarillion, and The Unfinished Tales.
The first version of this study became my doctoral dissertation -- “Studies in
the Sources of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings.“1
Throughout the years that followed while I was either teaching college
English or working as a librarian, I have continued my research. The
original study was based on about twenty-five sagas; that number has been
tripled. Christopher Tolkien’s careful publication of The Silmarillion, The
Unfinished Tales, and six volumes of The Historv of Middle-earth has greatly
reatly
expanded the canon available for scholarly study. Humphrey Carpenter’s
authorized biography has also been helpful.
However, the Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien have produced both the .
greatest joy and the greatest terror. Tolkien was an active and aggressive
letter writer. In my original study, I had postulated a correlation between
the wizard Gandalf and the Norse God Odin. Imagine my delight when I
read Tolkien’s letter to his publisher Sir Stanley Unwin about a proposed
German translation: “He [the translator] has sent me some illustrations (of
the Trolls and Gollum) which despite certain merits . . are I fear too l
“Disnified” for my taste: Bilbo with a dribbling nose, and Gandalf as a figure of
vulgar fun rather than the Odinic wanderer that I think of. o o “2. Imagine my
dismay when I discovered that he thought source studies were “not very
useful” (Letters, 150). Throughout my study, I have tried to abide by the
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conditions Tolkien set down in a letter to Peter Szabo Szentmihalyi: "When

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they [readers] have read it, some readers will (I suppose) wish to ‘criticize’
it, and even to analyze it, and if that is their mentality they are, of course, at
liberty to do these things -- so long as they have first read it with attention
throughout” (Letters, 414). The Letters also provide a number of
prohibitions: Tolkien noted that the term trilogy is inaccurate (I have used
three-part work); Tolkien disliked the word Nordic (I have used Northern
‘and Norse); and so forth.
I have read and reread Tolkien’s works and have worked with the
texts closely at hand. My approach has not been that of a fan, although I do
have a great love for his work, but that of a scholar of medieval literature.
Yet, fans, rather than scholars, still write most of the books and articles on
Tolkien. Many of these have some good ideas and insights but few reflect a
careful knowledge of either Tolkien’s work or of medieval literature. Ruth S,
Noel’s The Mythology of Middle-earth is one such work. If Tolkien had not
been popular, he would now be given more serious consideration. When
scholars do come to write about Tolkien’s work, they frequently talk about
what. he did not accomplish rather than what he intended and produced.
This book concentrates on placing Tolkien in a tradition of Northern
literature.
Northern literature has lent its own problems to the progress of the
study. The literature is not well known to English-speaking peoples,
especially to Americans. I have provided a brief outline in Chapter 2. The
names of the sagas in Icelandic are long and difficult to read; the Icelanders
use shortened, formalized pet names, but I have settled on anglicized,
Americanized titles to be used throughout. Generally for simplicity’s sake, I
have dropped the diacritics in Norse names but retained those in Tolkien’s
personal and place names.
Like other pieces of scholarship, this work is not finished. When I
read more sagas and works derived from them and more volumes of the
History of Middle-earth, I will find new correlations. However, I have
compiled enough evidence to help the reader understand what Tolkien
meant when he declared his literary purpose: “I have tried to modernize the
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myths and make them credible?

A Texas A&M University Library research grant helped me to start
towards the preparation of the current manuscript. Alice Osaji began the
long process of additions and editing. Rosalind Clark, a colleague in the ’
English Department, read the whole, offering helpful advice and
constructive criticisms. Since I have never worked in one of the few
libraries with an extensive Icelandic collection, the interlibrary loan
network, one of the. great prides of American librarianship, has been my
constant benefactor. The Oregon State University Faculty Women’s Writing
Group has offered invaluable advice on scope, audience, and organization.
The Oregon State University Research Council provided funds to finish the
manuscript. My mentor and friend Jay Martin Poole has performed
Herculean organizational chores: my Administrative Assistant Mary Steckel
and our “Book Man” Scott Larsen brought a keen intelligence, incredible
patience, and an unflagging sense of humor to preparation of the text, And
my family (Glen and Doris Strange, Darla Strange Comeaux) and friends
(whose numbers have increased over the twenty years of career mobility)
have provided long years of encouragement.
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NOTES
1 o Gloriana St. Clair, “Studies in the Sources of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord
of the Rings”, University of Oklahoma, Ph.D., 1970 (Ann Arbor, Michigan:
University Microfilms, Inc.)
2. The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, selected and edited by Humphrey

Carpenter with the assistance of Christopher Tolkien (Boston: Houghton
Mifflin, 198 1), 119. (All references are to this edition and are in the text as
Letters.)
3. Henry Resnik, “The Hobbit-Forming World of J.R.R. Tolkien,” in The

Saturdav Evening Post (July 2, 1966), 94.
4
CHAPTER ONE
Introduction
The early reviews and criticisms of The Lord of the Rings ’ make a
persistent and provocative suggestion that in some way the essence of his
work derives from the world of the sagaman -- Norse mythology, folklore,
and literature. In a review in the New Statesman and the Nation, Francis
Huxley notes Tolkien’s familiarity with epic saga and suggests that the
outline was based in saga. 1 In the Spectator, Elizabeth Leigh Pemberton
calls The Lord of the Rings “the heroic saga of the imaginary world of
Middle ‘Earth [sic]. . e “2 The Times Literarv Supplement reviewer also used
the term “saga” in describing Tolkien’s work.3 Robert J. Reilly notes
borrowings from Anglo-Saxon, Celtic, and Norse; Thomas J. Gasque
acknowledges that Tolkien was steeped in Northern mythology; William
Ready focuses on courage as a key element of Norse myth; and Patricia
Spacks comments on the darker view of Northern mythology in Tolkien’s
work.4
Most of these studies focus on Norse mythology rather than on
Icelandic literature, and most allude to influences instead of exploring the
technical details of such influences. This book discusses the observations
and references to Norse mythology made by this and other writers about
Tolkien. However, the purpose of this book is to go beyond the mythology to
explore the Icelandic sagas and their contributions to Tolkien’s
4 background
in story and characterization, to his technique and style in composing tales
about Middle-earth, and to his choice of themes, values, and motifs.
Colleagues and critics often pose three puzzles for Tolkien scholars.
First, the colleagues want to know why so many millions of readers bought,
read, and8 discussed The Lord of the Rings in the 1960s and subsequently.
This book does not answer that question. Literary scholars interested in
social commentary and observers of popular culture must assess the
popularity of The Lord of the Rings to a wide audience in that decade of
American life. J.R.R. Tolkien: This Far Land edited by Robert Giddings
contains several articles on the social influence, but since most of the critics
writing for the volume do not like or admire Tolkien, their commentaries
are biased and their conclusions tainted.5 No satisfactory explanation of this
phenomenon has yet been produced.
The second puzzle is why Tolkien wrote these works rather than .
others. Colleagues understand how Faulkner reached his obsession with the
mythology of Yoknapatawpha county, how Evelyn Waugh and Graham Greene
interested themselves in the themes of English Catholics, and how James
Joyce devoted his talent to stories of the artist in Dublin. The colleagues do
not understand how an Oxford don began to tell the tales of Middle-earth.
They understand how Lessing could write Children of Violence but not how
she conceived Canopus in Argos. Kingsley Amis is allowed Luckv Jim but
not The Alteration. This book clarifies, Tolkien’s choice of materials. He fed
his imagination on Northern literature, and Northern literature fostered the
creation of his particular statement of mythic ideas, concepts, themes, and
motifs. :
The third puzzle is why does The Lord of the Rings continue to engage
so many readers. C. S. Lewis was Tolkien’s contemporary, friend, and fellow
professor. Both were critics and researchers and both wrote three volume
works of fantasy at about the same time. Certainly, Lewis’s fantasy works--
Perelandra, Out of the Silent Planet, and That Hideous Strength-still have
an active following, but they have not had the impact on the public or on
other writers that Tolkien’s work has had. Similarly, the Arthurian works of
Charles Williams, a third writer of similar background and orientation, have
never been widely popular and are now virtually unknown Tolkien’s works
are better than those of his fellow fantasy writers because Tolkien was the
greater craftsman. This book demonstrates Tolkien’s craftsmanship in
selecting materials and forging them into a single work of art, The Lord of
the Rings.
This book examines the sources of Tolkien’s inspiration. Tolkien had
devoured the materials of Northern literature in the same way that Charles
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Williams had devoured Arthurian literature. Some writers might have. served
up a banquet of raw vegetables from the feast. L. Sprague de Camp’s
lackluster retelling of Northern myths in The Incomplete Enchanter, and
Michael Jan Friedman’s modest fantasy featuring characters from Northern
mythology, The Hammer and the Horn, are two works which use the same
materials Tolkien used .6 In each of these works, the myths come to the
reader almost directly. The old stories have not been digested, combined
with other materials, and regenerated as part of a different cohesive whole.
Similarly, Lloyd Alexander, the author of the five volume set Children of Llvr,
immersed himself in Celtic literature and wove from it a lively and
entertaining story, but without the dark power or the finee artistry of The
Lord of the Rings. A study of the works of any of these authors would show a
less thorough internalizing of the source materials and a greater correlation
and fidelity to the mythology.
No such close correlations exist for the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. That
Tolkien knew Norse mythology and literature is clear, that he used these
works as a source of inspiration for the matter of Middle-earth is also
apparent. But everything he used is changed and altered to meet the
demands and needs of his original creation. Pieces of story, bits
L of
character, descriptions of implements, themes and motifs, manners and
customs are all borrowed, but nothing is left unaltered. In each instance,
Tolkien changes materials to serve the needs of his own stories, The
existence now of earlier versions of many of his works shows that he is one
of the finest craftsmen of the century. He wrote, revised, and rewrote
everything. He. niggled over the details until he achieve perfection in story
and style. He forged the raw materials of Northern literature into The Lord
of the Rings with a level of craftsmanship that ranks him with top writers.
Tolkien’s work is neither allegory nor novel with a key (roman & c~J.
Reciting a single story from Northern literature does not explain the
inspiration for The Lord of the Rings in the same way that knowing the story
of Huey Long’s governorship of Louisiana explains the’ inspiration, if not the
artistry, of Robert Penn Warren’s All the King's Men. Charles Moorman in
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“The Shire, Mordor, and Minas Tirith” tantalizes his readers by suggesting
that somehow if they knew enough about Scandinavian literature, The Lord
of the Rinm would be a novel with a key. He suggests that the foundations of
the work lie “in the forests and mountains of the Nordic lands and in the’
sagas, lays, eddas, and fairy tales which the inhabitants of these lands sang
and passed on to their progeny.“7 He notes the common theme of courage
in the three part work and the Old English poem Beowulf. In spite of
Moorman’s inaccurate allegations and his use of the adjective Nordic, which
Tolkien disliked because of its association with the racial theories, Moorrnan
concludes correctly “The greatest single influence upon Tolkien is the eddas L/
and sagas of the North.“8
Yet, this exhaustive study concludes that no description of Tolkien’s
sources of inspiration and study can provide a simple explanation of The
Lord of the Rin@ or The Silmarillion or The Unfinished Tales. The value of
this book is its emphasis on Tolkien as subcreator and craftsman. Here the
master artist is seen at work, practicing his craft, engaging in the process
described in that most original essay “On Fairy-story.” Often, a discussion
of the source character or incident will enhance understanding of Tolkien’s
characters and incidents. But most of all, Tolkien wanted to bring the
power of Northern mythology and literature into modern times. He greatly
valued the lessons that he had learned from his long and close acquaintance J
with Northern materials. Seeing the relationships between the matter of
Middle-earth and the sagas and eddas will perhaps inspire other students of
Tolkien to read Northern literature.
An examination of the materials which inspired the matter of
Middle-earth aids in the understanding of its themes and motifs. In
Chapter 9, “Beowulf and The Lord of the Ring&‘, the claims of the many
critics who believe the work has Christian overtones and connotations can
be balanced against Tolkien’s own assertion that the work is pre-Christian.9
In a letter to Mr. Rang, Tolkien says that “The Fall of Man is in the past and
off stage; the Redemption of Man in the far future. We are in a time when
the One God, Eru, is known to exist by the wise, but is not approachable save
4
by or through the Valar though He is still remembered in (unspoken) prayer
by those of Ntimenerean descent” (Letters, 387). This study of their
antecedents in Norse literature provides evidence for the resolution of this
and other disputes about meaning in The Lord of the Rin@, The
Silmarillion, and The Unfinished Tales.
Finally, Tolkien’s friend and colleague C. S. Lewis also comments on the
Northern qualities of the tale: “If we insist on asking for the moral of the
story, that is its moral: a recall from facile optimism and wailing pessimism
alike, to that hard, yet not quite desperate, insight into Man’s unchanging
predicament by which heroic ages have lived, It is here that the Norse
affinity is strongest: hammerstrokes but with compassion.“10 As the
comparisons in this book show, the hammerstrokes are a common motif in
Northern literature. While the sagas contain, compassionate incidents, the
compassion in The Lord of the Rings is one of Tolkien’s many changes.
5
NOTES
1. Francis Huxley, “The Endless Worm”, New Statesman and Nation,

November 5, 1955, 587-88.
2. Elizabeth Leigh Pemberton, Spectator CXCV (November 25, 1955), 704.
3. Times Literary Supplement, XIV (November 25, 1955), 704
4. Robert J. Reilly, “Tolkien and the Fairy Story”, 135. Thomas J. Gasque,
“Tolkien: the Monsters and the Critters”, 152. Patricia Spacks, “Power and
’ Meaning in The Lord of them”, 83-84. All in Tolkien and the Critics,
edited by Neil D. Isaacs and Rose A. Zimbardo (Notre Dame: Notre Dame
University Press, 1968). William Ready, Understanding Tolkien and “The
Lord of the Rings”, (New York: Paperback Library, 1969).
5, Robert Giddings, editor, J.R.R. Tolkien: This Far Land (London: Vision
and Barnes & Noble, 1983).
6. L. Sprague de Camp, The Incomplete Enchanter (New York: Pyramid

Books, 1968). Michael Jan Friedman, The Hammer and the Horn (New
York: Popular Library, 1985).
7. Charles Moorman, “The Shire, Mordor, and Minas Tirith” in Tolkien and
the Critics, 201 a
8, “The Shire, Mordor, and Minas Tirith”, 201, 212. The Letters of J.R.R.
Tolkien, selected and edited by Humphrey Carpenter with the assistance of
Christopher Tolkien (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1981), 375. In a letter to
Charlotte and Denis Plimmer who had interviewed Tolkien and written an
article which he considered to be inaccurate, Tolkien said: “Not Nordic
please! A word I personally dislike; it is associated, though of French origin,
6
with racialist theories Geographically, Northern is usually better.”
9. Richard Purtill, Lord of the Elves and Eldils: Fantasv and Philosophy in C.
S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1974).
Paul H. Kocher, Master of Middle-earth: The Fiction of J.R.R. Tolkien
(Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1972) in Tolkien and the Critics.
10. C. S. Lewis, “The Dethronement of Power,” in Tolkien and the Critics,

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Chapter Two
‘The Pot of Soup, the Cauldron of Story has always been boiling.“l
Tolkien’s Background in Old English and Old Norse Language and Literature
The purpose of this chapter is to survey briefly Old English and Old
Norse literatures and to discuss the depth of Tolkien’s knowledge of them.
Tolkien’s reputation lies not only with his major works of fantasy -- The Lord
of, The Silmarillion, and The Hobbit -- but also with his major
critical works -- “Beowulf: the Monsters and the Critics”, “On Fairy-stories,”
and his editions and translations of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and
Pearl. Throughout his career, he studied and taught Old English language
and literature. From 1925 to 1945, he was the Rawlinson and Bosworth
Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College of Oxford University. In
1945, he became Merton Professor of English Language and Literature at
Merton College of Oxford University. 2 Like most other scholars of Old
English literature, he was professionally and personally interested in Old
Norse literature.
Old English and Old Norse Language

Both Old English and Old Norse languages descend from a common
Old Germanic ancestor. When the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes invaded
England in the fifth and sixth centuries, they brought their language with
them. As they conquered the island, their tongue replaced the Celtic
language being spoken there. The Old English or Anglo-Saxon language
remained the language of common people, government, and literature from
450 to 1150. In the 1066 Norman conquest, William the Conqueror, a
French- speaking baron descended from Viking raiders, defeated the
English King Harald at the battle of Hastings. This conquest and the
subsequent use of the French language for government matters and for
literature ended the Old English period. By the 1200s when English began
1
to regain its prominence as the national language, the language had changed
so much that it was called Middle English, rather than Old English or
Anglo-Saxon. The Middle English period lasted from about 1200 to 1500
when another set of changes created Modern English, the language
currently spoken in England, the United States, and their former colonies.3
Old Norse is a term used to describe the early forms of a common
Scandinavian language. The eastern group includes Swedish and Danish: the
western Norwegian and Icelandic. Old Icelandic is the most important of
these languages for two reasons. First, the settlement of Iceland gave the
Old Norse language an island environment, in which the remote locale
reduced contact with other culture and languages and slowed the rate of
change. Modem Icelanders are the only Scandinavians whose language has
changed so little that they can read medieval literature without great
difficulty. Second, Icelandic poets and saga writers created a body of heroic
literature unsurpassed among Germanic peoples.4 The contents of this
body of literature and Tolkien’s knowledge of it are discussed below. .
Tolkien knew Old English, Middle English, and Old Norse intimately.
His professorial appointments required him to give lectures and to tutor
students in these areas. He published translations of two important Middle
English texts -- Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Pearl. And he wrote a
number of articles, such as “Ancrene Wisse and Hali Meithhad” and “Chaucer
as a Philologist: The Reeve’s Tale”? He knew several other languages: Latin,
Greek, Gothic, Irish, Welsh, Italian, Spanish, French, Finnish, and probably
others [Letters, 12, 2 1, 26, 87, 223). He says repeatedly in the Letters that
his inspiration for The Lord of the Rin@ and The Silmarillion was
“fundamentally linguistic” [Letters,
T h e e2x19).
act meaning of that
statement and its impact on an understanding of Tolkien’s works are not ,
within the scope of this book. J
Old English Literature

Old English or Anglo Saxon literature is a small body of material
created in England between the invasion of the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes in
2
the fifth and sixth centuries and the Norman conquest in 1066.
Anglo-Saxon literature consists of several masterful short heroic poems --
“Maldon”, “Brunanburg”, ‘Widsith”, “Deor”, “Wanderer”,. and “Seafarer”; the
religious poetry of Caedmon and Cynewulf; several other religious poems, the
most famous of which is “The Dream of the Rood”; a few secular poems
including “The Wife’s Lament”; the prose writings of King Alfred, Gregory,
Bede, fithelwold, filfric, and Wulfstan; and the masterpiece Beowulf”. .
Many of these works deal with the same themes and motifs that Old Norse
literature does: thus discussions of these Old English works have been
included at relevant points. In particular, the contributions. of the poem
Beowulf, which tells the tale of a Danish prince in a Swedish court, to the
creation of The Lord of the Rn@ appear in Chapter 9. Tolkien’s use of
Middle English literature as a source of inspiration is not within the scope of
this book.
Tolkien’s Knowledge of Old Norse Literature

Tolkien’s familiarity with Old Norse literature is well documented.
When he was only sixteen, his schoolmaster George Brewerton lent Tolkien
an Anglo-Saxon primer. Tolkien moved on from the primer to the poem
Beowulf. Then after doing some reading in Middle English, he began a study
of Old Norse, reading the Volsunga Saga, the Norse version of the story of
Sigurd and the dragon Fafnir in the original language. His love of language
and literature continued as he learned Gothic, another part of the Old
Germanic language family7. At King Edward’s school, he delighted his
friends in T.C.B.S. (the Tea Club, subsequently renamed the Barrovian
Society) with tales from the Norse VI, and in 1911, he read a
paper to the school Literary Society on Norse sagas? At Oxford in 1913,
Tolkien changed his major subject from Classics to English Language and
Literature. His special or secondary subject was Old Norse, which he
studied with the well-known scholar W. A. Craigie. As Tolkien biographer
Humphrey Carpenter comments, Old Norse literature and mythology “had a
profound appeal to Tolkien’s imagination9 .
3
Since the Oxford program is rigorous and Tolkien already had a good
background in the area of Old Norse, it seems likely that he would have
studied most of the sagas mentioned in Craigie’s survey The Icelandic Sagas.
Although Tolkien had not been a spectacular student in Classics, his interest
in Old English and Old Norse was keener, and he did finish the program
with a first class degree 10 Craigie enumerates thirty historical sagas, three
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ecclesiastical sagas, three sagas of later times, eleven sagas about countries
other than Iceland, and thirteen mythical and romantic sagas? Most of
these sagas have been studied in preparation for this book about Tolkien’s
use of Northern literature in his work.
Tolkien ‘continued his affection for Old Norse literature throughout his
life. In 1925, with his colleague E.V. Gordon, he founded a Viking Club for
undergraduates to drink beer, read sagas,. and sing comic song@. Later at
Oxford he would form a similar club composed of dons. The purpose of the
Coalbiter club was to encourage the reading and discussion of Icelandic sagas
in their original language. The club was named to reflect a habit of sitting so
close to the fireplace that the reader could bite the coalsI% Tolkien’s own
wide reading in Icelandic literature led him to propose that it be given more
prominence in the syllabus for students of English language and literature?
The Inklings, a literary society for manuscript reading, finally supplanted
the Coalbiters in the 193Os, but only after all the principal Icelandic sagas
and the Poetic Edda had been covered15. Since he had not only read the
sagas for his own pleasure but had also translated and discussed them with
his colleagues, his knowledge of them was profound. It is, therefore, fitting
to assess what impact this intimate knowledge of the sagas had on his
literary creations.
Old Norse Literature

Since few English-speaking people have studied Old Norse and
Icelandic literature, a brief survey seems appropriate. Several histories of
Norse literature are available: Stefan Einarsson’s A History of Icelandic
Literature, Halvdan Koht’s The Old Norse Sagas, and E.O.G. Turville-Petre’s
4
Origins of Icelandic Literature are good. 16 However, since W.A. Craigie was
Tolkien’s tutor in Norse literature, Craigie’s The Icelandic Sagas has been
the primary source for this brief outline. The word saga means “something
said,” and the phrase “Icelandic saga” denotes a body of prose literature
written in Iceland in the Icelandic language between the middle of the
twelfth century and the beginning of the fifteenth century. The works vary
greatly in length, value, and interest, but all have the outward form of
historical or biographical narratives. In spite of their outward form, many
are purely fictitious while others contain a blend of fact and fiction? The
ways in which The Lord of the RinB and Tolkien’s other works adhere to
this model are discussed in Chapter 3 entitled “Generic Considerations.”
Iceland was colonized from Norway and the other Scandinavian
countries beginning in the middle of the 9th century. King Harald
Fairhaired’s expansion of his kingdom from a small district in the east of
Norway throughout the entire country was a catalyst to move freedom- loving
chieftains from Norway to Iceland, the Shetlands,
. and the Faeroes.
According to legend; the expansion began because a young woman refused to
marry Harald until he brought all of Norway under his rule. His vow neither
to cut nor comb his hair until the conquest was complete gained him the
nickname Fairhaired. The details of the colonization of Iceland are recorded
in the Landnamabok. A population explosion in the Northern countries,
combined with the desire to escape the realities of King Harald as overlord,
drove Scandinavians to colonize throughout the known Northern world.
They were great travelers -- engaging alternately in trading expeditions and
viking raids. Because of their emigration and travels, their language and
literature were carried throughout the whole of Scandinavia and parts of
Russia and England. These fiercly independent ex-patriot Norwegians
governed Iceland democratically with local assemblies called things.
Beginning in 930, a national general assembly, called the Althing, met
annually in the spring and autumn?
Literature flourished in this freedom-loving society. By the second half
of the tenth century, the skalds, as Scandinavian poets were called, were
5
mostly Icelanders rather than Norwegians. They recited poems’ about
famous historical exploits until they had themselves witnessed new
heroisms, which they straight away incorporated into poems carried back to
Iceland. Skaldic poetry mingled with this new tradition of saga telling and
became the chief entertainment among the Icelanders of the period. The
sagas themselves recount many incidents of sagas being told at various
gatherings. Scholars believe that many of the stories which became the
great written sagas of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries were present in
this oral tradition for many years?
In the year 1000 after considerable debate, the Icelandic Althing
embraced Christianity as the country’s official religion. With Christianity
came medieval learning, including first reading and writing in Latin and
then in the vernacular, perhaps following on English models. In England, a
similar process of Christianization had eradicated the native religion and
mythology, but in Iceland the old mythology, an essential tool of the skaldic
poet and the saga-teller, was retained. Although pagan practice was
forbidden in public, individuals were allowed to continue pagan rites in
private. The pagan spirit lived on in Iceland even though the letter of the
law was Christian. In the winter of 111748, the Icelandic law, which had
previously been recited by the law speaker at the Althing, was written down.
Shortly thereafter in 1130, Ari Thorgilsson composed the Islendinga-bok, or
the “Book of the Icelanders”. Ari made special efforts to fix exact dates for
historical events; thus, the episodes covered in the surviving short version of
his work may be dated accurately. Ari stands as a great link between the
oral saga age, which ended about 1130 and the literary period which
begins?
The transition from a period when many saga stories existed in oral
tradition to a period when the stories began to be written down may be
responsible for the anonymity of most of the major sagas. While a certain
carelessness about authorship exists in all middle ages literature, its
prevalence in Iceland remains remarkable. Perhaps the first writers of the
sagas did not add much to the story as it stood in oral tradition and
6
therefore did not wish to claim authorship. The Icelanders of the thirteenth
and fourteenth centuries were abridging or expanding, combining or
interpolating, re-writing and rearranging their own works and those of
their predecessors. This practice may have made it difficult to assign
authorship?
Icelandic Farnil-
The Icelandic family sagas give an amazingly clear and vivid picture of
the details of early Scandinavian history and also throw much light upon the
history of England during several centuries. Through the sagas, readers
know much more about the hundreds of real Icelandic men and women
whose actions are recorded than they do about the kings of England during
the same time period. In addition to their historical matter, the sagas also
record all that is known about Germanic religion, mythology, and beliefs in
the supernatural. The student of culture and folklore has an enormously
rich resource in Icelandic saga literature22.
During the written saga period in the twelfth through fourteenth
centuries, many different kinds of sagas were written. The best known
group includes the sagas of the Icelanders, those stories written about the
great men and distinguished families of the island. The action of most of
these sagas takes place between the middle of the tenth century and the
first quarter of the eleventh. The thirty or so more authentic of these works
would fill a book about 3,000 pages long and provide a fairly comprehensive
picture of life in the heroic period in Iceland. Some of these are shorter
sagas with a variety of story lines, many of them dealing in typical themes of
honor and revenge, others telling stories of thwarted love, and still others
featuring poets as heroes?
Five sagas stand out not only for their length -- twice that of the
shorter workers -- but also for their excellence. These are the Evrbvggia
saga_, &ils sa=, Laxdale. saga, the saga of Grettir the Strong, and Ni&ls Sa@.
While Eil’s Sa@ seems to have contributed some facets to The Lord of the
Rings, fewer correlations exist than with the others. Each of these other
7
sagas made a special contribution to the matter of Middle-earth and has
been discussed in the chapters that follow. However, in order to provide
the reader with some understanding of the stories that make up the heart of
Icelandic literature, the content and nature of four major sagas are outlined
here.
Eyrby-
-a Saa tells the story of Thorolf who brought the timbers from
Thor’s temple in his home district in Norway to be re-erected in his new
home. From this saga, readers learn almost all that is known about the
worship of Thor among Norwegians and Icelanders. After Th6rolfs death,
the main narrative revolves around Snorri and his strong rival Arnkel. The
contest between these two continues until Arnkel dies at the hands of
Snorri and his blood brothers. Stories of berserkers, sorcery, and hauntings
occur in the saga, and the tale of the death of the witch woman Thorgunna
and the subsequent marvels is interesting and well-written?*
Kinslaying ties this saga firmly into Tolkien’s work, as discussed in
Chapter 7 on Customs. Most of the conflict within the saga is among’ people
who share kinship, although sometimes remotely. Both of the families
feuding in Iceland descend from Ketil Flat-Nose; thus the slaying in the saga
constitutes kinslaying, like that which occurs in The Silmarillion. Further,
Arnkel provides a model of the virtues expected of a leader. A comparison
.
of this model with the Faramir’s character traits demonstrates Faramir’s
adherence to Icelandic standards of conduct as discussed in Chapter 8.
Iaxdale Sam
The Laxdale Sam is one of the greatest of the Icelandic family sagas.
The story begins with Unn the Deep-minded’s settlement in Iceland, relates
the stories of her favorite grandson Olaf Feilan, her great- grandson
Hoskuld, and their descendants. The central part of the story revolves
around the imperious but beautiful Gudrun and her marriages. The long
denouement of the saga involves the revenge of Bolli’s sons for their father’s
-,- --. -- _.--- -,-.-

death. Since Bolli has killed his foster-brother and cousin Kjartan for the
sake of Gudrun, the theme of the kinslaying is a major one. Throughout the
saga, fate wars with character for control: both of these are constrained by
the prevailing concept of honor and its requirements for revenge. While
Craigie criticizes this romantic work as being more nearly a historical novel
than a history, he does concede its high merits as saga and its great
popuk3rity.25
Like Craigie, Tolkien was more interested in stories of courage and
great deeds than in stories of the heart, but the Laxdale Sam is a memorable
one. Certainly, the character of Unn the Deep-minded, the great progenitor
of the men and women of Laxdale, may have been influential in Tolkien’s
creation of Galadriel, especially in those parts of her story which appear now
in The Silmarillion and The Unfinished Tales. This kinship is discussed in
Chaptei 8. Further, in her introduction to a translation of the Laxdale Saga,
Margaret Arent praises the art&&y of the saga. She demonstrates how the
sagawriter used prophecy and fulfillment, repetition in lexical terms, and
units of three to reinforce a tripartite division to give the story unity and
cohesion. 26 Tolkien also used these devices in his story-telling as noted in
Chapter 7.
Grettir the Strong

The saga of Grettir the Strong deals almost exclusively with the life
and adventures of Iceland’s most famous outlaw. Grettir’s story is a classic
one, in which his strength and nobility of spirit contend with his
lucklessness to determine his fortunes. In the first half of the story, Grettir
overcomes his typical folklore-hero’s unpromising youth and establishes his
reputation by killing berserkers, bears, barrow wights, and those who taunt
him. Then he endeavors to help out a farmer who is greatly troubled by an
aftergoing-man, a malevolent spirit who rides the roof and kills the
livestock. As Grettir and the ghost struggle, the malicious Glam curses
Grettir foretelling that his strength will lessen, his deeds will turn to evil,
and his guardian-spirit will forsake him. Grettir’s uncle Jokull had warned
9
the hubristic hero that luck and brave deeds were not equivalent, and after
the curse, Grettir’s fortunes decline. More and more frequently, his life is
like that of a western movie gunfighter who is challenged by every young
gunslinger wishing to make his reputation. Finally, Grettir suffers a
self-inflicted axe wound while trying to chop an ensorceled log into
firewood. While he is ill and near death, his enemies gain access to his
island and slay him in his house. He had been nineteen years a n outlaw and
would have been allowed to live within the law again had he lived a few
months longer.27
This saga’s most notable contribution must be the relationship
between Glam, the un-dead thrall, and Tolkien’s most original villain Gollum
(Chapter 4). In addition, the concept of noble outlawry, the landscapes, and
the use of pithy statements in the face of danger also exist in the materials
written about Middle-earth (Chapter 6). The idea of a man who has great
heroism and strength but who has bad luck is a fascinating one. Tolkien’s
story about TW.n in The Silmarillion and The Unfinished Tales employs this
powerful theme. In both stories, the hero’s own character contributes to
the tragic consequences of his lucklessness (Chapter 10). Further,
Humphrey Carpenter uses the translation of this saga as an illustration of a
typical meeting of the Coalbiter’s club. The official biographer’s selection of
this saga as an illustration adds to its interest as a possible source.28
In the opinion of Craigie and other Icelandic scholars, Ni&l’s Sam is .

the pre-eminent example of the saga form. The first third of this saga tells
the story of Gunnar of Hlidarend, Nj&l’s friend and neighbor. Gunnar’s
ill-fated attempt to regain the dowry of his kinswoman Unn gains him the
undeserved hatred of her son Mord Valgardsson, whose blazing malevolence
brings about Gunnar’s untimely end. Gunnar’s unwise marriage to the
beautiful but arrogant Hallgerd sorely tries the hero’s friendship with his
neighbor Njal. Nj&l’s wife Bergthora and Hallgerd begin a killing match, in
which seven men die before Njal can negotiate a settlement. When Mord
IO
fmally succeeds in having Gunnar outlawed, Gunnar defies the sentence and
remains at his farm until his defeat after an epic defense. The sons of Nj&l
now become the chief actors of the saga, and Mord stirs their hatred against
their foster brother Hoskuld. In spite of Njz%l’s repeated efforts to achieve
weregild settlements,, a party finally arrives to destroy Nj&l’s sons. After
several are killed, the attackers determine to burn the house. Both Nja and
Bergthora refuse to leave the burning house: Nj&l because he cannot live
without his honor: Bergthora because she agreed to share Njal’s fate. In the
fmal third of the saga, Nj&l’s son-in-law Kari avenges the family.29
The clearest contribution from the NWs Sa@ to the cauldron that
produced the materials of Middle-earth is the character of Nj&l and the
incident of his burning. The attributes that Nj&l shares with Denethor are
enumerated in a section on that difficult person (Chapter 8). Hallgerd’s
refusal to give Gunnar a strand of hair for his bow during his last defense
may have inspired a similar interchange between Galadriel and the dwarf
Gimli (Chapter 4). Other contributions include a number of landscapes
(Chapter 6), weapons (Chapter 5), and saga characteristics (Chapter 3).
Historical Sagas
Historical sagas about Icelandic families were not the only ones that
went into Tolkien’s stories. Sagas, many of which may have been written by
Icelanders in exile, were also composed about the adventures of
Scandinavians in other countries. The Heimskringla relates the history of
the Kings of Norway, the Faxevinga SaB and the Orknevinga Sam detail the
stories of those islands, and the Jomsvikinga Sam chronicles parts of Danish
and Norwegian history. Various bits and pieces of these sagas and others of
like kind may be found in Tolkien’s descriptions of customs, landscapes,
. and
battle gear.
S
Lgng
a g a s
In a typical lying saga, a generic Norse youth will meet dragons, trolls,
geniis, and miscellaneous monsters. He will travel on magic carpets, seek
11
treasures to exchange for elegant but enchanted princesses, and will end up
marrying the woman he has won. A casual observer might conclude that
Tolkien’s Middle-earth fantasies, which are not based on historical persons
and events, would have a greater likeness to this type of saga than to the
family saga. Such a conclusion is not accurate. The great storytellers of
Iceland’s heroic period took the adventures of their local heroes as
inspiration for the best sagas. Later sagawriters had to invent more fanciful
tales about adventures in other lands. The better the saga the greater
impression it seems to have made ‘on Tolkien. Many more correlations and
parallels exist between the great family sagas and The Lord of the Rings than
those between the lesser lying sagas and Tolkien’s own works.
Sagas of Olden Times

Certain other sagas are grouped together under the title
Fornaldarsijgur or sagas of olden times. Generally, these sagas relate stories
of early Scandinavian history. These sagas, although not as artistically
composed as the family sagas, tell powerful stories with great legendary and
mythic content. 39 The Volsunga Saga and its other version the German
Nibelungenlied fit into this category. Tolkien expressed his fondness for the
story of Sigurd the Volsung and the troublesome ring many times in his
letters. 31 The influence of the two versions of Sigurd’s story on the four
versions of Tolkien’s story of Turin are elaborated in Chapter 10. Another
of these sagas, the Hervarar Saga, which tells primarily the story of Hervor’s
son King Heidrek, has been translated into English by Tolkien’s son
Christopher and was a family favorite. Two other sagas of olden times --
Hrolf kraki and King Hrolf and his Champions -- seem to have been
simmering in the cauldron, too.
Other ‘I’vDes of Sagas

Three other types of sagas -- Latin source sagas, Ecclesiastical sagas,
and sagas of later times -- have generally contributed little to the imaginative
basis for the matter of Middle-earth. The tension created by the imposition
12
of Christianity on paganism did interest and inspire Tolkien, but that
tension shows itself more clearly as it works itself out in the actions of
specific Icelandic heroes than it does in the more purely Ecclesiastical
works. The sagas of latter times show a society in decline, rather than in
the heyday of its creative period. For instance, the lengthy Sturlunga Saga
contained no materials reminiscent of the deeds and themes of
Middle-earth. Tolkien knew classic Greek and Roman works from his
education in an English Public School. Sagas telling the same stories he had
read in the original Greek and Latin were unlikely to have brought him fresh
inspiration.
13
NOTES
1. J.R.R. Tolkien, “On Fairy-Stories” in Tree and Leaf (London, Unwin,

1975), 29. (All references are to this edition and are in the text as “Fairy-
Stories” .)
2. Humphrey Carpenter, Tolkien: A Biography (Boston: Houghton Mifflin,

1977), 111, 200.
3. Bambas, Rudolph C., The English Language: Its Origin and, Historv
(Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1980) and Baugh, Albert C., A
History of the English Language, 2nd ed. (New York: Appleton-Century
Crofts, 1957). Either of these books provides a readable survey of the
history of the English language.
4. History, 36.
5. Biography, 268-75.
6. History, 3-105.
8. Biography, 46, 49.
9. Biography, 65.
10. Biography, 77.
11. W. A. Craigie, The Icelandic Sagas (Cambridge: Cambridge University

Press, 1913; New York: Kraus Reprint Company, 1968), passim.
14
12. Biographv, 105.
14. Biographv, 137.
15. Biographv, 149.
16. Stefan Einarsson, A History of Icelandic Literature (New York: The

Johns Hopkins Press for The American Scandinavian Foundation, 1957).
Halvdan Koht, The Old Norse Sagas (New York: The American-Scandinavian
Foundation, W.W. Norton, 1931; New York: Kraus Reprint Company, 1971).
E.O.G. Turville-Petre, Origins of Icelandic Literature (Oxford: Clarendon
Press, 1953).
17 . Icelandic Sagas, 1 l
18 . Icelandic Sagas, 2-9.
2 0 . Icelandic Sagas, 24-25.
2 2 . Icelandic Sagas, 33-34.
2 4 . Hermann Palsson and Paul Edwards, trans., mbyg@a Saga (Toronto:

University of Toronto Press, 1973).
15
25. Icelandic Sagas, 63-65.
26. A. Margaret Arent, trans., The Laxdoela Saga (Seattle: University of

Washington Press; New York: The American-Scandinavian Foundation), 30-
31 .
27. G. A. Hight, trans. and Peter Foote, ed., The Saga of Grettir the Strong
(New York: Dutton, 1968).
28. Biography, 120.
29. Magnus Magnusson and Hermann Palsson Harmondsworth, trans.,

NiUs Saga (England: Penguin, 1960). 1986 printing.
30. Icelandic Sagas, 94-104.
31. Letters, 150, 306, 3 14- 15. Tolkien admits the relationship: “There is
the Children of Hurin, the tragic tale of Ttirin Turambar and his sister Niniel
mm of which Turin is the hero: a figure that might be said (by people who like
that sort of thing, though it is not very useful) to be derived from the
elements in Sigurd the Volsung, Oedipus, and the Finnish Kullervo.”
16
CHAPTER THREE
“By ‘the soup’ I mean the story as it is served up by its author or teller, and
by ‘the bones’ its sources or materials” (“Fairy-Stories”, 23).
Generic Considerations
Various critics have designated The Lord of the Rina as a fairy- story,
a romance, an epic, a novel, and a saga. In the Letters, Tolkien himself
called the work a fairy-story, a romance, and a saga. In this chapter, the
applicability of these assignments will be discussed. Then the saga form will
be defined and its pertinence to the structure and spirit of The Lord of the
Rings demonstrated. In the definition, the affinity of the saga to the North
Atlantic peoples -- the Scandinavians and their heirs in Iceland, Greenland,
and England -- has been incorporated. The subsequent pages of this book
mark other instances of this affinity for The Lord of the Rine and Tolkien’s
other major works.
Throughout this chapter, genres have been assigned only as they are
illuminating to the work and only when the full connotation of the generic
term, as well as its skeletal definition, aids in that illumination. It soon
becomes clear that two or three genres apply in more than one way. In a
home library, the reader might want to have several copies of The Lord of
the Rings to shelve in each of the applicable sections, one with fairy- stories,
one with romances, and one with sagas. Here a librarian’s game --that the
reader has only one copy and must select one genre as the better place to
shelve the copy -- has been played. Tolkien’s. own comments on the genre
of the work are enlightening if not perhaps authoritative. In general,
Tolkien’s pattern in replying to inquiries was to agree with the allegation of
the letter writer to a limited extent. For instance, Michael Straight was
planning to pen a review calling The Lord of the Rings a fairy-story, and in
1956, he wrote to Tolkien asking several questions. In his response,
Tolkien accepts the fairy-story label emphasizing its proper audience of
1
adults and its “mode of reflecting ‘truth’ which differs from those of allegory,
satire, or ‘realism’ (Letters, 232-33). In the same, letter, Tolkien mentions
the quest and its failure as an integral part of the story; he does not seem to
have a problem in associating the quest or journey motif with more than one
genre (Letters, 234).
In a 1961 letter to his aunt Jane Neave, Tolkien elaborates a little on
the ‘relationship between the fairy-story essay and. The Lord of the Rin@: “I
must say I think the result [of giving the lecture at St. Andrews on
fairy-stories] was entirely beneficial to The Lord of the Rings, which was a
practical demonstration of the views that I expressed.. It [The Lord of the
Rings] was not written ‘for children’, or for any kind of person in particular,
but for itself’(Letters, 310). Certainly, the relationship between the essay
and The Lord of the Rn igsngs claims serious attention for a fairy story
assignment. Talking about The Hobbit, Tolkien distinguishes between a
fairy-story written for adults and one written for children. In a lengthy 195 1
letter to Milton Waldman, Tolkien notes that he extracted The Hobbit
material because he thought it was “susceptible of treatment” for a fairy-story
for children (Letters, 159). But in another letter, he calls The Hobbit a
saga.
Yet, other genres also have Tolkien’s approval; the evidence for the
romance is strong. In a 1944 letter to his son Christopher who was serving
in the air force in Africa, Tolkien employs the term romance to refer to part
of The Lord of the Rings as the “Fourth Book of that great Romance”
(Letters,103). He also uses this term in a 1950 letter to Unwin: “I have
produced a monster; an immensely long, complex, rather bitter, and very
terrifying romance, quite unfit for children (if fit for anybody)” (Letters,
136). Again in 1956 in a letter to Joanna de Bortadano, he calls the work “a
high romance.” Tolkien’s background as a medievalist gave him a positive
and precise definition for medieval romance. Whether he is using the term
technically here or merely as a convenient alternative to less desirable
terms, such as novel, is not entirely clear.
Later in writing to his publisher Sir Stanley Unwin and to his potential
2
publisher Milton Waldman, he begins to call the work a saga associating that
word with the length of the work. In both cases, he labels his works the
Sagas of the Three Jewels and the Rings of Power, referring to The
Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings respectively (Letters, 138-39). To
Waldman, Tolkien says that he thinks Unwin will decline to become involved
“in this monstrous Saga” (Letters, 139). In each instance, he is discussing
the 600,000 word text and the problem of dividing it into artificial
segments.
Tolkien employs the term saga again in a 1957 letter to Caroline
Everett. In explaining to her how he solved the problem of bringing Aragorn
to the Siege and informing the reader about Aragorn’s adventures to that
point, Tolkien remarks that he had to cut down the whole episode. To have
told the events in full would have necessitated his writing a longer tale with
another focus. He declares that the whole episode would have constituted a
Saga of Aragorn Arathom’s Son rather than The Lord of the Rings. Although
he is willing to hold up the action to tell this tale in Chapter 9, he could not
aesthetically allow the delay earlier in Chapter 2 or in Chapter 6. He admits
that by the third volume, he had built up a large number of “narrative debts”
(Letters, 258). These “narrative debts” had to be paid off with brevity to
keep from holding up the main action of the story. Clearly, pacing and
length were important to Tolkien in discussing genres, and he considered
the saga a form with magnitude.
The other saga aspect that Tolkien considered important was its
pretention to history, one of his own devices. In a 1965 letter to Rayner
Unwin, he criticizes The Hobbit’s old blurbs, which he believes destroy the
‘magic’ by emphasizing its petite charm. He reminds Unwin of The Hobbit’s
claim to history: “The Hobbit saga is presented as vera historia, at great
pains (which have proved very effective)” (Letters, 365). Tolkien seems to
think that the claim to history is typical of the saga and that it improves the
effect of the work. These opinions about the importance of history or a
claim to history as a key element in a saga mirror his mentor W. A. Craigie’s
published analyses in Icelandic Sagas.
3
As genre assignments, the epic and the novel do not fare so well. In
another 1944 letter to his son Christopher, he discusses the success of
Kenneth Grahame’s posthumous First Whispers of the Wind in the Willows,
lamenting about his own working schedule: “It is a curse having the epic
temperament in an overcrowded age devoted to snappy bits!” (Letters, 90).
The context of the quotation suggests a concern with length and scope of
The Lord of the Rin@ and The Silmarillion rather than genre. Although he
discusses many works of epic nature, he does not call The Lord of the Rings
an epic.
Novel as generic assignment fares even less well. Replying to a letter
from Peter Szabo SzentmihAlyi, Tolkien denies the applicability of the
author’s biography to his works and states a lack of interest in the history
and situation of the English ‘novel’: “My work is not a ‘novel’, but an ‘heroic
romance’ a much older and quite different variety of literature” (Letters,
414). The tone of exasperation in the letter is rare, equaled perhaps only by
a similar tone in the long response to the plans for a movie. Nevertheless,
Tolkien did seem to conceptualize his major works as romances,
fairy-stories, or sagas, rather than as epics or novels. Since it is impossible
to know from these scattered references in letters where Tolkien might
have placed a single copy of The Lord of the Rina in his own library, some
further discussion of the claims follows.
The Fairy-Story
In 1938, J.R.R. Tolkien delivered, as an Andrew Lang Lecture, an essay
“On Fairy-Stories,” which was later printed in Essavs Presented to Charles
Williams (“Fairy Stories”, 11). The natural desire to measure a man’s artistic
achievement by his own critical commentary has not escaped Tolkien’s
critics. In “Tolkien and the Fairy Story,” R.J. Reilly states “I will try to
‘place’ the trilogy in its proper genre -- the fairy story mode as Tolkien
conceives it. “1 In a review, Mark Roberts notes “Now it seems clear that
The Lord of the Rings is fairy-story according to Professor Tolkien’s
understanding of the term? And Dorothy K. Barber in “The Meaning of The
4
Lord of the Rings” also refers to Tolkien’s essay with its theory of the
sub-creator and its doctrine of Eucatastrophe.3
Their argument for The Lord of the Rings as a fairy-story follows the
structure of Tolkien’s essay. Michael Straight, another advocate of this
theory, especially defends The Lord of the Rings as an illumination of the
essay’s doctrine of the sub-creator and thus of “the inner consistency of
reality. “* Reilly and Barber also believe that Tolkien has created in The Lord
of the Rings a Secondary World, which is believable and which has its own
laws. They apply Fantasy, Recovery, Escape, and Consolation, elements that
Tolkien says the fairy-story usually offers, to the three part work.
However, Reilly’s discussion of Fantasy employs only half of Tolkien’s

definition which is, “For my present purpose I require a word which shall
embrace both the Sub-creative Art in itself and a quality of strangeness and
wonder in the Expression, derived from the Image: a quality essential to
fairy-story. I propose, therefore, to arrogate to myself the powers of
Humpty-Dumpty, and to use Fantasy for this purpose . ” (“Fairy-Stories”,
l l
44). Reilly, and other admirers of The Lord of the Rings, agree that it
contains a Secondary World, which is both consistent and credible. Tolkien
also requires a special kind of presentation for the fairy-story; he demands
“a quality of strangeness and wonder in the Expression.” This quality of
strangeness, which typifies fairy-story, does not characterize saga or The
Lord of the Rings .
In The Mythology of Middle-earth, Ruth Noel counters these
allegations about strangeness and wonder. For her, Middle-earth is not
Faerie, not a remote, inviolable land of indescribable beauty, except perhaps
in tirien. Quite correctly, Noel finds little of supernatural in the geography
of Middle-earth. 5 Indeed, one of Tolkien’s most effective methods for
creating the sense of reality present in The Lord of the Rings is the
matter-of-fact, chronicle-like reporting of events. No imaginative storyteller
has spun or invented or embellished this tale. Tolkien presents the tale to
5
the reader as a narrative history of events recorded in the chronicle, Red
Book of Westmarch. This invocation of the aura of history is, as will be
discussed later, characteristic not of fairy-story but of saga.
4
Escape and Recovery
After introducing the term Fantasy in the essay “On Fairy-Stories,”
Tolkien defines Recovery as the regaining of a clear view and Escape as the
constructive ability of the prisoner to focus his attention on something
outside his prison rather than as the cowardly flight of the deserter to avoid
Real Life (“Fairy-Stories”, 50-59). Even though the critic Roberts says that
he can find no value or clear view in The Lord of the Rings, he charges this
inadequacy to the writing style, which offends his tastes and prevents his
participation. 6 Despite Roberts’ opinion, these terms do seem to apply to
The Lord of the Rings, and equally well to many types of literature other
than the fairy-story. Thus the mere existence of elements of Recovery and
Escape in The Lord of the Rings serves not as an argument for the fairy-story
as genre but as an affirmation of the high quality of The Lord of the Rings.
Eucatastrophe
The critics mentioned above and many others all agree that the long
work ends happily in Eucatastrophe, the antithesis of tragedy. In “On Fairy-
Stories” Tolkien describes the typical happy ending: “it denies (in the face
of much evidence, if you will) universal final defeat and in so far is
euangelium, giving a fleeting glimpse of Joy, Joy beyond the walls of the
world, poignant as grief” (“Fairy-Stories”, 60) However, Tolkien’s definition
l
of EucatastroDhe does not explain the ending of The Lord of the Rings.
Although the One Ring has been destroyed, Gandalf warns that evil is not
destroyed. If the story had ended with the great climax consisting of the
Ring’s destruction and the subsequent rescue of Frodoand Sam, then the
ending might be considered joyful. Yet the story continues. Evil is
discovered thriving in the Shire. This evil is, in turn, overcome, and the
magic dust that Galadriel gave Sam erases its scars. At this point, too, the
6
story might have ended happily, if not joyfully. But the ending Tolkien chose
for the story shows Gandalf and Frodo with Elrond and the other Elves
setting out for the Grey Havens. Those characters who are the most valiant
and imaginative can no longer linger in the world of Middle-earth: the
Third Age is at an end.
Now the critics who claim a Christian interpretation for the work see
in the Grey Havens the Heavenly City. Thus, they interpret the ending as
the joyful ascension, without death, of the heroes into heaven. However, in
“The Hobbit-Forming World of J.R.R. Tolkien,” Henry Resnik reports that
“Tolkien’s long acquaintance with Norse and Germanic myths inspired the
chillier, more menacing landscapes of Middle-earth, and he makes no
secret of having deliberately shaped the two major interests of his life --
rural England and the Northern myths -- to his own literary purposes.“7 In
the prefatory notes for The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien says “I have tried to
modernize the myths and make them credible.” The ending of Northern
myths is unlike that of Christian doctrine. If the hero’s voyage to Grey
Havens is to be associated with Valhalla rather than the Christian Heaven,
then the ending must reflect that interpretation. The Valkyries take the
heroes from this life to Valhalla, to a magnificent banquet, sports, and
fighting. But Valhalla is not an eternal refuge, only a waiting place until that
final confrontation between good and evil. The Gods and the heroes will
fight valiantly, but they will fall. The joy of Valhalla is the promise of one
more battle, not the infinite Gloria of Christian salvation and everlasting life.
The voyage to the Grey Havens is not a eucatastrophic event. This problem
of whether or not the ending is a happy one will be discussed further in .
Chapter 9.
Time
Another difference between the fairy-story and The Lord of the Rings
is the concept of time. Of fairy-stories, Tolkien says that “they open a door
on Other Time, and if we pass through, though only for a moment, we stand
outside our own time, outside Time itself, maybe” (“Fairy-Stories”, 33). For
7
the reader, time in his world may be suspended when he sits down with the
three volumes. But inside The Lord of the Rings, time marches inexorably.
The days from Bilbo’s birthday on 22 September 3018 to the farewell at
Rivendell on 25 December 3018 rush past. The days Frodo spends in thk
Dead Marshes and within the gates of Mordor drag. The effect is different
from that in The Silmarillion where centuries pass without the reader’s
awareness.
Tolkien comments further on time in the fairy-story in a note on
Andrew Lang’s “The Terrible Head”: “Namelessness is not a virtue but an
accident, and should not have been imitated; for vagueness in this regard is
a debasement, a corruption due to forgetfulness and lack of skill. But not so,
I think, the timelessness. That beginning [‘once upon a time’] is not
poverty-stricken but significant. It produces at a stroke the sense of a great
uncharted world of time” (“Fairy-Stories”, 70). The fairy-story, as Tolkien
sees it, is a world outside of time: yet an awareness of time pervades The
Lord of the Rings and its appendices. Tolkien even supplements the natural
time sequence of the story proper with time-oriented appendices, such as
“A” “The Annals of the Kings and Rulers,” “B” “The Tale of Years (Chronology
of the Westlands),” “C” “Family Trees,” and “D” “Shire Calendar.”
Length
A final disparity between Tolkien’s prototype of the fairy-story and The
Lord of the Rings is the length. Tolkien draws the examples in “On
Fairy-Stories” mainly from Andrew Lang’s Fairv Books, Jakob Grimm’s Fairy
Tales, and George Dasent’s Popular Tales from the Norse. The longest story
in Lang’s The Brown Fairv Book is forty-seven pages, in a translation of
Grimm’s work fifteen pages, and in Dasent’s volume twenty pages while The
Lord of the Rings in three volumes runs 1,215 pages including the
appendices .8 Apparently, Tolkien recognized this problem, for in discussing
how to get the 600,000 words of The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings
published, he does not call them fairy-stories but sagas (Letters, 138-39).
With his essay on the fairy-story, Tolkien had printed “Leaf by Niggle”
noting that the two are related “by the symbols of Tree and Leaf, and by both
8
touching in different ways on what is called in the essay ‘sub-creation”’
(“Fairy-Stories”, 5). Niggle’s story, which seems to display Fantasy,
Recovery, Escape, and Consolation, covers twenty-five pages. However,
“Smith of Wootton Major” may be the best example, among Tolkien’s works,
of his fairy-story thesis. The story takes place, as Tolkien says it should, in
the realm of Fa&ie, both geographically and metaphorically. Tolkien creates
a Secondary World and tells the story with some wonder. The fairy-story
takes place in a “remarkable village,” and its events are received with
“surprise, ” “astonishment,” and “dismay.” The old cook explains to himself
the transformation of Alf the Apprentice into a King as a dream. But this
rationalization is within the story; it is not a frame like the one Tolkien
dislikes in Alice in Wonderland. Tolkien’s story “Smith of Wootton Major”
offers Escape, Recovery, and the Consolation of a tearfully happy ending.
Unlike The Lord of the Rings, this story is outside of time: “not very long ago
for those with long memories nor very far away for those with long legs?
And the tale runs about fifty pages.
Among Tolkien’s other works, the accompanying story “Farmer Giles
of Ham” pretends to be a history. This pretense complicates its generic
status as a fairy-story. The Silmarillion functions as a compendium of
mythology and cannot be called a story, per se. The Unfinished Tales and
the volumes of The History of Middle-earth contain many nuggets of story
which Tolkien could have shaped into fairy-story or some other genre, but
which remain as fragments. Certainly, some of these tales have frames
which indicate that they are being told to children. The existence of such a
frame suggests that Tolkien may have intended them to be fairy-stories, but
he was such an aggressive reviser and reshaper that forms frequently
changed under his creative force.
Although Straight calls The Hobbit (280 pages) “the classical fairy
story,“‘0 the manner of presentation, concept of time, and length again
present serious difficulties for this generic assignment. The fairy-story
cannot be pedantically limited to a fixed number of pages. However, the
shortness of its many instances constitutes a formal characteristic which
9
must exclude both The Hobbit arid The. Thus, because the
style of the three-part work does not follow Tolkien’s suggestion for the
style of Fantasy, because the ending is not Eucatastrophe, because it is in
time, not outside of time, and because the work is far beyond the usual
length of the fairy-story, both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings should
be placed on the reader’s library shelf with some genre other than the
fairy-story.
The Romance
Another genre considered in connection with The Lord of the Rings is
the traditional romance. Tolkien calls the work a “high romance” (Letters,
247). William Blissett in “The Despots of the Rings” calls it a heroic
romance and charts some of its similarities to the Wagnerian s
Nibelung . 11 In “The Lord of the Rings as Romance,” Derek S. Brewer
emphasizes the differences between the novel and the romance. He
stresses romance’s affinity with myth, folktale, dream, and religious cult.“lz
In “The Lord of the Rings: The Novel as Traditional Romance,” George H.
Thomson does a more comprehensive study of the motifs and structures of
the three part work in terms of those of the romance. His thesis is that
“With respect to its subject matter, the story is an anatomy of romance
themes or myths: with respect to its structure, the story is a tapestry
romance in the Medieval-Renaissance tradition.“f3 Using the six phases of
romance identified by Northrop Frye in Anatomv of Criticism, Thomson
notes the major occurrences of themes quite effectively.
However, Thomson’s designation of The Lord of the Rings as “an
anatomy of romance themes or myths” is compatible with the claim that the
three part work is a saga. 14 Northrop Frye apparently considers the saga a
variation of the romance. He says that “The romance, which deals with
heroes, is intermediate between the novel, which deals with men, and the
myth, which deals with gods. Prose romance first appears as a late
development of Classical mythology, and the prose Sagas of Iceland follow
close on the mythical Eddas.“lS The Icelandic sagas relating the deeds of
IO
heroes are prose romances in Frye’s terms. Because the distinction
between poetic works and prose works, as set forth in the discussion of the
epic, is important, those differences should continue to be observed in a
generic assignment.
Romance Elements of Lying Sagas

As Margaret Schlauch in The Romance in Iceland demonstrates, the
romance actually accounts for two types of sagas: the sagas of olden times,
which deal with the old Norse gods and heroes, and the lying sagas, which
are mainly retellings of romances imported from the Mediterranean area.16
These lying sagas naturally display the six phases of traditional romance. In
the chapter “Recurrent Literary Themes,” Schlauch takes an imaginary hero
Helgi and suggests what the typical course of his adventures might have
been in one of these sagas. He is frequently jeopardized at birth by being
exposed or offered as a sacrifice to a god. His innocent youth may be spent
as a menial; at best he is slow-witted and will not work. His innocence may
be threatened by an amorous and evil stepmother whose advances he stoutly
refuses. His quest may involve love and/or fortune and/or fame, and he will
have to deal with dragons, trolls, and miscellaneous monsters. Since his
dangerous quest forms the main part of the saga, the happy, comedic
phases as defined by Frye, are frequently quite brief. But the conclusion is
usually merry with the traditional proliferation of marriages of the hero and
his companions to numerous rescued princesses. Helgi is left, then,
“happily married to a princess whom he has won with great effort, and
serene in the assurance that his descendants will be no less famous than he.‘*17 .
His adventures have followed the pattern that Frye establishes for the
traditional romance. 18
Birth of a Romance Hero

However, these romance phases are not limited to the lying sagas.
Somewhat more sparingly, romance elements also occur in the heroic sagas
and in the family sagas. Perhaps a few examples from the sagas and The
II
Lord of the Rings will illustrate relationships to Northrop Frye’s stages of
romance. In The Saga of Gunnlaug Wormtongue, Thorstein orders his
daughter Helga exposed because he dreams that two famous men will meet
their death in combat over her. 19 This action places the romance
protagonist in peril at birth, fulfilling the first stage of a romance. Also, in
the Heimskringla: History of the Kings of Norwav, Snorri Sturluson
associates Olaf Tryggvason’s birth with peril on water since his mother flees
in a boat to escape Queen Gunnhild and her sons just before Olaf is born.20
Saga writers often report plentiful crops and an unusual number of
twins among the livestock accompanying the birth of a famous hero.
Tolkien’s use of this frequent romance convention at the end of The Lord of
the Rings is important. If Tolkien had planned to take the story on into the
fourth age rather than back into earlier ages, the year of twins and other
bountiful fruits could signal the birth of a new hero. Instead, Tolkien uses
this device as a setting for the hero’s disappearance, for the year 1420
prepares the reader for Frodo’s departure. Following the practice of
Shakespeare, Tolkien establishes the restoration of order before his hero
sails to the West. The reader knows that all will be well in the Shire until
evil arises again. Tolkien alters this important romance convention to serve
his own purposes: the Shire is safe and stable, but it must enjoy its
prosperity without its hero. Tolkien underlines the need for continuing
sacrifices to be made to provide a secure environment for the hobbits.
Romance Hero’s Youth

The innocent youth of the hero, Frye’s second stage of romance,
appears most often in Icelandic sagas as an unlikely or unpromising
childhood. Glum is so described in Vk: “Glum does not
concern himself with the household. Opinion holds that he was difficult in
his youth. He was always taciturn and reserved and grew into a tall man. His
eyebrows were somewhat slanting; his hair was fair but straight. He was
slender, and, opinion holds, slow-witted; he did not go to the gatherings of
men . “21 In Grettir the Strong, the sagawriter notes that Grettir was “very
12
hard to manage in his bringing up.“22 When he is told to mind the geese, he
kills them; when told to rub his father’s back, he scrapes it with a wool
comb; when told to watch the horse, he shaves her hair off. Similarly,
Tolkien emphasizes Frodo’s youthful adventures with Farmer Maggot, whose .
mushrooms have led Frodo to moonlight raids.23
In the saga romance, idyllic friendships, a part of the youth of the
hero, are also numerous especially among brothers or cousins: the brothers
Thorolf and Egil of Egil’s Saga, the cousins Kjartan and Bolli of Laxdale Saga,
and Helgi and Hroar of The Saga of Hrolf Kraki. The Shire conspiracy for
Frodo’s departure with the Ring includes his cousins Merry and Pippin. The
idyllic friendship of these hobbits so impresses Elrond that he allows them
to accompany Frodo as part of the Fellowship of the Ring, even though they
are young and inexperienced as warriors.
The Quest
Frye’s third phase of romance, the quest, deserves particular attention
since W.H. Auden has so thoroughly established its relevance to the structure
and meaning of The Lord of the Rings. However, Thomson correctly insists
that the quest is not a genre in itself but is rather a most “frequent and
important form of the romance story.“24 But this quest form is not limited
to the romance or even to the lying sagas. The quest also occurs in the
heroic sagas of olden times and the family sagas. Fitting Auden’s essential
elements of the typical quest to a heroic saga, such as The Saga of Hrolf
Kraki, and to a family saga, such as Korrnak’s Saga, substantiates this idea.
Precious Object
Auden first requires a precious object -- either immediate or far-
reaching, specific or philosophical -- and/or person to be found or
married. 25 In the “Uppsala Ride,” part of The Saga of Hrolf Kraki, Hrolf’s
patrimony, which is being withheld unethically by King Athils, is such an
object. In Kormak’s Saga, Kormak first sees Steingerd’s feet, then her face;
he begins to make poems about his new love and to visit her, Her love
13
becomes the object of his quest. Similarly, in The Hobbit, the quest is for
the Dragon’s treasure, which is Thorin’s inheritance. In The Lord of the
FZii, the object is more philosophical. The destruction of the Ring will
!
break the power of Sauron and avert his conquest of Middle-earth.
Next, the object must be difficult to achieve because of the distance.
In some instances, the distance to be conquered expresses itself as time .
rather than space. The hero’s pursuit of the object takes a long time rather
than covering a forbidding distance. While Hrolf rides off across a long
distance with his champions and men, Kormak devotes his life to pursuing
Steingerd’s love. In Tolkien’s works, both Bilbo and Frodo travel across
their known world in pursuit of their objects. Both spend months and
return so altered by their experiences that they can not longer remain in
their world.
Hero’s Character
Auden says that the hero of the quest must be a special person with
exactly the right breeding and character: King Hrolf is the son of King Helgi
and his daughter-wife Yrsa. Kormak, who is described as “big and strong and
of an aggressive disposition,” is a skillful, if skeptical, skaldic poet.26
Tolkien makes much of Bilbo and Frodo’s descent from the unconventional
but extraordinary Tooks. Unlike respectable hobbits, the uncle and nephew
have adventurous moods.
.
Tests of the Hero
The fourth part of the quest form requires its hero to undergo one or
more tests. Hrolf and his champions are first subjected to severe cold, then
to terrible thirst, and last to a great storm. ,Hrolf sends all but his twelve
champions home. When the company arrives at King Athils’ palace, dark
fog conceals the pitfalls and armed men in the hall. Next a fierce fire and
then a great troll in the likeness of a boar try the company. Tolkien’s heroes
are also tested. Bilbo faces trolls, goblins, spiders, and Smaug. Frodo is
tried by Gandalf, cold, storms, thirst, arcs, Ringwraiths, Galadriel, Boromir,
14
Gollum, Shelob, and Sauron.
In Kormak’s Saa, Kormak’s mother insists that he borrow Skeggi’s
sword Skofnung: then Kormak is wounded in a duel because he refuses to
follow the taboos connected with the sword. Steingerd’s relatives betroih
her to Bersi. Kormak fails a second test when he interrupts the witch
Thordis before she can slaughter a third goose. She tells him that ‘You are
certainly a hard person to help, Kormak. I had wantedto overcome the evil
fate which Thorveig has called down upon you and Steingerd; and you two
could have enjoyed each other’s love if I had been able to slaughter the third
goose without anyone’s seeing it. “27 Yet, Kormak is still able to defeat
Steingerd’s husband Thorvard in two single combats. Although The Lord of
the Rine does not concern itself much with love, Elrond has specified that
Aragorn must regain his throne before he can marry Arwen. Thus, some of
Tolkien’s heroes meet the same kinds of tests of strength and courage that
heroes endure in the sagas of olden times, and his main romantic lead
Aragorn suffers not only the challenges of heroism but also those of the
family saga love story protagonist. :
.
Guardians
Guardians who must be overcome before the object can be attained are
Auden’s fifth quest element. King Hrolfs mother, Queen Yrsa, gives him his
inheritance including the ring Sviagriss. King Atiils, the guardian of the
treasure, pursues them with his troops, but King Hrolf slows them by
strewing gold in their path. Hrolf. makes King Athils stoop to pick up the
ring; then HrolP‘attacks and finally forces King Athils to return home without
the treasure, “and it is not recorded that they ever met again thereafter.“28
The quest hero must overcome the guardians to succeed.
. Steingerd has several guardians as her story progresses. Her father,
Thorkel, and her brother, Thorkel Toothgnasher, both dislike Kormak.
Although Narfi, Thorkel’s thrall, taunts Kormak and later attacks him with a
scythe, Kormak’s most potent enemy is the witch Thorveig. After Odd and
Gudmund, her sons, attack Kormak at Thorkel’s egging, Kormak kills them
15
and drives their mother from the district. She curses him: “Likely enough
that you succeed in making me move from the district, with my sons
unatoned for: but I shall pay you back and tell you that you will never have
l Steingerd.“29 Later when his brother twits him for always reverting in his
poetry to Steingerd but for not going to the wedding when it had been
arranged between them, Kormak replies “More was this the work of ill
wights than due to my own waywardness.“3* While Thorveig’s witchery is
not typical of the treasure guardian, her spells have the effect of preventing
Kormak from accomplishing his quest.
In The Lord of the Rina, Tolkien has created a most unusual guardian
for his object, the Ring. Gollum does not appear impressive in size or
fierceness, but he is tenacious in his desire to possess the Ring again
Faramir would have killed Gollum at Henneth Annfin, except for Frodo’s
pleading. Frodo also restrains Sam from killing Gollum. Tolkien’s clever use
of this unusual guardian provides an ironic ending. Gollum, the guardian,
accidentally destroys his precious object when he falls into Mount Doom.
The Ring had wrought a desire for power in Frodo, who lost his will to cast
it into the flames and thus failed to fulfill his quest. The irony of the
guardian actually destroying the object is an extraordinarily fine use of the
quest mode.
In The Silmarillion, Beren spends years in a quest for one of the
famous stones. Tinuviel’s father demands a silmaril before he will allow his
elven daughter to marry a mortal and forsake her immortality. When the
Elves sing this story in Rivendell before the Fellowship forms, the
reminiscence of Beren’s wars underscores the typical quest demands that
the elven father Elrond makes for his daughter Arwen. As David Harvey
points out in The Song of Middle-earth: J.R.R. Tolkien’s Themes, Svmbols
and Myths, Aragom and Beren share the attributes of the Quest Hero: act of
withdrawal, imposition of impossible task, self-realization, symbolic death
and passage, and apotheosis. 31 However, the heroine as quest object repays
the hero’s suffering with a high price; like her ancestor Tinuviel, Arwen will
marry the mortal Aragom and finally forgo her immortality. The
16
parallelisms between the stories of Beren/Tinuviel and Aragorn/Arwen are
one of many highly crafted enhancements that Tolkien brought to the
materials in his cauldron of story. No such careful construction of two
I
complementary stories exists in the sagas.
Helpers
Auden’s final element for a quest is the helpers who aid the hero with
their prowess or their magic. King Hrolf has the aid of the farmer Hrani,
whom Hrolf identifies too late as Odin himself. His champions, especially
Svipdap and Bothvar, his hound Gram, and a penniless man Vogg, who frst
calls the hero Hrolf “Kraki” or pole-ladder -0 all these assist at various times.
As a company of champions, the Fellowship of the Ring has unusual
characteristics. Although in its original conception, all members were
hobbits, in the finished version it contains representatives of each of the
peoples of Middle-earth: Gimli for Dwarfs; Legolas for Elves; Gandalf for
Wizards; Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin for Hobbits; and Boromir and
Aragorn for Men. At the end of the first volume, Frodo leaves the company
to pursue his quest to destroy the Ring. Aragom, Gimli, and Legolas pursue
a corollary quest to bring Aragorn to the throne of his fathers through the
defeat of Sauron.
In Kormtik’s Sagil, Kormak always nullifies the efforts of those who try
to help him. He refuses to obey the taboos associated with the sword.
Skofnung, and he negates Thonreig’s magic spell with his curiosity. At the
end of the saga, Kormak rescues Steingerd and her husband Thorvald from
the viking outlaws, but she refuses to go with him. The sagateller comments
that “Kormak also thought that fate would hardly grant them (to live
together) and said that evil spirits, or else a contrary fate, had prevented
that from the start.“32 Korrnak fights a magically endowed giant in Scotland,
and each is the other’s bane. Kormak has been unable to achieve his quest,
to marry Steingerd. Unlike Kormak, Aragom does regain his kingdom and
marry Arwen. His quest is successful because Frodo’s task has been
accomplished. The conjunction of these two different types of quests in one
17
story is another example of Tolkien’s artistry. The sagas are more single
minded in their presentation of story. In no single saga would the successful
outcome of one quest be dependent on another quest.
As illustrations of the six parts of a quest have shown, the quest form
may appear in saga as a prose romance. All the quest elements also appear
in The Lord of the Rin@ and some appear in the related works, The Hobbit
and The Silmarillion. Thus, the third phase of romance, the quest, is a form
as possible within the saga genre as within the romance genre.
Other Phases of Romance

However, Northrop Frye’s last three phases of the myth of romance,
those that the romance shares with the comedy, are rarely dwelt upon in
the lying sagas and even less frequently in the other types of sagas. The
fourth phase involves the depiction of a happier society: the fifth describes a
reflective, idyllic view of society: and the sixth marks the end of the
movement from the active adventure to the contemplative one.33 If the saga
centers on a hero, it usually ends with his death, followed by a short coda
naming those distinguished men who descend from him. For instance, in
Viga-Glum’s Saga, Glum dies a Christian, and his son is a distinguished man
who has Glum’s remains moved to the church.34 Grettir the Strong does not
end before Grettir can be avenged by his kinsman Thorstein, who then has a
fortunate adventure with the lady Spes, and in the last chapter, Sturla the
Lawman praises Grettir.35
Nitil’s Sag&s ending is closer to that of the typical romance, Kari
carries out a long and thorough revenge, but he is finally reconciled to Flosi,
the best of the men who burned Nj&l and his family. Kari marries Flosi’s
daughter Hildigunn, and both Flosi and Kari then have full lives and
renowned offspring.36 Similarly, the Jomsvikinw has a satisfactory
ending for most of its cast. Although Earl Hakon is murdered and Bui
becomes a dragon, the other principals, Sigurd Cape, Bjorn, and Sigvaldi
settle down to rule and procreate. About another character Vagn Akason,
the sagateller says that “in spring he journeyed south to Denmark to his
18
possessions in Funen .and managed them for a long time. And many men of
renown are descended from him and Ingeborg, who was considered a most
outstanding woman.”37 Thus, even though the last three phases are greatly
slighted, the full configuration of the myth of romance, as Frye .describes, it,
is possible within the saga form.
Likewise, Tolkien portrays the comedy. of Sam’s wedded life with
Rose, the joys of their children, and Sam’s growth as an eminent person in
the community only in a short passage in Appendix B: *‘Later Events
Concerning the Members of the Fellowship of the Ring” (III, 377-78).
Perhaps Sam partakes of the sixth. contemplative phase as he readies
himself for his journey to the Havens, but this progress is beyond the story
proper. Tolkien does not include this happier ending in the main part of
the work. Generally, the sagas are action oriented. Tolkien liked these
active brawling stories much better than other more contemplative
philosophical works, from which he might have drawn inspiration.
Consequently, like the saga writers, he reduces the time spent in recounting
comedic phases.
Tapestry Format
In addition to arguing that The Lord of the Rin@ is an anatomy of
romance themes or myths, Thomson notes that the structure of the story is
a tapestry romance. Thomson defines the tapestry tradition as “a series of
interwoven stories each of which is picked up or dropped as occasion and
suspense require” -- a technique certainly not restricted to the romance.38
However, he does not commit The Lords of the RingS”completely to the
tapestry tradition; he suggests that Tolkien fdlls somewhat short of total
involvement in the form. Thomson says that “Tolkien has allowed himself a
certain neatness of plot at the beginning and end, but the entire central
section -- over half the novel -- is in the tapestry tradition.“39 Tolkien
reveals his awareness of the tapestry tradition and its attendant problems for
the author in the letter about the Saga of Aragom. son of Arathom. Because
Tolkien expresses his concern with narrative debt using the word “saga”
19
rather than “romance,” it is clear that he understood this writer’s
conundrum to be prevalent in saga as well as in other genres (Letters, 257-
59) .
For instance, Snorri uses this skillful movement from one center of
interest to another effectively in the Heimskringla.40 In fact, in the sagas,
the story teller often handles these movements consciously. He presents his
‘cast by starting with the basic “There was a man called Authun” or “Bjarni
was the name of a man” or “This man is named to the saga.” Transitions to
already established situations are signaled by phrases like these: “That is
said” and “Now is there to speak of what happened at Bergthorsknoll.” And
departure from the scene is also handled with dispatch: “And Oddbjorg is
out of the saga.”
In “Tolkien: Formulas of the Past,” James L. Hodge demonstrates that
the author-intrusive style of The Hobbit is analogous to that used by medieval -
authors for telling long, complicated stories. He concludes that in The
Hobbit Tolkien practiced the stylistic idiosyncracies of the oral
story-teller. 41 The same criteria might be applied to The Silmarillion with
the same result, for Tolkien there adopts some saga strategies and wordings
like those noted above. In his master work The Lord of the Rins, Tolkien
also moves quickly back and forth from one center of action to another, but
with careful practice of chapter endings and paragraph spacing, he abjures
the author intrusive technique. As discussed earlier, this movement from
one part of the story to another did present problems of “narrative debts,”
which were inclined to slow the action (Letters, 257-59). However, Tolkien
is obviously extremely successful in resolving these problems -- in bringing
the reader up to date with the appropriate amount of detail. The magnitude
of Tolkien’s readership, now over five million, attests to his skill as a story-
teller.
Since these techniques are shared, the saga form could also be called a
tapestry. The saga form more fully explains the mechanics of the beginning
and ending of the three-part work than the romance form does. Because
the saga, like The Lord of the Rings, pretends to be history, the saga is
20
preferable to the traditional romance as a generic designation. Furthermore,
the connotations of the romance (a work in poetry related to the
Mediterranean culture) are less applicable to the three-part work than those
of the saga (a prose work related to the North sea culture). However, The
Lord of the Rii does fit conventional definitions of the romance genre;the
reader who shelves the work with romances does not err
Traditional Epic
Another genre suggested for The Lord of the Rine is the traditional
epic. In “Folk Tale, Fiction, and Saga in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the
Rings,” Bruce A. Beatie argues that the three-part work is a traditional epic:
“That is, a work of the genre which includes the Epic of Gilgamesh (from
the third millennium B.C.), the Homeric poems and perhaps the Aeneid, the
Medieval epics Chanson de Roland and Nibelungenlied, the Russian bvlini
recorded in the nineteenth century, and the Servo-Croatian tradition of oral
epic song studied by Milman Parry in the nineteen- thirties . e .“*2 Beatie’s
statement is filled with inconsistencies ,and inaccuracies as will be discussed
later. Further, Beatie notes that all these works belong to “a living oral
tradition,” but he does not define “the exact nature of an oral tradition.”
Parts of The were read to the Inklings, a group
which included C.S. Lewis, W.H. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Charles
Moorman. About these meetings of the Inklings, C.S. Lewis comments that
“No one ever influenced Tolkien -- you might as well try to influence a
bandersnatch. “43 But reading to a small group in a tavern from a prepared
manuscript does not donstitute a “living oral tradition.” None of Tolkien’s
works seem to fit the definition’ of a work of art passed from generation to
generation in oral form with no attendant written record. Tolkien was
familiar with sagas which were written down after two or three hundred
years in oral tradition and would not have made such a claim for his work.
Beatie bases his conception of the traditional epic more on Rhys
Carpenter’s Folk Tale. Fiction. and Saga in the Homeric Epics than on the
examples he cites above. Carpenter distinguishes the elements in his title
_- _ . ---.--..---
---CM
___ll__l-_--_-._----- x--I__
as follows: “Saga, which purports to be true fact and happening held fast in
popular memory; fiction, which is the persuasive decking out of
circumstance with trappings borrowed from contemporary actuality; and
folk tale, which is utterly unreal but by no means utterly irrational -- all ’
these can be sewn together in the rhapsody’s glittering fabric.‘*** The
rhapsody here is the epic, a combination of saga, fiction, and folk tale.
Carpenter theorizes that the more details a poet of the oral tradition
includes in his work, the more he is inventing. Carpenter assigns this
principle to the Greek historian Ephoros, who said that “In the case of
contemporary happenings we think those witnesses the most reliable who
give the greatest detail,, whereas in the case of events long ago we hold that
those who thus go into detail are the least to be believed, since we consider
it highly improbable that the actions and words of men should be
remembered at such length.“*5 Since the great epics contain details, they
must be poetic accounts rather than narratives of actual happenings.
From this reasoning, Carpenter concludes that several important ’
distinctions between the saga and fiction exist. The saga derives itself from
the past while fiction depends on the future for its existence. The saga is
relayed from generation to generation becoming more vague, more
confused, less accurate with each relay. Fiction is created at the moment
from everyday experience and the surrounding environment, It becomes
more up-to-date and real if it is altered 36 What Carpenter designates as saga
might more accurately be called remembered history.
It is significant that Carpenter mentions only two sagas (Grettir the
Strong and Volsunga Sag& in his entire book. These examples of two very
different kinds of saga can offer only the sketchiest view of the saga as genre.
His use of the word saga apparently derives from early critical opinion which
held that all but the most fantastic portions of the sagas were to be regarded
either as historical or as only slightly exaggerated. Critics no longer
consider this theory about the complete authenticity of saga content valid.
Sagas are now seen to participate in the blending of actual event, history,
mythology, and the author’s imagination. While Tolkien’s tutor, W.A. Craigie
22
did place great value on the historical accuracy of the saga as discussed in
Chapter 2, Tolkien probably valued sagas as works of art, rather than as
historical documents. Tolkien’s defense of the poem Beowulf as a work of
art rather than a document of history would support this point of view.
However, Carpenter seems to be somewhat aware of the distinction
within a particular saga of the elements of fiction, folk lore, and history/saga.
He comments that Grettir the Strong can serve as an accurate geographical
guide to its Icelandic setting probably because its author had both the two
and a half century old story of Grettir and his own experience to fashion into
a saga. Carpenter also says that “Being based on oral tradition, it [Grettir the
Stronlijl deals with actual men and makes their doings vivid by a firsthand
knowledge of the country and direct appeal to a culture still familiar to the
sagateller. But though many of the events may be real, the chief characters
have surely grown in dramatic stature and taken on heroic proportions for
good and evil. o Folk tale and historic saga and literary fiction all blend
l l
harmoniously into the reality of the bleak Icelandic world wherein the
sagateller lived. “47 Thus t if Grettir the Strong is a blend of folk tale, fiction,
and saga as the Iliad and Odvssev are, then The Lord of the IXinm can as
properly be called a saga as a traditional epic. Beatie relies for defmition on
Carpenter who relies on only two examples of saga; one example Carpenter
uses may be applied as easily to saga as to epic. The whole argument for The
Lord of the Rinm as epic simply evaporates.
Yet, Carpenter’s theory of a blending of elements gains importance as
appreciation for the creativity of the author of Grettir the Strong increases.
Peter Foote in his “Introduction” to The Saga of Grettir the Strong notes
that the author of the saga was indebted to the LandMrn6bok and five other
sagas. Grettir the Strong’s author also attributes to Grettir tales, verses, and
anecdotes told from the literature of romance and from other heroes
including Beouruff. Folktales about other heroes get mixed in with
historically accurate deeds. The saga writer “tells anecdotes that smell of
the Icelandic farmstead, where a rebellious son ironically caps his acts with
hard-headed peasant proverbs,” and “he entertains us with naive notions of
23
-- -. - --.4_-
_--------x
a
giants and half-giants and sweet-water valleys hidden among the harsh
glaciers of the interior.“48 Through all this embellishment, the author is
preoccupied with the problem of Grettir’s lucklessness and how this
handicap causes the downfall of the famous outlaw.49 Fiction, folk-tale, and
truth blend into story, in the same way that Tolkien blended elements into
his works.
If saga and traditional epic are both blends of folklore, fiction, and
historical background, then both terms should apply equally to The Lord of
the Fain@. But Carpenter’s definition is not quite representative of all
concepts of the epic genre. For instance, M.H. Abrams in A Gloss- of
Literarv Terms defmes epic as “a long narrative poem on a serious subject,
related in an elevated style, and centered about an heroic figure on whose
actions depends to some degree the fate of a nation or a raceJt50 The
definition seems relevant except for the three-part work’s style, which,
despite critical defense of its verse and prose, is not epic. Thus, while The
Lord of the mn@ does have the characteristics of the traditional epic, the
epic is also a form in poetry. The distinction between prose (even that
which contains some poetry) and poetry must be kept intact especially since
the high ceremonial poetic style seems so germane to the conventions and
traditions of the epic. Despite the many. affinities between the contents of
some epics, the reader’s copy of The Lord of the Rine should not be .
shelved with the epics.
The Novel
Even though Tolkien denied its applicability to The Lord of the Rine,
rio investigation of the genres assigned to the three-part work could be
complete without a discussion of the prevalent twentieth-century prose
form, the novel. As a genre, critics have most frequently defined the novel
as fitting cultural standards of reality and truth. Hence, in the ranking of
genres, the novel accrues status as an imitation of nature.51 Consideration of
the three-part work as a novel may invite pointless criticisms. For instance,
Giddings expects The Lord of the Rina to shape perceptions about the
24
modern world . in terms of a social criticism with political, economic, and
ideological significance. He desires instruction about how to alter current
society. Giddings refuses to accept Tolkien’s work as a genre other than the
realistic novel. 52 The Lord of the Rings does not exist as a critique of British
society but as a statement of broad values, Yet, unfortunately, most British
critics continue in the kinds of dissecting criticism which necessitated
Tolkien’s composition of “Beowulfi The Monsters and the Critics.” In the
article, Tolkien chastises critics for viewing the work as history, mythology,
or archaeology, rather than as a poem.
Definitions
Definitions of the novel range from E. M. Forster’s pronouncement in
Aspects of the Novel that “any fictitious prose work over 50,000 words will
be a novel,“53 to Northrop Frye’s declaration that since we have no word
from the Greeks for prose fiction, the term “novel” has been used for
everything and has thus lost its only true meaning. The terms Frye finally
suggests are novel, romance, autobiography, and Menippean satire.54
Handbooks, such as Abram’s Glossarv of Literary Terms and Thrall and
Hibbard’s A Handbook to Literature, supplant definition with discussions of
predecessors, of types, and of elements. One critic defined the novel, with
some dissatisfaction, as follows: “A novel is an ordered sequence of
primarily imaginative events which interprets human life in extended prose
form: a good novel so patterns its vitality as to create an illusion of
significant reality.“55 Some defmitions are more complex. For instance, A.A.
Mendilow in Time and the Novel defines the genre as follows:
The novel is a fictitious narrative in prose which seeks to

illustrate and illuminate human experience and behavior within
the limitations imposed by the medium of language and by the
. necessities of form, by approximating as closely as possible to
what we apprehend as reality. The test of its immediate success
is its power to evoke the feeling of presentness (in a double
25
__-- -
sense) in and at that reality; this assumes that the reader will
cooperate with the author to the extent of accepting the
conventions on which the illusory reality of fiction is based, by
yielding to “the willing suspension of disbelief.” Its more lasting
value may be estimated, firstly by the degree to which the
discriminating reader feels the whole work as a symbol of
something wider and deeper than the actual theme, something
that sets up in him reverberations thdt invest the particular
human problem treated with universal significance; secondly, if
the discriminating reader can recognize in the relations of the
parts to one another and to the whole some underlying, formal
principle, corresponding so closely to the conception of the
theme as to appear inevitable. The theme, the form and the
medium of the novel should be but three aspects of something
that is one and indivisible -- that intangible that we may call the
author’s vision.56
Obviously, various definitions of the novel differ not only in length but also in
rigor.
Clearly, The Lord of the Rina qualifies as a novel under Forster’s
definition of prose length. And if the modern analysis of the fictitious nature
of most of the sagas is accurate, then they qualify as novels, too. Similarly,
the second definition may or may not fit The Lord of the Rings depending
on the critic applying it. The work’s admirers would defend its ability to
“create an illusion of significant reality” while its detractors claim that it
neither interprets human life nor creates an illusion of reality. However, the
Volsungw, too, is primarily imaginative, interprets human life, and
creates an illusion of reality.
A key phrase in Mendilow’s definition requires the novel to imitate “as
closely as possible to what we apprehend as reality.” This phrase suggests
that the only reality possible is that of our everyday lives. He apparently
denies the ability to imagine or participate in any level of reality other than
26
the conventional. Mendilow might also disqualify The Lord of the Rine as
having a theme treated in other works of literature, such as romance or
epic, and thus not inextricably unique to the form and medium of the work.
Novel Qualities of Sagas

Nevertheless, major sagas, such as Grettir the Strong or Laxdale Saga,
would also meet the terms of the definition. Both are to some degree
fictitious; yet both must approximate what is known of the reality of their
age. Each unfolds according to a simple but formal principle. And in each,
the theme, form, and medium seem indivisible. Certainly, the saga writer
focuses our attention on a central problem or vision in each. As Peter Foote
points, out in the “Introduction” to Grettir the Strong, the author is
preoccupied: “Why was Grettir, a man of immense strength and courage,
quick-witted and essentially good-natured, famous for killing savage men
and laying malevolent spirits, forced to live long desolate years as an outlaw
and finally to die wretchedly at the hands of his enemies? The author seeks
the causes of Grettir’s downfall, and his interpretation is decisive for the
construction of the saga in its middle part and for the epilogue with which it
closes’97 In Grettir the Strong, the sagaman so engages the reader that
there is a great desire to reach in and shake Grettir, to try to prevent him
from another meaningless encounter. Foote, in fact, attributes to the saga
narrator “a freedom of stylistic resource like that allowed to a modern
novelist”.58 Similarly, Laxdale Saga might be viewed as a psychological novel
about Gudrun.
Heroic Fantasy Novel

Furthermore, Lin Carter’s creation of a sub-genre, which he calls
alternately “the heroic fantasy novel” and “the epic, heroic fantasy romance,”
snarls the generic problem. 59 First 9 Carter’s subdivision of the novel does
not illuminate the nature of The Lord of the Ring& and his comparison of
Tolkien’s three part work to the works of William Morris, E.R. Eddison, and
others is equally fruitless. If fantasy indicates, as Thomson suggests, “a
27
phenomenon of displacement” rather than a genre,60 then Carter’s
designation is meaningless. Carter would merely be arguing that Morris,
Eddison, and Tolkien had written novels with a powerful element of fantasy.
In fact, Carter’s own lengthy discussion of fantasy elements in classical chic,
Chanson de Geste, and medieval romance substantiates the idea that fantasy
is displacement, not genre. However, the romance tradition, especially a
prose romance such as Maiory’s Morte d’Arthur rather than the novel, best
illuminates Morris’s works. Like Tolkien, E. R. Eddison was devoted to saga.
He translated the Egil’s Saa, wrote a saga set in the Viking age, and also
created a multivolume fantasy work.
Edwardian Adventure Novel

Jared Lobdell’s assignment of The Lord of the Rina to the adventure
story in the Edwardian mode is more productive. In England and Alwavs:
Tolkien’s World of the Rings, Lobdell first establishes Tolkien’s knowledge
of the Edwardian adventure story, such as Sir Henry Rider Haggard’s She
from biographical sources and from tex’tual evidence. Next, Lobdell more
tenuously traces a set of connections between Tolkien’s essay “On
Fairy-Stories” and the works of G.K. Chesterton. Third, Lobdell cites a
hand-written entry in “Notes on the Nomenclature of The Lord of the Rin@”
to trace Tolkien’s use of the works of Algernon Blackwood, author of The
Wind in the Willows.Sl
Lobdell characterizes the Edwardian adventure story as a story in
which the adventure leads the author into the book. Unlike the fairy- story,
the adventure tale is time specific, but quickly moves from familiar
surroundings to lost lands. Nature, such as the willows, has a character is
these tales, not always a good one. The adventure is not solitary, but the
narrative is in the first person. The narrative tone is self-depreciating,
deriving from British understatement. The actors are stock Englishmen,
who set off to see strange sights and have strange adventures. The
framework of the story is there and back again, with the back again
frequently skimped.62
28
In an in-depth comparison of Conan Doyle’s The Lost World and
Tolkien’s The Lord of the Fain@, Lobdell finds that, the four types
(desiccated professor, eccentric omnicompetent, sportsman, Irish rugger)
compare with the Nine Walkers (master and man, enthusiastic but fallible
assistants, warrior, king-in-exile, elf, dwarf, eccentric omnicompetent
Gandalf). Nature attacks these protagonists, and a theme of the past alive in
the present pervades both works. Lobdell believes that Tolkien should be
titled “the last Edwardian” because he brought the branches of the sundered
lines of “there” and “back again” together.63
Lobdell also lists the particular characteristics of the Edwardian mode:
t’the aristocratic view, the black-and-white morality, the lack of interest in
character development (certainly more extreme in this mode than in
others), the movement of ‘there and back again,’ the emphasis on ‘we few,
we happy few’ (related to, but not altogether the same as, the aristocratic
view), the fascination of the past alive in the present, the undercurrent of
mystery (or even malignity) in nature? In the particular characteristics
the whole argument unravels. Only one of the nine walkers, Aragomq can be
classed as an aristocrat; three are quite egalitarian hobbits. While critics
often find the,morali& black and white, the ideas about the existence and
persistence of evil are complex, and the happy ending touted for the work is
not in fact joyous. Character development is lacking, and the “there and
back” movement occurs, but the “happy few” are vocally unhappy about
suffering the evils of Sauron in their time. Malignant aspects of nature are a
feature, but the emphasis is on the events of the Fourth Age, rather than the
glories of the past.
Further, The Lord of the Rin@ is much grander in its conception than
the typical Edwardian adventure. Lobdell suggests that this generic
application reflects Tolkien’s reading during the beginning of the century.
At about that same time, Tolkien began reading the Norse saga, a form
which also embodies lack of interest in character development, clearly
defined morality, and other relevant modes. The saga appears to have been
more influential on the generic direction of The Lord of the IPin@ than the
29
t Edwardian adventure story.
Thus, a work of the unusual nature of me Lord of the FUw only
complicates the long-standing problem of defining the novel. And a
knowledge of the sagas further confuses both the de&n&ion of the novel,&d
that of The Lord of the RW@. A workable .defInition of the saga itself will
distinguish the sagas from the novels and will illumintite the nature of The
Lord of the Rings. The reader will fjtnd Little reason to consider shelving a
single copy of Them in the novel section,
Unfortunately, not all the confusion between the saga and the novel
lies in d&nitions of the novel. Saga specialists have also made the
comparison. For instance, Margaret Schlauch in the preface to her
translation of the Volsunga Sam says that “In taking over this variegated
_ material from the poems of the Eddy, and transforming it into a prose saga --
the equivalent of a modem novel -- the Sagaman shows no little literacy
skilL”6~ ’ Halvdan Koht in The Old Norse Sagas speaks of two kinds of
popular stories, “pure fiction and historical novels.“66 And, in the
“Introduction” to Carl F. Bayerschmidt and Lee M. Hollander’s translation of
u H ’ Sa 9 the editors refer to “the medieval novels we call sagas . .“67
l
Just as the variety of possible forms complicates the definition of$he

novel, so the many types of sagas confuse the description of the saga. Even
though Icelanders wrote most of the best sagas, they frequently chose to
write about people and events away from their island home. Thus, although
Iceland never had a king, Kings’ sagas, biographies infused with fiction and
myth, were popular. Some single lives of kings such as Abbot S&r1 Jonsson’s
Sverris Saa and Oddr Snorrason’s Olafr Tryggvason were done, and others
were collected in the Morkitiskinnq and the Fagrskinna. Snorri Sturluson’s
Htiimskringla: Historv of the Kings of Norway is the pinnacle of its kind.
Sagas of bishops and saints perhaps represent’a displacement f’?om the
. interest in rulers as heroes to a conc,em with holy men as heroes with the
Olaf& saga He@, whose hero is both a ruler and a saint, as the transition.68
30
,. --_u__Lgs., .,‘.w”*h. , / .II ,,.^% ., _ I , /. ,., --X-.III--.C.------
: . .
/’ The Icelanders, who had left Norway partly to escape the tyranny of
c
their new king Harold Fairhair, rather naturally turned to writing stories of
their own fht families. These, too, told of a single hero, such as Grettir,
GW or Viga-Glum, or sometimes of a group of people such as those in
Evrby,, Laxdale Saga, or Vatnsdale Saa. The realism of these works led
scholars to believe that they
, were historical documents, but the tendency
now is to credit the author of the saga with creating the story from various
sources including historical documents, other sagas, and his own
imagination. Thus, sagas like Hrafnkel. the Priest of Frev once considered “a
perfectly reasonable-looking, realistic saga” are now thought to be almost
purely fictitious.6Q .
The other two main types of sagas, the heroic sagas or sagas of olden
times and the lying sagas (borrowings from the Mediterranean romance
tradition), have already been discussed in relation to the traditional
romance. The problem, then, is to evolve a definition that will encompass
most of the sagas in all four of these categories -- kings, family, heroic, and
lying sagas.
Definition
While handbook defmitions, such as the one by Thrall and Hibbard,
stress the place and period of creation rather than the characteristics of the
form, authorities like Stefan Einarsson in A Historv of Icelandic Literature
devote a chapter to the problem of definition. However, in order to show
how The Lord of the Rine fits the saga form, a statement of what a saga is
must be compiled. Here is a working.definition: A saga is an extended,
prose, chronological narrative with these conventions: a concrete
impression of location, a protracted interest in genealoa, a zeal for capsule
character description, an abundance of action and adventure, and some
pretensions to a historical basis. The term “saga” connotes an afRnity for the
cult&al heritage of the North Atlantic peoples.7*
Although such a detition should ideally by supported with as many
examples as possible, for economy, illustrations of these conventions will be
31
.*
conhed mainly to some critical commentaries and to the family saga, M&l’s
saa,
H and the heroic saga, The Saga 9f King[g. i At the same
time, corresponding examples from The c will also be
provided. Then, the reasons for excluding certain other conventions from
the definitfon will be discussed.
Extended Prose
In the body of the definition, the term “extended” is, of course,
open-ended. No one wants to say precisely how many pages would be
necessary, but in general, scholars call shorter pieces of Icelandic literature
thaettir. The sagas can be quite long: Ni&l’s’s Sag& a trilogy of sorts, is 390
big pages and the Heimskringla: The Historv of the Kings of Norway is 854
pages. The three volume 1,215 page The Lord of the RinB must quali&‘as
extended. Similarly, both the sagas and the three-part work are in prose,
although most of the sagas, and #, too, are embellished
with short verse. However, as verse is absent or minimal in some kings and
family sagas (parts of the Heimskringla and Hrafnkel, The Priest of Frev for
example), it is not required as a
characteristic in the deftiftion.
Chronological
Further, the saga author tries to keep his story as chronological as
possible. Naturally, when he uses more than one strand, he must go back in
time to the point where he can join the other story line. Tolkien . uses this
technique especially in volumes two and three where various members of
the Fellowship are separated from each other. However, he does not go
back to follow Gandalf’s adventures with the Balrog in Moria but rather lets
Gandalf tell his adventures to the others. The problem of resolving accrued
narrative debts has been discussed in the section on romance.
And, even though aphoristic phrases and bits of dialogue do come from
their speakers, the saga is, in its essence, a story being told. Tolkien, who
notes in his essay “On Fairy-Stories” that drama and fantasy are
32
. ,
_II__-^ _________.__-. - . _.^. . - .-.s--l--~ - - - -____ __...--_---
incompatible, uses the the same technique (“@airy-Stories”, 467), The effect
in btfi the sagas and 1 IS frequently dramatic, but much
m both might prevent them from being a successful play or movie. Although
no counting of pages devoted to dialogue and pages of narrative has been
attempted, the relative space seems consistent among the sagas and The
’ Lord of the RingS. The word “n&rrative” in the definition would exclude
much that the novel genre may encompass. For instance, Faulkner’s As I Lav
Dving and Joyce’s Ulvsses are not primarily narrative. The sagas and The
Lord of the Rings ake stories told as stories without apology.
.
Concrete Impression of Location
convention of the saga is the importance of the location to
the st\ory. Rhys Carpenter notes that many years af%er Robert
Louis Stevenson wrote Treasure Island, Stevenson mentioned in a preface to
the book the importance of an imaginary map of his imaginary island to his
plot. Stevenson was particularly critical of Walter Scott’s blunders in
geography because Scott failed “to equip himself with the essential
cartographic insurance? Stevenson wrote that “It is my contention . . . my
superstition, if you like -- that he who is faithful to his map, and consults it,
and draws from it his inspiration, daily and hourly, gains positive support,
and not mere negative immunity from accident. The tale has a root there: it
grows in that soil; it has a spine of its own behind the words . . a The author
must know his countryside, bhether real or imaginary, like his hand; the
distances, the points of the compass, the place of the sun’s rising, the
behavior of the moon, s,hould all be beyond cati.‘tT2 Carpenter compares
Stevenson’s theory with Grettir the Strong’s author&l concern with the ’
accuracy of his setting. Stevenson is one of those Edwardian novelists whose
works Tolkien probably read as a youth, and the saga translator/fantasy
writer E. R. Eddison also discusses Stevenson in his preface to a translation
l
of Egil’s Sam.
Obviously, when an Icelandic
. saga writer was telling a tale about
Nonvay, about the past, or about foreign lands, mistakes in location did
33
occur. Howe;er, the author usually med to make the location zis redl as his
sources would allow, Thus, in The &ga ofang Heidrek 9 Uppsala, the Island
of Samse, an anchorage on the island, a forest and a river in Gardar, and t ihe
forest Mirkwood and its adjoining plain are all important to the story.
Locations for this saga of olden times vary from familiar towns to more
generic and symbolic geographical features, such as the forest Mirkwood.
b&any of the Icelandic family saga writers lived in the area they wrote
about. Their audience would have immediately noticed any errors in
geography. Modern foreign editions of the sagas inevitably contain maps so
that the reader can more easily follow the movement of the story. I\JfBl’s’s
Saga, for instance, has a map of Iceland and on the verso a larger scale map
of Southwest Iceland. Similarly, The FellowshiD of the Ring provides its
readers with a two page map of Middle-earth and an enlarged map of the
Shire. The Two Towers repeats the map of Middle-earth, but The Return of
the King has an enlarged map of Condor, Rohan, and Mordor. The Hobbit
has two maps, ‘Thor’s Map” of the Lonely Mountain and a map of Wilderland.
All these maps and the large 1960s p&ter map of Middle- earth show the
path taken by the adventurers just as the map of twelfth-century Iceland in
Gordon’s Introduction to Old Norse shows the routes of Hrafnkel and Sam to
Althing 73 Tolkien believed in cartographic insurance against the terrors of
l
imprecise geography. His niggling over details of geography, names, &nd

time are a part of his devotion to the quality of his work that sets him above .
other writers of like stories.
In ‘The Cartography of Fantasy,” RC. Walker extols Tolkien’s maps and
their contribution to a heightened “sense of place.” He argues that the
fantasy writer makes his setting more real for us through a wealth of detail.
Conversely, he notes the typical science fiction author concerns himself
with convincing us with the details of his technological invention. Walker
praises the opportuneness of the setting: ‘@The Lord of the Rina could not
be laid in any setting other than Middle-Earth[sic]. It is inextricably tied to .
its setting. Thus the creation of a convincing setting in which the events to
be narrated will take place may be seen to be a basic act in the art of writing
fantasy.“74 It Is interesting to remember that in the time of enormous cult
interest in this work, the place Middle-earth was perhaps better known
even than the name Tolkien or the title The Lord. of the Ring@. IlWker is
correct in his praise for the creation of Middle-earth; he should have
incorporated other quality issues into his discussion of Tolkien’s power to
convince readers.
Many critics of Tolkien view Middle-earth as the actual continent of
Europe. Others see only features from the English countryside, and to a
lesser degree from continental Europe. Tolkien assures us that Middle-
earth is not an imaging world but our earth: ‘“rhem may be.
, a ‘fairy-story’, but it takes place in the Northern hemisphere of this earth:
miles are miles, days are days, and weather is weather” (Letters, 272). To
represent our world in another time required that its features be placed in
. the cosmic cauldron along with other imaginative, mythopoeic products.
Tolkien’s dippings from this cauldron created Middle-earth. His imaginative
genius gave it both the substance and the flavor that make his work great art.
In spite of his copious use of maps, Tolkien occasionally slipped on the

details. A note in the front of The Hobbit, reports that the text on pages 32
and 62 has been made to correspond with the runes on T’hror’s Map. His
letters also record the correction of various errata in The Hobbit. (Letters,
28) a 75 The publication of earlier versions of stories in The Historv of Middle-
earth makes it possible for the scholar to see how extensively Tolkien
revised. His conceptions of peoples (gnomes become elves) and heroes (see
the discussion of Turin and his progenitors in Chapter 10). All changed
extensively. The thoroughness with which he managed consistency in
changes is a credit to his craftsmanship.
w 4
An Interest in Genealogy
A second convention, the interest in genealogy, may seem tedious to
modem readers, but the Icelanders’ love for genealogies is shared, Tolkien
assures us, by the hobbits. “All Hobbits were, in any case, clannish and
35
reckoned up their relationships witi great care. They drew long and
elaborate family trees with innumerable branches. In dealing with Hobbits it
is important to remember who is related to whom, and in what degree . . .
The genealogical trees at the end of the Red Book of Westmarch are a &all
book in themselves and all but Hobbits would find them exceedingly dull” (I,
16- 17). The Silmarillio~ also contains several family trees.
Nevertheless, the hobbits would have loved N&l’s Sag& for it begfns
with “Mord, Hoskuld, and their Kin” and mentions families for most of its
cast. Bayerschmidt and Hollander have called the genealogies in Knil’s Sam
‘*excessive even for an Icelandic saga. ” Those of the heroic sagas are also
plentiful; the author of The Saga of King Heidrek devotes some twenty pages
to the exploits of the King’s ancestors. In one manuscript of King Heidrek
and also in the Heimskringla, the saga writer traces the genealogy of the
King back to the giants and men of Asia. Thus, the Appendix C “Family
Trees” of The Lord of the Rin@ has its natural parallel in the genealogical
appendices which .modern editors frequently supply for the sagas. The
importance of genealogy in the sagas is that kinship determines who can be
drawn in to support a revenge action. Many of the men who bum Nj&l’s in
his house are only attached to the party because of their kinship. Kinship is
not a motivating force .in The Lord of the Rina, but in The Silmarillion many
background actions derive from a crucial kinslaying. Galadriel would not be
in Middle-earth to play her part in the destruction of the Ring except for an
* early feud.
Capsule Characterization
A special type of characterization is a third convention of the saga.
Although some characters are studies in great psychological depth (Gudrun
in Laxdale Sam, Grettir, and Glum are examples), most are limited to a brief
treatment. In his introduction to the Saga of the Jomsvikina, Lee
HollanderI describes this technique:
The .4family sagas present us with a wealth of sharply etched and
36
.
i.ndividuarized portraits; but this author, in consonance with the
highly fictive nature of his work, gives us characters which are
types rather than individuals. Thus, Bui, Vagn, Sigvaldi are all
seen in the one plane of their dominant traits -- manly
intrepidity, reckless heroism, foxy shrewdness, respectively.
Only one character may be said to exemplify all the ideals of
heathen Norse antiquity: Palantoki, warrior and born leader,
founder and kingmaker. But contrary to most of the purely
fictitious~ sagas of the North, and in agreement here with the
cool objectivity of the family sagas, there is no one “hero” around .
whom events are centered and whose part we take. Our
sympathies are not exclusively engaged on one side, even in the
great battle, but veer now to the one, now to the other.76
Hollander contrasts the types for most characters with the better developed
character of Palantoki and’of the main actors in Icelandic family sagas.
Much that Hollander observes about The Saga of the Jomsvikina also
fits other sagas and Tfi . For instance in a&l’s Sam,
Gunnar, Nj&l, Kari, and to a lesser extent Hallgerd, Bergthora, Flosi, and
Skarphedin, all share the great downstage center of the saga. It is a story of
a group of less complex characters rather than an extended study of one
character. Similarly, in King Heidrek
9 the actions of the king’s tempestuous mother, Hervor, almost overshadow
those of the king. Three successive protagonists n&ned Angantyr appear to
prevent any sluggishness in the action. In The Lord of the Rings, Frodo,
Aragorn, and Gandalf are the central characters, but Meriadoc, Peregrin,
Samwise, Legolas, Gimli, Boromir, fiowyn, Faramir, and others are each
heroes in separate spheres. Thematically, Tolkien requires heroism on all
l&els, not just from the main two or three characters.
With so many important characters, the individualized portraits must
be handled rather summarily. For instance, in Ni&l’s Sam, the sagaman
describes Skarphedin: “Now Njal’s sons must be named. The oldest was
37
Skarphedin. He was tall, strong, and well skUled in arms. He swam like a
seal and he was an excellent runner. Skarphedin was quick fn his decisions
and absolutely fearless. He spoke trc@wntly, but often] rash&. Yet for the
I
most part he kept his temper well under control. He had brown curly hair .
and handsome eyes. His features were sharp and he had a sallow
complexion. He had a hook nose, his teeth were prominent, and he had a
rather ugly mouth, but he looked every bit the warrior.“77 Skarphedin seems
more a blend of typical warrior than he does an individual.
In the heroic
I sagas where action predominates, descriptions of
characters are necessarily less incisive; the emphasis
. is on action rather
than introspection. In King Heidrek, the sagaman compares the King with
his brother: “Both of them were beautiful in face, and bigger and stronger
than other men: both were wise in understanding and men of the greatest
accomplishment. Angantyr was like his father in nature, and wished
everybody well; his father loved him deeply and he was much liked by the
whole people. But as much good as Angantyr did; so much more mischief
than any other man did Heidrek do: and it was him that Hervor loved the
moreY8 Here two major characters are described’in a short paragraph.
The sagaman provides only a physical description, assessment of strength,
extent of wisdom, and nature of accomplishment.
Although Tolkien does not give the trenchant clues to character often
supplied by the sagaman, he does suggest something of the manner of the
man along with his initial description of the character’s appearance. For
example, at the Council of Elrond, Tolkien reveals something of Boromir’s
character: “And seated a little apart was a tall man with a fair and noble face,
dark-haired and grey-eyed, proud and stern of glance. He was cloaked and
booted as if for a journey on horseback; and indeed though his garments
were rich, and his cloak was lined with fur, they were stained with long *
travel. He had a collar of silver in which a single white stone was set: his
locks were shorn about his shoulders. On a baldric he wore a great horn
tipped with silver . .” (I, 253). Boromir’s most important characteristic --
l
his hubristic thirst for power -- develops through the action and dialogue of
38
t* .
d the story. But Tolkien does somewhat foreshadow it by mentioning
b.
Boromir’s prick. Like the sagaman, Tolkien provides a physical description
including the clues from his clothing, a comxnent on noble nature, and a
hint of a journey. The horn in the description is an important token.
Of the saga characters, Gudrun in the taxdale Sag_a and Grettir in-
Grettir the Strong have greater character development than other saga
personages. The extended view provided in The Silmarillion and The
Unfinished Tales for Galadriel shows that Tolkien might have developed a
story with the complexity of the Laxdale Saa about her as discussed in
Chapter 8, T6rin’s lucklessness rivals Grettir’s, and had that story been fully
developed, the psychological depth would have been comparable as outlined‘
in Chapter 10. While Prodo and others do have personal dilemmas in The
; as described in Chapter 9, Tolkien emphasizes their
actions, not their emotions.
Abundance of Action
The fourth convention, the abundance of action and adventure, needs
little documentation in either the sagas or The Lord of the Rin@. In Ni;lls
Sam for instance, sea voyages, fights, murders, battles, revenge, stealing,
horse fights, ambushes, escapes, and burnings follow in close sequence.
Perhaps the most famous scenes in the saga are the ones that contain the
most violent actions: Skarphedin’s decapitation of Thrain as Skarphedin
slides past hini “with the speed of a bird” on an ice floe, Gunnar’s heroic
defense by boy, spear, and sword when he is attacked at Hlidarenda, and
Njhl’s sons’ long resistance in the burning house, from which Kari. alone
escapes. Likewise, in The Saga of King Heidrek, duels, berserk-fury, battles, -
viking expeditions, barrow descent, beheading, fratricide, exile, murder,
suicide, revenge, and war -- all keep the reader from boredom. Action and
adventure predominate in The Lord of the Ring, too. There, land and sea
journeys, barrow descent, storms, raids, escapes on horseback, mountain .
climbing, caving, fire, battles, wars, suicide, and attacks by monsters are
numerous.
39
.
.
.
-- ---..--_,-________ - - - - - - - ___ ___._ - --- - - _____1__-~
Lack of any emphasis on love or sex is almost a corollary to that much
adventure. Even sagas, such as Korm&‘s Sa and Gun&au&$ Sm that are
primarily love stories, emphasize neither sex nor sentiment. Along with the
love story, duels, battles, viking raids, and sea voyages form a major part fof
the story. In E.R Eddison’s imitation of a saga, Stvrbiom the Strong,
.Sigrid’s seduction of Styrbiom is one of the two scenes that seem .
completely false. 79 Similarly, although 1 Th ends with a
triple marriage (Aragom and Arwen: Faramir and Eowyn: and Sam and
Rosie), sex and romance are not explored. In fact, several critics have
commented uselessly on the stiffness both of the women and of the love
scenes.
Pretense to History
Finally, the saga conventionally pretends to be history. Students of the
saga have argued long and fervently about which sagas are historical and to
what degree the historical ones are accurate. For stories that have perhaps
boiled long in the cauldron of “oral tradition,” the answer must always be a
relative supposition. However, even the blatantly artificial sagas pretend to
be historical. Einarsson comments on the less historical knights’ tales and
lying sagas: “These types [riddar~ sogur (knfghts’ tales) and Zygt sogur (lying
tales)] range from pure history to wild fiction, but practically all the fictitious
sagas purport to be historical and deal with semi or pseudo-historical
, figures. “so Thus 9 every Norse story from the settlement of Greenland to the
i wildest adventure with a genie in Asia presents itself as history.
Einarsson’s statement on the historical pretenses of the saga writers
renders Beatie’s
. blatant dismissal of the “saga-aspect of Tolkien’s work”
, ridiculous. Beatie says that ‘The saga-aspect of Tolkien’s work can be dealt
t with more briefly. The purportedly true facts behind The Lord of the Rings
are, to be sure, the product of an incredibly fertile imagination. Whereas for
the Nibelungenlied the ‘saga’ consists in the historical destruction of the
Bergundians by the Huns in the year 437, for the Chanson de Roland in
Charlemagne’s expedition to Spain in the year 778, for the Beowulf in
40
obscure Da,no-Swedish quarrels of the late f!ifh cen&ry, there is no such
kernel of historical %r~th’ in Tolkien’s work.‘*81 Ironically, none of Beatie’s
.
three examples IS a saga, which is by definition a prose work.
Nibelungenlie$ is an Old German heroic epic poem; Chanson de RO~EU& ZUI
Old French epic poem; and Beowulf an Old English elegy (Tolkien’s generic
assignment) or epic (Klaeber and other Beowulf critics’ choice for a genre).
Further, a kernel of historical truth is not evident for The
in the way it would be if the work were a novel with a key or an allegory. Yet
through its relationship with the Volsunga Sam, Beowulf, and Icelandic
sagas, Tolkien’s work partakes of the same historical truth which has .
created great works of heroic literature throughout the ages. The truth is
that chaos approaches and the heroes must stand against it.
Tolkien has a broader perspective on the nature of history than the
critics would allow. In the “Foreword” to the revised’ edition of The Lord of
the RingS, Tolkien confesses his preference for history: I “But I cordially
dislike allegory in all its manifestations, and always have done so since I
grew old and wary enough to detect its presence. I much prefer history,
true or feigned, with its varied applicability to the thought and experience of
readers” (I, 7). His belief that history had its fictitious elements reflects his
theories of how stories are created in the cauldron of myth. And, in fact, he
has gone to some lengths to feign a historical basis for his work. In the
“Note on the Shire Records,” Tolkien discusses the relationship between
the three-part work and its’ sources: YI’his account of the end of the Third
Ages is drawn mainly from the Red Book of Westmarch.” He explains that
the origin of the Red Book was Bilbo’s diary, which Frodo brought home
from Rivendell and supplemented with his own account of the war. The Red
Book, like the two compilations of Icelandic literature, the Morkinskinna
[rotton skin] and the Fagrskinnq [fair skin], is named for its binding, a red
le&ther case.
Tolkien continues the “Note” with a discussion of the copies of,
redactions of, additions to, and repositories of the Red Book, and then he
launches into a discussion of supplementary sources such as Meriadoc’s
41
r -. Herblore of the Shirei J$ec koninqof Ym, and ,OLandes in the
,’
Shire. books, &d others from the library at Great Smials, were used
These
in compiling the appendfees for the story of the war of the Ring (I, 23-25).
Icelandic scholars would undoubtedly be gratefixl to have such a clear ‘1
statement of the use of the L,andn&n;ibok,. other chronicles, and older sagas
in the composition of one of the surviving family sagas.
Clearly, as the “Note on the Shire Records” and Appendices A to F
show, Tolkien has created a historical firamework as real as that of many of
the sagas. He took great pains to keep it intact, for in his writing of The
Lord of the Rinm he found that the story of Bilbo’s tiding the Ring had to
be altered in The Hobbit. In a letter to Sir Stanley Unwin, Tolkien discusses
whether to regard the first as having “come out pretty well in the wash” or
to account for the existence of two versions (Letters, 141). This
.
accommodation occurs in the Prologue. ‘This account Bilbo set down in his
memoirs, and he seems never to have altered it himself, not even after the
Council of Elrond. Evidently it still appeared in the original Red Book, as it
did in several of the copies and abstracts. But many copies contain the true
account . . ” (I, 22). This pretension to history is perhaps one of the
l l
conventions that places The Lord of the Ringg most convincingly in the saga
form. Tolkien took great pains to establish and maintain a pretense of
history because he believed that history was one key element in the cauldron
of story. The saga writers, whose works he loved and admired, had
succeeded in teaching lessons about courage and courtesy through a
pretense at history. His imitation of this technique obviously worked
because his works have captured more imaginations than those of other
fantasy
. writers.
Other Conventions
While the five conventions already discussed are typical of the saga,
they do not Mly describe or explain the phenomena of the Old Norse saga.
Several other elements also characterize some or all sagas. Perhaps a
discussion of why certain other conventions were not included in the
42
i\ definition will be helpful.
Exponents of the Free Rose theory would probably be shocked by a
. definition of the saga that does not refer to oral tradition. Yet, the Free
Prose/Book Prose controversy if far beyond the scope of this work. / -
Furthermore, Beatie’s attempt to comment on “oral tradition” seems a little
foolish, even though Icelanders continue to take their oral tradition
seriously. The sagas are known to most twentieth-century readers as written
documents only. Thus, an analysis of their form without reference to their
possible origin seems more sensible.
Further, the many occurrences of supernatural elements in the sagas
also seem beyond consideration. Little concrete evidence exists on the l
extent and viabiliw of the original Icelanders’ belief in the supernatural --

from the troll of popular swearing to the All-Father himself.82 Tolkien’s
dragons and dwarfs may be more fantastic to the twentieth-century readers
of The Lord of the FUne than they were to the thirteenth-century audience
of the Volsunga sag63, * Certainly, if medieval saga readers considered them
fantastic, then the supernatural elements of the sagas would be a powerful
link between the sagas and Tolkien’s three-part work. Thus, as some
excellent sagas, such as Hrafnkel. the Priest of Frev, have no supernatural
elements and since it cannot be determined which elements were fantastic
and which credible, any mention of the supernatural has been omitted from
the definition.
Discussions of saga conventions also often mention a lack of suspense.
Dreams, portents, and foreknowledge predict all important events. Yet as
Bayerschmidt and Hollander suggest in the “Introduction” to NJ&l’s Sam,
this knowledge does not diminish our interest: “On the contrary, our
curiosity is if anything whetted more keenly to see if what is foretold really
will come to pass, and how.“*3 Indeed, how things might come to pass
becomes infinitely interesting to the keen reader. T’he workings of dreams,
portents, and foreknowledge in 1 have been discussed
in the chapter on Customs. Curiosity seems to play a key part in the effect of
The Lord of the Fain@, but those who have read it more than once find that
43
l
.x1_--. - - - - - - - - -_l^-l-________- - - - --__x^__-

,
already knoting how it ends does not mar the enjoyment. Moreover,
suspense seems to be in some ways, a function of quality and of manner.
Some sagas, such as FQithiof the Bold, have little suspense. Since the
operations of individual taste ultimately determine the degree of suspens’e
present in an individual work, its relative presence or absence has been
omitted from the detiition.
Style
Finally, definitions of generic terms frequently demand a specific style.
The epic, for instance, requires a formal, ‘elevated style. But the style of the
individual sagas varies from the crude to the imitative to the sublime.
Further, the problem of judging and comparing the style of a medieval
Icelandic work with that of a twentieth-century British one seems
overwhelming and terrifyingly subjective. In his translation of The Saga of
Gisli, George Johnston comments on his own difficulties in trying “to make a
twentieth-century telling of the saga that would be as readable as a novel.”
He reports that “After several attempts Peter Foote asked Ian Maxwell in
Melbourne to read the version we then had, and because of his criticisms I
decided to rewrite the translation from start to fmish, following the
Icelandic as closely as I could. The version that came out seemed livelier,
subtler and more readable, slightly outlandish in tone, the style directly
geared to the telling of the story. I wrote in twentieth-century words,
however, and kept out archaisms, which would have seemed quaint or
remote.“84 If one phrase had to be chosen to describe Tolkien’s
controversial prose style, Johnston’s phrase “the style directly geared to the
telling of the story” would be selected. Although the style is magnificent in
its economy, its descriptive power, and its richness, the reader is conscious
of the story rather than of the style itself.
Thus, The Lord of the Rings fits most satisfactorily into the saga genre
definition. It is an extended, prose, chronological narrative. Tolkien is
most careful to provide a concrete impression of the location: Middle-earth
stands as the greatest of the created fantasy worlds. The work does indicate
44
a protracted interest in genealogy. In comparison with the psycholo@@
works of Henry James and his followers, Tolkien practices capsuk
characterization in conjunction with an abundance of action. And, TheLard
of the RinfLs does claim to be a historical document. The work’s affinity to
peoples of the North Sea will be proven in the rest of this book. Thus, the
reader will find great reason to shelve The Lord of the Rina with other
sagas.
45
\
.
I
I’
NOTES
1, R. J. Reilly, “Tolkien and the Fairy Story,” in Tolkien and the Critics, eh.
Neil Isaacs and Rose A. Zimbardo (Notre Dante: Notre Dame University ‘t
.
Press, 1968), 129.
2. Mark Roberts, “Adventures

. in English,” msavs in Criticism,. VI (1956):
454.
3. Dorothy K. Barber, “The Meaning of The Lord of the Ring&’ in Tolkien

and the Critics, ed. Neil Isaacs and Rose A. Zimbardo, 39.
4. Michael Straight, ” The Fantastic World of Professor Tolkien,”

. New
ReDublic CXXXIV (January 16, 1956): 24-26.
5. Ruth M. Noel, The Mchology of Middle-Earth (Boston: Houghton Mifflin,

1978), 35-36. E
6. “Adventures,” 455-57.
7. Henry Resnik, “The Hobbit-Forming World of J.R.R. ToIkien,” Saturdav

Evening Post 2 July 1966, 90-92, 94.
8. The Brown Fairy Book, Andrew Lang, ed. (New York: Longmans, Green,
and Company, 1904), 1-47. Jakob Grimm, Grimm’s Fairv Tales, trans. Mrs.
H. B. Paul1 (New York: Grosset, n.d.), 45-60. George W. Dasent, Pox>ular
Tales from the Norse (New York: Putnam’s; Edinburgh: D. Douglas, 1912),
232-5 1.
9. J.R.R. Tolkien, Smith of Wootton Maior and Farmer Giles of Ham (New
York: Ballantine, 1969), 9.
46
.r
ch
l
10, “Fantastic World”, 24.
11 William Blisset, ‘The Despots of the Rings,” Wisconsin Studies in

c
l
Contemporarv Literature VIII (Winter, 1967), 44-45.
12. Derek S. Brewer, “The Lord of the Rings as Romance,” in J.R.R.. Tolkien,
Scholar and Storvteller: Essavs in Memoriam, eds. Mary Salu and Robert T.
Farrell (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1979), 249-64.
13. George H. Thompson, “The Lord of the Ring: The Novel as Traditional
Romance,” Wisconsin Studies in Contemporarv Literature VIII (Winter, ’
1967), 43-59.
14. “The Novel as Traditional Romance”, 44-45.
15. Northrop Frye, Anatomv of Criticism: Four Essavs (New York:

Atheneum, 1969), 306.
16. Margaret Schlauch, The Romance in Iceland (New York: Russell &
Russell, 1973) 1-17.
17. Romance in Iceland, 95-118.
18. Anatomv of Criticism, 198-203.
19. Gwyn Jones, trans., Eirik the Red and Other Icelandic Sagas (London:
Oxford University Press, 1966), 174.
20. Snorri Sturluson, Heimskringla: Historv of the Kings of Non;vav, trans.

Lee M. Hollander (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1964), 144.
21. Viga-Glums saga, Viga-Glums, ed. E.O.G. Turville-Petre, 2nd ed.
47
-----___l-__ --.-- _---_-~- . . ^ -_ .--_ - - -. .

- ._ - -- - -- ..-.-._._ . . I11.---. /
,
, (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1960), 8.
22. Grettis saga, The Sua of Grettir the Strong, ed. Peter Foote, trans. G. A.
Hight (London: Dent, 1968), 27.
23. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring, 2nd ed. (Boston: Houghton
Mifflin, 1965), 101. (All references are to this edition and are in the text as
I, which represents the first volume of The Lord of the Rings.)
24 I “Novel as Traditional Romance,” 57-58.
25. Vv. H, Auden, “The Quest Hero,” in Tolkien and the Critics, 44.
26. “The Quest Hero,” 44.
27. Kormaks saga, The Sagas of Kormak and the Sworn Brothers, trans. Lee
M. Hollander (Princeton: University Press for the American Scandinavian
Foundation, 1949)) 14.
28 0 Eirik the Red, 304-05.
29 . Kormak’s Saga, 23.
30 e Kormak’s Saga, 52.
31 b David Harvey, The Song of Middle-earth: J.R.R. Tolkien’s Themes,

rp
svmbols and Myths (London: Allen & Unwin, 1985), 81-93.
32. Kormak’s Saga, 70.
33. Anatomy of Criticism, 200-02.
48
3 4 . Viga-Glfim’s Saga, 8.
35 . Grettir the Strong, 234-39.
36 . Njals saga, Niti’s Saga, trans, Carl F. Bayerschmidt and Lee M. Hollander
(New York: New York University Press, 1955), 364.
37. The Saga of the Jomsvikine, trans. Lee M. Hollander (Austin: University
of Texas Press, 1955), 114.
.
38 . “Novel as Traditional Romance”, 49 .
39 . “Novel as Romance,” 49.
40. Heimskringla, passim.
41. James L. Hodge, “Tolkien: Formulas of the Past,” Mvthlore 29 (Autumn

1981), 1 6 .
42. Bruce A. Beatie, “Folk Tale, Fiction, and Saga in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The
Lord of the Ring” In Mankato State College Series, II (February, 1967), The
Tolkien PaDers, 3.
43. Lin Carter, Tolkien: A Look behind “The Lord of the Rin&* (New York:
Ballantine, 1969), 21.
44. Rhys Carpenter, Folk Tale. Fiction, and Saga in the Homeric Epics
(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1946), 22,
45. Folk Tale, 32.
46. Folk Tale, 32.
49
-.- .--- -__-_-
~.1* . , -_. .I
I _ .,... . . /^. -.--
Folk Tale, 38-39.
48 . Grettir the Strong, x. 1
49 . Grettir the Strong, ix-x.
50 M. H, Abrams, A Glossarv of Literarv Tqxns (New York: Holt mehart

l
and Winston, 1961), 29.
51 . Henry B. Parks, “Tolkien and the Critical Approach to Story,” in Tolkien:

New Critical Perspectives (Lexington: University of Kentucky, 1981), 133.
52. Robert Giddings, J.R.R. Tolkien: This Far Land (London: Vision and
Barnes 81 Noble, 1983), 19.
53. E. M. Forster, AsDects of the NoveT (New York: Harcourt, Brace &
Company, 1927), 13,
54. Anatomy, 306-10.
55. David French, 18th Century Novel Course, University of Oklahoma,

1967.
56. A. A. Mendilow, Time and the Novel (London: Nevill, 1952), 238,
57. Grettir the Strong, x.
58. Gretti.r the Strong, xiv.
59. Lin Carter, Tolkien: A Look Behind “The Lord of the Rings” (New York:
Ballantine, 1969), 134-51.
50
60. “Traditional Romance,” 56.
61. Jared Lobdell, England and Always: Tolkien’s World of the Rings (Grand
Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1981), 3-15.
A
62. England, 15-20.
63. England, 21 .
.
64. England, 32 .
65. Volsunga Saga, The Saga of the Volsungs,The Saga of Ragnar Lodbrok
Together with the Lav of Kraka, trans. Margaret Schlauch (New York: The
American-Scandinavian Foundation, W. W. Norton & Company, 1930), xviii,
66, Halvdan Koht, The Old Norse Sagas (New York: The Arnerican-
Scandinavian Foundation, W, W. Norton 8z Company, 1931), 40.
67. Ni&l’s Saga, 5.
68. Stefan Einarsson, A Historv of Icelandic Literature (New York: John

Hopkins Press for the Americ’an-Scandinavian Foundation, 1957), 1 lo-21 e
69. Historv, 130.
70. Although the wording is mine, this definition is utterly indebted not
only to the sagas and introductions I have read but also to Halvdan Koht’s
The -Old Norse Sagas, Margaret Schlauch’s The Romance in Iceland, W. A.
Craigie’s The Icelandic Sagas, Theodore M. Anderson’s The Problem of
Icelandic Saga Origins: A Historical Survev, and G. Turville-Petre’s Origins of
Icelandic Literature. Stefan Einarsson’s chapter “The Sagas” in A Histom of
51
Icelandic Literature was particularly helpful.
71. Folk
- Tale,
- 45.
72. Folk
- Tale,
- 45.
73. R. C. Walker, “The Cartography of Fantasy,” Mvthlore 26 (Winter 1981):

37-38.
74. Old Norse, xvii, 413.
75. Tolkien says to C. A, Furth of Allen & Unwin: “I received a letter from a
young reader in Boston (Lines) enclosing a list of errata [in The Hobbit]. I
then put my youngest son, lying in bed with a bad heart, to find any more at
twopence a time. He did. I enclose the results -- which added to those
already su.bmitted should (I hope) make an exhaustive list.”
.
76. Jomsvikings, 22-23.
77. NjCil’s Saga, 64.
78. Hervarar saga ok Heidreks konungs, The Saga of King Heidrek the Wise,
trans. Christopher Tolkien (London: Nelson, 1960) 2 1.
79. E. R, Eddison, Styrbiorn the Strong (New York: A. & C!. Boni, 1926), 157.
65 l
80. History, 122.
81 . “Folk Tale”, 11.
82. Thomas F. O’Boyle, “In Iceland, an Island of Eccentricities, One Man
52
Strives to Protect Traditions,” Wall Street Journal (August 13, 1986): 27.
83. NM’s Saga, 10.
84. Gisla saga Surssonar, The Sapa of Gisli, trans. George Johnston (London:
Dent, 1963), xi.
53
CHAPTER FOUR
“I desired dragons with a profound desire” (“Fairy-Stories”, 40).
“Creatures*’
In Middle-earth as in Mithgarth of Norse literature, more reasoning

beings than just men are alive--moving and talking. Over thirty-five types of
mortals, immortals, and monsters characterize the busy world of Middle-
earth.1 Some of the creatures are well-developed in the Norse myths, hints
for others may come from Northern literature with greater impetus from
other traditions, and even inversions and displacements from Northern
materials seem significant. In this category as elsewhere, Tolkien does not
imitate other pieces of literature without change. In each case, he has
altered the content of the source to serve his story’s needs.
Thomas Gasque in “Tolkien: The Monsters and the Critters” argues
that Tolkien bases his creations on two traditions, “the common heritage of
the whole culture, such as the Elves and the dwarves, and his main
adaptation of this is his ordering of the tradition, his creation of a credible
organic system on which to structure his story. Second, he has adapted
certain flexible traditions, like the wild man, to his own thematic pattern of
good and evil, and to this extent he creates a tradition.“2 Gasque thinks that
where these creations are outside of the organic traditional pattern, they fail
“because they seem to be in another plane of existence.” However, Gasque
does not seem to realize that mythology usually includes a joining of
elements from different time periods. Thus, Jan de Vries in “Contributions
to the Study of Othinn Especially in his Relation to Agricultural Practices in
Modem Popular Lore” argues that Odin evolved from an older corn god
called Othr, who already had the characteristic of mental excitement and
intellect. 3 The processes of mythology are extremely complex and this
complexity reflects itself in the variety of instances which may have
contributed to individual species in Tc.
1
Tolkien had read material from many cultures and from diverse time
periods. 1 In addition to the combined mythologies of several cultures, he had
the mythology that he had created for England. From these amalgamated
materials he put together a complete chain of being for Middle-earth. For
some of the creatures described, he elaborated on allusions in Northern
mythology; for others, he borrowed from the inspiration of his own
landscape. Generally, he balances his chain of being with good and bad
examples of each species. Part of this task of describing species, he
integrates into the plot of The Lord of the Rine.
The less ancient creatures of Middle-earth with their possible Old
Norse antecedents, both the ones that Tolkien has made like the sources
and the ones that he has varied from the sources, are here divided by
species. Those that show some affinity with the Northern myths and folk
traditions are 1) Hobbits, 2) Elves and Ores, 3) Dwarves, 4) Wizards, 5) Tree-
kin, 6) Birds, 7) Dragons, 8) Wargs, 9) The Eye, and 10) Ancients. When
Sauron could’not corrupt any of the members of a species, such as the Elves,
he made an imitation, such as the arcs. Both the original, natural creature
and Sauron’s mockery of it are treated in the same section. Thus, trolls
appear with Ents, the original creature Sauron could not bring to evil, in the
section called Tree-kin.
Hobbits
The hobbits are Tolkien’s unique contribution to the peoples of
Middle-earth. How he came to dip them out of his cauldron of mythological
soup may be beyond his ability to explain or our ability to understand
precisely. Certainly, for the reader, it was a fortunate ladling. In his letter to
his potential publisher Milton Waldman, Tolkien summarizes the essence of
the view the hobbits bring to his story: “As the Legends of the beginning
[6e Silmarillionl are supposed to look at things through Elvish minds, so
the middle tale of the Hobbit takes a virtually human point of view -- and the
last tale [The Lord of the Rin@J blends them” (Letters, 145). All who have
read the work recognize the value of hobbits whose timid natures have
2
almost eradicated any heroic spark. That creatures of their nature should
have the courage to engage in the War of the Rings opens participation to
every reader of the work. This unique view of the doings of heroes through
the eyes of a patent stay-at-home is an important element in the overall ’
success of The Lord of the Ring.
In The Mvthology of Middle-earth, Ruth Noel notes the hobbits human
0 nature, their unsatisfactory record as heroes, and their appeal as little
things. She attributes Bilbo’s failure to kill Smaug and Frodo’s inability to
throw the ring into Mount Doom to the hobbits not being *‘part of the mythic
milieu.” These conclusions do not fit with the text: Bilbo has no opportunity
to kill Smaug and Frodo fails to throw the Ring into Mount Doom not
because he lacks courage but because the evil of the Ring has overcome him.
She does, however, acknowledge that mythology enters into stories about
hobbits even though they are not creatures of myth. She recounts the
parallels between Bilbo and Beowulf and their dragons, an underground
golden hoard, a precious cup theft, and a dragon’s recognition of its loss.
She praises Tolkien’s sense of justice in the telling of his dragon story.
Bilbo, the Dwarves, and Bard deserve their rewards of treasure and
recognition because Smaug did not truly own the treasure.4 All in all,
though, little is offered to aide in an understanding of hobbits.
Hospitality
The parallels between hobbits and Northern heroes can be helpful in
knowing more about The Lord of the Rine. Perhaps one of the most
unlikely comparisons possible is between the short, fat, meek hobbits and
the tall, strong, daring vikings. Yet, the two peoples do share some traits.
For instance, one of the first things that Tolkien mentions about the hobbits
is their fondness for visitors. Naturally, in a country as sparsely populated as
medieval Iceland was, visitors were always greeted with enthusiasm. Even
beggar women were received and immediately questioned about the news,
Storytelling was held in particular demand, and Icelanders were in great
favor as skalds and sagamen in Scandinavian courts. The hobbits apparently
3
have a tradition of storytelling also, for Bilbo recollects stories told about
Gandalf at the beginning of The Hobbit, Sam refers sentimentally to the
great stories without ends when he and Frodo are deep in Mordor, and in
almost his last conversation with Frodo, Sam mentions Frodo’s probable
fame in the storytelling of the Shire. In fact, throughout Middle-earth, an
oral tradition of stories and songs thrives even though many Middle-earth
inhabitants can read and write, talents which often bring oral tradition to an
end.
Along with visitors and stories went wonderful meals both in the Shire
and around the North sea. Bilbo’s main concern in the first chapter of The
Hobbit is with the hollow that the good hospitality he feels obligated tooffer
to the thirteen dwarves and Gandalf is making in his well stocked pantry.
The “Havamal” -- a poetic statement of the North sea ethical code -- defines
the largess proper for a lord and the temperate conduct expected of a guest.
Saga writers, who may have been perennial guests, frequently mention
freeness or stinginess with food in descriptions of kings and noblemen: In
NWs Saa, Gunnar’s wife, the beautiful Hallgerd, is notable for being lavish.
In order to maintain her reputation, she has her servant steal food from
Otkel to keep her table supplied during a bad winter. This theft eventually
involves the death of many men and hastens Gunnar’s fall5 While the love of
a good meal does not have such dire consequences in Tolkien’s works,
Bilbo’s repeated longing for fine food is a continuing reminder of his
obsession with the comfortable life. Many readers can identify with this -
hobbit need.
Kinship
Hobbits and Norsemen also share other @ersonzility traits: both loved
to reckon their ancestors. Tolkien refers especially to Bilbo’s mother “the
fabulous Belladonna Took, one of the three remarkable daughter of the Old
Took, head of the hobbits who lived across The Water e e It was often said
l
(in other ftiies) that long ago one of the Took ancestors must have taken a
fairy wife. “6 Likewise, in Hr6lf Kraki, not only did King Heidrek trace his
4
ancestry back to the elven folk, but King Hr6lf also has a famous daughter by
an elf woman. While the bonds of kinship are essential to understanding
alliances in the revenge slayings of the sagas, they play little part in The
Hobbit. In TC, kinship does play some roles: Merry and *
Pippin join the Fellowship because of their kinship with F’rodo; Faramir’s
actions are controlled by his kinship with Denethor and Boromir; and Rohan
musters more quickly because of a kinship-inspired treaty with Gondor.
Clothes ,
Furthermore, both hobbits and Vikings were vain about their dress.
Hobbits dress “in bright colours (chiefly green and yellow)” (Hobbit, 10) and ’
often have “whole rooms devoted to clothes” (Hobbit, 9). Ornamented tunics
of red or blau (blue or black) silk, elaborate fur cloaks, and armor are often
described in sagas. Egil is so fond of the silver and gold gown that his friend
Arnbjorn had given him that Egil broods for days when his tie, Asgerd,
allows his son, Thorstein, to wear it without Egil’s permission. Like good
food, rich clothing was an outward symbol of a prosperous and comfortable
life. The chieftains of Iceland had a certain dignity, which they underlined
by dressing for the Althing and for legally-justified revenge encounters.
Hobbits had a like need to be dressed in a manner suited to their dignity.
Tolkien’s comment about Mayor Whiffoot’s not looking the part of mayor
after his incarceration
a echoes this concern.7
.
Fear
Even the fear Bilbo shows when he begins to sense the nature of his
unrequested journey is not unknown in the sagas. The coward who must be
converted to bravery is almost a conventional character. Kari’s companion
Bolli is one example from the Laxdale sam. In Hr6lf Kraki, Bothvar’s friend
Hott provides a more accurate parallel to Bilbo Baggins. On his journey to
King Hr6lfs court, Bothvar has lodged for a night with Hott’s parents, who
entreat him not to hurt their son. After Bothvar comes to King Hrolfs
meadhall, he sees Hott’s hand come up out of.the bone pile in the comer.
5
Bothvar goes over, pulls Hott out, 6tnd takes. him to the. table. The sagateller
reports that he was so afraid that he shook in every lirnb.8
Similarly, after Thorin begins to talk of the dangerous adventure, Bilbo
is sitting on the hearth as frightened as Hott; Tolkien says that “the pooi
little hobbit could be seen kneeling on the. hearthrug, shaking like a jelly
that was melting” (Hobbit, 25). This sudden removal from the world behind
the shieldwall of bones (literally for Hott, metaphorically for Bilbo) to the
world of champions and adventures has a similar effect: “Hott is so
frightened that he takes neither food nor drink and thinks nearly every
moment that he will be lost? Bilbo’s “appetite was quite taken away”
(Hobbit, 20) by the unaccustomed experience, and the words “may never
return” make him shriek (Hobbit, 25). Bothvar kills the monster, called the
greatest troll, which ravages King Hrolfs land every Christmas while Hott
lies trembling nearby -- too scared of the monster to stay but too frightened
of Bothvar to attempt to leave. Bothvar makes Hott drink the blood and eat
the heart of the monster; then Hott can boast in typical Norse fashion: “I
will not fear them [Hrblf’s champions] zinymore nor will I fear you from now
on ”. 10
Bilbo has a like experience. When Bilbo overhears Gloin call him “the
little fellow bobbing and puffing on the mat,” the .hobbit is determined to “be
thought fierce” and to participate in the great adventure. Like Hott, he
boasts “Tell me what you want done, and I will try it, if I have to walk from
here to the East of East and fight the wild Wereworms in the Last Desert”
(Hobbit, 26-27). Bilbo’s anger may be somewhat explained by the terms of
the insult -- to call a Norsemen “a little man” was the ultimate
condemnation. Both stories end happily for the once cowardly character.
King Hrolf accepts Hott and rechristens him Hjalti because he is able to
carry the sword Gullinhjalta [goldenhilt] which no cowardly man could wield.
Bilbo completes his adventure and is afterwards known as Bilbo the
Magnificent, Elf-friend.
Frodo
6
Much critical comment has been generated about Frodo already. His
name has been associated with King Frothi of the Heimskringla, with Frodo
in the Domesdav Book, with Froda in Beowulf, with Anglo Saxon frod, “wise,”
and with Old Norse frothi, “wise.“l 1 However, in “The Cult of FreGn the
Evening of Paganism,” E. 0. G. Turville-Petre compares the legendary King
Frothi in Saxo with the Swedish god Freyr. While “the Peace of Frothi” was
during the reign of Augustus Caesar around the time of Christ’s birth, in
Sweden this same period of peace and plenty is attributed to Freyr. The
Flateviarbok summarizes the situation: “The great peace which prevailed in
Sweden in his day was attributed [i.e. by the Swedes] to Freyr, but the Danes
attributed it to King Frothi who ruled over Denmark, and they called it
‘Frothi’s Peace.“‘12 Turville-Petre then considers the name “Frothi” or
“Frodo.” The adjective frothr meaning “wise” existed, and at the same time
another adjective frothr meaning “filled with generative power,” “fertile,”
and “fruitfW was also in use. This theory clarifies the use of the adjective in
the Skirnismal where Freyr is twice called einn frothi, a surprising name for
a fertility god if frothr can only mean “wise.” The zilternative interpretation
of frothr as fruitful is more appropriate as a nickname for a fertility god.13
The significance of relating Freyr to Frodo is that it gives Frodo an
added dimension, that of fertility. This aspect of Frodo’s nature explains
why his gardener accompanies him everywhere and why during Frodo’s
term as mayor, the Shire blossoms as it never has before. At the end of
Faramir’s interview with Frodo at Henneth Annun, Faramir comments on
Frodo’s courage to take the Ring and not use it. Reflecting on the values of
the Shire, Fararnir declares that “there must gardeners be in high honour.”
Frodo agrees but fears that not all is well in his homeland. Then in a bit of
subtle foresight, Faramir mentions that people grow weary, even in their
gardens and bids Frodo good night. 14 Frodo himself will weary of the shire ’
and sail to the Grey Havens for solace. Faramir’s wisdom is dual: he recalls
Bilbo and Frodo’s assent to adventure and their subsequent need to leave .
their old home.
Linking Frodo to the corn god places him in the company of Beowulf
7
and other heroes who have fertility aspects. Like them, Frodo suffers and
finally sacrifices himself to save the world from the sterility of Mordor. The
corn god ith his sacrifice and its subsequent generative power is a
cornerstone of mythology and folk lore. To attach Frodo to this ancient
. archetype is to place him in high company indeed. Thus, looking at possible
antecedents aids the reader’s understanding of The Lord of the Rn@ as a
contribution to a tradition of mythopoeic literature.
Elves and Ores

In “On Fairy-stories,” Tolkien discusses the current conception of
elves. While the notion of diminutive size is a leading one in modern times,
he maintains that “The
. diminutive being, elf or fairy, is (I guess) in England
largely a sophisticated product of literary fancy”. (Fairy-Stories”, 13). Tolkien
blames Shakespeare and Drayton for part of the change. Tolkien charges
that if Dray-ton’s _NcvmDhidia is considered as a fairy-story, that is a story
about fairies, then it is “one of the worst ever kitten” (“Fairy-Stories”, 14),
However, in the sagas and eddas that precede Shakespeare and Drayton,
elves are not diminutive but human size.
In the olden days, elves ruled alongside men and were able to marry
with men. The beginning of a supplementary text for King Heidrek relates
that: .
There was a king named Alfar [elf, fairy], who ruled over Alfheimar
i [elfhome]; he had a daughter named Alfhild. In those days the
region between Gautelf and the Raumelf was called Alfheimar. One
autumn a great sacrifice to the Disar [guardian spirits, perhaps dead
’ members of the family] was being held at the house of King AIf, and
Alfhild conducted the rites; she was more beautiful than any other
woman, and all the people in Alfheimar were fairer to look on than
any others in those days. But during *the night, when Alfhild
reddened the altar with blood, Starkad Aludreng carried her off,
and took her home with him. King Alf called upon Thor to seek for
8
Alfhild; and aftenvards Thor slew Starkad and allowed Alfhild to
return home to her father, together with Grim the son of
Herugrim.15
The supplementary text continues with a euhemeristic explanation of Odin’s

acquisition of leadership in the North lands. Similarly, in “Sogubrot af
No&rum Fomkonungum i Dana ok Svia Veldi,” Ragnar, a legendary Norse
hero, looks like his mother, Alfhild. The saga writer reports great
friendship between the race of men and that of elves, and the genealogy of
the sons of Ragnar includes Gandalfs son.16 .
The Elves of the North land and of Middle-earth were like men in
many ways, although the elves were fairer. For instance, Tolkien describes
an Elf-lord and the Elf-king: “Glorfmdel was tall and straight; his hair was of
shining gold, his face fair and young and fearless and full of joy; his eyes
were bright and keen, and his voice like music; on his brow sat wisdom, and
in his hand was strength. The face of Elrond was ageless, neither old nor
young, though in it was written the memory of many things both glad and
sorrowful. His hair was dark as the shadows of twilight, and upon it was set
a circlet of silver; his eyes were grey as a clear evening, and in them was a
light like the light of stars” (I, 239). Although Tolkien has been criticized for
the contradictions (“neither old nor young”), these descriptions agree with
the comment Snorri Sturluson makes on the fair appearance of elves: “. . .
Alfheimar is one [of the abodes of heaven] where dwell the peoples called
Light-Elves; but the Dark-Elves dwell down in the earth, and they are unlike
in appearance, but far more unlike in nature. The Light-Elves are fairer to
look upon than the sun, but the Dark-Elves are blacker than pitch.“17
Tolkien retains the idea of light and dark elves, much altered.
Tolkien treats the complexity of Elf kind at length in The Silmarillion.
B&fore the Elves awoke in Middle-earth, the Balrog, Shelob, and Sauron
already dwelled there. The Elves called themselves Quendi, but the Valar
Orome called them the Eldar, people of the stars. Melkor hated them,
captured them, corrupted them, and enslaved them until they became the
. 1 ,
I. I
hideous race of 0rcs. The Valar then called the Elves home f?cm
Middle-earth. Three hosts passed into the West:’ Vanyar (Fair Elves), Noldor
(Deep Elves), and Teleri (Sea Elves). Elves who passed into the West were
collectively called the Calaquendi (Elves of the Light) and those who ‘.
remained were called the Moriquendi (Elves of the Darkness).18 The
inspiration from Snorri’s Edda with itslight and dark elves seems
apparent 8 19 It is clear that while Tolkien got some inspiration. from the
Eddas and from the lying sagas and sagas of olden times, the complexity of
his elves did not come from Northern literature. His concerns with the
problems of immortals--their tendencies to embalm experience, their
choices between Middle-earth and the Havens, and their interactions with
short-lived men--are for the most part beyond the scope of Northern
literature.
Ores
While The Lord of the Rina was begun to satisfy Allen and Unwin’s
desire for a sequel to the popular Hobbit, Tolkien soon strayed from the
entertainment of the young back into the creation of legends and mythology
for England. In The Silmarillion, he had begun to set down accounts of
people living in Middle-earth. As the story of the ruling Ring progressed, he
drew needed creatures from his mythology. His two purposes--telling the
story of tie Ring and creating the mythology--converged as characters began
to emerge from his creative cauldron. For instance, Treebeard tells Merry
that ‘Trolls are only counterfeits, made, by the Enemy in the Great Darkness,
in mockery of Ents, as Ores were of Elves” (II, 89). When the theology ,of
this statement was questioned on the grounds that evil has no creative
power, Tolkien defended his allegation by pointing out that these creatures
and the arcs are ruined, twisted versions of the true elven beings (Letters,
19 1). Just as the light Elves are fair of face and of heart, the arc-elf
burlesques are as black of face and “Blacker than pitch” in their hearts?
Here Tolkien may have based his creation on the phrase about light and
dark Elves from Snorri’s myth. The usual interpretation of the phrase in
10
Northern literature is that the black Elves were supposed to be dwarves.
However, this interpretation may come from the association of dwarves with
dark things like tunnels and smithing, for dwarves are not usually described
as having black skin. Tolkien already had dwarves in his story, but his need
for evil equivalents to elves led to the further creation of arcs.
Tolkien describes the arcs: “There were four goblin-soldiers of
greater stature, swart, slant-eyed, with thick legs and large hands. They
were armed with short broad-bladed swords, not with the curved scimitars
usual with Ores; and they had bows of yew, in length and shape like the
. bows of Men” (II, 1748). At some point in his earlier work on the materials.
of The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien clarified his
terminology for these evil creatures: the term “goblin” used in The Hobbit
almost entirely disappears. The term “arc” appears almost exclusively in
The Lord of the Rings. In a letter answering questions from a member of
the Allen and Unwin editorial staff, Tolkien notes his divergent usage of
terms and credits the inspiration for arcs to “The goblin tradition . . .
especially as it appears in George MacDonald” (Letters, 178). George
MacDonald, the author of several works which purportedly inspired C. S.
Lewis, wrote The Princess and the Goblin. In Old English, arc is the word
for demon, and Ruth Noel notes that both arc and are may derive from
Orcus, the Roman underworld deity. She z mentions that arc is the Irish
word for carrion-eating swine from the underworld. These associations are
appropriate for the evil, c&nibalistic arcs, but Noel does not tie them into
the goblin/arc tradition.21 Again,
. while this goblin creation has some
associations in Northern literature, its main sources are elsewhere.
Favorable Comparison
Moreover, Snorri also states that, as a poetic technique, comparison
of”a human character with the “names of elves is held to be favorable.“22 The
ability of men and elves to intermarry (Beren and Luthien in The
Silmarillion and Arwen and Aragorn in The Lord of the RingSand Sigurth
Hring and Alfhild in King Heidrek and King Helgi and an elf-woman in
11
.-
several heroic sagas) substantiates the kinship between humans and elves.
From Beren and Luthien Tinuviel and from Sigurth Hring and Alfhild, races
of great kings descend. The relationships between the kindred have been 8
preserved through the breative process.
Healing
Both in # and in Northern literature, the elven
folk have the gift of healing. Elrond heals Frodo’s wound from the black
rider’s magic knife. Galadriel employs the ring Nenya primarily for healing.
Apparently, the Icelanders also attributed some power over illness to the
Elves. For example, after Korm&k injures Thorvard in a duel, Thonrard
heals very slowly, and Thordis, the witch, tells him to get the bull that
KormZik sacrificed after the duel and redden the “hillock in which the elves
live. . . and [Thorvard] made a sacrifice of his meat to the elves.” Korm&
will sell the bull only for a ring of Steingerd’s, but Thorvard makes the
bargain, carries out the sacrifice, and recovers.23
Smiths
Elves are talented smiths in both traditions, too. During the Council of
Elrond, Elrond reports that the elven smiths of Eregion made the one Ring
after Sauron had used their eagerness for knowledge to corrupt them. In
the “Volundarkvitha,” the poet uses “the alf s folk-warder,” “thou lord of
alfs,” and “thou alfs’ leader” as kennings or poetic comparisons for the Norse
smith god Volund. The King’s men steal a gold ring from Volund, and the
King binds him to craft arms for him. When the King’s sons play around the
smithy, Volund kills them and makes jewelry out of their skulls. Volund has
further safe-guarded himself against the King’s anger by begetting a child on
Bothvild, the King’s daughter.24
Thus, Tolkien has built his own elves on what is known of elves in
North sea literature. Both sets of elves are man-sized, capable of
intermarrying with. men, are healers, and sometimes become smiths. Since
little was known about elves of old, Tolkien has invented details about them
12
to make them complete and credible characters, an integral part of his
mythology for England. Together with the ores, they provide a great
inventive pairing as part of the chain of being in Middle-earth.
Dwarves
Many critics have already noted the relationship between the dwarves
of The Lord of the Rine and those from the eddas. The names of sixteen of
the dwarves in The Hobbit are part of the “Dvergatal” [Catalogue of Dwarves]
from the ‘Voluspa”, one of the poems in the Poetic Edda.25 Two more
names are in the Prose Edda; the name “Gandalf,” which Jean Young
translates “sorcerer-elf,” is in both eddas.26 Thorin’s surname,
“Eikinskjaldi” [oakenshield], appears as a separate name in the Poetic Edda.
Young translates Dvalin as “One lying in a\ trance”, N&r as “Corpse”, Ori as
“Raging one”, Fundin as “Found one”, and Thorin as “Bold one,” a good name
for the brusk leader of the burglary company in The Hobbit? In the notes
to an unsent letter, Tolkien acknowledges his use of the Edda: ‘Thus the
names of the Dwarves in The Hobbit (and additions in The Lord of the
Ring& are derived from the lists in Voluspa of the names of dvergar
[dwarves]. . . ” (Letters, 383). He also records that Gandalfr (the Old Norse
masculine nominative form of the name Gandalf) is a dwarf-name in the
“Voluspa”. .
JS. Ryan in “German Mythology Applied--the Extension of the Literary
Folk Memory” notes that the Arkenstone’s name means “peerless stone” and . ’
that the name Gimli suggests “gimlet,” ”an appropriate notion of boring for a
delver and rock cutter.“28 Further, Gimli is the only dwarf to pass over the
sea to -the Grey Havens. Certainly, Snorri’s description of a hall called Gimle
from the Poetic Edda was in the soup pot: “At the southern end of the
heaven is that hall which is fairest of all, and brighter than the sun; and it is
c&led Gimle.“29 If the dwarfs name has been suggested by Northern
literature, so has his character. Gimli’s flowery statement, ” . the Lady
l l
Galadriel is above all the jewels that lie beneath the earth,” epitomizes the
typical concerns of a dwarf with the treasures of the earth.
13
In general, Tolkien’s work with the d-es h&s been to use from the
eddas, the Sigfried legend, and other heroic sagas. their traditional. forms
and habits-short stature with long beards, love for treasure, skill as smiths,
and rather bad tempers. He has employed all these characteristics, yet his
dwarves have been molded into charming individuals.
Behavior
In Romance in Iceland, Margaret Schlauch summarizes the
appearance and talents of the traditional dwarf. She records their
appearance as the most usual helpers in the lying sagas. In those works,
dwarves cure wounds (as in Haralds saga Hringsbana and Egils sa@
Einhenda), forge magic weapons (as in the Ans saga Bogsveig&,), take the
part of a hard-pressed warrior in a battle (as in the Andra saga Jarls), help in
invaluable ways in the carrying out of a difficult quest (as in the Kara sa@
Karasonad, and create jewels (as in the Villifers saga Froekn@. Schlauch
suggests that one method of winning the help of a dwarf is to toss a gold
ring to him, or even better, to his child. Rescuing the dwarf or his child
from a dangerous eagle, or from drowning or similar danger is also effective.
The person in need can compel a dwarf to help against his will by standing
between him and the entrance to the ‘rock* in which he lives. The dwarfs
promise should be exacted as a price of his entry, for dwarves, like giants,
trolls, and other supernatural persons, are faithful in carrying out such
promises.30
The heroic sagas offer little variation in dwarf behavior. For instance, l
in King Heidrek, Durin and Dvalin are held from their great stone by King
Svafrlami’s grave sword. He commands them to make a golden sword and
scabbard that ‘*must never fall and never rust, must bite into iron and stone
as if into cloth, and that victory must always come to him who carried it in
battles and single combats.” When the dwarves deliver the sword wing,
they curse it: whenever Tyrfrng is taken from its scabbard, it must kill and
it will do three hateful deed and be the bane of its owner.31 In a similar
adventure with a dwarf, An of Ans saga Bogsveigis, requests a golden horn.32
4
14
Thorstein of Thorsteins saga Vikingssonar gets a knife and advice
concerning a duel from a dwarf named Sindri.33
. In Hogni and Hedinn, Freyja sleeps with four dwarves--Alfrigg, Dwalin,
Berling, and Grerr-as a price for a gold collar they have smithed; both
Freyja and the dwarves are part of a euhemeristic account of the gods. They
live East of Vanaquisl in Asia with Odin. The sagaman says of his dwarves
that they were men “so wise in craftsmanship, that they laid skillful hands
on all matters: and such-like men as they were did men call dwarfs. In a
rock was their dwelling, and in that day they mingled more with menfolk
then as now they do. “34 Tolkien records this idea of a vanishing people in
the prologue to The Lord of the FZings, but not for his dwarves. He says that ’
hobbits are “,ry ancient people, more numerous formerly than they are
today. . Even in ancient days they were as a rule, shy of ‘the big folk,’ as
l
they call us, and now they avoid us with dismay and are becoming hard to
find” (I, 10). The dwarves of the sagas and the hobbits of Middle-earth
share a shyness about the company of men.
Female Dwarves
One aspect of Tolkien’s dwarf lore in “The Annals of Kings and Rulers”
interprets the extant Norse myths. Turville-Petre says that “Poets and saga-
writers frequently mention female deities of a kind called disir (sing. dis),
and although they never describe them clearly, they give some idea of their
place in religious life? But Tolkien has connected these mysterious
female guardian spirits with the dwarves, for he names the daughter of
Thrain II, Dis. The association may have been suggested by a woman named
Dis in Thorsteins, in which Halfdan meets a dwarf Lit. Lit
asks what Halfdan wishes. Halfdan says that he wishes to have the good
horn of Dis, Kol’s daughter. Lit argues that it would be his bane to try to gain
the horn, but he eventually brings it. 36 Like the Norse disir, Tolkien’s dwarf
women were little known in the world, for they stay at home and travel only
in men’s clothes, indistinguishable from the dwarf men. Thus, in the
manner of dwarves, Tolkien has not only drawn on the Northern stories, but
15
he has also interpreted obscure parts of them. The lack of detail about
interesting creatures such as dwarf women convinced Tolkien of the need
to create a mythology.
In The Unfinished Tales, Tolkien also names the proud wife of Tar:
Aldarion, Erendis, again employing the dwarf name as part of the compound.
The story of the Scandinavian god Njord and his wife Skadi seems relevant.
Njord wishes to live in his home by the sea but Skadi protests that the
screaming seagulls keep her from sleeping. Similarly, Njord does not like
the mountain wolves howling in Skadi’s home Thrymheim: he misses the
song of the seaside swans. 37 Aldarion cannot live without the sea while
Erendis would perish with it. The scene in which Aldarion rides up from
the haven of Andunie, looks back over the sea, and succumbs to the sea-
longing recalls a similar scene in the NW’s Saa. Gunnar has been exiled
and prepares to take ship from Iceland, but riding down to the ship, his
horse stumbles, he looks around at the land, sees that it is fair, and
determines to stay.38 AIdarion continues in his love of the sea and Erendis
in her proud disdain for his trips. She.does indeed have a dwarfish stiff
neck.
The story of the dwarf MBn from The Unfinished Tales could have
appeared in a saga without the reader’s adverse notice. Turin and his fellow
outlaws are having a difficult summer fighting the arcs. The watchman calls
when he sees three hooded shapes with great sacks; two escape from
Andr6g’s arrows, but a third is caught and bites Andriig. As in the sagas, the
outlaws have stopped a dwarf from obtaining his home. Turin’s pity
prevents the dwarfs death, but Turin demands a safe place to sleep as
ransom. The dwarf mm is particularly stiff-necked; he wishes to go on
home that night but refuses to leave his sack as surety. The outlaws further
infuriate Mfm by binding him, but Turin promises that will not happen again.
‘When the outlaws come to Mim’s dwelling, it is a towering rock-wall, flat-
faced and sheer, a dwarf rock. entrance, Turin stands close to guard against
Mfm’s disappearance into the rock.
Inside, the outlaws find that Mim’s son died from Androg’s arrow. Had
16
MZm not been bound, he could have healed him. TGrin offers heavy gold as
token of his sorrow. Mirn accepts; then in typical dwarf fashion, he curses ’
Androg never to take bow and arrows again. Androg in turn curses the
dwarf to die with a dart in his throat. M&n exemplifies the dwarves of the .
sagas: he is proud, has healing power, loves gold, curses freely, lives in a
stone home, and barters shrewdly.
The complexity of Tolkien’s dwarves far exceeds that of the common
Walt Disney characters from the movie Snow White. They are a marvelous
extension of existing dwarf lore in Northern literature. Dwarf
characteristics, personalities, and skills appear with similar results in sagas
and in Tolkien’s canon. Many stories and incidents concerning dwarves
could be moved into Tolkien’s works from the sagas or vice versa without
disrupting the integrity of the works. However, the large role that dwanres
play in The Hobbit is more extensive than any story told in Northern
literature. As with men, Tolkien had no need to create a separate creature
to balance the dwarf on his chain of being, for the dwarves were capable of
evil. Sauron could pervert them to his will.
Wizards
Although Tolkien does not devote a section in “The Annals of the
Kings and Rulers” to the five wizards, he describes their order in ‘“rhe Tale
of Years.” “The Istari or wizards came out of the Far West and were
messengers sent to contest the power of Sauron I . . but they were forbidden
to match his power with power or to seek to dominate Elves or Men by
force and fear (III, 365). Other material about wizards alSo now appears in
“Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age” of The Silmarillion. Further in
The Unfinished Tales, the section “The Istari” lays forth additional details
about Tolkien’s wizards. The two who play no role in The Lord of the Rina
were clad in sea-blue, called Ithrvn Luin ‘the blue wizards,’ and apparently
passed into the East, never to return. The three who play parts in The Lord
of the Rin@ are Saruman, who may have come first and who was the
acknowledged leader; Radagast, who was clad in earthen brown and who
17
..
seems to f&l out of the story; and Gandalf, who will become “the white”.39
Heimdallr and Merlin as Sources

Ryan says that “Gandalf, inevitably suggests the God Heimdallr, the !
White God, as warden magician and rallier of the forces .of good.” And a few
pages later, he also notes that in his dealings with raven and eagles and in
his disguise as an old man, Gandalf may be associated with Odin,“but it is
only in wisdom and power that the war god influences the wizard’s
character.“*0 Ryan’s deductions about Gandalfs origins serve as just a
beginning for an investigation of this much beloved and discussed
character. In The Mvtholom of Middle-earth, Ruth Noel draws a lengthy
parallel with Maloxy’s Merlin. Both are powerful, prophetic, and inscrutable,
but human wizards; both like surprises and dramatic suspense: and both
form a future king to rule the nation.41 Green summarizes the deficiency in
this comparison: “Merlin’s corruptibility, service to low purposes, and skill
at creating illusions resemble more the qualities of the fallen wizard,
Saruman, than those of the suffering but uncorrupted Gandalf.“*z Although
Merlin is a powerful and appealing wizard in many literary works, Merlin
does not appear to be a source for Gandalf.
Odin as Source
In the 1969 Tolkien: A Look Behind “The Lord of the Rings”, Lin
Carter has an explanation for Gandalfz “I suspectthat Gandalf the Grey
Wizard . . . is Tolkien’s version of Odin, the Father of the Gods, Lord of
l
Asgard, and is actually one of the Valar.“*~ Carter cites Gandalfs disguise as
a man, his different names, and his ability to pass through death. In 1969
dissertations, Green and I also published likenesses between Odin and
Gandalf. Some readers balk at the association of Gandalfwith Odin, for they
believe that Odin is an evil, cruel, vicious god. But for the Norse warrior, he
was a great god -- the epitome of strength, courage, intelligence, poetic
spirit, and power. He was the all father, the author of victory who sent his .
Valkyrie daughters to pull heroes from the battlefield and who provided I
18
them with everlasting joy as warriors in Valhalla. Green separates Odin’s
worse traits into those of the Plutonian Odin and connects these traits with
Sauron. Sauron shares many attributes with this dark Odin: ageless
immortality and the titles Necromancer, god of the dead, maker of strife,
and author of the kin-slaying. They have both undergone the loss of an eye.44
Odin has left his eye at Mimir’s Well as a pledge while he drank the waters
of wisdom.45 While it is convenient and tidy to think that Sauron traded his
eye for the Ring of Power, this perception is not quite correct. Sauron
creates the One Ring in secret while he is working with elven Smiths.
During this period, “his hue was still that of one both fair and wise”
(SilmariUion, 287). In the time that follows, Sauron rules men with the
nine rings and dwanres with the seven, but now he must wear a mask to
deceive men about his appearance (Silmarillion, 289). ’ As the Exiles of
Ntimenor establish themselves, Sauron returns to Mordor. Tolkien reports:
“There now he brooded in the dark, until he had wrought for himself a new
shape; and it was terrible, for his fair semblance had departed for ever when
he was cast into the abyss at the drowning of Numenor. He took up again
the great Ring and clothed himself in power: and the malice of the Eye of
Sauron few even of the great among Elves and Men could endure”
(Silmarillion, 292-93). This transformation is much more complex than
Odin’s exchange of his eye for knowledge. With the less obvious change
. in
Sauron’s appearance, Tolkien avoids simplistic interpretations and
establishes a basis for undertaking a more complex discussion of the
ontology of evil (Chapter 9).
Odin’s Powers
The name “Gandalf’, sorcerer-elf, applies to Odin as Snorri describes
him in “The Saga of the Ynglings”: “Odin had the skill which gives great
powerh. and which he practiced himself. It is called seith [Sorcery], and by
means of it he could know the fate of men and predict events that had not
yet come to pass: and by it he could also inflict death or misfortune or
sickness . . Odin knew about all hidden treasures, and he knew such magic
l
19
i, - spells as would open for him the earth and mountains and rocks and burial
mounds; and with mere words he bound those who dwelled in them, and
went in and took what he wanted. Exercising these arts he became very
famous. His enemies feared him, and his friends had faith in him and in’his
power.“*6 Gandalf uses all these powers in Middle-earth. He frequently
knows or suspects what may happen next; he kills wargs, ores, trolls, and
others; he knows much about Smaug’s treasure although Gandalf hasn’t time
to go after it himself; he opens the gates of Moria with a magic spell; and he
has a hypnotic power, especially when he wants to hear the truth as in the
case of Bilbo and the Ring and Pippin and the palantir; he is known by many
names in many lands; and while all evil creatures fear and hate him, his
friends sincerely believe in him and desire his help when he is away or
thought dead.
Further, Tolkien makes Gandalf look rather like Odin, and some of
their epithets are similar. Turville-Petre thinks that Odin’s most frequent
disguise was that of a tall, old man with a long grey beard and a broad hat.47
Yet, in The Saga of Olaf Trvggvason, Snorri Sturluson reports the use of this
disguise: “It is told that one evening when King Olaf was being entertained
at Ogvaldness an old and very wise-spoken man came in. He wore a hood
coming low down over his face and was one-eyed.“48 In The Hobbit, Gandalf
has “long bushy eyebrows that stuck out further than the brim of his shady
hat” (Hobbit, 12), and in The Two Towers, Saruman, impersonating Gandalf,
appears: ‘They could not see his face: he was hooded, and above the hood
he wore a wide-brimmed hat, so that all his features were overshadowed,
except for the end of his nose and his grey beard” (II, 96). Sithhottr (“broad
hat”) is one of Odin’s names. Gandalf also fits Odin’s name, Havi (“tall”), for
when Bilbo does not want to give Frodo the Ring, “he [GandalfJ seemed to
grow tall and menacing” (I, 42). Gandalf is called the Greyhame and
Mithrandir, the Grey Pilgrim; Odin, Vegtamr (“Road-practiced”) and
Harbathr (“Grey-bearded”), and Gandalf’s sobriquet, Stormcrow, may be
derived from Odin’s pet ravens.49 Odin’s name Gondlir “Wand-bearer” may
have helped to create Gandalf’s staff.50 The princes and kings engaged in
20
the War of the Ring select Gandalf as their leader while Odin is the god of
war and called Sigfathir (“Father of victory”) and Sirrrhofundr (“author of
victory”). Like Odin, and most of the other gods, Gandalf understands the
language of birds.
Distinguishing between the Plutonian Odin and the Promethean Odin,
Green cleverly observes that in The Volsunga Sa@? when Odin comes in his
Promethean phase, he is described with a long beard; in his Plutonian with
one eye. Thus, the long-bearded Odin helps Sigurd select the best ,horse, a
grey one, from the stock of King Hjalprek. Similarly, Gandalf chooses the
best horse, the grey Shadowfax from the’stock of King Theoden. Both
horses will allow only one man to ride them. Odin himself rode the famous
horse Sleipnir, a grey who was “the swiftest of horses, galloping through the
air and over sea.“51 Sigurd’s grey owns Sleipnir as a legendary sire while
Shadowfax derives from a famous horse brought from the West over the Sea.
These horses go where others would not dare: Sleipnir into Nif’lheim
carrying Odin to query the seeress about Balder’s dreams of death and
Shadowfax into battle against the Nazgtil, from whose fierce power other
steeds shrink. Shadowfax’s name relates to Skinfaxi “Shining-Mane,”
Hrimfaxi “Frosty-Mane” who lead in the dawn and the night, and Gullfaxi
“Gold-mane,” who races with the giant Hrungnir against Sleipnir.52
Transformation
The most important connection between ddin and Gandalf is their
transformation through death. Odin is the God of the Hanged because he
/ hung himself on the tree to gain a knowledge of runes and magic. “The
Rune Poem” portion of the “Havamal” explains that:
I wot that I hung

on the. wind-tossed tree
all of nights nine,
wounded by spear
bespoken to Odin,
21
! bespoken myself
to myself,
[upon that tree
t
of which none telleth ’
from what roots it doth rise]. .
Neither horn they upheld
nor handed me bread; .
I looked below me-
aloud I cried-
caught up the runes,
caught them up wailing,
thence to the ground fell again.
Then began I to grow

and gain in insight,
to wax eke in wisdom:
one verse led on
to another verse,
one poem led on
to the other poem.
Runes wilt thou fmd,
and rightly read,
of wondrous weight,
of mighty magic,
which that dyed the dread god,
which that made the holy hosts,
and were etched by Odin 53
Resemblances between Odin’s hanging and Christ’s crucifurion are

numerous. The English poets and people thought of Christ hanging on a
rood-tree in the wild wind, Christ was thirsty and drank vinegar, the
soldiers pierced Christ with a sword, and the cross, like Odin’s tree, had no
22
roots. Turville-Petre concludes that “If the myth of the hanging Odin did
not derive from the legend of the dying Christ, the two scenes resembled
each other so closely that they came to be confused in popular tradition?
Thus, if Tolkien wished Gandalf to undergo a learning, purifying
transformation such as Odin’s, yet did not wish to make Gandalf an
identifiable Christ ‘figure, then Tolkien would have to alter radically the
circumstances of the transformation. Readers and critics are quick to spot
Christ figures; having a hero suffer or change without suggesting Christ is
almost impossible, but Tolkien was successful.
Therefore, in the mines of Maria, the arcs and a horrible ancient
creature, the Balrog, are chasing the company over the last bridge. Gandalf
commands the others to go on and then breaks the bridge behind them.
And “With a terrible cry the Balrog fell forward and its shadow plunged
down and vanished. But even as it fell it swung its whip, and the thongs
lashed and curled about the wizard’s knees, dragging him to the brink. He
staggered, and fell, grasped vainly at the stone, and slid into the abyss. ‘Fly,
you fools,’ he cried, and was gone” (I, 345). When Gandalf rejoins Aragorn,
Gimli, and Legolas, who are searching for Pippin and Merry, Gandalf is
dressed in white: Aragom proclaims him “The White Rider,” for “He has
passed through the fire and the abyss, and they shall fear him” (II, 104).
Gandalf explains that he fought with the Balrog at the bottom of Moria
“beyond light and knowledge.” Gandalf puts out the Balrog’s fire, and it
becomes “a thing of slime, stronger than a strangling snake.” Gandalf
pursues it through the tunnels “far under living earth” and finally the Balrog
springs out of Moria onto the mountain Celebdil and bursts into flame. They
fight until Gandalf throws down the Balrog. And the wizard says that “Then
darkness took me, and I strayed out of thought and time, and I wandered far
on roads that I will not tell. Naked I was sent back -- for a brief time, until
my task
v. was done. And naked I lay upon the mountain top . I was alone,
l l
forgotten, without escape upon the hard horn of the world. There I lay
staring upward, while the stars wheeled over, and each day was as long as a
life-age of the earth” (II, 10506). The tie with the Promethean aspect of
23
-. .- .----- ---- ------ .- -- __--_I ~ * - .i.* -& _
Odin seems unmistakable. Tolkien’s technique here is quite successful.

Through an extremely careful selection of events and adversaries, he is able
to remove the leader from the Fellowship. The effect of this removal is to
underscore the theme of the courage required of less heroic characters. ’
The narrative debt incurred is quickly discharged by Gandalfs brief
recitation of his experience when he remeets Aragorn and the others.
Because the triggering event for the transformation is an ancient but killable
creature, many associations with Christ figures, hanged gods, and other
scape-goat deaths are avoided.
Fire
Two of Odin’s names, Bolverkr (“Evil-doer”) and Balevg3:
(“Fire-eyed”), suggest that Gandalf’s name does share a strong kinship with
the Balrog. A relationship of fire binds Gandalf and the Balrog, two ancient
creatures. Both wield fire -- Gandalf the “flame of Ax-nor”, the Northern
kingdom, and the Balrog the “flame of Udun”, the valley before Sauron’s gate.55
Odin could, of course, both create and quell fire.56 Gandalf uses fire to save
the company from an attack of wargs, Through this encounter with the
Balrog, Gandalf has gone beyond fire and rock and storm. Like Odin, he has
passed through death, gained a greater knowledge of magic, and now is
peerless. Gandalf says to Saruman, “Behold, I am not Gandalf the Grey;
whom you betrayed. I am Gandalf the White, who has returned from death”
(II, 188-89). Gandalf’s passage through the fiery center of the earth
inevitably recalls Christ’s Harrowing of Hell and Aeneas’ Descent into Hades,
but at least the main Christian-interpretation critics have not yet labeled
Gandalf a Christ figure.
One-Eyed
Yet, if Tolkien , based Gandalf on Odin, then Gandalf should be one-eyed
like .Odin. However, Tolkien might have had at least two motives for not
making Gandalf one-eyed. First, Tolkien’s practice in using any character or
object from myth has been to make that person or item an integral part of
24
The Lord of the Rine. Any obvious inclusion of a name or a character can
become an end in itself and not a contribution to the story. Tolkien
understood the process of alteration through the cauldron. Second, eye
images are consistently used to reveal a character’s evil nature throughout
the three-part work. Characters as diverse as Frodo when he is obsessed
and Sauron, The Eye, share the image pattern. If Gandalf had only one eye,
the reader would assume that The Eye had been his -- this assumption
would give Gandalf a greater significance than he has now. He would be the
sole repository for both good and evil, instead of a wizard, one of five, with
somewhat limited powers and a job description of mitigating the evil of
Sauron. However, the latter makes a more exciting story and follows
Northern mythology where the gods are limited in power and do die. The
dependency between good and evil is not overlooked, for Gollum, though
evil, aids good as Gandalf predicts, and when the evil Ring fails, the three
good rings fail, too. Tolkien’s conceptions of good and evil were complex
and required great control of both story elements and symbols. The Eye and
its proliferations are discussed later in this chapter.
The best evidence for the validity of an allegation, such as the
relationship between the character of Gandalf and the Norse god Odin, must
come from the works themselves. But the intentions and interpretations of
the author are also welcome evidence. In letters and interviews, Tolkien
was often asked if Gandalf were an angel since Gandalf transcends death. He
answered “yes” because Gandalfs nature was like that of the common
conception of angels. But in a one 1946 letter to his publisher Sir Stanley
Unwin, he comments on a proposed German translation with ‘Disnified’
illustrations of “Gandalf as a figure of vulgar fun rather than the Odinic
wanderer that I think of. . .” (Letters, 119). The many To&en readers who
had pondered over the accuracy of the Odin/Gandalf association read the
published letter with overwhelming joy.
If Gandalf is based on Odin, then by extension, Saruman and Radagast
25
. . .I . I . _* - .,., a.> . .i .I . I/. i. .- II _ ._L. _ .
. (
should also be related to the Norse gods. In opposition to Garidalf the Grey is
Saruman the White or Saruman the Many Colored. . For his name, Ryan
suggests Old English searu, “device, design, contrivance, trite’.‘: but Old
Norse a sar, “wound”
p pmightl alsoy . & Noel stresses his relationship to.‘the
medieval sorcerer with similar accouterments: a stargazing tower, a magic
staff, and a prophetic globe. She equates his quest for the Ring with that of
an alchemist for the Philosophers’ stone.58 Her interpretation fits with her
correlation between Merlin and Gandalf, but misses the larger m+rk of
offering one explanation for all the wizards.
Saruman is the head of the Wizard council, but he becomes evil, tries
to capture the Ring, and wars on Rohan. Just as.Gandalf may be based on
Odin, Saruman resembles L&i. Snorri says that “Also reckoned amongst the
gods is one that some call the mischiefmonger of the Esir and the
father-of-lies and the disgrace-of-gods-and-men. He is the son of the giant
Farbauti and his name is Loki or Lopt. . . . Loki is handsome and fair of face,
but has an ‘evil disposition and is very changeable of mood. He excelled all
men in the art of cunning, and he always cheats. He was continually
involving the Esir in great difficulties and he often helped them out again by
guile. “59 Like Loki, Sarurnan abandons the council (gods) for evil (the
giants).
If Saruman is not as handsome as Loki, at least he is not ugly as the
other evil creatures -- arcs, trolls, wargs -- are. “They looked up, astonished,
9
for they had heard no sound of his coming; and they saw a figure standing at
the rail, looking down upon them: an old man, swathed in a great cloak, the
colour of which was not easy to tell, for it changed if they moved their eyes .
or if he stirred. His face was long, with a high forehead, he had deep
darkling eyes, hard to fathom, though the look that they now bore was grave
and benevolent, and a little weary. His hair and beard were white, but
strands of black still showed about his lips and ears” (II, 183). Saruman
proceeds to lie, to dissemble by promising each of them what he most
desires. Just as they begin to be enthralled by Saruman’s cunning, Gandalf
breaks the spell with a laugh. Saruman has used guile to establish his
26
empire; he has lied to the council as Loki did to the gods; and he has
pretended to study ancient lore of men while he looked for references to
the Ring. He has taken the tower and built a fortress, Orthanc.60 Just as
Loki engineered the building of the walls of Asgarth by the giant, so Saruman
has wrought a little copy of the Dark Tower. As Loki is the father of the
Fenris wolf, Saruman has stables of evil wargs and wolves for his arcs to ride.
L&i was capable of bending the other gods to his will. Thus, he gave a
fellow god, the blind Hoth, a piece of mistletoe and helped him throw it at
Balder’s vulnerable heel. Loki is the rathbani or instigator of Balder’s
murder. 61 Saruman uses his fellow wizard Radagast cunningly, too, for he
sends Radagast with a message to Gandalf that Saruman will aid in the battle
against Mordor. When Gandalf comes, Saruman tries to involve him in a plot
to capture the Ring. When Gandalf refuses, Saruman imprisons him.
Saruman is contemptuous of Radagast: ““Radagast the Brown”, laughed
Saruman, and he no longer concealed his scorn. Wadagast the Bird-tamer!
Radagast the Simple! Radagast the Fool!““’ (I, 272). Both Loki and Saruman
dupe their simpler colleagues into aiding their murderous plans.
Some folklorists believe that Loki’s name may be an alternate form of
loa (“flame”). Thus, Saruman would be strongly associated with fire. Since
this trait is common to both Gandalf and Saruman, it may derive from their
origin’as Maiar, Holy ones of a lesser degree than the V&r. This
connection could explain the effectiveness of Treebeard and Gandalfs
method of keeping Saruman captive in Orthanc. They surround the tower
with water, and Saruman does not attempt to swim across it. In fact, he
does not -escape until Treebeard allows it. After Balder’s death, the gods
chain Loki with a serpent dripping poison on him. A serpent ends Saruman,
too, for his devious servant Wormtongue cuts his throat. The understanding
of the origins of characters reveals Tolkien’s care in creating a complex
storyabout good and evil. Both Gandalf and Saruman are creatures of equal
power sent to Middle-earth to accomplish a single purpose--the control of
Sauron. Each has an equal opportunity to accomplish the goal. Gandalf puts
his energies into caring for the less grand peoples--hobbits-while Saruman
27
involves himself in the affairs of ruling men. Saruman’s close study of the
Ring leads him to covet it for himself and subsequently, to fall under the
power of Sauron. Gandalf, whose temptation is much greater since the Ring
is literally at hand, resists and contributes to the eventual defeat of Sauron.
Radagast .
OfRadagast little is told, only that Saruman calls him the simple and
the fool. And Gandalf says that “Radagast is, of course, a worthy wizard, a
master of shapes and changes of hue; and he has much lore of herbs and
beasts, and birds are especially his friends” (I, 270). If Radagast is from Old
Norse radgast, “to take counsel,” then this description could fit many gods,
for all were shapechangers and most were friends with birds and beasts.
However, if “the brown” is a disguise to keep the wizard from picking up
some unwanted associations, and if Radagast is related to Old Norse rautha
“red” with “gast” meaning ghost or spirit, then of course, he might be based
on Thor.62 Actually L&i does talk Thor into going on a journey to Geirroth,
the giant. Turville-ietre notes that ” . . his faithless friend Loki, had urged
l
the thunder-god (Herbrumu Gautr) to visit the house of Geirroth, telling him
that green paths lay all the way.“63 Thor’s journey is not prudent. Green
paths do not lie all the way, and Thor leaves without his belt of strength and
his hammer. On another journey to giant land, he is deceived into trying to
lift the Mithgarth serpent, to drink up the ocean, and to wrestle with old
age. In the “Thrymskvitha,” he is made to dress in Freyja’s clothing and go
as a bride to giant land. Thor’s proclivity for getting involved in fruitless
ventures seems to parallel Radagast’s.
The evidence in “The Istari” section of The Unfinished Tales does
offer one or two pieces of information which may connect Radagast more
closely with the Old Norse God Frey than with the attractive Thor.
Radagast, who is clad in earthen brown, does not remain faithful to his
mission to defeat Sauron. He ‘is called “tender of beasts” and “became
enamored of the many beasts and birds that dwelt in Middle-earth and
forsook Elves and Men, and spent his days among the wild creatures”
28
!
‘I*
(Unfinished Tales, 390). Some of Tolkien’s other jottings suggest that

Radagast was allowed to come because Yavanna begged that he be included
(The Unfinished Tales, 388-93). Yavanna, the giver of fruit, loves all things
that grow in the earth. If she were the one who begged for the wizard’s
inclusion, then the most likely assignment must be to the god whose
interest paralleled her own -- Frey the god of fertility. In this configuration,
a third person of equal power and strength falls from the assigned task
because concerns for birds and beasts outweigh the battle against the spread
of evil. Tolkien adds another dimension to his analysis; some distinction
must be made between giving in to sentimentality about little issues and
pursuing the bigger problems. This pitfall, too, Gandalf manages to avoid,
even though he has concerned himself with what Saruman considers to be
the “little” issues of the Shire.
It seems likely, then, that the three wizards in The Lord of the Rin@
Gandalf, Saruman, and Radagast are based more than casually on Odin, Loki,
and Frey. Thus, if the five wizards of the council are representatives of the
major male members of the Norse pantheon, the other two wizards are
probably kin to two of the three gods, Heimdallr, Balder, and Thor. Further,
each of the wizards seems to have some kin under his special guard.
Gandalf, seemingly chosen by Manwe, specialized in the Elves while
I
Saruman, chosen by Aule studied deeply in the lore of men at Minas Tirith.
Radagast, chosen by Yavanna, must have specialized not only in birds as
Saruman jeers but also in trees and other earth-grown things. In
Middle-earth’s chain of being, the Istari were sent from beyond the sea to
aide men and elves in their fight against the tyranny of Sauron. They were
an order of beings with powers beyond those of men and Elves. Yet Sauron
was able to corrupt them to his uses. Of the five who arrived, two vanished
into the East and did not complete their mission. Fbdagast fell from the
mission
P. because he neglected the purpose for which he was sent. Saruman,
the seeming chief among them, was drawn by Sauron into evil, lost his
embodied form, turned to the West, and then dissolved into nothing. Only
Gandalf, to whom Frodo says *“Will you not take the. Ring?“, withstands the
29
temptation of evil and remains true to his purpose (I, 70); The power of e&l
to attract even these high beings is potent indeed.
Tree-kin
When the hobbits -- Merry, Pippin, Sam, and Frodo -- begin their
journey through the Old Forest, they .quickly find out that it is not a usual
place. Tom Bombadil explains to them: “It was not called the Old Forest
without reason, for it was indeed ancient, a survivor of vast forgotten woods;
and in it there lived yet, ageing no quicker than the hills, the fathers of the
fathers of trees, remembering times when they were lords” (1, 141).
Likewise, Snorri accounts for the antiquity of the trees with his creation
story. The High One in answer to Gangleri’s question about how the
universe and man were created recounts that ‘When they were going along
the sea-shore, the sons of Bor found two trees and they picked these up and
created men from them. The first gave them spirit and life; the second,
understanding and power of movement; the third, form, speech, hearing
and sight. They gave them clothes andznames. The . man was called Ask
[Ash- tree] and the woman Embla [Elm]; and from them sprung the races of
men who were given Mithgarth to live in? Norse cosmography evidences
the antiquity and importance of trees, for the world was a circular disk held
up by the roots of Yggdrasil, the world ash. The traditions of the Norse
creation myth and the world ash combine in one of the creation stories in
The Silmarillion. There the Two Trees of the Valinor provide the light for
Middle-earth until the great spider Ungoliant sucks it out (Silmarillion, 38).
Tree Traps
In The Fellowshix, of the Rn., the forest makes the travelers weary,
and Merry, Pippin, and Frodo lie down for a nap under a big willow tree
while Sam goes to look after the ponies. Sam hears a splash and runs back
to find Frodo being held under the water by one of the tree roots. They
discover that “pippin had vanished. The crack, by which he had laid
himself, had closed together, so that not a chink could be seen. Merry was
30
trapped: another crack had closed about his waist; his legs lay outside, but
the rest of him was inside a dark opening, the edges of which gripped like a
pair of pinchers” (I, 128-29). This startling event has precedences in Norse
literature.
The Saga of Thidrek of Bern contains one story about a man inside a
tree. Velent, who has studied smithing with the dwarf Mimir of Vm
Saga fame, will be killed by the dwarfs unless his father Vadi comes for him
on the appointed day. Vadi foresees difficulties and conceals a sword for
Velent to defend himself with in case something prevents Vadi’s arrival,
which his death by earthquake accomplishes. Velent uses the sword to
dispatch the murderous dwarves, gathers his tools, gold, and silver, and
heads for Denmark. When he reaches the great river Visara, he hollows out
a tree trunk, installs a glass window, fills it with his tools, treasures, and
provisions, and drifts for eighteen days across the open ocean. King
Nidung’s fishers ensnare the tree trunk in their fishing nets, and all wonder
if the carved trunk might be some kind of a treasure chest. When Velent
calls out, the fishers think he must be a troll, but Velent’s handsomeness
convinces them that he is a man.65
Margaret Schlauch reports that in the lying sagas trees may be either
evil or beneficent. She relates the following story in which the tree is used
to restore youth, but although the tree is not evil, as the Old Willow is, the
action is analogous. The magician in the Magnus saa first causes a large
tree to grow in the courtyard: Then he lies down near it wrapped in his
cloak and while the courtiers are laughing at him, “he draws near to the tree
and enters it head first, stopping not until he had vanished within, and it
closes up again beneath his feet . . . ” One of the earls says “That must have
been a troll, and he has vanished into the earth.” But soon they hear sounds
from the tree “and out of the foot of the tree there appeared
.: a man’s foot,
and,,his body up to the middle, in such a manner that they saw the tree
contracting at intervals, most like a woman in travail, and finally the tree
drew itself together into a knot. Then Vithforull shot out some distance
away from the tree and lay there as one dead.” The king and his courtiers
31
are surprised to find the old magician now a young man, although he was
shorter now.66 In The Lord of the Rings, Tom Bombadil comes and sings to
the Old Willow. The ending of Merry and Pippin’s adventure with the tree is
similar to that of the magician, for “out of it [the tree] Pippin sprang, as if he
had been kicked” (I, 131). In both cases, a person is slowly pulled into a
tree; at one point a person is partly inside, partly out; the tree ejects the
ingested person forcefully.
.
Ents
Just as Tolkien presents evil hobbits like Gollum, evil men like
Wormtongue, and evil wizards like Saruman, he also gives us evil trees -- the
Old Willow and the trolls. But the evil in his ethical system is balanced with
some good. Thus, he introduces good creatures of the same kind, the
mighty Ents. In line with Tolkien’s dark vision of his cosmos, the Ents, who
prove a powerful force for good in this story, are among the great and
wonderful creatures who existence in Middle-earth is coming to an end.
There will be no more Ents. Treebeard is especially reminiscent of fading
Yggdrasil of Norse mythology, for Treebeard is The Ent just as Yggdrasil is
The World Tree.
Treebeard explains to Merry and Pippin the place of Ents in the
cosmos of Middle-earth: “Maybe you have heard of Trolls? They are mighty
and strong. But ‘Rolls are only counterfeits, made by the Enemy in the
Great Darkness, in mockery of Ents, as Ores were of Elves. We are stronger
than Trolls. We are made of the bones of the earth. We can split stone like
the roots of trees, only quicker, far quicker, if our minds are roused!” (II,
89). As will appear later, trolls are manlike, and Ents, too, are manlike in
their own Entish way. Merry and Pippin hear a strange voice,, then
They found that they were looking at a most extraordinary face.

It belonged to a large Manlike, almost Troll-like, figure, at least
fourteen foot high, very sturdy, with a tall head, and hardly any
neck. Whether it was clad in stuff like green and grey bark, or
32
whether that was its hide was difficult to say. At any rate the
arms, at a short distance from the trunk, were not wrinkled, but
covered with a brown smooth skin. The large feet had seven
toes each. The lower part of the long face was covered with a
sweeping grey beard, bushy, almost twiggy at the roots, thin and
mossy at the ends. But at the moment the hobbits noted little
but the eyes. These deep eyes were now surveying them, slow
and solemn, but very penetrating. They were brown, shot with a
green light (II, 66).
Those Ents who have not become treeish are not only human looking but
also have many human characteristics: they have councils, Entmoots: they go
to battle; they can become angry: and they mourn the loss of a lovely
Entmaiden, Fimbrethil, and sing about her just as the Elves do about
Elbereth.
In The Mvtholo~ of Middle-earth, Ruth Noel praises the creation of
the Ents as an example of Tolkien’s “making of an imaginative extrapolation
from the most sparse accounts in myth.” She finds in the Ents the dignity
and pathos of a “forgotten race remet shortly before they are to vanish.“67
This assessment represents a sensitive recognition of Tolkien’s power as a
creator. Noel also sees an interesting parallel between the Ents and
Entwives and the Scandinavian god Njord and his wife Skadi, as discussed
above in the section on dwmes .68 Like Skadi and Njord whose living
preferences are diverse, the E&wives choices about domestic
arrangements do not agree with the Ents’. The wives separate themselves to
live in a land of domestic plants and agriculture while the Ents prefer wilder
woods. Ryan notes that Ent is Old English for “giant.” He sees a Druidic
twist to Tolkien’s creation with a special relationship between the Ent’s
* on Saruman’s fortifications and the Old English phrase “enta
attack
geweorc.” He applies the phrase to the destruction of Orthanc, although in .
the original context of the poem the phrase apparently referred to stone
ruins of Roman buildings. 6g The “geweorc” seems more descriptive of
33
Saruman’s constructions than of the Ents’ destruction. Zimmermann also -
believes this phrase inspired Tolkien? _
What Ryan, Zimmermann, and Noel all suggest but do not explain is a
relationship between the word Ent (Old English for giant) and the concept
of the giant in Norse mythology. Noel mentions two or: three examples of
attractive and agreeable giants, but in the’main, the giants were the
adversaries of the gods and the instruments of an impending chaos. Crossly- .
Holland defines the gods as aspects of natural and social order which the
giants subvert and seek to overthrow. Clearly, Tolkien was not thinking of
the giants of Norse mythology when he created Ents. The passage from the
Old English poem ‘The Wanderer” is powerful. The poem contributes more
than just the word “ent” to The Lord of the F3in.a. The phrase “Middle-
earth” appears twice: “So each day this Middle-earth fails and fdlls” and
“The wise warrior must observe how ghostly it will be when all the wealth of
the world stands waste, as now here and there through this Middle-earth,
walls stand blown by the wind, covered with frost-fall, the dwellings storm
beaten.“” Further, the poem’s theme is one of exile and loneliness by a
retainer who has lost his lord. Tolkien liked the word and the concept of
active trees; he uses these in connection with the world weariness and
fading away illustrated by the Ents. He associated the two in the same way
the historical Bertha became attached to the goose girl of the MZirchen
(“Fairy-Stories”, 30).
Trolls
Trolls, the evil counterpart of the Ents, appear in numerous sagas.
Being called a troll or the lover of a troll-wife is a common insult. For
example, in Heitharviga sam, Thorbiorn is fighting against Bardi and taunts
him by saying “Troll, no iron will bite on thee.” Thorbiorn now turns to fight
with Thorod, who cuts off Thorbiorn’s foot before Thorod is killed. When
Thorbiorn turns back to fighting with Bardi, Bardi insults him: “What! a very
troll I deem thee, whereas thou fightest with one foot off. Truer of thee that
which thou spakest to me.” Thorbiom denies the charge: *‘Nay . . nought
l
34
, i\
I
of trollship is it for a man to bear his wounds, and not to be so soft as to

forbear warding him whiles he may. That mav be accounted for manliness
Y
rather; and so shouldst thou account it, and betroll men not, whereas thou
art called a true man.“72 Apparently, trolls \ were thought of as giant men
with enormous power in battle, for in NM’s Saga, Starkad says when he
finally flees from Gunnar, “Let us flee now; we are fighting trolls, not men.”
And when Asgrim and the sons of Nj&l are seeking assistance for their case
at the Althing, they go to Skapti’s booth, and Skapti comments on
Skarphedin -- ‘Who is that man c . fifth in line, tall and sallow, with the
l
look of one who is ill-fated, grim and troll- like3”73 Skarphedin, a giant of a
man who is, at this point, indeed fey, laughs at the insult. Incidentally,
Skarphedin calls his famous axe “Battle-Troll.” Tolkien’s conception of
trolls is in this tradition; his trolls are big and vicious -- not the small
creatures who live under bridges. In The Silmarillion, he tells of their
counterfeiting by Morgoth, the Great Enemy who also arranged for the
Balrog and the Ores.
In The Hobbit, Tolkien describes trolls as “Three very large persons
sitting around a very large fire of beech logs. . . But they were trolls.
l
Obviously trolls. Even Bilbo, in spite of his sheltered life, could see that:
from the great heavy faces of them, and their size, and the shape of their
legs, not to mention their language, which was not drawing-room fashion at
all, at all” (Hobbit, 43-44). Even the incident itself has a close parallel in
Oddr Snorrason’s Olafs saga Trvggvasonar: “And it is said one time that King
Olaf went north to Halgoland. There was much curiosity concerning this: to
know whether it would be true that trolls went most in that district. One
night part of the king’s bodyguard went from the king’s ship. They walked
not long in the dark until they saw a fire burning before a cave, and they
scurried thence, and when they approached the fire, they saw that it burned
before a cave and there sat several trolls. They talked there together74 In
both instances, the trolls sit before a fire in front of a cave and talk. Both
groups of trolls are complaining about ill treatment. The trolls in The
Hobbit are dissatisfied with their food stores, and Oddr’s trolls are griping
35
.
about persecution by Christians. The hearthmen, who overhear the trolls in
Naumdale, return to the ship to report to King Olaf. King Olaf deals with the
trolls by further persecution: He takes his Bishops and troops over the _r
whole district with crosses and relics. Holy waters are sprinkled on rocks,
crags, dales, and hills, and naturally, the monk author of the saga reports
that the evil spirits were exorcised and the people freed.75 Bilbo is not as
fortunate as King Olaf% bodyguards. Bilbo is caught trying to pick a troll’s
pocket. His twelve dwarf companions are soon collected in bags. Gandalf,
imitating the voices of first one and then another of the trolls, starts and
maintains an argument among the trolls. Preoccupation with the quarrel
allows dawn to surprise the trolls. Of course, they are turned into stone.
Here Tolkien has taken the troll, a character which frequently does
evil in Norse literature, and balanced him with a creation of his own,
perhaps inspired by Norse creation myths, the World Tree, and the lively
trees of the lying sagas. Tolkien loved trees. When the Scandinavian rock
organist Bo Hansson produced “Music inspired by The Lord of the Ring& a
Snowdon photograph of Tolkien seated’happily in the roots of an enormous
tree accompanied it.76 Tolkien looks enormously satisfied, as well he
might, for out of his cosmic cauldron, he has produced most wonderful
creatures related to the tree-kin. The success of the Ents, paired in the
chain of being with trolls, has been enormous.
Birds
Other than eagles, birds in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rine do
not play a large role. However, Tolkien uses the eagles as a
deus-ex-machina device to extricate his heroes from seemingly impossible
situations. In The Hobbit, wild wargs have treed Gandalf, the dwarves, and
Bilbo, and the trees are now on fire. Fortunately, the Lord of the Eagles
comes to investigate the flames and has his company pick up the stranded
hobbit and dwarves. In The Fellowship of the Ring, Gandalf reports at the
Council of Elrond that when he had come to meet S&man, the wizard had
tried to persuade him to take the Ring and rule the world with him. When
36
Gandalf refuses, Saruman has him. placed on the pinnacle, guarded by wolves
and arcs. Gwaihir, the Lord of the Eagles, spots him there and carries him
to Rohan. Gwaihir similarly picks him up after his battle with the Balrog.
The company of eagles also arrives at the battle of ,the Five Armies and later
at the battle on the Field of Cormallen. The eagles turn the tide of both \
battles. From CorrnaIlen, Gandalf then goes with the eagle lord Gwaihir and ’
two of his companions to rescue Frodo and Sam from the Mountain of Doom.
Eagles
Part of the significance of the eagles as a Middle-earth equivalent of
the Calvary of the American west lies in the association of Gandalfwith Odin.
The Saga of King Heidrek contains a riddle contest between King Heidrek
and Odin in a disguise. When Odin asks an unanswerable riddle, Heidrek
strikes at him with a sword. Odin escapes by turning himself into a hawk
and flying away. 77 Similarly 9 after Odin has drunk the three vessels of
Sutting’s mead, the dwarf mead that made anyone who tasted it a man of.
poetry and learning, Odin escapes by changing into the eagle’s shape and
flying off.78
In his dissertation on The Hobbit, William Green also observes the
relationship between the eagle’s appearances and those of Norse gods -- not
of Odin but of Loki. Since the eagles do not find Bilbo in the fiery tree, the
.
hobbit escapes only by clinging to one of the dwarfs legs and being pulled
up with him. Bilbo’s position’is like that of Loki who is carried aloft on a
stick by an eagle. Loki has been striking the stick at an eagle who was
stealing his food. When the eagle latches onto the stick and flies away, Loki
thinks his arms may be torn off while Bilbo cries “my arms, my arms”
Green 118).
(Hobbit, hypothesizes that Tolkien considered the eagles to be
skin-changers because both shape-shifters and the eagles wear gold
ornaments, a sign of enchantment in Irish tales.79 The likelier explanation
is that Tolkien’s narrative purpose limited his use of shape-shifting
creatures.
Since Tolkien did not think that shape-changing into the form of a
37
bird would be credible in his conception of%Iiddle-earth, he took the trait
from his cauldron and objectified the ability of Odin and of the other gods to
change shape. To solve problems similar to those of the gods, Tolkien
employs a separate creature, the eagle, who could still fun&ion as a me&s .
of escape by arriving at the last moment. -Obviously, for The Lord of the
RinB9 this latter method is preferable. It allows the’ heroes to be held in
tight places from which they could easily’have escaped had they been
shape-shifters. For instance, the battle with the Balrog in the> Mines of
Moria could not occur had Tolkien let Gandalf be a shape-shifter himself, for
Gandalf’s escape would be too easy. Yet at the same time, the eagles can
appear when no other means of escape is available. In The Lord of the Rings,
Tolkien does, however, observe the strictures of his possible myth source --
the eagles do not come unless Gandalf/Odin is there. .
The eagles’ function as the agent of rescue and aid occurs under less
constrained circumstances in the earlier works. For instance in The .
Silmarillion, Manwe has set the Eagles to be a watch against the z of
Melkor/Morgoth (Silmarillion, 110). ?horondor, the Eagles’ king, rescues
Maedhros from the chains Morgoth had placed . on him (110). Thorondor
also slashes Morgoth’s face (154), rescues Htirin and Huor (159), saves
Beren and Luthien (182), brings tidings of the fall of ‘Nargothrond (240),
and bears Glorfmdel’s body from a Balrog encounter just as he later does
with Gandalf (243). Because he conceptualized his audience for The Lord of
the FCinf& more succinctly, Tolkien reduced the range of some of his more
unusual creations. The eagles are among these. In The Silmarillion and the
other earlier tales, they have a broader range of action. In The Lord of the
Rinrfs, they are confined to action in incidents involving GandaIf, the person
entrusted with the Ring Narya the Great to assist Middle-earth’s inhabitants
against Sauron.
Other Birds
Some other good birds play a sm&l part in The Hobbit. An old thrush
who still understands the speech of men overhears Bilbo tell t h e d w a r v e s
3
38
about the hole in Smaug’s diamond vest. To Smaug’s bane, the thrush tells .
Bard, a man who still understands the speech of birds. Understanding the
speech of birds comes to Sigurd the Volsung when he tastes the dragon’s
heart that he is roasting for the evil Regin. From the conversation of the
birds, he learns that Regin plans to kill him, that he should eat the heart
himself, and that he should ride to Bxynhild for wisdom, and that he should
slay Regin. These cautions he heeds; the woodpecker’s advice that he
should guard the rings well he does not obey, even though in the end it
causes his death. 80 Moreover9 Odin’s pet ravens Huginn and Muninn and
their kin may be models for Roac son of Cam, who serves as a messenger
between the dwarves in the Lonely Mountain and their kinsman Dain.
Unlike the raven servants of the god of war, Roac is against war with the
men of Dale and the Elves. Further, the birds carry the good news of
Smaug’s fall over the countryside. In The Hobbit, they do not function as
scavengers after battle as ravens usually do in medieval Norse and English
works.
Nazgul’s Mounts
However, just as Sauron has made mocking imitations of other species
in Middle-earth, he has also mocked the eagles. After their horses fall, his
nine Ringwraiths take to the air on “the birds of evil eye,” “the hell hawks,”
which are huge, black, featherless monsters bred by Sauron in Mordor (III,
.
38) 0
Inspiration for the creation of the Nazgul may have come from the
lying saga “Bosi and Herraud.” The two friends are charged with the quest
of finding a vulture’s egg inscribed with gold letters. A fearsome priestess
who eats a two year old heifer every day attends the vulture. Bosi kills the
slave who takes the heifer in and puts on his cloak. He and Herraud fill the
heif& skin with moss and heather, and the foster brothers enter with the
slave ahead of them on a spear. The resident bull mounts the filled heifer
skin, which collapses. Herraud breaks the bull’s neck. The priestess and ,
the vulture awake, but the vulture reaches only the raised body of the slave
39
in his dive. Bosi gives the spear a hard push so that it goes all the way
through the slave’s body, the vulture’s throat, and into the heart. “The
.K vulture set its claws hard against the slave’s buttocks and stuck its wing tips
against Bosi’s ears, knocking him unconscious. Then the vulture crashed .
down on top of him, ferocious in its death-throes? The picture of the
large head at the end of a spear is repeated from Bilbo’s rescue in The
Hobbit.
This scene from “Bosi and Herraud” may have been a part of the
construction of the death of King Thcoden. The Nazgul’s vulture-like mount
beats its foul wings in Eowyn’s face just as the vulture did about Bosi’s ears.
Tolkien elaborates “and the wind of them was foul.” Eowyn is knocked
unconscious, not by the vulture, but by the mace of the Ringwraith. But
Tolkien continues with images from “Bosi and Herraud”: “With a cry of
hatred that stung the very ears like venom he [the Ringwraith] let fdll his
mace” (III, 117). The circumstances of Bosi’s being saved by hating the
slave’s body at a higher elevation also appears in The Lord of the Rin&.
Although Eowyn standing tall has hacked off the head of his vulture-like
stead, the Ringwraith now raises his mace to kill her. But Merry, King
Denethor’s loyal man and Dernhelm-Eowyn’s saddle mate, drives his small
sword through the back of the Ringwraith’s knee giving Eowyn an
opportunity to thrust his own weapon into him.
Later in Bosi and Herraud’s adventures, they meet another horrible
bird with “a hugh horrible head . often compared with the devil
l l
hims elf. “82 This part of the story would seem to have been ignored except
that Tolkien chooses it as a metaphor. Frodo, creeping up the stairs of
Cirith Ungol, waits in fear as the Lord of the Nine Riders flies over. Tolkien
says that Frodo is “like a bird at the approach of a snake, unable to move” (II,
3 15). Earlier Frodo has described the creatures to Sam as “great carrion
birds” (II, 253).
Here as elsewhere, creatures appear, seemingly not from the
storyteller but from the evil characters in the story to balance Middle-
earth’s chain of being. Tolkien increases the power on the side of good by
40
d . returning a more powerful wizard, Gandalf the White, to aide the heroes.
Concomitantly, he allows Saruman to complete his defection to evil and he
remounts the dread Ringwraiths on flying steeds, ever more dreadful than
their black horses. The forces for good grow but those for evil increase at a
greater pace.
The Dragon
Smaug of The Hobbit is one of the most extravagant and memorable
creatures in Middle-earth. In “On Fairy-stories,” Tolkien says that as a child,
he “desired dragons with a profound desire” (“Fairy-Stories”, 40). In many
allegorical works, such as Spenser’s The Faerie Queene, the dragon
symbolizes greed or some greater evil. But the famous dragons of Northern
literature, Fafnir and Beowulfs dragon, are more than disembodied symbols;
they are real creatures with personalities. In explaining to Bilbo about the
adventure, Thorin mentions the distinguishing characteristic of dragons --
“Dragons steal gold and jewels, you know, from men and elves and dwarves,
wherever they can find them; and they guard their plunder as long as they
live (which is practically for ever, unless they are killed), and never enjoy a
brass ring of it” (Hobbit, 32). Those who have read Beowulf were, of course,
aware of this habit of the worm, but they may have been surprised when the
dragon Smaug first spoke to Bilbo Baggins.
Transformations of Greedy Men

However, in the Northern myths, dragons are not born but are
permanent transformations of greedy hen. Thus, Fafnir was once the
human brother of Regin who was Sigurd’s smith, and of Otr, who
shape-shifted into an otter in the daytime. But after the gods kill Otr, his
father Hreidmar demands that Otr’s skin be covered with gold as a weregild.
The TAesir get the gold from the Dwarf Andvari, who.curses the owner of it.
The greedy brother Fafnir, after long years of hoarding the cursed treasure,
turns into a dragon. 83 Likewise, in the Sac, the greedy ,
viking Bui always carries his treasures with him in some chests. During the
41
battle between Sigvaldi and Earl Hakon, Sigmunci B&&&son jumps onto
Bui’s ship and cuts Bui’s hands off’at the wrists. YThen Bui stuck the stumps
into the handles of his chests and called out aloud: ‘Overboard all of Bui’s .
men,’ and leaped overboard with the chests.!‘84 However, according to ’
popular legend, Bui did not die: “Some men say that Bui became a dragon
and brooded on his gold.“85 Within thie tradition, Smaug’s. ability to talk and
his brooding, evil personality are understandable.
Ironically, Ruth Noel in The Mvthology of Middle-earth has classified
dragons as things rather than beings. She says “Dragons have been listed as
things, not beings because all the other beings of Middle-earth are
anthropomorphic.“86 Dragons, of course, are anthropomorphic, too, as
citations from Norse literature show. Also, Green catalogs the large number
of dragons in medieval literature. The giant Nithhogg “the Dread Biter”
gnaws at the roots of the World-tree in Eddie mythology. That dragon flies
up from darkness bearing the bodies of men on his wings. In the
Heimskrina, a huge dragon rushes to defend Iceland fromL an invading
warlock, and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle reports dragons in the skies over
Northumbria. In Saxo’s History, Froth0 slays a dragon.87
Beowulfs Dragon
Many parallels between the dragon story told in The Hobbit and that
told in Beowulf exist. Both dragons live in underground dwellings with their
treasure for many years. The treasure in Beowulf has been the legacy of
some noble race; death has taken away all the members but one. That lone
guardian of the treasure stores it in a barrow in the earth, sadly noting that
the gold no longer can fulfill its function as reward for courageous behavior.
Thus, Beowulfs dragon found the treasure and came to hoard for three
hundred years. Thorin’s recital of Smaug’s acquisitions of his hoard is less
peaceful. The dwarfs’ stockpiling of gold attracts the fiercest of extant
dragons, who attacks, kills the guardians, and settles in to keep the treasure
for one hundred and seventy one years (III, 353). Dragons do not make any
significant use of the treasure: the Beowulf-poet comments concerning the
42
ic dragon: “he is none the better for it [the heathen gold]“.88 Likewise,
Tolkien’s Thorin notes that dragons hoarding treasure “never enjoy a brass
ring of it” (Hobbit, 32).8Q
Thus, for hundreds of years the dragons sleep on the treasure in a
deserted place, in Beowulf called “the emptiness”: in The Hobbit, the
desolation of Smaug. Then a single man -- an outlaw desperate for weregild
in Beowulf and the burglar Bilbo in The Hobbit -- enters and steals a cup. In
Beowulf, the stolen object is a “plated cup,” “a precious drinking cup,” “the
glorious cup.” The object Bilbo steals is “a great two-handed cup, as heavy as
he could carry” (Hobbit, 228). The waking dragon moves to quick discovery
of the wrong: “Then the worm woke; cause of strife wab renewed; for then
he moved over the stone, hard-hearted beheld his foe’s footprints” (Beowulf,
40). The dragon thinks joyfully of the ensuing fight as he moves “all about
the outside of the barrow.” Dreaming of a warrior of insignificant size,
Smaug does not see the footprint but sniffs strange air; then he misses. his
cup. Smaug devours the ponies as he hunts “round and round the
mountainsides” venting his wrath over the loss of his cup. As soon as it
becomes night, Beowulfs dragon began “to vomit flames, bum bright
/ dwellings. ” On the next night, Smaug “rose in fire?’ to destroy the town
Esgaroth. On this night raid, the bowman Bard shoots his black arrow,
which has never failed him and has been saved until last, into the hollow of
Smaug’s vest into his left breast (Hobbit, 262). Beowulf ignores the flaming
head of his dragon and strikes “a little lower down” so that the blade went
in: then he takes his battle-knife and cuts the dragon through the middle
(Beomlf, 47).
, The settings for these encounters are also alike. As he approaches the
dragon’s lair, Beowulf sees *‘a stone arch standing, through it a stream
bursting out of the barrow: there was welling of a current hot with killing
fires, . ” (Beowulf, 44). Then the dragon comes out: “First the monster’s
l
breath came out of the stone, the hot war-stream” (Beowulf, 45). Similarly,
Tolkien’s illustration “The Front Gate” depicts a stone arch with the stream
running forth with three wisps of steam from the dragon’s breath. The
43
I’ blighted landscape features a blasted tree with a stump beside it in the -
lower left hand corner.
Other Dragons
Of course, more than one dragon went into the composition of Smaug.
Beowulfs dragon does not converse with the thief nor does he have a name
nor does he seem to have limbs. Since Beowulf cuts the dragon in two with
his sword, his bane is likely more serpentine than lizard-like. Smaug the
Magnificent has legs like a lizard, uses sharp claws, and boasts of wings like
those of “an immeasurable bat” (Hobbit, 227). The roars of Beowulfs dragon
cannot compare with Smaug’s
L urbane conversation. Other than the typical
generic epithets, dragon, worm, serpent, Beowulfs foe has no known name.
In The Volsunga Sam, Fafnir, the greedy son of the thrall-slayer Sigi,
seems to have provided more needed characteristics for the invention of
Smaug. Both Fafnir and Smaug have extensive reputations. Folk generally
avoid Faftir’s dwelling at Gnitahead, and when Regin talks to Sigurd about
the treasure and its guardian, the hero says that although he is young, he has
heard that none approach the dragon because of its cruelty. Fafnir also
seems to be vulnerable in the area of the heart: Sigmund thrusts “his sword
under his left shoulder.“90 Bilbo queries Smaug about his purported soft
underbelly; Smaug shows off his diamond waistcoat, allowing Bilbo to spy “a
large patch in the hollow of his left breast as hollow as a snail out of its
shell!” (Hobbit, 239). On the thrush’s advice, Bard’s black arrow finds that
mark.91
Other similarities occur in the conversations that the protagonists
have with the two dragons. Smaug comments that Bilbo is free with his .
name and inquiries about the hobbit’s home. Fafnir, who has already gotten
his death wound, asks Sigurd’s name, his father, and his kin. Bilbo’s answer
constitutes but riddling shrift: he says that he comes from under the hill,
over the hills, and through the air. When Smaug prompts for more, Bilbo
says that he comes “from under the hill, and under the hills and over the
44
hills my paths led” (Hobbit, 235). Toll&n explains that this is etiquette for
talking with dragons “if you don’t want to reveal your proper name (which is
wise)” (Hobbit, ‘235). Sigurd answers Fafnir: “Unknown to men is my kin. I
am called a noble beast: neither father have I nor mother, and all alone have
I fared hither.“92 Sigurd knows that names should not be revealed because
they have potency in curses. Smaug now capitalizes on Bilbo’s freely given
riddles but comments that the names suggested are not usual names. Fafnir
accuses Sigurd of lying. Bilbo then gives Smaug telling clues “chosen for
lucky number, “barrel rider, ” “he that walks unseen” (Hobbit, 235) while
Sigurd reveals his name.93
Smaug begins to sow dissent between the hobbit and the dwarves by
giving Bilbo advice. The dragon advises Bilbo not to trust the dwarves and
not to believe that he will get his share of the treasure. Fafnir asks Sigurd
who egged him on to the deed. The dragon then advises Sigurd against
Regin and promises that the treasure will not aide him but will be his bane..
Bilbo responds by telling Smaug that they c&ne not for the treasure alone
but for revenge. Sigurd also seeks something beyond the treasure, for he
begins to ask Fafnir about the Norns. Smaug scoffs at a dwarf-led revenge
and almost kills Bilbo with a blast of fire (Hobbit, 239). And Fafnir advises
Sigurd to ride away because “he who get a death-wound avenges himself
none the less. “94 Both heroes survive their encounters much the wiser.
Sigurd gains a knowledge of the language of birds, which prevents his death
at Regin’s hands. A thrush overhears Bilbo describe the worn place in
Smaug’s diamond vest and informs Bard the dragonslayer.
Smaug is even more than the sum of these other dragons. Neither
Fafnir nor the dragon in Beowulf has a physical description that accounts for
the beauty of the wondrous red-gold dragon. Green attributes a part of this
magnificent conception to King Arthur’s dragon dream, recounted in The
Alliterative Morte Arthure. In this Middle-English text, the poet elaborates
on the dragon’s resplendence:
Both his head and his neck were wholly all over
45
- . . - -----cI--..a- .-Urn-N c)r
.,
/
Covered with azure, enameled very fairly
His shoulders were scaled all in shining silver
Shred over all the monster with frightening points
His belly and his wings of wonderful hues 1!
In marvelous malice he mounted full high 1
Whom that he touched, he was ruined for ever.’
His feet were splendidly clothed all in fine sable
and such a venomous flare flowed from his lips
That the flood of sparks all seemed on fire.96
No author could have read this fantastic description and not included it in
his plans for a newly hatched dragon. Malory’s use of the description in his
Arthurian materials changes the silver shoulders to gold ones. The scales,
the brightly colored belly (Smaug’s jeweled vest), the wings, the claws, and
limbs are all common features.97
Still, Tolkien’s Smaug is not derivative but inventive. None of these
dragons catches the imagination with the cagey conversation of the worldly
but wicked Smaug. The dragon, who offers wryly ironic commentaries on
philosophy, is yet to come in John Gardner’s Grendel.98 And for Grendel’s
dragon as conceive; by John Gardner, Smaug himself is a source.
Several questions occur about the place of dragons in Tolkien’s works.
If he loved them so much, why didn’t he create more of them. Smaug’s only
companion in other works in Glaurung in the Narn, which is discussed in
Chapter 10. Glaurung, a apprenticeship work for Smaug, is more evil, less
interesting, and fairly worm-like. His conversations lack Smaug’s incisive
humor. Tolkien must have been quite .satisfied with the creation of Smaug,
who is one of a kind, or he probably would have pulled yet another dragon
out of his soup pot. Smaug really dominates The Hobbit. The darker tale of
The Lord of the Rine had no room for another stand-alone villain--roles
already taken by the Balrog and Shelob, two creatures he had not used
previously. The theme of the battle of good and evil required greater
coordination and balance between the combatants than the quest for dragon
46
treasure.
Wargs and other mounts

In The Fellowship of the Ring, before the company enters the door of
Moria, wargs or wolves attack. The members of the Fellowship fight, but
Gandalf finally routs the wolves by setting the woods on fire with his magic
lightning (I, 311-12). The warg attack in The Fellowshix, of the Ring is just
a short replay of the more ferocious warg attack in The Hobbit. There,
Tolkien describes the nature of the warg/wolf more fully. Wargs are wild
grey wolves, whose leader, a great grey wolf, speaks to them in “the dreadful
language of wolves” (Hobbit, 111) Furthermore, these wolves are comrades
with the goblins who sometimes ride them.
Both Carter and Ryan mention that the name “warg” derives from Old
English/Old Norse words for wolf, which also have the connotation of
“villain, felon, criminal” and in Norse “outlaw.“99 Ryan notes that “the
reader is given the impression of shape-changers.“loo Green comments on
\
the habit of trolls and witches riding wolves in the eddas and on their
nature as skin-changers, like King Siggeir’s mother who comes in the shape
of a mighty wolf to eat the Volsung brothers from the wooden stock in
which Siggeir places them. 101
Both in the sagas and in the eddas, some men may become wolves at
night. Thus, in Egils saga, Egils’ great grandfather, who is named Kveldulf
(“Evening wolf’), becomes drowsy in the evening and was thought to be a
great shape-changer, or werewolf. Sometimes, though, men need a wolf
skin to cover themselves with before they can turn into wolves. Thus, in the
Volsunga Saga, Sigmund and Sinfjotli use wolf skins for shape changing.
The sagaman reports that they howled like wolves but could still understand
each other. One day after they have fought with each other, they cannot
come\‘. out of their wolf shapes. Sigmund carries the wounded Sinfjotli home
on his back, and when they are finally transformed, Sigmund, “bade the
trolls take the wolf-shapes. “102 Generally, shape shifting does not seem to
be a dominant impression with the wargs. Their appearance as attackers
47
when they have a leader and carry out an attack does suggest the
intelligence associated with shape shifting as do references to the wolf
language, but their function as arc steeds does not suggest it. Tolkien
doesn’t do anything interesting with these creatures, perhaps because he
had already created Beorn as his main shape-shifter in The Hobbit and
because the idea of shape-shifting was to be attached to Saruman.
The eddas explain the absolute horror the people of the north felt
concerning wolves, for the Fenris Wolf is to be Odin’s bane. The gods
car>ture this huge wolf, the son of Loki by a giant woman, and bring him to
As&rth. Only Tyr was courageous enough to feed the monster. The gods
trick the wolf into allowing fetters to be placed on him. After breaking two
sets, the Fenris Wolf refuses to allow a magic cord tied on him until Loki
tells him that he may have Tyr’s hand in his mouth as a surety of the gods’
good faith. When the dwarf-created ribbon proves stronger than the wolf,
the wolf bites off Tyr’s hand. The Fenris wolf stays bound until Ragnarok,
the doom of the gods. Then, the “Voluspa” says that a wolf swallows the sun,
another swallows the moon, and the Fenris wolfs mouth gapes with one jaw
on the earth and the other with heaven -- and his mouth would gape more if
it could. The Fenris wolf swallows Odin, but Odin’s son Vithar avenges him
by tearing the wolfs mouth asunder. Yet, the world cannot be saved.103 The
motif of chaining evil in the way that the gods chain the Fenris wolf also
appears in The Silmarillion, where the Valar bind Melkor twice in the chain
Angainor, wrought by Aule, the Smith and Master of Crafts who made the
dwarves themselves (Silmarillion, 52, 252). In another age, Melkor will rise .
again to fight the Valar, as the Fenris wolf comes against the Norse gods.
Thus, since the wolf is traditionally a cruel demon of death and
destruction among those peoples that knew it, the terrible assaults of the
wargs are a natural part of a story with Northern influences. In the
Middle-earth chain of being, the wolf appears to stand opposite the horse.
The former are mounts for arcs while the noble horses carry only good
characters, with a few exceptions. Wonderful horses are a staple of heroic
literature and can be found in many cultures. When the Mouth of Sauron, a
48
renegade man, parlays with Gandalf, he does ride “a black horse, if horse it
was; for it was huge and hideous, and its face was a frightful mask, more like
a skull than a living head, and in the sockets of its eyes and in its nostrils
there burned a flame” (III, 164). Sauron has begun a program to produce
grotesques of horses. The destruction of the mounts of the Nine
Ringwraiths at the Ford has left few examples of this perversion of Sauron.
Another steed in The Lord of the Rin@ is the oliphant, Sauron’s
version of which is the mumakil, These creatures appear in Northern
literature, too. In the Saga of!, while making Fasold
one of the champions, Thidrek and his horse Falka have an adventure with a
different kind of creature, an elephant. In the forest of Bern, this largest ’
and fiercest of animals comes towards them. Thidrek wants to overcome
the creature, but finds that his sword will not cut. Fasold’s attempts to help
are also bootless, but he recommends to Thidrek, who is now pressed
underneath the animal, that a thrust into the animal’s stomach near the
navel might be effective. Unfortunately, the elephant has Thidrek so closely
confined that he cannot move, but his horse Falka begins to strike the beast
with his front feet. Then Thidrek makes the fatal thrust into the animal’s
belly. 104 ’
King Thidrek’s horse is more courageous than those of the Rohirrim,
for when the mtimakil attack in the ‘Battle of the Pefennor Fields, the horses
will not come near them. The mumakil become towers of defense with the
Haradrim around them. The defeat of Gondor seems certain until Aragorn
arrives. The strategy taken in this battle is for the bowmen to come close to
shoot at the eyes of the monstrous creatures. Sam has already employed the
tactic into the soft underbelly when he dispatched Shelob by thrusting his
elven-blade into her guts. Sam introduces the good version of this creature
into the story quite unexpectedly while he, Frodo, and Gollum are nearing
Mondor.
r Gollum’s mention of men from the South in red and gold triggers
a rhyme from the Shire. Sam recites the rhyme to Frodo’s amusement and
Gollum’s humorless disgust. Frodo then wishes for “a thousand oliphants
with Gandalf on a white one at their head” (II, 255). Then Frodo verbalizes
49
. . the necessity of their going into Mordor on’ ‘their o@n tired feet with their
treacherous guide Gollum. This quick and unexpected juxtaposition of the
safe and silly world of the Shire with the horror and peril of t@e
. t
contemplated March through Mordor is brilliant. With it, Tolkien
underlines the courage of the hobbits and. the greatness of their
contribution to the battle against evil. .
It is curious that Tolkien did not do something more’ interesting with
wolves, which are such an important creature in the Northern imagination.
His early experiments with telling the story of Beren in ‘The Earliest
Silmarillion” in a beast fable format may have steered him away from the use
of certain creatures--cats and dogs and their wilder extensions, the great
cats and wolves. 105 Further 9 when he came to write The Lord of the Riinrrs,
many of his choices were narrowed by what he had produced in The, Hobbit.
As noted, the success of Smaug probably kept him from using another
dragon, Beom may have prevented further use of shape shifting, and the
wargs from a more innovative version of wolves. Yet, he did manage to
supercede goblins with ores. Perhaps,: he was bored with wolves, whose
role in mythology is major, but in Icelandic saga almost non-existent, and
wished to portray evil in some newer guises.
The Eve
Sauron, the Dark Lord,, the controller of the forces of evil in
Middle-earth in the Third Age, is The Eye. Yet, by extension, Tolkien has
made the eye a pervasive image for evil in The Lord of the F&e. Although
the kindly eyes of good characters are mentioned, a description of a villain
usually contains a remark about his eyes, which reveal his true nature.
This pattern of imagery begins in The Hobbit. Tolkien describes .
Gollum: “He was Gollum -- as dark as darkness, except for two big round
pale eyes in his thin face” (Hobbit, 82). Bilbo, who has been separated from
the dwarves while Gandalf is trying to rescue them from the Goblin tunnels,
engages in a riddle game with Gollum. After losing, Gollum is angry and
hungry, and ” . . to his alarm Bilbo now saw two points of light peering at
l
50
him. As suspicion grew in Gollum’s mind, the light of his eyes burned with
a pale flame.” Bilbo asks again what Gollum is looking for, “But now the light
in Gollum’s eyes had become a green fire, and it was coming swiftly nearer”
(Hobbit,93). Gollumis seeking the one Ring, his precious.
This initial description suggests a vivid scene in Grettir the Strong.
During the fight in the hall, Gl&m tries to pull Grettir outside. The
moonlight was great outside and there were dense clouds with openings in
them, and at times they drifted before the moon and at times away. Now
this happe~ns when GIgIll fell, a ray shined from the moon, and Gl&m rolled
his eyes up to meet it. And Grettir himself has said that sight alone (of all
he had ever seen) frightened him. “Then such a sinking came over Grettir ’
from all together, (namely) his weariness and because he saw Gl&n rolling
his eyes horribly that he could, not draw his sax [short sword], but lay almost
between life and death”106 Gl&n now curses Grettir and says that Grettir
will never be stronger or more famous than he is now, that he will be exiled,
that his guardian spirit will forsake him, that he will dwell ever alone, and
that >the eyes which Glam carries will be ever before Grettir’s sight. Thus,
Grettir the Strong becomes Grettir the Luckless, and all GlZim’s prophecies
are fulfilled.
The Gl&m incident explains much about GoUum, even perhaps
suggesting the name that few critics attempt to derive. GlCim is an
aftergoing-man, one who walks after death, just as Gollum has lived long
beyond the usual lifespan of his species. Further, Cl&m is an unpleasant,
friendless shepherd who breaks a taboo by eating on a church fast day and
refusing to go to church. Gollum breaks another more important taboo by
killing his kinsman. An evil spirit kills Glam, who destroys the spirit at the
same time. 107 The evil spirit of the One Ring interrupts Gollum’s pastoral
life. At the end when Gollum falls into Mount Doom, he and the Ring destroy
each_ other.
Gollum’s eyes are the most sinister aspect of his appearance. ,
Throughout The Lord of the F2ins, Tolkien repeatedly comments on them.
On watch one night, Frodo, who has only heard Gollum discussed, thinks
51
that “he could see two pale points of light, almost like luminous eyes” (I,
332). Some days later on the trip down the Anduin, Sam sees “a log with
eyes! b . b two pale sort of points, shiny-like . . .” (I, 398). Frodo calls it
“luggage with eyes” and explains to Sam that the creature is Gollum. Noti
“two pale lamp-like eyes shone coldly” as Gollum watches Frodo asleep (I,
398-400).
In The Two Towers, when Sam and Frodo are within sight of Mordor,
Frodo says “that Shadow yonder. There’s an Eye in it” (II, 2 11). After Frodo
takes Gollum as his guide, Gollum quarrels with his alter ego Smeagol, and
“a pale light and a green light alternated in his eyes as he spoke” (II, 240).
As they climb the steps of Cirith Ungol, Gollum’s eyes reflect the horrible
landscape: “Along this path the hobbits trudged, side by side, unable to see
Gollum in front of them, except when he turned back to beckon them on.
Then his eyes shone with a green-white light, reflecting the noisome
Morgul-sheen perhaps, or kindled by some answering mood within. Of that
deadly gleam and of the dark eye-holes Frodo and Sam were always
conscious, ever glancing fearfully over their shoulders, and ever dragging
their eyes back to find the darkening path” (II, 313). A horrible landscape
surrounds Sam and Frodo; yet the light from Gollum’s eyes seems equally
frightening, as frightening as the sight of Glam’s eyes was to Grettir the
Strong. On Mount Doom, Frodo sees “pale lights like eyes,” and a wildlight
comes into his own eyes (III, 2 13, 22 1). Finally, after Frodo puts the Ring
on at the edge of Mount Doom, “a wild light of madness” glares in Gollum’s l
eyes (III, 222). Gollum bites off Frodo’s finger and grabs the Ring, “And
with that, even as his eyes were lifted up to gloat on his prize, he stepped
too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink, and then with a shriek
he fell” (III, 224). Throughout the story, the pale green light from Gollum’s
eyes reminds the reader that pathetic though Gollum is, he is still intent on
evil.
Just as Gollum’s eyes are not the only evil eyes referred to in The Lord
of the FZings, so Gl&m’s are not the only possible analog for the evil eye in
Northern literature. In modern western literature, images of eyes and
52
seeing seem to be more often associated with good -- perceiving and
understanding -- than with evil. However, in medieval Norse literature;
GlAm’s evil eye is not unusual, The motif of the evil eye penrades the sagas.
For instance, Olaf Tryggvason has the wizard Eyvind Keld and his fellow
sorcerers blinded before the King’s men tie them to a rock where the tide
will cover them. The blinding is to keep them from bringing others under
their influence by using the evil eye. Drowning or stoning is needed to kill a
wizard without making some individual liable for haunting.108 Witches
naturally used the evil eye. In Kormaks saga, KormGik recognized the witch
Thorveig’s eyes in a walrus that comes near his ship as he is leaving Iceland
for viking raids abroad. Hollander notes that the witch” is trying to exert *
the power of ‘the evil eye’ on him. It was a common belief that witches
could send out their souls in the shape of animals to harm their enemies.
Their eyes would remain unchanged during the transformation.“l09 The
shape-shifter retained the eyes of the human form in the animal shape.
Not only did wizards and witches have the evil eye, but the eyes of a
dead man could also harm those who came in front of them. In Evrbvggia
Saga, Thorolf Half-foot, a difficult old man, dies in an evil mood. The
housewife sends for his son Arnkel; all the servants are afraid of Thorolf
sitting dead in his high seat. “Now Arnkel went into the fire-hall, and so up
along it behind the seat at Thorolfs back, and bade all beware of facing him
before Lyke-help was given to him. men Arnkel took Thorolf by the
shoulder, and must needs put forth all his strength before he brought him
under. After that he swept a cloth about Thorolfs head and then did to him .
according to custom. Then he let break down the wall behind him, and
brought him out . . . “110 Lyke-help involves the essential closing of the dead
person’s eyes, for the power of the evil eye extends after death. Similarly,
when Egil’s father, Skallagrim, another temperamental old man, dies sitting
in his high seat, Egil goes around the edge of the hall, seizes Skallagrim
from behind, and gives him Lyke-help. Egil has especially warned the
people of the household to avoid coming front of Skallagrirn’s sight since
the dead have the evil eye. 111 The Heimskrina may also have made a
53
_ _ __ ___. I . _ -.- -_-._^ -_--__- _------” . -. --.------1-1. . .--^-I-- - - .-_- ” ^ - _- .___.. - ._^ I
. .,.I *I,, ._ . . _. .,._. , _. .I” ,. > ~.. ,>A ^. - . . . I
5-
contribution to the eye imagery. In the “Saga of the Sons of Harald” of the -
Heimskrina, an English priest named Richard .goes to live with two noble
and wealthy brothers and their sister. People soon begin to talk that the
sister’s kindness to the priest is a result of his seduction of her. The !.
brothers and their servant abduct the priest andI torture him to make him
confess his illicit relationship with their sister. His eyes are knocked out
with a peg, which pierces the eyelid, and his tongue is cut out.. When he
regains consciousness, he hold his eyeballs in their proper place. He is
abandoned then at a farmhouse where he prays to God and Holy Saint Olaf
for healing. A radiant noble-looking man comes in the night to heal him.
He identifies himself as Olaf from north in Trondheim. Richard is
altogether healed, except for the mark on his, eyes: “But as a mark that his
eyes had been gouged out, a white scar appeared on both his eyelids, so that
the might of this glorious king should be shown in the man who had been so
pitiably maltreated.“112 Although there are several tales of torture in the
Heimskringla, this scene, coming in a less-interesting part of the saga, is
particularly striking. ?
All the creatures of Sauron’s realm have evil, frightening eyes. In The
Hobbit, Gandalf, Bilbo, and the dwarves tree the wargs with “eyes blazing
and tongues hanging out” (Hobbit, 111). And in ihe beginning of The
Fellowshix> of the Ring, before Bilbo gives up the Ring, he mentions that
“Sometimes I have felt it was like an eye looking at me” (I, 43). When
Boromir wants to take the Ring from Frodo by force, he has a queer gleam
in his eye (I, 415). Challenged by Gandalf, Theoden’s bad counselor
Wormtongue has the haunted look of a trapped beast in his eyes. When he
escapes, “His eyes glittered. Such malice was in them that men stepped
back from him” (II, 125). Wormtongue is one of the bad characters whose
evil goes on beyond the fall of Sauron.
When the arc Grishnakh tries to get the I&g from Frodo, ‘There was
a light like a pale but hot fire behind his eyes” (II, 58). Gimli finds an arc
knife with a carved handle “shaped like a hideous head with squinting eyes
and leering mouth” (II, 92). Two of Sauron’s arcs wear livery, “one marked
54
.I
by the Red Eye, the other by a Moon disfigured with a ghastly face of death”
(III, 179). The latter may have inspired by the Old Norse word
“glamblesottr”, “having a moon-shaped blaze on the forehead.“113 Fararnir
calls Cirith Ungol, the land of Sauron and the arcs, “a place of sleepless
malice, full of lidless eyes” (II, 302). And the head has been taken off of one
of the stone images of an Argonatb king who ruled there before Sauron
made it evil and replaced with “a round rough-hewn stone, rudely painted .
by savage hands in the likeness of a grinning face with one large red eye in
the midst of its forehead” (II, 311). The image of the evil eye pervades the
landscapes of Mordor.
In Cirith Ungol, Gollum betrays Frodo and Sam into the lair of Shelob,
a spider-like monster. The encounter is told with eye imagery. In the
tunnel, Frodo first becomes “aware of eyes growing visible, two great
clusters of many-windowed eyes -- the coming menace was unmasked at last
b Monstrous and abominable eyes they were, bestial and y&t filled with
iurpose and with hideous delight, gloating over their prey trapped beyond
all hope of escape. Frodo and Sam, horror-stricken, began slowly to back
away, their own gaze held by the dreadful stare of those baleful eyes; but as
they backed so the eyes advanced” (II, 329-30). Frodo, who has been
holding up Galadriel’s magic phial of light, slowly drops it. “Then suddenly,
released from the holding spell to run a little while in vain panic for the
arnusement of the eyes, they both turned and fled together; but even as they
ran Frodo looked back and s’aw with terror that at once the eyes came
leaping up behind” (II, 330). When Sam finally attacks Shelob, he finds that
her first vulnerable area is her eyes, her second her soft under belly.
Shelob is an ancient evil thing not of Sauron’s making but loved by him.
However, his most potent evil creatures are the nine Ringwraiths, dead
kings who took rings of power and. used them for their earthly glory.
Although they are blind, the Ringwraiths perceive more than they could see
with human eyes. Gandalf explains that the Black Riders “themselves do not .
see the world of light as we do, but our shapes cast shadows in their minds, . ,
which only the noon sun destroys: and in the dark they perceive many signs
55
and forms that are hidden from us . ” (I, 202). These blind
l l
super-perceptive creatures are more frightful than they would have been
with sight. Their blindness allows Tolkien to put a greater responsibility on
Frodo for the resolution of the destruction of the Ring. They generally do
not perceive him: his presence outside of Mordor and even as he nears
Mount Oran goes undetected unless he wears the Ring. Sometimes he
needs the Ring to solve problems of assaults from lesser evil creatures, but
succumbing to that desire inevitably brings him to the attention of more evil
creatures.
Of course, all the evil eye i‘magery of the minor villains in the story
only serves to intensify the impression of Sauron. Sauron is never described
in The Lord of the Rin@; his slaves know him only as The Eye. Gandalf
warns Saruman that “When his [Sauron’s] eye turns hither, it will be the red
eye of wrath” (II, 188). Frodo’s first encounter with the Eye is his look in
Galadriel’s mirror -- “In the black abyss there appeared a single Eye that
slowly grew, until it filled nearly all the Mirror. . . The Eye was rimmed
l
with fire, but was itself glazed, yellow as a cat’s, watchful and intent, and the
black slit of its pupil opened on a pit, a window into nothing” (I, 379). The
horrible Eye of Sauron has almost found Frodo.
Pippin also sees merely an awful eye when he looks into the palantir.
The palantir are called jewels and appear on Aragorn’s banner as a symbol of
his house. In The Silmarillion, Tolkien tells of their creation and use as a
means of communications for the Ntimenbreans in Middle-earth and as a
mode of reference to the Tower of Avallone, where the Masterstone remains
(Silmarillion, 292). As a means of seeing, the palantir themselves are a
physical manifestation of the eye imagery. In the earlier ages, they were
deployed for good, for the better governance of the kingdom, but in the
Third Age, Sauron uses them cleverly to spread his evil. Sauron seduces
Saruman through his palantir and brings Denethor to despair. The Seeing
Stones can be made to see sorrow, disappointment, and hopelessness.
When Frodo puts on the Ring at Mount Doom, the Eye is suddenly
aware of him and of its peril. Yet, Sauron’s Eye has betrayed its owner. The
56
Eye has been busy with the challenge of Gandalf, Aragorn, and Eomer and
has not observed Frodo and Sam creeping through its blighted lands.
Gandalf explains that the Ringbearer succeeds because Sauron has only one
view (one eye). Sauron assumes that the allies would want to use the Ring of
power: he never considers that they might attempt to destroy it.
Many critics associate Sauron with Odin because each has only one eye
as discussed earlier. Further, Odin’s titles Bilevg, “One whose eye deceives
him” and Baleyg, “Flame-eyed” emphasize his single fiery eye. Both Sauron
and Odin provide frenzy in battle; and both wield power and direct the
battle from afar. In Tolkien’s essay “On Fairy-stories”, Odin’s titles, the
Necromancer and “Lord of the Slain”, equal Sauron’s titles, the
Necromancer and Lord of the Rings. 114 This parallel emphasizes the
complexity of evil, a problem which will be discussed in Chapter 9.
Noel posits a relationship between Sauron’s ring and the folk format in
which an evil sorcerer’s soul is confined in a special object. She draws a
particular connection with the story of the Tartar hero Kiik Chan whose
supernatural strength resides in a gold ring.115 One difficulty with this
theory is Tolkien’s repeated warning that if the Ring were used by any other
character, that character would become evil. Thus, Elrond, Galadriel,
Gandalf, and Aragorn all eschew the Ring. If the Ring were actually Sauron’s
soul, their imaginary fears of what they might become with the Ring would
not be appropriate. Another difficulty is Gandalf’s warning that some
powers for good will fail when the Ring is destroyed; the destruction of
Sauron’s soul would not have that impact.
Thus, the Norse conception of the power of the evil eye has perhaps
served as a basis for some of Tolkien’s imagery. But Tolkien has taken the
image and created from it a complex and significant structure. The image of
the eye makes the evil it represents seem pervasive and encompassing. As
animage for evil, the eye has advantages over some other images, such as a
dragon, a wolf, or a troll. The image permits a duality: the good eyes of the
story’s heroes balance the evil eyes of the villains. Since the image for evil is
complicated by its ability to represent good, too, the image cannot be
57
allegorical.
Ancient Creatures
The One guided the Valar in the creation of Middle-Earth and theA
prepared them to be its guardians. Tolkien tells this theological creation
story in The Silmarillion. Although Old Norse vala means “seeress,“116 the
gods and the most ancient creatures of Middle-earth are less clearly
inspired by Norse tales then some of the later creatures, as already
demonstrated. v
Noel thinks that the gods of Middle-earth are active: “In the Valar and
the One who ruled them, TolkIen established a pervasive but unobtrusive
theology for Middle-earth. These gods were alive and responsive to their
worshipers, taking an active part in their fate.“117 The theology is certainly
unobtrusive as far as acts of worship are concerned; the people of Goridor
observe a standing grace only two times. These two instances are the only
overtly religious celebrations in the entire work. The Valar and the One
occur in a number of allusions, but their intrusive influence on the action is
negligible e Their only response to their worshipers, who are sorely pressed
by Sauron, is to send the five Wizards with the injunction not to use force in
their combat with the Dark Lord. If the Iliad and Paradise Lost stand as
examples of gods taking an active part in the fate of their worshipers, 3hen
by comparison, The Lord of the Rings displays a set of gods who are not
involved. Rather the emphasis in the three-part work is on how the
characters themselves combat the forces of evil with very limited help from
their gods.
Origins of Ancients
Moreover the historical orientation of the Lord of the Rings makes
ancient characters like Shelob and Tom Bombadil necessary to indicate the
evolving nature of the universe. Thomas J. Gasque in ‘Tolkien:
e the Monsters
and the Critics” does not recognize what these timeless creatures are
actually four--two good, rather primitive spirits of nature, Tom Bombadil
58
lfl 1
(male) and Goldberry (female), and two evil, primeval dwellers in darkness,
*
the Balrog (male) and Shelob (female). Although these four are not the
actual parents of other species, the four seem to be related to the origins of
good and evil. All are impervious to the power of the Ring. Connected with
Tom Bombadil and Goldberry are the images of good--light, organic, pure-
and with the Balrog and Shelob the images of evil--dark, mechanical, /
corrupt.
Bombadil and Goldberry

Tom Bombadil and Goldberry represent ancient earth and water
creatures. 118 Briefly 9 Tom Bombadil exists from Tolkien’s poem “The -
Adventures of Tom Bombadil” printed in Oxford Magazine in 1934. Tolkien
admits that he uses the already-invented Bombadil to get the adventure
under way. Tolkien retains Bombadil because he represented certain things:
“pure (real) natural science; the spirit that desires knowledge of other
things, their history and nature, because they are ‘other’ and wholly
independent of the inquiring mind, a spirit coeval with the rational mind . .
. ” (Letters, 192). In The Return of the Shadow, Christopher Tolkien makes
available earlier versions of the story in which Tolkien calls Bombadil an
“aborigine” - one who knew the land before the creatures came into it.flg
His existence is not truly necessary to the story, although its conventionality
in Northern literature will be demonstrated in the chapter on landscapes.
He overcomes his old natural enemies from “The Adventures”--the Willow-
man and the Barrow-wight, whose power to move the reader is much
improved by the existence of the hobbits. In The Road to Middle Earth,
Shippey argues that Bombadil is not a living creature, but seems to have
been there since before the Elves, “an exhalation of the world.” Shippey
points to the Old English poem Genesis B which calls Adam a selfsceafte
puma, “self-shaped man” or “self-doomed man”120 While Shippey is
accurate about Bombadil’s origins, his contention that Bombadil is not a
living creature is not very useful.
One small hint for Goldberry may come from the Faroe Islander’s SS.
59
Sigmund desires to leave Norway for the Faroe Islands. When he asks Earl
Hakon’s permission, the Earl asks him whom he trusts. Sigmund replies in
typical viking style, that he trusts to his own might and main. The Earl
replies that Sigmund will need the help of ‘*her in whom I put all my trust:
Thorgerd Hordabrud.“l21 They go through the woods into a beautiful house
with gold and silver worked into the carvings and with many windows.
There the Earl throws himself down before a beautifully clothed figure.
After the Earl prostrates himself a second time and appears to be crying, he
is able to pull an arm ring from the figure. He gives this token to Sigmund
for luck. King Olaf later asks for the ring predicting that it will cause
Sigmund’s death. When Sigmund washes ashore after almost drowning, two
ruffians recognize him from the arm ring and kill him for it.122 This
goddess figure may have contributed to the creation of Goldberry, who
certainly earns the hobbit’s trust with her hospitality to them. Goldberry is
Tom’s first conquest: she is “the River-woman’s daughter” who has now
foregone her mother’s avocation of pulling innocents into the river.
Balrog
According to The Silmarillion, after Melkor has fallen from the Valar,
he perverted creatures to his needs. In the earliest days, he gathered
demons about him, cloaked them in darkness, gave them hearts of fire; and
they became like him in corruption (Silmarillion, 47). Both Green and Noel
expand the relationship between the Balrog and the Teutonic god Surt.
Surt appears for Ragnariik, the Doom of the Gods. Like the Balrog, he
comes over the Rainbow Bridge with an arc-like host from the fire-realm
Muspell “and both before and after him burning fire”. Both Bifrost and the
Bridge of Khazad-dum break under this ride. Green further suggests a
profitable comparison between the Balrog’s name and that of Bdlthorn,
Odin’s grandfather whom he fights for the possession of the runes.123 Yet
connections do little to place the balrog in a cosmology.
Knowledge of the hierarchy of monsters in Norse mythology would
have led the reader to expect the Fenris wolf to have been a source for the
60
Balrog since the three great monsters are the serpent Jormundgand, the
Fenris wolf, and the goddess Hel. The serpent has, of course, contributed
to the creation of the dragon Smaug and He1 to Shelob’smaking, but the
Balrog also seems to be associated with the serpent/dragon because fire
imagery prevails in the balrog’s description. The destructive power of fire--
its ability to devour life in a personified manner with a malevolence
suggestive of a great catastrophe to end the world--occurs in several
sections of Beowulf. Fire imagery is particularly associated with the dragon,
the final monster who is Beowulfs .bane. When the thief disturbs the
dragon’s treasure by stealing the cup, the dragon “set out with fire, ready
with flame.” The Beowulf-poet continues: “Then the evil spirit began to -
vomit flames, burn bright dwellings; blaze of fire rose, to the horror of men
. . . ” (Beowulf, 40) The dragon flies over the village: “He circled the land-
dwellers with flame, with fire and burning . . .” (Beowulf, 41). When Beowulf
comes to meet the dragon, the poet says, ‘Then coiling in flames, he [the
dragon] came gliding on hastening to his fate . . . he exhaled death-fire --
the warflames spraying wide” (Beowulf, 45). Later, devouring, eating fire
appears in Wiglafs discussion of the disposition of the dragon’s treasure:
“These shall the fire devour, flames enfold .” (Beowulf, 52). The flames
l l
also consume the fire dragon “grimly terrible with with his many colors”
(Beowulf, 53). As Beowulfs funeral pyre is lit, Wiglaf comments, “Now shall
the flame eat the chief of warriors--the fire shall grow dark” (Beowulf, 54
This statement is similar to ‘the poet’s description of Hnaefs pyre: “Fire
swallowed them--greediest of spirits . .” (Beowulf,
l I n t h e20).O l d E n g l i s h
poem, the final obliteration of the funeral pyre is an image of ultimate power.
This eager, devouring flame seems to be a metaphor for the destructive
forces in a dying cosmos.
In The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien makes generous use of this tradition
of describing fire as a lively destructive agent. The richest example is the
battle on the bridge at Khazad-Diim between two creatures of fire: Gandalf
and the Balrog. The wizard says, “I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder ,
of the flame of Anor. You cannot pass. The dark fire will not avail you, flame
61
.
of
. Udu.n*’ (I, 344). As the company approaches the bridge, Tolkien
describes the fire burning in the levels below: “It y-as flickering and .
glowing on the walls b . . ” (I, 342). The flames “licked at the brink and
.
curled about the bases of the columns” and ‘Yhe pillars seemed to tremble
and the flarnes to quiver” (I, 343). The Balrog consists I of flames: “Its
streaming mane kindled, and blazed ‘behind it. In its right. hand was a blade
like a stabbing tongue of fire . . .“; ‘The dtik figure strewg with fire . . . ”
and “The fire in it [the Balrog] seemed to die, but the darkness grew” (I,
344-45). When the Balrog enters, “the flames roared up to greet it, and
wreathed about it. e “(I, 344). And when Gandalf breaks with bridge with.
l *J
his staff, “A blinding sheet of white flame sprang up”(1, 345). When Gandalf
later relates the battle to Aragom, Legolas, and Gimli, he reveries on how
the Battle of the Peak might be described in heroic song: .“Thunder they .
[the song makers] heard, and lightning, they said, smote upon Celebdil, and
leaped back broken into tongues of fire” (I, 135). Clearly the two monsters
share a tradition of fire imagery. Gandalf finally throws the Balrog down and
extinguishes him just as Beowulf extinguishes the dragon. Tolkien’s
conception of two Maia -- one a defender of freedom, the other a fallen evil
creature -- provides him with a superior vehicle for his fire imagery.
Many other scenes use the kinds of fire imagery practiced in Beowulf.
Gandalf tests the Ring’s identity in Frodo’s fireplace; Denethor creates .a
funeral pyre in-the tradition of Beowulf and almost burns his son Faramir
alive on it; and the flames of Mount Doom annihil&e the Ring itself. In
these scenes, Tolkien adds to the philosophical implications of the fire in
Beowulf. The verses on the Ring detail its intention to rule, to find, to
bring, and to bind all creatures under the D&k Lord. Denetbor’s speech
also underscores the destruction theme: “*They have set a fire in his ,
[Fararnir’s] flesh. But soon all shall be burned. The West has failed. It sh&l
all go up in a great fire, and all shall be ended. Ash! Ash and smoke blown
away on the wind!“’ (III, 128). The fire of pyre devours the human body as
the evil
\ of Sauron will devour Middle-earth. After the fire has obliterated
Gollum and the Ring, Frodo and Sam believe they are at “the end of all
62
things” (III, 225). Yet, beyond the burning of the Ring, a mighty battle has
1.
I-
yet to be fought, the Shire must be cleansed, and the Elves and some of the
heroes will abandon Middle-earth.
The Beowulf-poet creates flame imagery with a philosophical
commentary on the destruction of the cosmos. Tolkien adds to the fire-
imagery tradition by creating the Balrog, a flame-engendered Maiar-an
amalgamation of the physical, emotional, and philosophical aspects of the
flame.
Ungoliant/Shelob
Like Tom Bombadil, Ungoliant’s remote origin is not known: “the
Eldar knew not whence she came.” Elven lore hypothesizes that Ungoliant
was descended from the darkness of Arda when Melkor began to corrupt
creatures. Yet Ungoliant, Unlight, disowns Melkor to fill her own lust.
Melkor entices her to joinhim in despoiling the Valar’s festivals. She sucks
life from the trees, fills them with the poison of death, and drains the Wells
of Varda. In the darkness she arranges, Melkor revenges himself and
escapes again from the Valar (Silmarillion, 73-77). Ungoliant is not sated
with the light of the trees; she consumes all the world’s gems for their light
and lusts after the Silmarils. Then, with an inevitable imaginative force, the
Balrogs come up against Ungoliant, eventually destroying her webs and
driving her South. In the south, she breeds many creatures of the spider
kind. There Shelob, last child of Ungoliant, is begotten (Silmarillion, 79-
81). It seems clear from a series of letters to Christopher Tolkien in May of
1944 that Tolkien had long planned for the meeting between Frodo and
Sam and this ancient descendant of an evil force. His decision to give the
creature a different kind of name “Shelob” attests to the care he took in
bringing creatures from the larger work The Silmarillion into the smaller,
more3, carefully constructed The Lord of the Rings.
Shelob shares several characteristics with Hel, one of the three
monstrous offspring of Loki and the giantess Angrboda. Odin and the gods
have been concerned about the possible evil that might result from these
63
creatures who were half god and therefore had a greater potential for har& ’
than mere giants. The gods raid*gianthome, kidnap the three monstrous
offspring, and bring them to Valhalla for disposition. Odin immediately
hurls the serpent into the ocean and He1 herself into Niflheim, a realm df
freezing mist and darkness under one root of Yggdrasil, the world tree.
Both Shelob and He1 are incredibly ugly, both dwell in places of darkness,
both are carrion eaters. Odin grants He1 those who die of illness or old age
but he requires that she feed them, although her plate is called Hunger and
her knife Famine.124 As Frodo and Sam approach Shelob’s lair, the smell of
death prevails: “Out of it [Shelob’s lair] came a stench, not the sickly odour
of decay in the meads of Morgul, but a foul reek, as if filth unnameable were
piled and hoarded in the dark within.” (II, 326). Shelob has long been the
recipient of small gifts of the deaths of Sauron’s no longer useful servants.
Like Hel, Shelob is endlessly hungry: “she served none but herself, drinking
the blood of Elves and Men, bloated and grown fat with endless brooding on
her feasts, weaving webs of shadow: for all living things were her food, and
her vomit darkness” (II, 332). The growing power of Sauron has made it
difficult for her to get food. The odd arc does little to satisfy her appetite
and she greatly craves the sweeter meat that her servant Gollum brings her
in the two hobbits. It is, of course, fitting that Frodo at once recognizes the
magnitude of the enemy: he wishes Tom were there to help them and, he
uses his vial from the Lady Galadriel. He1 also has servants--the slow moving
Ganglot, whose names share some sounds with Gollum’s own. Tolkien
affirms Shelob’s status as a goddess when he has Gollum make obeisance to
her: “in past days he had bowed and worshipped her, and the darkness of
her evil will walked through all the ways of his weariness beside him,
cutting him off from light and from regret” (II, 332-33). Gollum’s worship
of Shelob has been part of his continuing rejection of his better self
(Smeagol) for his worse self (Gollum); Sam’s slinker and stinker.
The relationship between Sauron and Shelob also parallels that
between Odin and Hel. Loki is Odin’s foster-brother and companion; thus,
He1 has a kinship relationship with the god. Sauron is an evolved Maiar of
64
the same order as Gandalfr both owe some characteristics to the Norse god.
Siuron considers Shelob his pet: “his cat he calls her but she owns him
not” (II, 333). Their interests are diverse; Sauron’s objective is to enslave
the minds and hearts of all free peoples. Shelob desires their bodies; she
“desired death for all others mind and body, and for herself a glut of life,
alone, swollen till the mountains could no longer hold her up and the
darkness could not contain her” (II, 333). Like Odin, Sauron wants political
control of all free creatures while Shelob wishes to devour and destroy those
within her hungry grasp.
In Norse mythology and saga, evil comes in many forms. The giants
who are as ancient and almost as powerful as the gods are foes of order. l
The monsters whose kinship with the gods makes them a greater threat
than the mindless giants, and the evil that comes from the natural greed of’
creatures combine to form a world in which chaos is expected to overcome
order. Good and evil are not easily separated. Some giants are good; most .
of the gods have wicked moments. Tolkien’s universe reflects this
complexity. The most powerful forces for evil and good, Sauron and
Gandalf, derive from the same source -- the Maiar. Lesser evil and good
forces may be equally ancient and powerful -- Shelob and Balrog; Goldberry
and Tom Bombadil -- but their primary emphasis is not in the arena of the
action of The Lord of the Rings. Lesser creatures are either good or evil
according to their own natures. Throughout, there is a rough balance, with
the scales tipping in favor of the evil forces. Courage on the part of the
lesser beings of Middle-earth is the deciding factor for the temporary
triumph of good at the end of the Third Age.
65
NOTES
1. Ruth M. Noel, The Mvtholom of Middle-earth (Boston: Houghton Mifflin,

1978), 57. iI
2. Thomas J. Gasque, “Tolkien: The Monsters and the Critters,” in Tolkien

and the Critics, ed. Neil D. Isaacs and Rose A. Zimbardo (Notre Dame: Notre
Dame University Press, 1968), 151-63.
3. Jan de Vries, “Contributions to the Study of Othinn Especially in his

Relation to Agricultural Practices in Modern Popular Lore,” Folklore’ Fellows
Communications, xXx111, 94 (193 l), 46-47.
4. Mythom, 60-61.
5. Njal’s saga (NW’s Saga), trans. Carl F. Bayerschmidt and Lee M. Hollander
(New York: New York University Press: 1955), 107-61.
6. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1966), 1041. (All
references are to this edition and are in the text as Hobbit.)
7. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1965),
301. (All references are to this edition and are in the text as III, which
represents the third volume of The Lord of the Rinse)
8. “Hrolfs saga Kraka,” in An Introduction to Old Norse (Oxford: Clarendon,

1957), 27-32.
9. HrCilf Khaki, 32.
10. HrGlf Khaki, 32.
66
11. Richard W. Tedharns, “An Annotated Glossary of the Proper Names in
the Mythopoeic Fiction of J.R.R. Tolkien” (Master’s thesis, University of
Oklahoma, 1966), 30.
12. E. 0. G. Turville-Petre, “The Cult of Freyr in the Evening of Paganism,”

Proceedings of the Leeds Philosophical and Literarv Societv III, vi (1935),
317-22.
13. “Cult of Freyr,” 322.
14. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1965), 290. ’
(All references are to this edition and are in the text as II, which represents
the second volume of The Lord of the Rings.)
15. Hervarar saga ok Heidreks konungs (The Saga of King Heidrek the
Wise), trans. Christopher Tolkien (London: Nelson, 1960), 67.
16. C. C. Rafn, Fomaldar Sogur Nordrlanda eptir Gomlum Handritum

(Kaupmannahofn: E. Poppsku, 1892), 387-88.
17. Snorri Sturluson, The Prose Edda: Tales fromfi, trans.

Jean I. Young (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1966), 31.
18. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion, ed. Christopher Tolkien (Boston:

Houghton Mifflin, 1977), 47-56. (All references are to this edition and are
in the text as Silmarillion.)
19. Mvthology, 117-18. In The Mvthologv of Middle-earth, Noel notes

many similarities between the elves and the Celtic elven folks. Further, she
draws an interesting parallel between Eaendil, the mariner father of
Elrond and Elros, and the Prose Edda’s Earendil. In the Edda, Thor is left
with part of the giant Hrungnir’s whetstone lodged in his head after he slays
67
the giant with his hammer. He employed the seeress Groa to sing spells to
remove the stone, but he interrupts her in the middle of her singing to tell
her that her husband Earendil will soon return. Thor has rescued Earendil
from giantland by carrying him out in a basket, but Earendil’s toe froze ’
during a river crossing on the trip. Thor threw the toe up in the sky to
become the star Earendil(perhaps the morning star). Tolkien’s E&en&l
sails the skies in his ship bearing the Silmaril that Beren and Luthien
brought from Angmar.
20 . The Prose Edda, 31.
21 l Mytholos,
1 4 5 - 4 6 .
22 . Prose Edda, 142.
23 . Kormaks saga (The Sagas of Korm&k and The Sworn Brothers), trans.
Lee M. Hollander (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1949) 63-64.
24 . The Poetic Edda, trans. Lee M. Hollander, 2nd ed. [Austin: University of
Texas Press, 1962), 159-68.
25. Poetic Edda, 322-33.
26. Prose Edda, 41. Lin Carter gets sixteen using Henry Bellow’s
translation of the Poetic Edda (154). In Lee Hollander’s translation, only
fourteen appear, unless Gloi is equated with Gloin and Dwalin with Dvalin
(12). However, Beatie finds eighteen of twenty-seven in the catalogue of
Snorri’s Prose Edda.
27. Prose Edda, 41.
28. J.S. Ryan, “German Mythology Applied--the Extension of the Literary
68
.
I Folk Memory,” Folklore LXXVII (1965), 50-51.
29. Poetic Edda, 159-68.
30. Margaret Schlauch, The Romance in Iceland (Princeton: Princeton

University Press, 1916), 20.
31. King Heidrek, 68.
32. Fornaldar, 326-27.
33. Fornaldar, 446-47.
34. Eirikr Magnusson and William Morris, trans., Three Northern Love
Stories and Other Tales (London: Longmans, Green, 1901), 203-04.
35. E.O.G. Turville-Petre, Mvth and Religion of the North: The Religion of
Ancient Scandinavia (New York: Holt, Winston, and Rinehart, 1964), 221.
36. Fornaldar, 54.
37. Mvthology, 131.
38. Ni&l’s Saga, 156.
39. J.R.R. Tolkien, Unfinished Tales of Ntimenor and Middle-earth, ed.

Christopher Tolkien (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1980), 389. (All references
are to this edition and are in the text as Unfinished Tales.)
40 . “German Mythology,” 54.
41. Mvthology, 156.
69
42. William Howard Green, “The Hobbit and Other Fiction by J.R.R. Tolkien:
Their Roots in Medieval Heroic Literature and Language” (Ph.D. diss.,
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, 196@,
63 l
‘43. Lin Carter, Tolkien: A Look Behind “‘Ihe Lord of the Rings” (New York:
Bantam, 1969), 134-51.
44. “Roots in Medieval,” 63.
45. Kevin Crossley-Holland, The Norse Mvths (New York: Pantheon, 1980),
15- 17, 186-88. Crossley-Holland provides an interesting discussion of the
meaning of this tale.
4 6 . Heimskringla, 11.
47 l Myth and Religion, 62.
4 8 . Heimskrina, 203.
49 l Myth and Religion, 62-63.
50 . “Roots in Medieval,” 65.
51 . Myth and Reuion, 56-57.
52 . “Roots in Medieval,” 65-66.
53 . Poetic Edda, 36-37.
5 4 . Mvth and Religion, 42-43.
70
55 . “Roots of Medieval,” 69.
56 . Mvth and Religion, 62-63.
57 . “German Mythology,” 52.
58 . Mvthou, 108.
59 . Heimskringla, 12.
60. “German Mythology,” 52.
61 . Rose A. Zimbardo, “Moral Vision in The Lord of them’ in Tolkien

ana the Critics, ed. Neil Isaacs and Rose A. Zimbardo (Notre Dame: Notre
Dame University Press, 1968), 101. Why she calls him Radagast the Russet
is unclear.
62. Mvthola, 107. Ruth Noel’s statement “His [Radagast’s] name is that of
a slavonic god, Radagast or Radihost, who was associated with the Roman
god Mercury” does not fit with the creation of other wizards. Noel casts
Radagast as an alchemist and a shaman. She notes “a priest of Radegast in
Mlada, an opera by Rimsky-Korsakov, based on Slavonic mythology.” In the
next paragraph, she says “The name Radegast is derived from rad (“glad”)
and radost (“joy”) because Radegast was a god of bliss, whom Grimm
associated with Odin as a personification of Wish. The Slavonic Radegast
was also described as a sure counselor and a god of strength and honor.
* Both of Tolkien’s good wizards were indeed important counselors, and the
wizard
z Radegast’s honor was also significant; even Saruman would not try to
corrupt him.” This last statement is not consistent with Saruman’s use of
Radegast to deceive Gandalf.
, 71
63 . Mvtholoa
, and Religion, 79.
64. Prose Edda, 37.

!
65 . The *Saga of Thidrek of Bern, trans. Edward Haymes (New York:

Garland, 1988), 43.
66. Romance in Iceland, 137-38.
67. Mvthology, 132.
68. Mvthology, 131.
69. “German Mythology,” 52.
70. Manfred Zimmerman, “Early Glimpses of Middle-earth” Mvthlore XXX

(Winter 1982), 18. According to Zimmermann, the phrase “eald enta
geweorc” [old giant work] occurs fairly early into Tolkien’s storehouse of
lore. In the earliest of three essays Tolkien wrote for The Year’s Work in
English Studies, Zimmermann finds this 1923 reference to be “the nucleus
whence sprang his creation of the famous race of the Ents.” Zimmermann
also notes that the 16th century Guve of Gisborne quoted in Tolkien’s 1925
essay contains a meter which may be detected in the “Song of the Ents and
Entwives” (II, 800 8 1).
71 “The Wanderer” in Norton Anthology (New York: W.W. Norton, 1968),

91:92 .
72. William Morris and Eirikr Magnusson, trans., The Stow of the Ere-
Dwellers (Eyrma Saga) with the Storv of the Heath-Slavings (Heitharviga
Saga) as Appendix (London: B. Quaritch, 1892), 237.
72
73. Nihl’s Saa, 137, 241.
74. Oddr snorrason, Saga Olafs Trvggvasonar, ed. Finnur Jonsson

(Ksbenhavn: G.E.C. Gad, 1932), 174-75. [my translation]
75. Oddr Snorrason, The Saga of King OlafTrvg@~ason [sic], trans. J.

Sephton (London: D. Nutt, 1895), 334-36.
76. Bo Hansson and Anders Lind, “Music Inspired by The Lord of the
m”, ([n.p.]: Buddha Records, 1972). Sound Recording.
77. Hervarar saga ok Heidreks konungs, The Saga of King Heidrek the
Wise, trans. Christopher Tolkien (London: Nelson, 1960), 44.
78. Mvth and Religion, 36-38.
80. Volsunga saga, The Saga of the Volsungs. The Saga of Ragnar Lodbrok
together with The Lav of Kraka, trans. Margaret Schlauch (New York: The
American-Scandinavian Foundation, W.W. Norton, 1930), 146.
81. “Bosi and Herraud,” in Gauthrek’s Saga and other Medieval Tales, trans.
Hermann P&son and Paul Edwards (New York: New York University Press,
1968), 73.
82 l “Bosi and Herraud,” 88.
83 . Saga of the Volsungs, 131.
84 . Saga of the Jomsvikings, trans. Lee Hollander (Austin: University of . .

Texas Press, 1955), 102-03.
73
85 . Saxa of the Jomsvikings, 115.
86 . Mvthology, 15 1 a !\
87* “Roots in Medieval,” 157-58. -
88 lBeowulf, trans. E. TaIbot DonaIdson (New York: W. W. Norton, 1966), 40.

(All references are to this edition and are in the text as Beowulf.)
89 “Roots in Medieval,” 159-163. The ideas for these comparisons with

l
Beowulf and Volsunga Sa@ are Green’s; I have amplified it and included it
here for the convenience of the reader since dissertations .are not readily
available.
90. Saga of the Vol,sungs, 142.
91 . “Roots in Medieval,” 163.
92. Saga of the Volsungs, 142.
93. “Roots in Medieval,” 163-64.
94. Saga of the Volsungs, 142-43.
96, “Arthure,” in Fernard Moss& A Handbook of Middle En&h (Baltimore:

Johns Hopkins Press, 1952), 254-55 [My translation].
74
..
*..
98. John Gardner, Grendel (New York: Bdllantine, 1972).
99. Look Behind, 183.
100. “German Mythology,” 53-54.

.
.
103. Prose Edda, 55-57.
104. The Saga of Thidrek of Bern, trans. Edward R. Haynes (New York:
Garland Publishing, 1988)) 49.
105. ShaDing, 1 l-75.
106. Grettis saga, in An Introduction to Old Norse, rev. ed. (Oxford:

Clarendon, 1956), 230.
107. Grettis saga, The Saga of Grettir the Strong, trans. G. A. Hight, ed.
Peter Foote (London: Dent, 1965), 86-100.
l
108. Heimskringla, 304.
109. Kormak’s Saga,

I 201.
110. Northern Love Stories, 88.
111. * Egils saga skallagrimssonar (Egil’s Saga), trans. Gwyn Jones (Syracuse:
Syracuse University, 1960), 153-54.
75
113. Gudbrand Vigfusson and F. York Powell, trans., Origines Islandicae, vol.
2 (Oxford: Clarendon, 1902), II: 282. 1
115. Mvthology,
1 3 6 - 3 8 .
116. King Heidrek, 35-44, 80-82.
117. Mythology, 106.
118. Mythology, 129-30. Noel associates the name Bombadil with Middle
English words for “humming” and “hidden” which relate to his secrecy and
tunefulness. Forn, his name among the Dwarves, means “old” and “sorcery”.
Orald, the name men use for him, is Old English for “very old, ancient,
original” and his Elvish Sindarin name meaning “oldest, fatherless” is
Iarwain Ben-adar. Noel also works a reference to gold rings and a whisker
into an analogy between Tom Bombadil and Hreidmar’s son Otter, who was
killed by the god Loki and whose weregild encompassed the Dwarf Andvari’s
gold hoard and Odin’s treasure breeding ring.
Further, Noel associates Goldberry with the undine, the Lorelei, and
the Siren--water sprites who allure folk into the deep. She sees Goldberry’s
pose in The FellowshiD of the Ring as the classic pose of watersprites. Noel
argues that Goldberry has become benevolent through her marriage to Tom
Bombadil. Perhaps the duality of her nature--singing washerwoman and
alluring siren-stands as another example of Tolkien’s repeated concern
that the complex nature of good and evil be represented. Evil may be
destroyed, but it returns.
119. The Return of the Shadow: the Historv of The Lord of the Rins Part
76
One, ed. Christopher Tolkien (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1988), 117. (All
references are to this edition and are in the text as Return of the Shadow.)
120. T.A. Shippey, The Road to Middle-earth (Boston: Houghton Mifflin,

1983) 82-83.
121. Faroe Islanders’ Saga, 53.
122. Faroe Islanders’ Saga, 79.
123. Mvthology, 146-47; “Roots in Medieval,” 68-70,
124. Kevin-Crossley, The Norse Mvths (New York:Pantheon Books), 33-34.
77
“And to it [the cauldron] have continually been added new bits, dainty and
undainty” (“Fairy-Stories”, 29). Ib
“Implements”
While the creatures of Middle-earth were sometimes changed from

their possible Old Norse analogues, the implements of Middle-earth could
probably be inserted into almost any piece of medieval literature without
being anachronistic or in any other way out of place. By itself, no one item
says much about Tolkien’s use of Northern literature but all together they do
provide a pattern of borrowing. Thus, a few items which seem to have
specific sources have been commented upon: The Ring, Swords, Armor,
Banners, Slain Foe’s Weapons, Two Men Under a Shield, and Gifts.
*’ \
The Ring
Despite the mighty sword and other grand weapons of Middle-earth,
the most important token is a. small, heavy gold ring. In Tolkien: A Look
Behind “The Lord of the Rings“, Lin Carter notices the connection between
this ring and those mentioned in “Fafnismal” and “Guthrunarkvithii of the
Poetic Edda and comments on its affinity to the magic ring of the Sigfried
legend.1 In “German Mythology Applied: The Extension of the Ritual
Folk-Memory,” Ryan discusses the association of the one Ring with Draupnir,
Balder’s ring, and Sigfried’s ring. 2 Noel also records those observations
emphasizing the spells cast on the rings by their first owners. She thinks
that Sigurd’s story emphasizes the hopelessness of even the greatest, most
courageous hero to stand against fate .3 She ignores the way in which Sigurd
contributes to his own troubles through his pride and arrogance. In the
. ambiguous environment of ‘I%e Lord of the Rings, the nature of the Ring
underscores its power of great temptation and its inability to be used for
good.
1
Andvari’s Loom
In the Volsunga Saga, the dwarf Andvari’s ring, which Odin gives as the
last part of the weregild for the slaying of Otter, is a finger ring rather than
an arm ring: “Then Odin took from his hand the ring that was Andvari’s
treasure .I”4 Furthermore, Andvari has cursed the ring: “he [Andvari]
declared that every man who owned that ring would get his bane of it.“5
Sigurd gains the ring when he slays the dragon Fafnir (Otter’s greedy .
brother), Sigurd rides through a ring of fire to awaken Odin’s valkyrie
daughter Brynhild. He gives her the ring as a love token. Later, when a
magic ‘potion has made him forget her and marry Gudrun, he comes to her ’
in the guise of her husband Gunnar and replaces the ring with another. The
subsequent bickering between the two women over the Ring causes Sigurd’s
death? Annoyed with critics and reviewers who noted the relationship
between Wagner’s ring and the one Ring, Tolkien sarcastically noted “Both
rings were round, and there the resemblance ceased? Certainly, Andvari’s
ring, which occurs in the story line of Volsunga saga, Nibelungenlied, and
Wagner’s !, is a dull, inane bauble compared with the
power and brooding malevolence of Tolkien’s One Ring. While the .One
Ring drives the narrative in The Lord of the Rirqs, the Andvari’s loom ring
serves only as a token whose recognition reveals Sigurd’s folly in talking to
his wife about his disguise as Gunnar.
Draupnir
Draupnir, which Odin placed on the funeral pyre of his son Balder, was
a magic arm ring. Loki had persuaded the dwarves to forge it as a symbol of
the All-Father’s power. Draupnir is a significant analog because it dropped
eight rings of equal weight every nine days; Tolkien’s One Ring controls
nineteen other rings. Further, Draupnir, like the One Ring, is a symbol
linking power with a ring. The significance of Odin’s gift of this ring to his
dead son Balder as a part of the funeral treasures, may be that Odin was
looking to the day beyond Ragnarok when he would be dead and Balder alive.
2
Because Draupnir yields other rings, it may also symbolim the unlimited
number of people who could hope for Odin’s patronage--rings were the most
common gift from a lord to his retainer. 8 Writing in a letter to Rhona Beare,
Tolkien says “I should say it was a mythical way of representing the truth’
that potency (or perhaps rather potentidity) if it is to be exercised, and
produce results, has to be externalized . .’ ” (Letters, 279). Draupnir’s
l
forging by dwarves at the instigation of Loki, the great trouble-maker of the

Norse gods, seems significant, for Sauron himself forged the Ruling Ring.9
Three Elven Rings

Although the One Ring is nameless or has a name so terrible that it
may not be uttered, other rings, especially the three elven rings, do have
names. Galadriel’s mithril ring of healing is called Nenya. Elrond’s ring of
gold, the mightiest of the three elven rings, is called Vilya. And in the last
chapter, “The Grey Havens,” ”Gandalf now wore openly upon his hand the
Third Ring, Narya the Great, and the stone upon it was red as fire” (III, 310).
At this point in the story, these three good rings are passing out of *
Middle-earth to the Havens. Tolkien elaborates the story of the creation of
these rings and their assignment to their respective wearers in “Of the
Rings of Power and the Third Age” in The Silmarillion (285311). He tells
of Sauron’s creation of the One Ring, of the hiding of the three elven rings,
of the consumption of some Dwarf rings by dragons, and of the creation of
the Ringwraiths by the nine men’s rings. Isildur’s escape through the
invisibility of the One Ring is also related.
Tolkien also expands understanding about the roles of the wizards.
He outlines the perfidy of Saurman in his search for the One Ring. He
explains how the third elven ring came to be in Middle-earth: Girdan of the
Havens gives the Red Ring of Fire to Gandalf saying “Take now this Ring . . .
for thy labours and thy cares will be heavy, but in all it will support thee and
defend thee from weariness. For this is the Ring of Fire, and herewith
maybe, thou shalt rekindle hearts to the valour of old in a world that grows
chill” (Silmarillion, 304). With Narya as with other rings in Tolkien’s work,
3
.- -. . one of its main virtues is that lesser people are inspired to do greater works
through its existence.
Oaths Sworn on Rings

Part of the association of rings with power in Norse tradition may
derive from the great rings, which were kept in the temples and used for
swearing oaths.
I For instance, the temple and its ring are described in the
Evrbvggja saga: “Here on the floor in the middle of the room stood a ’
pedestal like an ziltar; and on it lay a ring open in one place, twenty ounces
in weight, on whichw all men were to swear their oaths. This ring the temple
priest was supposed to wear on his arm at all meetings. On the pedestal also *
was the place for the sacrificial blood, that is, the blood of those animals
which were killed as an offering to the gods.” 10 In the Norse religion, the
ring as the holder of an oath to the gods was a powerful symbol. The Valar
use a like Ring of Doom in The Silmarillion.
On such a ring, Viga-Glum swears an oath, which is true only because
one of the words mispronounced becomes another word. The sagaman
‘describes the scene of Viga-Glum’s making the oath: ‘*The man, who should
take the temple oath, took the silver ring in his hand, then it was reddened
in the blood of an ox or bull.“ll In order to have two witnesses for his false
oath, Viga-Glum must give away his two magic heirlooms -- his blue cloak
and his gold mounted spear. Einar begins a lawsuit against him for making a
false oath, and Glum now dreams that Frey is sitting near the shore and will
not listen to the cries of Glum’s relatives not to drive him away.
Consequently, the Althing outlaws Glum, drives him from his home, and
banishes him from the district. 12 The technical form of the oath is less
important than its substance.
The One Ring serves as a keeper of oaths, too. In Frodo’s attempts to
assure Sam of Gollum?a obedience and lack of ill intentions toward the Ring
bearer, Gollum’s oath not to harm Frodo is made not on the Ring as Gollum
requests but by the Icing as Frodo demands. Similarly, when Faramir
requires an oath in order to release Gollum into Frodo’s custody at Henneth
4
Annti, Gollum swears never to return or to lead others to the place on “It,”
the Precious. When Faramir asks Frodo if he is satisfied with the oath’s
informal format, Frodo answer that he is. Further, he reminds Faramir that
the hobbit has assured Gollum’s safety and would not be foreswom himself.
Ironically, Gollum believes that Frodo has tricked him when the hobbit
orders him, by the precious, to come into daptivity rather. than be slain by a
Gondor arrow (II, 296-97).
Of course, rings also have good connotations in Old Norse culture.
Repeatedly in sagas and poems, rings are rewards for brave conduct in fights
and battles. The King or Chieftain is often assigned kennings such as ring
dispenser, ring friend, giver of rings, and in Tolkien’s work, Ringbearer
(Frodo) and The Lord of the Rings (Sauron). There are some good rings --
three elven ones at least -- in The Lord of the RingS.
Finger Ring
Tolkien’s choice between the. finger ring of the Volsunga sa@ and the
arm ring more commonly mentioned in Norse literature was probably not
:.
determined entirely by what Carter intimates is an overwhelming debt to
the Sigfried legend. 13 Clearly, from Carpenter’s biography, his edition of
Tolkien’s Letters, and The Return of the Shadow, the Ring’s history evolves.
The One Ring created in The Hobbit enriched itself in his imagination. *
When Allen & Unwin asked for another hobbit story, his mind played with
that Ring in the same way that Bilbo played with it in his pocket. Later, the
story of Bilbo’s fmding the ring in The Hobbit had to be revised to fit the
expanded identity of the Ring (Letters, 142). Yet, the One Ring itself was
never innocent. Noel’s statement “In The Hobbit it is an innocent talisman,
magic, but in no Way foreshadowing its ominous future” is rebuffed by
Gandalfs statement that he thought Bilbo’s lying and changing his story
about how he came by the Ring was most upsetting.l* Gandalf tells Frodo:
“Clearly the ring had an unwholesome
_- power that set to work on its keeper
at once.: That was the first real warning I had that all was not well” (I, 57).
While, indeed, We Ring in The Hobbit does not bring its owners the full
5
troubles to come in the three-part work, a Ring, which Gollum has killed to
get and uses routinely to assist further killing, should not be labeled “an
innocent talisman.” Even if Noel were referring to the 1937 unrevised early
version of The Hobbit, her statement would not be accurate.
The necessities of the plot would not allow for an arm ring. The One
Ring must be concealed and must be able to slip onto the wearer’s finger
without his express desire to wear it. Yet, the One Ring often seems to its
wearer as heavy as the twenty ounce silver temple ring. Tolkien comments
on its symbolic content in the Rhona Beare letter: “The Ring of Sauron is
only one of the various mythical treatments of the placing of one’s life, or
power, in some external object, which is thus exposed to capture or
destruction with disastrous results to oneself’ (Letters, 279). Ram this
understanding of the Ring’s potential, Tolkien can hypothesize on what
. would have happened had not Gollum grabbed the Ring. Tolkien believes
that Frodo could have ruled the Ring until the Dark Lord himself came. to
take it, at which time, Frodo would have been crushed. In addition, Tolkien
asserts that Gandalf as Ring-Lord would have been worse than Sauron, for
Gandalf would have been self-righteous. The wizard would have ordered
things for “good. ” Tolkien’s unfinished notes suggest that “Gandalf would
have made good detestable and seem evil” (Letters, 333). Sauron’s reign of
evil has clarified what is good in Middle-earth.
The imaginative power displayed in the creation of the One Ring
remains unassailable. From ar rich tradition of lesser rings of various Apes
and with diverse symbolic values, Tolkien has made a mighty token, replete
with powerful symbolism and cunning in its place in the story. How the Ring
as a complex symbol of evil--either as a sentient creature or as a psychic
amplifier--truly drives the action of the story and molds the characters is
discussed further in Chapter 9. Many ages of men will pass before another
such implement appears.
Swords
The poem Beowulf was written ‘in Old English in the eighth century; it
6
deals with the exploits of a young Geatish hero in a Swedish court. The ’
weapons in this poem are magnificently described .and Tolkien knew these
descriptions well. In the poem, King Hrothgar gives Beowulf a famous old
sword as part of the reward for killing the monsters, Grendel and his ‘i..
mother. The poet describes the sword: Hrothgar “looked on the hilt, the
old heirloom,. on which was written the otigin ‘of ancient strife, when the
flood, rushing water, slew the race of giants -- they suffered terribly: that
was a people alien to the Everlasting Lord. f . On the swordguard of bright
l
gold there was also rightly marked through runestaves, set down and told,
for whom that sword, best of irons, had first been made, its hilt twisted and
ornamented with snakes” (Beowulf, 30). Hrothgar extols the virtue
- of the
sword’s owner and lectures Beowulf about’greed, pride, and covetousness.
Wiglaf, Beowulfs kinsman and companion in the-fight with the dragon, also
has an ancient sword with a noble lineage. The giants made it: Ohthere,
King of the Scylfings, owned it until he gave it to his son Eanmund.
Weohstan slays Eanmund and takes the sword to his lord Onela who gives it
back to Weohstan as a reward for his services. Weohstan has, in turn, given
the war gear to his son Wiglaf [Beowulf, 46). Swords with lineages, stories,
and runic inscriptions are the necessary implements of the heroic life. In
The Hobbit, Thorin and company liberate sever2 Gondolin blades from the
trolls’ treasure. These swords are Orcrist, The Goblin-cleaver called Biter by
the goblins, and Glamdring, The Foe-Hammer called Beater. After Bilbo
fights off the spiders with his short sword, he names it Sting, reminiscent
perhaps of Egil Skallagrimsson’s sword, Adder. The names of swords in
Snorri Sturluson’s Heimskringla also reflect the harm-to-the-enemy theme:
Quembiter, so named because Hakon cleft a millstone with it; King Magnus
Barelegs’ sword, Legbiter: “whose hilt was carved of walrus-tooth and whose
haft was wound with gold--an excellent weapon;” Earl Sigurths sword drolly
named Bastard: St. Olafs sword called Hneiter from Old Norse hneita, “to
cut”. Snorri calls Quembiter “the best sword that ever was brought to
Norway. ” 1 5 In Rohan, Theoden’s sword Herugrim has a name which means
“Angry in Battle” from the Old English. And Eomerts sword Guthwine’s
7
name is an Old English kenning meaning “Battle-friend.” Many of the
swords glow at the approach of enemy arcs. Snorri notes in The Prose Edda
that the hall was lighted from bright swords when the gods entertained
their enemies the giants.16
Westernesse Blades ’
The hobbits of the Fellowship are all armed with the long knives of
Westernesse. These blades had been buried for years in the barrows of their
owners like the sword Tyrfing that Her-v&, King Heidrek’s mother,’ takes
from Angantyr’s barrow, 17 The daggers are “long, leaf-shaped, and keen, of
marvelous workmanship, damasked with serpent-forms in red and gold” (I, ‘
157). They have not rusted in the barrows. The magic spell on Merry’s knife
makes it a potent weapon against the chief Ringwraith, for his foes forged
the sword especially for use against him. One interesting note about swords
and blades is that some melt. In Beowulf, the sword he picks up in the .cave
and uses to kill Grendel’s dam melts after it has severed her neck: “Then
the blade began to waste away from the battle-sweat, the war-sword. into
battle-icicles. That was a wondrous thing, that it should all melt, most like
the ice when the Father loosens the frost’s fetters, undoes the water-bonds l
a ” (Beowulf, 28). Like Beowulf, Merry presses his Westernesse-forged blade

l
into service to stab the Nazgul. That blade, won by Tom Bombadil from the
Barrow, melts, too: “And behold! there lay his weapon, but the blade was l
smoking like a dry branch that has been thrust in a fire; and as he watched
it, it writhed and withered and was consumed” (III, 119). Later when Merry
describes the event to Pippin, Merry comments that his sword burned away
“like a piece of wood” (III, 135). Both blades melt after they have killed an
evil creature. After the Ringwraiths attack Strider and the hobbits on
Weathertop, Strider picks up the Ringwraith’s long, thin knife: “But even as
he held it up in the growing light, they gazed in astonishment, for the blade
seemed to melt, and vanished like a smoke in the air, leaving only the hilt in
Strider’s hand” (I, 210). Tolkien here has inverted the image. In Beowulf,
the sword seemingly melts because the creature’s blood has touched it. But
8
here the chtiakter’s blood is good; the blade is an evil Morgul-knife.
5’tl.,. -_ c* 1
d + ‘t
f’ : ’
In ‘The Hobbit and other Fiction by J.R.R. Tolkien,” William Green:
l
details three qualities of the Westernesse blades: their ability to emit light,
their power to cut anything, and their runic carvings. Their light-emitting
ability he recalls, as above, from the passage in which Odin’s hall is lit with
swords, the sword Tyrf’iig, which had a light like a sun ray, and Surt’s
brighter-than-the-sun sword. The cutting power he -traces to Sigmund’s *
sword which cuts through rock, Beowulf’s cleaving blade, and Tyrfzlng’s
potency to cut iron and stone as easily as cloth. For runic inscriptions,
Green chooses Beowulf’s sword with the story of the flood; Helgi’s sword on
whose point is inscribed fear; and the runic inscriptions that the valkyries
teach Sigurd. 18 The blades used in Middle-earth share these strengths.
In “Frodo & Aragorn,” Verlyn Flieger articulates the importance of the
sword to each of her two heroes. She declares that Aragorn’s casting of the
Sword that was Broken on the table at the Council of Elrond places him in
the hero traditions of Sigmund, who has left his sword Gram to be reforged
by his son Sigurd. She stresses Aragorh’s kinship with the kings Sigmund
6,i‘*% * and Arthur rather than the dragon-slayer Sigurd.19 In contrast to the great
traditional hero of the romance stands the hobbit Frodo. Flieger allows that
he is the orphan, little-man hero of the fairy-story, but she also records the
epic associations in Bilbo’s gift of his sword Sting. When Bilbo gives it to
Frodo, instead of handing it to him, he “thrust it with little effort deep into a
vvooden beam” (I, 29O)Y Likewise, in the Volsuniza Saga, one evening a
stranger comes into the hall barefooted, in a spotted cloak, tight linen
.breeches, and a. slouched hat with a sword in his hand. Huge, ancient, tid
one-eyed, he goes up to the great tree Branstock “drew his sword and smote
it into the tree-trunk so that it sank in up to the hilts.“21 The stranger .
declares that whoever draws the sword shall have it as a gift and shall never
have a better sword. In both scenes, the sword belongs to an aricient hero;
the sword is thrust deep into the wood; and the sword becomes a gift to the
one who withdraws it.
9
.
-c6’ Armor
* .
In the same scene, Bilbo gives Frodo the best armor in the War of the
Rings, the mithril shirt of mail. The famous war-shirt in The Lord of the
Rings is the legacy of Thorin, who gave it to Bilbo as the first payment on his
reward. The mithrif coat, made for an elf prince long ago, is a mighty
treasure: “It was close-woven of many rings, as supple almost as linen, cold
as ice, and harder than steel. It shone like moonlit silver, and was studded
with white gems. With it was a belt of pearl and crystal” (I, 290). This
corselet is worthy of great events. Surely, Beowulf s silver-grey corselet,
crafted by the mythic smith Weland, was in the soup pot that produced this
.
treasure.
In addition to its genesis in Beowulf, this mithril shirt may have been
inspired by the shirt FCagnar Lodbrok’s wife wove for him. She gives it in
return for a shift he gave to her before he knew that she was a princess, and
she speaks this stave about it: l
Gladly I give thee this gray-hued shirt

Woven of hair, without seam or hem:
With it no blade can cut thee or wound
By the grace of the gods: it was hallowed to them.22
Ragnar wears the shirt in place of a byrnie, a mail shirt. Though he charges
the enemy wildly and kills great numbers of King Ella’s men, no ‘weapon can
harm him. Furthermore, after Ragnar loses the battle and King Ella throws
him in a snake pit, no snake will bite him until the magic shirt is removed.23
The two shirts share color, light weight, and immunity to weapons.
Banners
In the Orknevinga Saga, Earl Sigurd comes to rule in the Orkneys.
When the Scottish earl Finnleik attacks him, his sorceress mother makes
him a magic banner. The saga writer describes the banner: “It was a finely
made banner, very cleverly embroidered with the figure of a raven, and
10
II__ _._--__ ..-- -.- .-

when the banner fluttered in the breeze, the raven seemed to be flying
ahead.” The banner is supposed to bring victory to the man it is carried
before but death to the man who carries it. In the battle, three farmers who
5
carry the banner are killed. Olaf ‘IYyggvason converts Sigurd by the sword,
but being Christian does not change the nature of Sigurd’s fate. Five years
later in a battle in support of King S&try& Silk-Beard, no .one will carry the
fateful banner, and Earl Sigurd meets his own death under it?*. In the
Heimskrina, King Harald Sigurtharson has, a banner called “Landwaster”
which he carries with him in battle.25 Tolkien makes’ excellent use of this
tradition. In The Return of the King, Aragorn unfurls his own banner before
he assails the paths of the dead: “and behold! it was black, and if there was
any device on it, it was hidden in the darkness” (III, 63). The unmarked
banner allows him to come into his own land without brandishing the
accouterments of his station. After the battle is won, banners play a
symbolic role. The Steward’s banner “bright argent like snow in the sun,
bearing no charge or device” hangs for the last time over Condor before the
coronation (III, 244). Aragorn’s banner of the Tree and the Stars replaces it
signaling the beginning of a hearty reign (III, 246). While these banners are
powerful as symbols, Tolkien abjures the magic attached to some banners in
Northern literature.
Slain Foe’s Wear>onq

In the poem Beowulf, when he returns to Hygelac’s court, Beowulf
recounts his adventures. In the course of his tale, he includes the story of
the feud between the Danes and the Heatho-Bards. Beowulf fears that
Danish warriors will be wearing the Heatho-Bard armor won in their former
battle. Then, old warriors will recognize the armor and egg younger
warriors into renewing the conflict. These individual vengeances will lead
to a new outbreak of the war. Gunnar engages in a similar kind of hubris in
Njiil’s Sam when he reaches outside to take arrows that have been shot at
him. He notes that those who die by their own arrows will be further
dishonored. Gunnar’s mother warns him not to stir up the attackers. His
11
hubris is short-lived: he kills many but finally succumbs because his wife will
not give him hair for a bowstring. 26 Tolkien also allows heroes to get
involved with enemy weapons to ill effect. Isildur cut the Ring from
Sauron’s finger with the shard of his father’s sword. Instead of destroying it
in Orodruin’s fire, Isildur kept it as weregild for the death of his father and
his brother. In telling the story at the Council, Elrond reports that the Ring
then betrayed him to his death, earning its name “Isildur’s Bane” (I, 256).
Like the Heatho-Bard armor and Pallas’ belt, the Ring, the weapon of
Isildur’s enemy Sauron, brought death to its wearer.
.
Two men under a shield
In Beowulfs fight against the dragon, the dragon’s fire burns up
Wiglafs lindenwood shield, but “the young man went quickly under his
kinsman’s [Beowulfs] shield when his own was consumed with flames”
(Beowulf, 47). From beneath the one shield, they are able to defeat the
dragon. In The Return of the King, Merry joins Eowyn behind her shield as
the Lord of the Nazgul attacks after she has killed its steed. The Nazgul
blasts the shield with his mace, breaking gowyn’s arm, but Merry manages
to stab him (III, 11547). Since Theoden has been like a father to Merry
and because Eowyn is his niece, Merry and Eowyn are kin like Beowulf and
Wiglaf. Neither is technically a man, but it is part of Tolkien’s genius that.
the value extends to all creatures.
Gifts
The giving of a number of different kinds of gifts is a part of the epic
paraphernalia. In heroic cultures the giving of gifts is an important attribute
of the rulers. In Beowulf, Hrothgar excels at gift giving. After Beowulf has
killed Grendel, HrothgAr gives him four treasures: a golden banner, a
helmet, and mail shirt,- and a glorious, costly sword (described above). To
this, the King adds a gift of eight horses with golden bridles; one of them
also has a jeweled saddle, the one Hrothgar rode in battle himself. Hrothgar
provides treasures for each of Beowulfs companions and also orders a
12
,
. .-. -
.
weregeld of gold for the slain member of the company. At the saxne
banquet, Wealhtheow the Queen rewards Beowulf with two arm ornaments, a
mail-shirt and rings, and the largest of necklaces since the Brosing necklace
(a famous treasure of the Norse gods) was lost (Beowulf,
‘5 1 l- 12). When
Beowulf returns from killing Grendel’s mother, Hrothgar speaks to him
about generosity and gift giving. He reminds Beowulf about Heremod who
refused to give rings to his retainers. Hrothgar warns BekG.xlf against pride,
covetousness, and fearfully guarding gifts rather than generously giving them.
Then Hrothgar bestows on Beowulf twelve more precious things. Beowulf in
his turn, gives the boat-guard a sword wound with gold (Beowulf, 33).
But Beowulf is still a retainer of his lord Hygelac, to whom he owes the
booty from his expedition. To him, Beowulf gives the boar- banner, the gray
battle-shirt, the splendid sword, and the horses and treasure. The
Beowulf-poet comments “So ought kinsmen do, not weave malice-nets for
each other with secret craft, prepare death for comrades” (Beowulf, 38). To
Hygelac’s wife Hygd, Beowulf gives the necklace and to his daughter three
horses with saddles: Then Hygelac retiards his kinsman with Hygelac’s
father’s sword -- the best treasure among the Geats and with land, a hall,
and a throne. Beowulf, although still Hygelac’s retainer, has become a
Ring-giver in his own right. At the end, Beowulf tries to give the treasure he
has won from the dragon to his people, but the dragon-cursed treasure’must
be placed in his barrow. In the Volsunga SaB, Sigurd is able to make better
use
I of his treasures: the Sword F2atti, the Helm of Awe, and the gold Byrnie,
for he uses them in his adventures.27
The opens with the giving of gifts. Bilbo’s 11 lth
birthday causes him to give away many of his possessions. The Hobbit
custom involves the birthday person bestowing not always new items to the
guests.. Many of the presents that passed back and forth were called
Mathom, close to the Old English word Mathum meaning treasures. With
the urgings ‘of Gandalf, Bilbo leaves Frodo the great Ring. Years later in
Rivendell, Bilbo also bestows on his nephew the dwarf-made rnithril corselet
to wear on
. the journey and a sword. After their visit in L&ien, the Elves
13
provide hoods and cloaks with green leaf brooches, food, and drink for the
company. .
The Lady Galadriel supplies individualized presents: for Aragorn a
sheath “overlaid with a tracery of flowers and leaves wrought of silver and
gold, and on it were set in elven-runes formed of many gems the name
Andtiril and the lineage of the sword” (I, 391). When she asks Aragorn what
else he might want, he reminds her that she knows of his desire to wed
Arwen. Then she gives him a silver brooch in the likeness of an eagle as a
token of hope. She says “In this hour take the name that was foretold for
you, Elessar, the Elfstone of the house of Elendil!” (I, 391). Aragorn
resumes the journey with a sheath designed to keep his sword from
breaking even in defeat, a token of Arwen’s promised love, and the name he
will take at his coronation. These are noble gifts indeed. Galadriel is not
stingy with the others either. Boromir receives a gold belt:, Merry and
Pippin silver belts with golden flower clasps: Legolas a long, stout bow;. and
Gimli three strands of her hair. To Sam she gives a box of dust with the
single silver rune G. Frodo accepts a phial filled with the light of EZirendil’s
star.
Many present tokens at the end of the war, too. Merry has received
arms for his service to King Theoden. Now &owyn gives him “an ancient
horn, small but cunningly wrought all of fair silver with a baldric of green:
and wrights had engraven upon it swift horsemen riding in a line that
wound about it from the tip to the mouth: and there were set runes of great
virtue” (III, 256). Their progenitor Eorl the Young won this heirloom of the
royal house from the dragon hoard of Scatha the Worm (III, 346). Queen
Arwen offers the greatest gift to Frodo -- her place in the immortality of the
West to heal his wounds and weariness. The mortal choice of Ltithien is
Arwen’s choice, too: she has forsaken her immortality. In token of this
decision, she bestows -on Frodo a white gem to hang upon a silver chain
about his neck. Surely, of all the gifts given in epic literature, Arwen’s to .
Frodo is among the greatest.
The weapons of Middle-earth are no more advanced than those of
14
medieval Scandinavia and consist generally of the same items -- long
swords, short swords, knives, axes, bows, byrnies, .shields, and helmets.
15
1. Lin Carter, Tolkien: A Look Behind “The Lord of the Rings” (New York:
Ballantine, 1969), 158.
2. J, S. Ryan, “German Mythology Applied: The Extension of the Ritual Folk-

Memory” Folklore 77, (1960): 45-57.
3. Ruth Noel, The Mvthologv of Middle-earth (Boston: Houghton Mifflin,

1977), 159.
4. Volsunga saga, The Saga of the Volsungs. The Saga of F&mar Lodbrok
together with the Lav of Kraka, trans. Margaret Schlauch (Princeton:
Princeton University Press, 1930), 88.
,“-
6, Volsunga Saga, 148-202. [William Morris translation]
7. Humphrey Carpenter, Tolkien: A Biographv (Boston: Houghton Mifflin,

1977), 202.
8. Kevin Crossley-Holland, The Norse Mvths (New York: Pantheon, 1980),

197.
9. Margaret Schlauch, The Romance in Iceland (Princeton: Princeton

10. Eyrbyggja saga, Evrbvggja saga, trans. P. Schlauch (Lincoln: University of

Nebraska Press, 1959), 5.
11. Viga-Glum’s saga, Viga-Glum’s Saga, ed. E.O.G. Turville-Petre, 2nd ed.
16
_. _ -. ._. --.-- - - I. -_.-- - - . - - ._ -*- - ” .A_ a .*u t- u, ‘*
.
..
*i (Oxford: Clarendon, 1960), 44.

-
12 . Viga-Glum’s Saga, 44-5 1.
13 . Look Behind, 157-65. \
14. Mvthology,’ 161.
15 . Snorri Sturluson, Heimskringla: The Historv of the Kings of Norwav,

trans. Lee Hollander (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1964), 93, 685, 787,
800.
1Gi. Snorri Sturluson, TaIes from Norse Mvthology, trans. Jean I. Young
(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1973), 97.
17. Hervarar saga ok Heidreks konungs (The Saga of King Heidrek the
Wise), trans. Christopher Tolkien (London: Nelson, 1960), 13-18.
18. William Howard Green, “The Hobbit and other Fiction by J.R.R. Tolkien:
Their Roots in Medieval Heroic Literature and Language.” (Ph.D. diss.,
Louisiana State University and A & M College, 1970), 94-98.
19. Verlyn Flieger, “Frodo & Aragorn,” in Tolkien: New Critical

Perspectives (Lexington: University of Kentucky, 198 l), 48-49.
20. “Frodo & Aragorn,” 54-55.
21. Volsunga saga, The Storv of the VolsunT, trans. William

Morris (New York: Collier Books, 1962), 93-94.
22. Ragnar Lodbrok, in Saga of the Volsungs, 239.
17
23. Rapnar Lodbrok, in Saga of the Volsungs, 239-40.
24. Orknevinga Saga, The Historv of the Earls of Orknev, trans. Hermann
PAlsson and Paul Edwards (Harmondsworth, EngIand: Penguin, 1984), 380
39 .
26. Njal’s Saga, Nitil’s Saga, trans. Carl Bayerschmidt and Lee M Hollander
(New York: New York University Press, 1955), 169-70.
18
The bridge to platform 4 is to me less interesting than Bifrijst guarded by
Heimdall with the Gjallarhorn” (“Fairy-Stories”, 56).
“Landscapes”
In the world-view of the pre-Christian Scandinavians, the great world-

ash, Yggdrasil, housed in its roots a circular disk. In the middle surrounded
by the sea, Mithgarth, “the middle enclosure,” (Old English Middan-geard
“middle dwelling, world, earth”) was men’s home. Above was Asgarth, the
dwelling of the gods, and across the sea was Utgarth or Jotunheim, “outer
. enclosure or giant home.” In the roots was He1 where a monster goddess
tried to feed those who had died of sickness or old age. The major
geographical setting of The Lord of the Rin@ is somewhat similar. The
Valar and the High-Elves, people who have not died, live to the west across
the sea in the Grey .Havens. They are as isolated from earth as the gods were
from Mithgarth. Men and other mortal creatures dwell in Middle-earth, and
Sauron the Nameless One and his accomplices move’ from the East, Mordor.
Secret Vallev
In his review ‘The Hobbit-Forming World of J.R.R. Tolkien,” Henry
Resnik says that “the chiller, more menacing landscapes of Middle-earth”
came from Norse and Germanic mythology, but he does not document this
supposition. 1 While tales of secret valleys probably exist in many literatures
of many periods, one source for Tolkien’s description of the landscape of the
Last Homely House might be Grettir the Strong. Bilbo, the twelve dwarves,
and Gandalf have been traveling through a rather bleak countryside when
they came suddenly to Rivendell:
They came to the edge of a steep fall in the ground so suddenly

that Gtidalfs horse nearly slipped down the slope . e . They saw
1
a valley far below. They could hear the voices‘of hurrying water
in a rocky bed at the bottom; the scent of trees was in the air:
and there was a light on the valley-side across the water.
Bilbo never forgot the way they slithered and slipped in the dusk
down the steep zig-zag path into the secret valley of Rivendell. The
air grew warmer as they got lower, and the smell of the pine-trees
made him drowsy, so that every now and again he nodded and nearly
fell off, or bumped his nose on the pony’s neck. Their spirits rose as
they went down and down. The trees changed to beech and oak, and
there was a comfortable feeling in the twilight. The last green had
almost faded out of the grass, when they came at length to an open
glade not far above the banks of a stream (Hobbit, 57-58).
The entry to this valley is also like the descent Turin and his outlaws make
into the dwarf M*k$s house in The Unfinished Tales (99400).
After some years as an outlaw, Grettir has dtificulty in finding places to
spend his winters. During the Althing, Grettir moves. from the Myrar
district to Borgarfjord to be with Grim, but Grim thinks that he is not strong
enough to keep Grettir safe from those who would attack him. Grettir goes
then in the autumn to the glacier Geitlandsjokull. The sagamter reports
that “he went on till he came to a long and rather narrow valley in the
glacier, shut in on every side by the ice which overhung the valley. He went
about everywhere, and found fair grass- grown banks and brushwood. There
were hot springs, and it seemed as if volcanic &es had kept the ice from
closing in above the valley. A little stream flowed down the dale with
smooth banks on either side.” 2 Grettir’s secret valley shares warm air,
green grass, and a little stream with Rivendell. Even the twilight is ’
mentioned in both descriptions, for in Grettir the Strong at twilight a
friendly giant comes with his daughters to gather his sheep. But the
pastoral life must be left behind in both stories, for those happy times do
not require great exposition. Bilbo and his friends continue their quest, and
2
k
the sagaman reports that “Nothing particular occurred that winter, and
Grettir found it so dull that he could not stay there any longer.“3 Grettir
forsakes the safety of the secret valley for the adventures of Iiving more
openly.
Dead Marshes
The “sticky ooze” of the dead marshes recalls the swap that reaches
up to the horses’ bellies in Hrafnkels Sam.4 In the dead marshes, Sam trips
and looks down “For a moment the water below him looked like some
window, glazed with grimy glass, through which he was peering. Wrenching
his hands out of the bog, he sprang back with a cry. ‘These are dead things,
dead faces in the water,’ he said with horror. ‘Dead faces”’ (II, 235). The
bodies came. there when the swamp crept over the graves of the dead from
an ancient battle on the bare plain of Dagorlad before the gates of Mordor.
Tolkien’s tutor W.A. Craigie in The Rel.on of Ancient Scandinavia suggests
that some bodies found by archaeologists in swamps were sacrifices:
“Another source speaks of human victims as having been sunk in a fen close
to the temple of Kjalarness, which is supported by Adam of Bremen’s
statement that near the temple of Upsala was a fountain in which ‘a living .
man’ was immersed? The bodies of the dead marshes also seem to be
alive, for they try to lure trespassers off the paths with enchanting lights.
Mirkwood .
Perhaps the most famous landscape shared by Mithgarth and Middle-
earth is the great Myrkvith (Old Norse Mvrkr, “dark, murky”, vithr, “forest”).
In the Poetic Edda, this forest name appears in several of the poems:
“Lokasenna”, “Volundarkvitha”, “Helgakvitha Hundingsbana I”,
“Oddrunargratr”, and “Atlakvitha.” In the Volundarkvitha” and in The Lord
of the Rings, Mirkwood is the home of the Elves. Tolkien is fond of this
landscape, and details its history in The Silmarillion. Called Greenwood the
Great, the forest existed as a home for bright creatures for a third of the
earth’s age. Then a darkness, the shadow of Sauron, invades it. The forest
3
changes taking the name Mirkwood (Silmarillion, 299-300).
Magic Doors
Opening magic doors is an interesting activity in Tolkien’s work.
Tolkien poses the problem of getting into the secret back door of Smaug’s
mighty treasure cavern in the first chapter of The Hobbit. There, Thor-in
and the other dwarves question the competence of their proposed burglar
Bilbo Baggins and fall into wrangling with Gandalf about the expedition and
about how Gandalf came into possession of Thorin’s family map. At the end
of this argument, Bilbo vocalizes his thoughts with the exclamation “Hear,
hear” (Hobbit,
’ 35). Then the dwarves call upon him for his comment, and
he extemporizes that they should go to the secret door and sit there until
they think of a method for entering it.. He alleges that dragons must sleep
some time. Some months later he has reason to recollect his impromptu
statement, for he and the dwarves have found the secret door but no
mechanism for getting it to open. Also, of course, when the company
decides that it must go through Moria, the members of the Fellowship, too,
stand before a blank cliff looking for magically closed and guarded doors.
One of the lying sagas, The Saga of the Men of Keelness, contains a
similar situation. The hero Bui has offended King Harald by slaying a man
inside the temple and then crashing down the temple and its idols and
setting the whole thing on fire. King Harald sends Bui on a quest for a
playing board in the possession of King Dofri. A farmer named Red tells Bui
that the King must be sending him to his death, for few have survived the
search for the board. However, the farmer offers to show Bui the path to
Dofri’s cave. When he advises him to come there on Yule Eve. Bui gives Red
a big and costly finger ring as a gift. Bui follows Red’s advice and comes to
the peak at Yule Eve and sits there but sees nothing that looks like a door.
Finally, he strikes his shield on the rocks and asks for Dofri to open his cave
to a weary traveller. Dofri’s daughter opens the cave to Bui, who becomes
the father of her child, spends the winter with King Dofri, claims the board
as a reward, and returns with a magic jerkin to guard him in his next
4
.
..
’
adventure, which is a wre&l.in~ m&tCh with a bistck giant.6
Both in The Hobbit and in < the parties sit
outside a similarly plain entrance. In the Fellowshin, Gandalf tries a number
of elaborate opening spells until, under moonlight and the wizard’s hands,
faint lines of silver elven script appear. The banality of the company makes
Gandalf gruff as he works his way through well known and then lesser
known spells of opening. Finally, Gandalf himself sits on the doorstep and
thinks until he comprehends the meaning of the Elvish inscript@, and
pronouncing the Elvish word for friend, “Mellon”, gains the company entry
to the mines of Moria (I, 321). As in The Saga of the Men of Keelness,
secret door opening in The Hobbit involves correct timing. When the
dwarves and Bilbo were in Efrond’s house, he had read runes visible only
under the midsummer moon. These runes instructed the seeker to “stand
by the grey stone when the thrush knocks . . . and the setting sun with the
last light of Durin’s Day will shine upon the key-hole” (Hobbit, 63).
Fortunately, seeing a thrush attempt to open a snail reminds Bilbo, in his
reverie in front of the door, of these words. The timing is fortuitous, for
Durin’s Day, the beginning of the dwarves’ new year, that is the last moon of
Autumn before winter, is upon them. As “a red ray of the sun escaped like a
finger through a rent in the cloud,” a gleam of light points to a briefly visible
key hole in the wall. Bilbo calls for Thorin to bring the key and the I
long-sought door appears before them. The door opens silently, five feet
high and three broad as predicted in the runes. Tolkien enhances: “It l
seemed as if darkness flowed out like a vapour from the hole in the
mountain side, and deep darkness in which nothing could be seen lay before
their eyes, ‘a yawning mouth leading in and down” (Hobbit,
I n d223). e e d ,
the adventure lying before the dwarves and Bilbo is still filled with peril. In
contrast, the door to King Dofri’s cave opens with a thunderclap and’behind
it is the fair young daughter who will become Bui’s friend and protector.
Forces Doors
In the poem Beowulf, the monster Grendel enters Heorot by bursting
.
I
,
open the door: “Quickly the door gave way, fastened with fire-forged bands,
when he touched it with his hands. Driven by evil desire, swollen with rage,
he tore it open, the hall’s mouth” (Beowulf, 13). A few lines later, the poet,
describing the hall being prepared for the feast, mentions the sprung
door-hinges again. Tolkien’s characters have difficulties with doors also. As
just discussed, Gandalf attempts entry into Moria by chanting a number of ’
arcane and increasingly difficult spells until finally he pronounces the Elvish
word for “friend” and the gates fly open. While Gandalf considers what
Elvish word might close the gates behind the company, “many coiling arms
seized the doors on either side, and with horrible strength, swung them
.
round” (I, 322). The gates slam and the company hears the noise of
ponderous stone being piled against them. Gandalf tries unsuccessfully to
open them again with his staff. Here Tolkien reverses imagery from Beowulf
to suit his purposes: doors are not wrenched open but slammed shut. When
the Company exits from Moria, they find that “there was a guard of arcs
crouching in the shadows behind the great door-posts towering on either
side, but the gates were shattered and cast down” (I, 346). Like the doors
to Heorot, the gate to Moria hangs open.
In The Return of the King, Tolkien uses a battering ram to knock
down a gate. During the siege of Gondor, the forces of Mordor bring up a
huge ram, one hundred feet long, swinging on mighty chains -- all forged in
the dark smithies of Mordor from black steel. The imagery is all from Norse
mythology and literature, for the ram has the likeness of a ravening wolf,
such as the Fenris wolf who will gobble up the world at the end of time.
Ores have named the battering ram Grond “in memory of the Hammer of the
Underworld of old” (III, 102). This reference incorporates the idea of .
Thor’s, hammer, Mjollnir. When the hammer comes into the possession of
the enemy, the end of the world is at hand. At Grand’s third stroke, the
Gate of Gondor broke ?As if stricken by some blasting spell it burst asunder:
there was a flash of searing lightning, and the door tumbled in riven
fragments to the ground” (III, 102). This scene demonstrates Tolkien’s
enormously complex skill at making an effective, integrated scene from the
6
various pieces of material in his cauldron. The bits have been put in, but
what comes out is a soup of the cook’s devising.
t
Al
The Beowulf-poet calls Hrothgar’s great hall the “ring-hall”, “beer-
hall”, “lord-hall”, “war-hall”, and “wine-hall;” It is a mighty setting for a
lordly ring giver. Four times the poet refers to it as the “gold-hall.” Its
lavish interior decoration offers an appropriate setting for the kingly
behavior of Hrothgar. ,
In spite of the Volsunm author’s relative lack of descriptive expertise,
the hall in that saga is portrayed with the best and fairest of hangings and
the floor is covered with cloth. Apparently Brynhild’s and Gudrun’s dual
functions as shield-maidens and as needle-women encourages fine hall
decoration. The author describes Brynhild’s hill-top, gold adorned hall:
“fairly painted it was within, and well adorned with silver vessel: cloths were
spread under the feet of them . . . .“7 Although such descriptions are
generally richer in the Nibelungenlied, which gives extravagant accounts of
clothing, the hall in the German poem is better remembered for the actions
within it. Kriemhild devotes the last half of the poem to accomplishing the
death of Sigfried’s killer in one of the bloodiest battle scenes ever written.
In the tradition of the Hollywood monster movie, barrage after barrage of
knights attacks Hagen and Gunther in the hall, but they fight on. Kriemhild
has the hall burned over them, but they fight on. Finally, Sir Dietrich
captures Gunther and Hagen, whom Kriemhild herself beheads.
In this tradition, Tolkien creates for Theoden an equally lavish hall:
The hall was long and wide and filled with shadows and half .
lights; mighty pillars upheld its lofty roof. But here and there
bright sunbeams fell in glimmering shafts from the eastern
windows, high under the deep eaves. Through the louver in the
roof, above the thin wisps of issuing smoke, the sky showed pale
and blue. As their eyes changed, the travelers perceived that the
7
floor was paved with stones of many hues; branching runes and
strange devices intertwined beneath their feet. They saw now
that the pillars were richly carved, gleaming dully with gold and
half-seen colours (II, 116).
Heorot, frequently named the greatest hall under heaven, and Theoden’s
Meduseld hall are very like. The chapter heading “The King of the Golden
Hall” underscores the similarity. 8 The parallel between these two halls is
one of the closest ones observed.
Tapestries in the family sagas are kept packed away until corripany is
expected, but the tapestries in Beowulf contribute to the golden
magnificence of Heorot: “The hangings on the walls shone with gold, many a
wondrous sight for each man who looks on such things” (Beowulf, 19).
Tolkien pictures the tapestries in Theoden’s golden hall: “Many woven
cloths were hung upon the walls, and over their wide spaces marched
figures of ancient legend, some dim with years, some darkling in the shade”
(II, 116). Tolkien becomes more specific. One tapestry shows a young man
on a white horse blowing a great horn with his golden hair flying in the
wind. White and green foaming water rushes about the horses’ knees.
Aragom identifies the subject as Eorl the Young riding to the Battle of the
Field of Celebrant. This tapestry representation foreshadows Theoden’s own
riding forth.
The author also portrays the royal person within each of these halls
sitting on a throne. In Beowulf, the guard goes to “where Hrothgar sat, old
and hoary, with his company of earls” (Beowulf. 7). Tolkien portrays
Theoden in a similar setting on a three step dais in a great gilded chair:
“Upon it sat a man so bent with age that he seemed almost a dwarf . . ” (II,
l
116). Instead of presenting a kingly figure, the King looks small and
stooped. This suits Tolkien’s dramatic purpose, for after Gandalf has
aroused Theoden’s concern, the king stands tall and stately.
Swimmer’s Struggle in the Sea
8
One of the truly beautiful passages in Beowulf deals with the young
hero’s swimming accomplishments. Unferth, Hrothgar’s advisor, suggests
that Breca outperformed Beowulf in a swimming competition. Beowulf
replies that he chose not to leave Breca behind, even though Breca could’,not
swim away from him. They swam in their mail corselets with their swords
for five days. The sea creatures attacked, and Beowulf killed nine. Although
the Shire hobbits fear water, the hobbit-kin from which Gollum sprung often
swam or traversed the river on little boats. Gandalf describes the finding of
the Ring during one such adventure. Smeagol and Deagol were boating on
Gladden Fields. While Smeagol nosed around on the banks, Deagol fished:
“Suddenly a great fish took his hook, and before he knew where he was, he
was dragged out and down into the water, to the bottom. Then he let go of
his line, for he thought he saw something shining in the river-bed; and
holding his breath he grabbed at it” (I, 62). The fish pulls him down in the
same way that the sea monster pulls Beowulf down. And just as Beowulf
brings back the sword hilt from his dive into Grendel’s mere so does Dcagol
bring back the Ring from his dive. Also, both adventures begin with two
youngsters playing together. In the end, Beowulf bests his comrade Breca in
an athletic contest, but Deagol becomes the Ring’s first victim in many long
years. The Breca/Beowulf swimming competition prepares for Beowulfs
performance in the mere while the DCagol/Smcagol scene prepares for
Gollum’s epic swimming feat in the Great River where he keeps pace with
the Elvish boats for several days.
Dark and Dreadful Pools

The Beowulf-poet variously depicts Grendel’s mere as a part of the sea
since it houses the kinds of sea monsters discussed in Beowulfs swimming
adventures and as an inland pool because of its location on the moor.
Grendel is the “one who held moors, fen and fastness” (Beowulf, 3); he holds
to the. misty moors; he comes from “the moor under the mist-hills”
(Beowulf, 13). In the sanxe vein, Tolkien enlists dark, dreadful pools -- one
before the doors of Durin, one before Faramir’s Window of the Sunset,
9
Henneth Annfin, and the even more forbidding one in the Dead Mwshes.
Many parallels exist:
1) The Underground River and Marsh The Beowulf-poet reviews
Grendel and his mother’s haunts: “They hold to the secret land, the wolf-
slopes, the windy headlands, the dangerous fen-paths where the mountain
stream goes down under the darkness of the hills, the flood under the
earth” (Beowulf, 24). Tolkien also employs a hidden stream. Faramir tells
Frodo and Sam that the waterfall which covers the entrance to the cave had
been an underground stream until its course was changed. Further, Tolkien
joins the Old English poem’s image of the wolves with the dangerous fen in
.
the scene before the doors of Durin. There, Boromir claims that the
Fellowship may continue to need the pony Bill “if the wolves do not find us.”
Boromir continues: “How I hate this foul pool!” (I, 32 1). This remark
recalls Gandalf’s triumph
I over the wolves the night before and begins the
horror of the tentacled creatures, for Boromir then casts a rock into the
water.
2) Hint of Fierv Water The Beowulf-poet continues his description of
the mere: “there each night may be seen fire on the flood, a fearful wonder”
(Beowulf,
Tolkien 24).
combines the disparate images of fire and water in
two different scenes. First, he uses it to produce horror as Gollum takes
Frodo and Sam through the marshes. Sam relates the fires he sees in the
marsh: “some like dimly shining smoke, some like misty flames flickering
slowly above unseen candles; here and there they twisted like ghostly sheets
unfurled by hidden hands” (II, 234). These are the marshes where water has
crept over a battlefield and swallowed up the graves. Smeagol warns the
hobbits against joining the dead ones with their little candles. Tolkien
describes this black mere as “as noisome as a cesspool” (II, 236).
Then Tolkien portrays the Window of the Sunset as having the beauty
of fire: “It was as if they stood at the window of some elven-tower, curtained
with threaded jewels of silver and gold, and ruby, sapphire and amethyst, all
kindled with an unconsuming fire” and shortly thereafter he records that
“the sun sank and the fire faded in the flowing water” (II, 282). Tolkien
IO
first use of the fire/water imagery is closkr to that in Beowulf, but his second
is more comprehensive. He also makes extensive use of fire imagery in
connection with Gandalf, the Balrog, S-an, and Sauron.
3) The Darkness of the Infernal Mere The Beowulf-poet calls Grendel
“he who dwelt in the darkness” (Beowulf, 3). For the Dead Marshes, Tolkien
uses “dark”, “black”, “pale”, “dimly shining”, “darkness”, “grimy”, and “fell”
(II, 232-43). The pool before Durin’s doors is “dark”, “ominous”, “fading”,
“gloomy”, “unwholesome”, “green”, and “stagnant” (I, 3 16-23). The range of
images brought to the description of these unwholesome bodies of water is
impressive.
4) Vaguely Described Monsters Beowulf’s companions look upon the
mere: “Then they saw on the water many a snake-like shape, strong
sea-serpents exploring the mere, and water-monsters lying on the slopes of
the shore such as those that in the morning often attend a perilous journey
on the paths of the sea, serpents and wild beasts” (Beowulf, 25). Tolkien
fills the mere at the door of Durin with snakelike creatures. A long tentacle
grabs Frodo’s foot, a host of snakes swim from the Southern end, groping
tentacles come after them, and many coiling arms pull the door shut and
block the passage. The creatures inhabiting the pool at Durin’s door seem
strongly related to those in Beowulf.
5) Picture of UDrising Surg Hrothgar continues his picture of
Grendel’s mere: “From it the surging waves rise up black to the heavens
when the wind stirs up awful storms, until the air becomes gloomy, the
skies weep” (Beowulf, 25). Tolkien >uses the “surging” idea to portray the
mere at the doors of Durin “the waters of the lake seething” and “the dark
water boiled.” The skyward image occurs when he describes the rain
Goldberry sings down: “the clouds had joined into an unbroken roof, and a
straight grey rain came softly and steadily down” (I, 140). Thus again
Tolkien draws images in a variety of ways to fit the needs of the story. Both
the similarity of events being described and his intimate knowledge of the
poem Beowulf probably contributed to his choices.
6) Wounded Deer The Beowulf-poet employs a brilliant device to
11
!
depict the gloomy lake where Grendel and his dam live. Hrothgar describes
it to Beowulf: “Though the heath-stalker, the strong-horned hart, harassed
by hounds makes for the forest after long flight, rather will he give his life,
his being, on the bank than save his head by entering. That is no pleasant
place” (Beowulf, 24-25). In a few lines the poet has created a more horrible
impression of the mere than any long adjectival description would have
produced.
Tolkien recalls these images from Beowulf in a brief, little-noted
description in The Hobbit. After Thorin and company leave Gandalf and
Beorn’s protection, they make their way through Mirkwood. They are
.
crossing an enchanted stream with a boat when suddenly a flying deer
charges the dwarves. The deer clears the river with a mighty jump, but
Thorin, who had his bow and arrow ready against a supposed hidden
guardian of the boat, shoots the nimble deer. Tolkien relates the deer’s
death: “the shadows swallowed it [the deer] up, but they heard the sound of
hooves quickly falter and then go still” (Hobbit, 156). The association of the
hart with unhealthy water, which puts the unlucky Bombur into a lengthy
sleep, reminds the reader of Beowulf. The imagery, which plays such an
important part in defining the horror of the mere in Beowulf underlines the
peril the dwarves and Bilbo are in. The waters of the river cause them
considerable difficulty since the sleeping Boromir is a heavy burden. This
deer/mere imagery also occurs in Narn, as discussed in Chapter 10.
.
Underground Lake
In the Orknevinga saga, a man named Kali Kolsson is very popular and
considered a man of greater than average ability. When he is young, he fares
forth and’meets King Magnus Barelegs’ son Harald in disguise. The next
summer in his adventures, Kali sails north to Trondheim and becomes
weatherbound at an island called Dolls. On the island is a cave in which
people believe treasure is hidden. Kali and some merchants explore the
cave until they come to “a lake stretching right across the cave, which no
.
one dared cross except for Kali and a man called Havard, one of Solmund’s
12
farrnhands.“g They swim across the lake to the other side and come to a
rocky place where the stench is vile. Although Kali has swum with a rope
between them and has carried a blazing log in his hand and a tinderbox
between his shoulder-blades, the two have trouble striking a light. They’
decide to go no farther, they build a cairn to commemorate the event, and
Kali makes a verse:
I’ve heaved up a high

cairn here for the haunter
of this dark den,
seeking riches in Dolls Cave.
I don’t know who comes next,
em will no one follow
o’er the wide water,
the weary crossing?10
The rest of their journey is uneventful. I

This short adventure by Kali Kolsson may have contributed to Tolkien’s
creation of one of Bilbo’s adventures. Gandalf, who has freed the dwarfs
from the great goblin, leads them out of the goblin’s realm, but a goblin
counterattack upsets the plan and Bilbo is knocked from Dori’s back into a
small passage in the cave, where he lies unconscious. When Bilbo revives,
he crawls along for a good way until his hand lights on “a tiny ring of cold
metal” lying on the tunnel floor [Hobbit, 79). He pockets this ring for
further examination At last he pulls himself together, is heartened by his
blade’s elvish glow, and sets out with his hand on the wall of the tunnel’ and
his small sword in front of him. Suddenly, he trots into very cold water.
Standing still, he hears the dripping but not running of water and concludes
that he has come to an underground pool or lake rather than a stream. The
stench of the Orknevinga sa@ pervades the hobbit’s imagination as Bilbo
considers the “nasty slimy things” that might be in the underground lake
[Hobbit, 82). He thinks of fish whose fathers swam into the lake ages ago
13
ii and whose eyes have gotten bigger and bigger to allow them to see in the
dark and of other horrible things who have slunk into the cave. And of
course, Gollum, the “haunter of this dark den” posited by Kali in his verse
lives on the island in the lake, perhaps in a cairn like the one Kali built.1 1
Indeed, Tolkien describes Gollum’s home as a “slimy island of rock in the
middle of the lake” (Hobbit, 83). Gollum comes across the lake in his boat
and hisses in Bilbo’s ear his intention to make a meal of him. Bilbo responds
by pointing his Gondolin blade at Gollum, who suggests that they should
perhaps chat and have a riddle contest. When Bilbo peremptorily asks the
question what have I got in my pockets instead of a riddle, Gollum
remembers the contents of his pockets -- “fish-bones, goblins’ teeth, wet ’
shells, a bit of bat-wing, a sharp stone to sharpen his fangs on, and other
nasty things” (Hobbit, 90). With this brief catalog, Tolkien again evokes a
stench in the imagination of the reader.
,Quiet Lands
One of the striking contrasts of the family sagas is the sudden
movements from the everyday activities of life on an Icelandic farm to
violent revenge killings involving great courage made the more dramatic by
ironic understatement. For instance, in NM’s Saga, GUM= is home alone
because all his men have gone off to finish the hay-making. His attackers
offer his neighbor the choice of killing Gunnar’s dog or being killed himself.
Gunnar awakes at the dog’s death howl, makes an ironic comment about
their shared fate, and readies himself for the attack that will result in his
death. 12 While the scenes of violence are the memorable parts of the family
sagas, long years; of peace-like living -- fanning, sheep herding, and
occasional visits with neighbors -- are the more common, if less discussed, -
activities. Quiet lands are, of course, the norm in the Shire.
Highwayman
Similarly, the Vatnsdalers’ Saga begins in a quiet land with the
introduction of Ketil, the progenitor of the men of Vatnsdale. His eighteen
14
year old son is lying about the house with little to occupy him. Ketil urges
him to make his reputation by attacking a highwayman who has been
terrorizing the roads. The motif of the highwayman upsetting the order of
the quiet land pervades both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Ring& In $he
‘Hobbit, Bilbo and Gandalf immediately fti into a disagreement when
Gandalf says that he is looking for someone to share in an adventure. Bilbo ‘s
opinion is that quiet plain folks have no use for adventures,’ ‘which are “nasty,
disturbing, uncomfortable things!” (Hobbit, 12). Bilbo’s subsequent
adventures bring him in contact with many kinds of highwaymen from the
trolls who try to eat the company to the Elves who imprison them to the
men of Dale who covet their treasure. At the end of The Hobbit, Bilbo has
lost his reputation as a respectable, stay at home hobbit.
In The Fellowshin of the Ring, it is clear from the Gaffer’s opening
soliloquy that the quiet, insular
, life of the Shire is still paramount to hobbits.
The Gaffer criticizes Bilbo for his frequent outings and his outlandish
visitors -- dwarfs and that old conjurer Gandalf. Later at the Inn in Bree,
Butterbar’s comments about Strider remforce the generality of the Gaffer’s
condemnation of wanderers. Butterbar labels Strider as “one of the
wandering folk -- Rangers” (I, 168). Strider makes it clear to the hobbits
that the quiet life of the Shire exists because the Rangers have kept a watch
and a guard on that area. In the Council of Elrond, Boromir’s desire for the
Sword of Elendil brings Strider into a fuller statement of the Rangers as
protectors of the peace. He exclaims: ‘What roads would any dare to tread,
what safety would there be in quiet lands, or in the homes of simple men at
night, if the Dunedain were asleep, or were all gone into the grave?” (I, 261).
Middle-earth is unsafe because the enemy is at large but also because the
government is not firmly in place. The social structure needs rebuilding in
order to restore domesticity and peace to the land.
Many sacrifices are necessary in order to re-establish the quietness of
the Shire. The big task of defeating Sauron must be accomplished, but
Tolkien’s theme requires more. The lesser heroes -- the hobbits
themselves -- must dispose of the lesser villains. In their initial encounter
15
with Sharkey’s rules, Frodo tells the ruffian that the Dark Tower has fallen
and that a King reigns in Gondor: “The King’s messengers will ride up the
Greenway now, not bullies from Isengard” (III, 284). Merry and Frodo mark
the death of Saruman as the absolute end of the war, but in fact the world
has not entirely changed until Sam, Merry, and Pippin ride back into the
Shire after bidding farewell to their friends who have taken ship for the
Grey Havens. The peace of the Shire has been restored, but the price paid
is in many ways like that in the Vatnsdale Sam, in which men of lesser
mettle take over the land. In Nitil’s Saga, the deaths of Gunnar and Nj&l and
his family has the same effect. The scale of inhabitants is much diminished; .
.
the larger than life sized heroes have departed.
Highwayman’s House
In the Vatnsdale’s Saga, the eighteen year old Thorstein goes looking
for the highwayman in the nearby forest. The sagawriter describes the
house as “a big well-built house in the forest.” Inside, Thorstein finds a bed
with fine curtains and a table laid with rich food and the best to-drink. At
two different points in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, houses of
rather lawless creatures succor hobbits and their companions. Early in The
Lord of the Rings, Frodo, Merry, and Pippin must be saved from an attack by
Old Man Willow in the Old Forest. After he rescues them, Tom Bombadil
takes them to his house. There they find “green hanging mats and yellow
curtains,” “four deep mattresses, each piled with white blankets,” and a
table laden with “yellow cream and honeycomb, and white bread, and butter;
milk, cheese, and green herbs and ripe berries. . .” (I, 13536). In The
Faroe Islanders’ Saga, two young brothers Sigmund and Thorir, whhave
been ordered to death, are sent into exile instead. When their money runs
out, they make their way up the mountain. Finally, they reach a house and
come into the hearth room. One young and one old woman make them
comfortable until a man comes in -- “a big build of a man wearing a
reindeer-skin coat, and he had a reindeer on his back. His nose was up in
the air, he was frowning . . “13 The “Saga of the Men of Keelness” also
l
16
,&‘- ‘ . , contains a well-appointed hall with a large master. In each case a large,
c, I~
well-endowed person inhabits a dwelling in the woods. The Vatnsdale
sagawriter describes the inhabitant as “mighty big, his hair was light and fell
?
to his shoulder in lovely locks, and in Thorstein’s eyes he was most
handsome.“l* When Tom Bombadil comes through the woods in response to
Merry’s cries, Tolkien describes him as “to6 large and heavy for a hobbit . . e
He had ti blue coat and a long brown beard: his eyes were blue and bright
and his face was red as a ripe apple, but creased into a hundred wrinkles” (I,
131). These two characters seem to have little in common. Jokul is a
robber and a ruffian; Tom Bombadil some kind of elemental nature spirit,
but Jokul seems to Thorstein to be “notable and extremely well-bred.“15
Jokul is essentially a good man who has gone wrong and who pays for his
transgressions because he does not reform quickly enough. Tom Bombadil,
clearly a good character, has many habits of the outlaw. When during the .
Council of Elrond, Frodo suggests sending the Ring to him for safekeeping,
Gandalf vetoes the plan. The wizard replies “And if he were given the Ring,
he would soon forget it, or most likely throw it away. Such things have no
hold on his mind. He would be a most unsafe guardian” (I, 279). For all his
good points, Tom Bombadil is not part of law and order society; He is a
primitive, an aborigine, from a time before law and order were necessary to
govern society. ,
A Number of Guests
Hrolf Gautreksson offers yet another instance of the house in the
woods. King Hrolf undertakes an expedition to Russia to help his brother
Ketil win a bride. His dragon ship undergoes a fierce storm and lands on a
wooded island. The King and his eleven men come upon a large, strongly
built house. When they enter, they find the fire burning and an immense
. made up. King Hrolf asks his companions whether they wish to wait for
bed
the owner of the giant bed and an equally giant sword or return to the ship.
Hrolf notes “I’m inclined to wait for the householder, but it could be he’ll
,
think there’s too many of us, and he may be a bit put out by so many visitors,
17
so we’d better split up. Four men had better go down to the ship, and
Asmund and I will stay here with the other four.“16 The sagawriter’s
arithmetic is somewhat lacking,. for at least six men remain in the lodge
waiting for its unknown inhabitant. Gandalf has a similar concern about
numbers of guests in The Hobbit. He has a party of fourteen to introduce to
an irascible host who may become immediately annoyed. Like King Hrolf,
Gandalf holds his company back allowing them to come forth two by two at
stated intervals. All the time Gandalf plays a sophisticated numbers game in
telling his tale. He increases the numbers as he goes along from “a friend or
two” to “several” to “a troop” to “more than six*’ to “a dozen” to “fourteen”
.
and finally “fifteen” (Hobbit, 13 1-34). Beorn comments negatively at each
increase in the number, but he does at last accept the entire group.
King Hrolf has a more difficult problem. f A giant enters the lodge
carrying a grizzly bear, which he carves into pieces, cooks in a cauldron, and
eats. He ignores King Hrolfs greeting until he has set the table a second
time, more elegantly with wash-basins and clean towels, like the decorated
white cloth set on Beorn’s table to serve the dwarves. When-King Hrolf
refuses the offered banquet, the giant declares that he is the brother of the
troll-like viking Grimar, whom Hrolf has killed. The giant has enchanted
Hrolfs ship. and now plans to torture him to death. He takes an iron rod
from the fire, skews two men with it, and throws their bodies into the fire.
Then he kills two others in the same way, but he promises Hrolf a longer
and nastier torture in the morning. Hrolf and his companion Asmund now
manage to pull down the giant’s sword. Hrolf arouses the giant from his
sleep twice with a log; then he pushes the giant’s own sword through him
while Asmund pokes out the giant’s eyes with the fork. The company is
greatly enriched by the loot and precious things they take from the house,
including an enormous new sword for King Hrolf.
The two stories have some similarities. Fifteen/twelve travelers come
upon a cottage in the wilderness. The host is perceived not to welcome
strangers, but a fire is blazing and subsequently a table is spread with a
sumptuous feast. In Tolkien’s tale, the characters appear in increments of
18
two. In Hrolf Gautreksson, four members of the company disappear; then
two sets of two more are dispatched. Beorn may be a cranky, eccentric
host, but the giant Grimnir is murderous. After dinner Beom is drowsy, but
the dwarves delight themselves with tales of “gold and silver and jewels &id
the making of things by smith-craft,” although the home had no metal
objects except the knives [Hobbit, 137). This tale echoes a recollection of
the precious treasure Hrolf has gained. Later Bilbo hears growling and
scuffling at the door and wonders “whether it could be Beorn in enchanted
shape, and if he would come in as a bear and kill them” [Hobbit, 139). Even
the grizzly bear served up for King Hrolfs feast comes. out of Tolkien’s
cauldron in a much different guise.
In The Road to Middle-earth, Shippey contends that Tolkien had
difficulty in getting started on his story telling. He sees the adventures in
the Old Forest and with Tom Bombadil as a geographical byway inspired by
the English landscapes familiar to Tolkien. While this theory has a certain
amount of validity, other factors are present. Preliminary adventures are a
common feature of the saga. As such, they represent not an artistic failure
to begin the tale immediately but rather a complex setting of the stage
through preliminary adventures. A peaceful landscape whose integrity will
be worth defending and the character of the hero*. are established in these
introductory adventures. The involved beginning and the long denouement
are both characteristic of Northern literature.
Tolkien’s statement that he based The Lord of the Rings on his two
interests, the Northern myths and the English countryside, finds support
here. Although some features do have analogues in Northern literature, they
are not generally geographical but rather descriptive (magic doors,
underground lakes). The volcanoes, glaciers, and hot springs, which
constitute the more unusual saga settings, are missing from The Lord of the
Rings. A greater number of comparisons come from the exceptional
imagery of the Old English poem Beowulf. However, even this connection
does not account for the physical geography of Middle-earth, which does
seem to rely on the cartography of the English countryside. Still, analogues
19
with Northern literature are enlightening, for they explain the selection of
certain courses of action and also of some striking imagery. Tolkien’s
reliance on the English countryside as inspiration is greatly enlivened by his
knowledge of Northern mythology and literature.
20
NOTES
1. Henry Resnick, “The Hobbit-Forming World of J.R.R. Tolkien,” Saturdav

. c
Evening Post 2 July 1966: 9-92, 94.
2. Grettis saga, The Saga of Grettir the Strong, ed. Peter Foote,. trans. G.A.
Hight (London: Dent, 1968), 164.
3. Grettis saga, 44-45, 56. Ryan also notes this similarity, 165.
4. “Hrafnkels saga” in An Introduction to Old Norse

I by E.V. Gordon (Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1956), 8 l-82.
5. W. A. Craigie, The Religion of Ancient Scandinavia (London: A. Constable,

1914), 59,
6. “The Saga of the Men of Keelness” in Four Icelandic Sagas, trans. Gwyn
Jones (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1935)’ 120-22.
7. Volsunga saga, The Saga of the Volsungs. The Saga of Ragnar Lodbrok
together with the Lay of Kraka, trans, Margaret Schlauch (New York: The
American-Scandinavian Fountdation, Norton, 1930), 166. ’
8. T. A. Shippey, The Road to Middle-earth (Boston: Houghton Mifflin,

1983), 94-95. Shippey observes these parallels and comments: “The
chapter ‘The King of, the Golden Hall’ is straightforwardly calqued on
Beowulf. ”
9. Orknevinga Saga: the Historv of the Earls of Orknev, trans. Hermann

Passon and Paul Edwards (Harmondsworth, Eng.: Penguin, 1981), 101.
21
10. Orknevinga Saga, 111.
11. Orknevinga Sam, 111.
12. Nial’s Saga, 168-69.
13, Faereyinga saga, The Faroe Islanders’ Saga, trans. George Johnston
(Canada: Oberon, 1975), 33.
14. Vatnsdoela saga, The Vatnsdale Saga, trans. Gwyn Jones (Princeton:
.
15. Vatnsdale Saga, 22.
16. Hrolfs saga Gautrekssonar, Hrolf Gautreksson: a Viking Romance, trans.

Hermann P&son and Paul Edwards (Toronto: University of Toronto Press,
1972), 83.
22
!7 f
_q*.. CHAPTER SEVEN
“When we have explained many of the elements ( . . tabbos on names, and

l
the like I . . ) there remains . . d the effect produced nou, by these old things
in the stories . . . (“l%iryStories”, 32).
“Customs”
Not I only are Mithgarth’s people and places found in Middle-earth, but
some of Mithgarth’s customs are also there.1 Although customs of many
kinds of Middle-earth peoples may derive from Northern practices, those of
the men of Rohan and. Gondor are closer than others. Customs which are
practiced among many kinds of Middle-earth inhabitants are presented here:
The Riddle Game, Runes and Spells, Appearance, Names, Courtesy,
Governance, Burial Customs, Subterranean Descent, Man Matching, Hard
Bargains, Compassion, Story-telling Techniques, and Comtiatus, Kinship,
and Revenge. .’
The Riddle Game

Riddles, like myths and folk tales, are ancient and belong to a shared
folk heritage .2 They play a significant role in Northern mythology and
literature. For instance, in The Saga of King Heidrek, the King commands
the allegiance of all the powerful men in the country except one,
Gestumblindi. The King gives him two alternatives -- either to be reconciled
with and offer allegiance to the King or to die. Gestumblindi, who prefers
not to die, mu& either submit to the counselor’s judgment, which he fears
will be severe, or compete with the King in words. “Now Gestumblindi was
no great sage”: thus, he sacrificed to Odin and promised him many gifts.
The night before Gestumblindi must appear at court, a man comes to the
door, changes clothes with Gestumblindi, and goes to court for him. The
king asks Gestumblindi if he is able to propound riddles, and Gestumblindi’s
substitute replies that he has no great skill at it but does prefer it to the less
1
pleasant alternative of death.3
Therefore, both Gestumblindi and Bilbo enter unwillingly into the
riddle game because not to compete is more surely to die. In each case, the
riddles asked fall into two categories -- those with a single word answer and
I_
those with two or more objects in a special relationship for the answer.
Single word answers in The Hobbit include “mountain”, “chestnuts”, “fish”,
and “time” while in Ki. Heidrek, some single word answers are- “spiders”,
“leeks”, “shield”, “ptarmagins”, “waves”, “cow”, and “arrow”. The riddle for
“wind” in The Hobbit,
Voiceless it cries,
Wingless flutters,
Toothless bites,
lbfouthless mutters (Hobbit, 85).
is similar to the one in Kin2 Heidrek for “smith’s bellows”:
What strange marvel

did I see without
in front of Delling’s door,
two things lifeless,
twain unbreathing,
were seething a stalk of wounds34
Both use the antithesis of the action going on without the element that
would normally produce it (cries without a voice and seething though
lifeless). In the riddles for “dark” in The Hobbit and for “fog” in King
Heidrek, both dark and fog pass over the land with a sinister intent and
result: life and laughter are ended, and the sun is under siege.
Gestumblindi asks the King this riddle:
Pale-haired bondmaids,
2
two brides together,
carried to the storehouse
a cask of ale;
no hand turned it,
no hammer forged it,
yet outside the islands .
upright sat its maker5
And Bilbo Baggins asks this riddle, which Tolkien says “he [Bilbo] thought a
dreadfully easy chestnut, though he had not asked it in the usual words”: “A
box without hinges, key, or lid/Yet golden treasure inside is hid” (Hobbit,
86). The answer, an egg, is modified in King Heidrek’s saga into “Female
swans go to their nests and lay their eggs; the egg-shell is not made by hand
nor is it forged by hammer; and the swan by whom they engendered the
eggs bears himself erect, outside the islands.“6 But in both cases the same
idea of a magically-made container without apparent openings exists.
Of the more complicated ones, the hobbit riddle with the answer “sun
on the daisies” is like the Norse one “sun on obsidian.” In The Hobbit, the
one riddle “No-legs lay on one-leg, two-legs sat near on three-Zegs, four-Zegs
got some” (Hobbit, 88) has as answer longer and more complex than the
riddle: “Fish on a little table, man at table sitting on a stool, the cat has the
bones” (Hobbit, 88). The two riddle contests end in the same way. Bilbo
changes unconsciously from a riddle to a question “What have I got in my
pocket” (Hobbit, 89) and Gestumblindi asks also a question that only he can
know the answer to:
What said Othin

in the ear of Balder,
before he was borne to the fire?7
King Heidrek now recognizes his visitor as Odin and slashes at him with his
sword wing. Similarly Gollum, after he is unable to guess the correct
3
answer within three guesses, violates the sacred riddle game and plans to
attack Bilbo.
Ruth Noel in The Mvtholo@ of Middle-earth notes a possible parallel
in another riddle game between Odin and a giant because Odin asks the
giant Vafthrudnir a question to which only the All-Father can know the
answer.8 William Green inThe Hobbit and Other Fiction by J.R.R. Tolkien”
stresses the perilous situation: unless the guest can win the riddle game, he
will not be allowed to leave safely. Like Bilbo’s question, “What have I got in
my pocket?,” Odin’s traditional question about what he said to Balder can
only be answered by the person asking the question. In addition, Green
observes that several of the riddles used in The Hobbit appear in the Old
English Exeter Book.Q Tolkien has not involved Gandalf, his Odinic
wanderer, in this game because his plot problem was to put his hobbit hero
into a dangerous situation from which he must extricate himself through his
growing courage and resourcefulness. The riddle contest allows Tolkien to
introduce a memorable new villain who turns out to be a very proper foil for
his hobbit heroes.
Runes and SDells

Tolkien’s runic alphabet, the Cirth, is a linguist’s delight, for its basis
. is logical. For instance, the alphabet, though derived from earlier forms,
was rearranged along certain rational principles so that the sound that the
rune represents is apparent from its shape. For example, a stroke added to
the branch of a rune adds ‘voice’ and reversal of a rune indicates opening to
a i‘spirant’ (III, 404). The alphabets used in The Lord of the Rine are few
compared with Tolkien’s total output. Throughout his life, he kept diaries
which he wrote in different alphabets. Even within a specific alphabet, he
was not consistent because his perfectionism led him through frequent
revisions. His biographer Humphrey Carpenter speaks passionately about
the difficulties of trying to translate the biographical entriesmritten in a
variety of alphabets. 10
Christopher Tolkien notes that the runes in The Lord of the Rin@ are
4 .
,
“Old English runes, as in The Hobbit.“ll Tolkien has based the history of
Middle-earth’s runic writing on the history of Scandinavian and English
runic writing using the futhark alphabet. First, both were devised for
scratched or incised inscriptions consisting usually of names and brief ‘&
memorials upon wood or stone. 12 Second 9 the futhark and Cirth both owe
their form to an earlier alphabet: the most acceptable theory traces the
futhark to Northern Italic writing while the Tengwar influenced the Cirth.
Third, in Runes, Ralph Elliot argues that the first runic system was the work
of a single man. 13 Tolkien ascribes the Tengwar to F&nor in Eldamar in the
Elder Days (III, 395). The Northern runic alphabets also derive from
antiquity: the god Odin hung himself on the world-tree Yggdrasil as a
sacrifice to himself. After nine days, he perceived the runes lying below
him. He lifted them with great effort, and their power renewed his
strength and freed him from the death grip of the tree. The Old Norse
tradition is far more complex than that in Middle-earth, for Odin has
learned from the runes the basis of his power: the ability to heal, to break
metal, to thwart evil, to quench flames; to seduce, to destroy witches, and to
speak to hanged men.14
The Elvish tradition attributes the Cirth to Daeron, “the minstrel and
loremaster of King Thing01 of Doriath” (III, 397). Unlike the runic writing
of medieval Scandinavia, the Cirth became the main alphabet for the
dwarves, who called it A.nJ.n, “the Long Rune-rows of Maria,” and
who used it for all their records and developed written preforms for it (III,
397). Except for the brief record of Balin’s folk “written by many different
hands, in runes, both of Moria and of Dale, and here and there in Elvish
script” (I, 335), dwarvish records are insignificant in The Lord of the Rings.
Therefore, runes are mostly used for inscriptions and spells. The knives. of
Westemesse have runic inscriptions, Balin’s tomb is marked with runes, the
gates of Moria have a runic inscription which contains the password to open
the gate, rangers use runes, Gandalf leaves his rune mark on a rock on
Weathertop, and Thror’s map is marked with magic moon runes that can
only be seen in an Autumn moon. The most common, uses of runes are,
5
appropriately, for spells and magic inscriptions both in Middle-. earth and in
the North sea area. This practice of runes is most fitting, for Elliot suggests
that the word “rune” historically had the connotation of mystery and magic,
especially since Germanic runes may have been copied from sticks used for
divination and lot casting.15
Tolkien’s professional interest as a philologist gave him a very
different perspective on runes from that of Northern mythology. In the
Norse myths, the runes are associated with learning, ,wisdom, and the
attendant power that comes from knowledge. Tolkien was interested in
those associations, but he was more concerned with the details of language --
a logical arrangement of sounds. However; he did believe strongly that l
language could not exist without the mythology that defined and enriched it.
His interest in providing mythologies to go along with his invented
languages led to the creation of Middle-earth and its stories.
ADPearance
Some commentators on the three-part work have made rather rigid
categorizations about sources for the different people of Middle-earth. For
instance, Sandra L. Miesel in “Some Motifs and Sources for Lord of the
Rings [sic],” sets up a schema in which the Elves are the Romans, the
rangers the Romanised Celts, the Northerners are non-Romanised Celts, the
Wild Men pre-Celtic aborigines, and the Rohirrim are Anglo Saxons and
Norsemen. 16 This scheme has many problems. John Tinkler in “Old
English in Rohan” offers convincing evidence to show that the men of Rohan
have a great deal in common with the men of Anglo-Saxon England.‘7 A
similar, qualified comparison might be made between the Norsemen and
the Men of Gondor and of the Northern Kingdom. Oversimplification of
relationships among Tolkien’s imaginative works and their sources may lead
a critic into difficulties in logic and common sense. However, careful
observation of relationships between the art and its source demonstrates the
creative process. The reader delights in the great *craft of the author.
Many of the Rohirrim look like the popular conception of a viking --
,_- I __.----- -- -~ - ~
-_^ ,_-_ I _-..- Ia”,.“_--- _I -- - ,_l^- _” - -- ,
big, strong, blond. The legendary King is “yellow-haired and ruddy,” and the
first Rohans described in The Lord of the Rina are “tall and long-limbed;
their hair, flaxen-pale, flowed under their light helms, and streamed in long
braids behind them; their faces were stern and keen” (II, 33). Snorri’s ’
description of Olaf Tryggvason is comparable: “He was strikingly handsome,
very tall and strong, and excelled all others in the accomplishments which
are told about Norwegians”18
Blond hair was perhaps not as common among the Norse as the
Hollywood popular portrayal of the typical Viking would have it. Golden hair
is usually commented on and even used as an epithet for men such as Olaf
the White and Halfdan the White. Yet, the Vikings were quite vain about
their hair. Harald Fairhair vowed neither to cut nor comb his hair until he
had conquered all Norway and married Gytha, who refused to marry a mere
chieftain. When he did rule the land and wed the lady, he had his hair
combed and dressed “and everyone who saw him said that this was a most
appropriate name, because his hair was both long and beautiful.“l~ Olaf%
flaxen hair perhaps contributed to the description of the Rohans. While in
reality both Old English and Old Norse civilizations contained striking men
with blond hair and black hair and a few with red hair, Tolkien seems to
have simplified somewhat. He assigns the blond heroic line to the Rohirrim
and the dark heroic line to the men of Gondor. Descriptions of Denethor
and Boromir in the next chapter illustrate their conformity to the dark good
looks also typical of saga heroes. The Celtic influence on all of Northern life
and art is a profound one. To separate Celtic looks, customs, and behaviors
from those of other Northern peoples would be difficult and unrealistic.
Contacts with Ireland. both for trading and raiding were frequent;
intermarriage and cultural exchange were inevitable.
Names
Most of the peoples of Middle-earth follow the patronymic system for
their names. Thus, Thorin in his ceremonial style calls himself “Thorin son
of Thrain son of Thror King under the Mountain!” although he also has a
,
sobriquet, Oakenshield (Hobbit, 208). In the introductions before the
Council, Elrond presents Frodo, who has a formal last name, Baggins, as
Frodo son of Drogo. Tolkien also mentions fathers of many of the others:
“At Gloin’s side: his son Gimli” and “Legolas, a messenger from his father,
Thranduil, the King of the Elves of Northern Mirkwood,” and “Aragorn son
of Arathom” (I, 253, 260). Even the arcs follow the system, for Bolg son of.
Azog leads them in the War of the Five Armies.
In “Old English in Rohan,” John Tinkler demonstrates that the
personal names, place names, horse and weapon names, and even a few
phrases are like those in Old English culture. For example, the eo, found in
the names Eomund (mund, “hand”) and Eowyn (wyn, “joy”) me&“horse”. l
The compounds then mean “horse-hand” or protector and “joy in horses.”

8Tinkler explains what the names of Rohan citizens mean and why they are
appropriate. For instance, the bad counselor, Wormtongue, is called Grima,
son of Galmod (Old English grima, “mask or specter” and galmod,
“licentious”). Place names such as Ridder-mark (Old English ridda,
“horseman” and mearc, “boundary”) and Isengard (Old English isen, “iron”
and geard, “dwelling”) are fitting for the land of the Eotheod
(“horse-people”) and the fortress of Saruman, respectively. Horse names
such as Felarof (Old English fela, “very” and rof, “strong, valiant”) and Arod
(Old English arod, “quick, swift”) and weapon names such as the swords
Herugrim (Old English heorugrim, “very fierce”) and Guthwine (Old English
guthwine, “friend in battle”) are all part of the pattern. Furthermore, Eomer
speaks a greeting to his king not in the Common Speech but in his own
language, “Westu Theoden hal” (“Be you hale, King”). fiowyn says later,
“Ferthu Theoden hal” (“Go you well, King”)?) Both phrases are in the Old
English language.
Naturally, those who would prefer The Lord of the Rins to be a novel
with a key would be delighted if all the names were as easily translated as
those of Rohan, but Tolkien has not extended that pattern. In “Appendix F,”
“The Languages and Peoples of the Third Age,” Tolkien says that “From the
lands between the Gladden and‘the Carrock came the folk that were known
a
in Gondor as the Rohirrim, Masters of Horses. They still spoke their
ancestral tongue, and gave new names in it to nearly all the places in their
new country; and they called themselves the Eorlings, or the Men of the
Riddermark, But the lores of that people used the Common Speech freely,
and spoke it nobly after the manner of their allies in Gondor; for in Gondor
whence it came the Westron kept still a more gracious and antique style”
(III, 407). Thus, except for the Elvish tongues, Tolkien allows .more of the
true language of the Eorlings to enter the Common Speech of his story than
he does of the true languages of other peoples. In the history of
Middle-earth, the Rohirrim are relative newcomers.
The‘ kinship of the English during the Old English period was with the
North sea peoples rather than with the Mediterranean peoples as it was
later in Chaucer’s time. Various North sea chiefs harried, plundered, and
ruled in England between
. about 787 A.D. (the first Viking attack on
England) and 1065 AD. (the invasion of England by William the Conqueror). .
Yet, the Norse regarded the English as their cousins, and after successive
invasions and accuiturations, the relatibnship was literally correct. Clever
Icelanders, *such as Egil and Thorolf Skallagrimsson, were often
hearthcompanions of English Kings. Egil, whose brother was killed fighting
for King Athelstan in the battle of Vinheid, claimed that the English
language was so like Norse that he could speak and understand it *
immediately. 21 Egil may have exaggerated somewhat, but the language,
appearance, and customs of the Scandinavians and the Anglo-Saxons all
derived from a common Indo-Germanic base. Therefore, the literature,
mythology, and customs of the Norse are indispensable in interpreting such
Old English works as Beowulf, “Battle. of Brunanburg,” and “Battle of Maldon.”
In Gondor, Tolkien does not provide names as easily translated as
those of Rohan. In fact, in “Appendix F,” he explains that the men of
Middle-earth spoke the Westron, which had been enriched and softened by
Elvish tongues. The kings of men, the Ntimenoreans, knew and spoke an
Elvish tongue, the Sindarin. Finally, the kings returned to their ancestral
mannish tongue, the Adtinaic. This language, mixed with the speech of
9
1
lesser men and with Elvish words, became a Common Speech for the
Middle-earth peoples who dealt with men. Tolkien explains some of the
names in a note: “Quenya [High-Elven], for example, are the names
Nicnzenor (or in full Akimenbre), and Elendti, Isildur, and An&ion, and all
the royal names of Condor, including EZessar ‘Elfstone’. Most of the names
of the other men and women of the Dtinedain, such as Aragom, Denethor,
Gilraen are of Sindarin [Grey-elven] form, being often the names of Elves or
Men remembered in the songs and histories of the First Age . . .” (III, 406).
Thus, the temptation is to see the name “Aragorn,” and the long line of his
ancestors whose names begin with “Ara,” derived from Old Norse ar, the
name of the Rune “A” meaning “first beginning+’ or “in times of yore.” But ’
these etymologies bear fruit only when Tolkien conducts them himself. For
instance, in a 1972 letter to Richard Jeffery, Tolkien states that Aragom
does not contain a tree word, but that the significant element “ara” probably
derived from aran “king” having lost the n phonetically. He also explains
that the thorn in Arathom comes from an abbreviated form of thorono for
“eagle” [Letters, 426-27).
Compared with the Mediterranean cultures of the Greeks and Romans,
the workings of English culture are little known. The extensive Greek and
Roman literary and mythological heritage makes scholars of English
language and literature (Tolkien’s own profession) envious. In order to fill
the knowledge void, scholars legitimately study the language, literature, and
mythology of the Scandinavian countries. Because the two cultures appear
to be alike in language, beliefs, and customs,, a knowledge of Northern
themes and practices illuminates a study of the Old English period. Part of
Tolkien’s desire in writing The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings was
to provide mythological materials to fill this void. the names of things and J
the stories that went with those names were inextricable linked in his mind. /
In the unfinished letter to Mr. Thompson, in which he discussed creating a
mythology for England, Tolkien discusses Greek mythology and language. .
He notes that Greek mythology “depends far more on the marvellous
aesthetic of its language and so of its nomenclature of persons and places
IO
___-_ -- _-__,..__- _..- -.-- -- . .

__.,-_y.._l----x _,_- ..__ - _-__. -.-- _--..- -_-___ ---_ I_~----.~-~--,~-.---I
and less on its content than people realize Q e .” (Letters, 231). He explains
that he began with language and then found himself hating to invent legends
to accompany the language. Thus, the names of people, places, and things
were borrowed from the whole range of his knowledge of Northern ‘!
literature and other sources. The names then led him * back into memory
and imagination to find accompanying stories.
Courtesv
Tolkien also bases manners and proper behavior in court situations on
the models in Northern literature. Court etiquette operates in Middle-earth
as it does in the court of King Hrothgar in Beowulf. For instance, all
weapons must be left outside, and Tolkien assigns a counselor to the king.
Wulfgar is a good counselor for King Hrothgar, but Grima is a bad counselor
for King Theoden. In Beowulf, evil confines itself to the monsters, but in
The Lord of the Rin@, evil is creeping into the king’s court. A comparison
of the scene in which the hero Beowulf enters King Hrothgar’s court with a
like scene in which Aragorn enters Theoden’s court illustrates the closeness
of the Old English /Norse and Rohan behaviors.
1) Sentrv Accosts Hero When Beowulf and his companions arrive at
the coast of Denmark, King Hrothgar’s sea guard questions them: “What are
you, bearers of armor, dressed in mail-coats, who thus have come bringing a
tdll ship over the sea-road, over the water to this place?” (Beowulf, 5). He
then inquires about their lineage. Similarly, in The Two Towers, the guards
at the gate of Edoras challenges Gandalf, Aragom, Legolas, and Gimli using
the speech of Rohan rather than the common speech. The guard asks the
members of the Fellowship: “Who are you that come heedless over the plain
thus strangely clad, riding horses like to our own horses?” (II, 113). He also
asks if Gandalf is not a wizard, a spy for Saruman. He orders them to speak
swiftly just as the sea-guard in Beowulf requires a “straightway” reply.
Aragom replies with questions about Eomer’s return, and Gandalf bristles at
the intimation of Wormtongue’s orders about no admittance. The guard
again asks their names and their mission.
11
2) Hero’s Replv Beowulf names himself a Geat and retainer of King
Hygelac; he mentions his father Ecgtheow. Beowulf states his errand as
bringing Hrothgar a remedy for the hateful deeds of the dark doer, Grendel
(Beowulf,
Gandalf 6).
names himself and his horse Shadowfax; he designates
Aragorn as son of Arathom and heir of Kings on his way to Mundburg; and
he introduces Legolas the elf and Gimli the dwarf as their comrades.
Gandalf demands audience with the king.
3) Guard Allows Entrv Hrothgar’s guard emphasizes his ability to
judge both the works and the words of the strangers and offers to lead them
to the Scyldings’ king (Beowulf,
C o n t r a r6).
y to this warm welcome,
Theoden’s guard asks the companions to wait outside without being too
hopeful while he queries the king. After some time, he returns to grant
them entry (II, 113-14). The coolness of the guard’s instructions offer a
first clue to the troubles within.
4) Newcomers Proceed Beowulf and his hearth-companions move
down a stone paved road until they can see the famous hall Hereot (Beowulf,
6-7). Gandalf and company follow in file behind their guide down a broad
path, paved with hewn stones. They pass many houses and a bright spring
with a carved horse’s head, until they reach the crown of the hill where the
hall stands.
5) Third Partv Introductions Hrothgar’s herald and officer Wulfgar
again questions Beowulf and his compan‘ions. Wulfgar asks Hrothgar not to
refuse an interview. Since Hrothgar knows of Beowulf’s lineage and of his
reputation for strength, he tells Wulfgar to make haste in welcoming them.
Although Wulfgar tells the companions that they may enter in their ,
war-dress, he requires that shields and spears wait at the door (Beowulf, 8).
H&ma, the Doorward of Theoden, begins by commanding the company
to leave their weapons at the door. Legolas offers his bow from the Lady of +
Lothlorien, but Aragorn refuses to hand over Anduril. Gandalf urges
compliance with the king’s will: the ensuing argument almost breaks into a
fight. Gandalf offers his sword Glamdring for keeping, and Aragom
reluctantly begins to give over Andiiril. Gimli’s axe follows, but another
12
._,_ .1
. . . ,_
MT- .
I
argument ensues when Hama tries to keep Gandalfs staff (II, 116). ms
f
\
contention about weapons employs a part of the formal introduction
business presented in Beowulf. The members of the Fellowship are
uncertain of Theoden’s allegiance. They are unwilling to give up their ‘l
weapons until they know how they will be received. The shadow has so
lengthened that good men are more cautious than they might have been in
earlier times. The tiff over Gandalfs staff, a potent weapon indeed, is a
brilliant invention on Tolkien’s Dart.
6) Hero’s Dramatic Appearance In Beowulf, the hero now strides
forward briskly. The poet sketches his armor: “his mail-shirt glistened,
armor-net woven by the blacksmith’s skill” (Beowulf,
S i n c e8). t h e p o e m
does not include a love story, the poet has no need to magnify Beowulfs *
looks. In The Lord of the Rings, after a silence, Gandalf greets Theoden,
who replies that Gandalfs welcome is doubtful because the wizard almost
always brings bad news. Wormtongue continues the discourtesy. Gandalf
retorts that “The courtesy of your hall is, somewhat lessened of late”’ (II, 118)
a ‘-
and asks if &omer has not revealed’ the names of his grey-clad companions.
‘, Then, Gandalfs staff causes d roll of thunder and the blotting of the sun,
darkening the entire room: “Only Gandalf could be seen, standing white and
tall before the blackened hearth” (II, 119). Having cast away his tattered
cloak, Gandalf dramatically reveals his beyond-earthly superiority as the
white rider. Tolkien employs the traditional greeting formats to reveal the
problem of the unworthy counselor Wormtongue, under whose influence the
court has become mean and uncourteous. Tolkien has an advantage in this
scene, for he has two of his heroes -- Gandalf and Aragorn -- available for
dramatic action. Thus, he can manipulate the unrequited love interest and
at the same time resolve difficulties in allegiances for the coming war.
Gandalf interacts with Theoden on issues of statecraft like those in Beowulf.
Meanwhile, Aragom plays against l?owyn, who stands by the King’s side. She
likes him, but he doesn’t like .her in a romantic way. Tolkien characterizes
Aragom as Eowyn notices him: “tall heir of kings, wise with many winters,
greycloaked, hiding a power that yet she felt” (II, 119). Aragorn appeals to
13
the royal lady.
I 7) Uninvited Address to Rulers Beowulf tells -Hrothgar of his exploits
at swimming and asks to be the one to cleanse Hereot of Grendel. Beowulf
boasts that he will not use weapons in his fight with the monster (Beowulf,
8). With his White Rider aspect revealed, Gandalf again addresses Theoden.
Like Beowulf, Gandalf encourages Theoden to t&e heart, and with his
disputed staff Gandalf clears the darkness to encourage the King to leave the
shadows behind (II, 119).
8) Rulers’ Response Hrothgar immediately talks about Beowulf’s father
Ecgtheow whose slaying of Heatholaf caused Ecgtheow’s exile. Hrothgar has
.
finally resolved the feud by paying weregild. Hrothgar invites the
companions to a feast where a thane pours bright drink from **an
embellished ale-cup” (Beowulf, 9). Gandalf does not have ancestry in The
Lord of the Rine as far as the reader knows, but here Tolkien resolves
Theoden’s family problems. The King releases his nephew &omer’s from
prison and accepts his allegiance anew. After the internal political problems
.
are solved and Wormtongue exiles himself rather than go to war, Theoden
invites his guests to have hasty refreshments in keeping with the coming
war (II, 123).
9) Cup Ceremony In Beowulf, Queen Wealhtheow bears a cup of wine
first to the King and then to the visiting champions. In The Lord of the
Rings, Tolkien merely states “there also waiting upon the king was the lady
Eowyn” (II, 125). Even in a time of emergency, courtesies continue.
Tolkien later weaves in this further thread of hall courtesy, for when
Aragorn rides for the Paths of the Dead, eowyn, clad as a Rider and girt with
a sword, drinks from the stirrup cup wishing them well: “In her hand she
bore a cup, and she set it to her lips and drank a little, wishing them good
speed” (III, 58). In The Two Towers, the pending war necessitates ‘a stark
presentation. Tolkieneould not embellish the arrival of Gandalf, Aragorn,
Legolas, and Gimli with the lavish feasting of Beowulf, for the festivities
would be out of context with his story. He did not take the artistic freedom
of ignoring circumstance that the Beowulf-poet may have taken in writing of
14
a such a feast.
The parallel between the arrival of the hero in Beowulf and in The
Lord of the Rii is a striking one,. Clearly, Tolkien’s extensive knowledge
of the Old English poem was most useful to him when he came to write this
encounter between the old failing King and the young aspiring hero.
Beowulf’s task--the killing of the monster Grendel and his mother -- is a
simple one compared with that of Aragorn. In The Lord of the Rings, the
slaying of monsters falls to others -- Gandalf defeats the Balrog and Sam
vanquishes Shelob. The dragon encounter shared by both stories, if The
Hobbit is seen as a part of the greater story of the Ring, provides another
departure, for Bard kills the dragon in a way quite different from that used
by Beowulf and his kinsman Wiglaf.
Governance
Some governmental customs of the men of Rohan and the Norsemen
are similar, too. King Theoden names as his heir his sister-son, gamer,
since Theoden’s own son is dead. Theoden notes that if neither he nor
&omer returns, the people should then “choose a new lord as you will” (II,
127). The ruling council elected the king in Old English and Old Norse
society: the crown did not automatically go to the son of the old king.
Iceland, of course, did not share these traditions since it had no king.
Women Rulers
Theoden places his kingdom in &owyn’s hands when he leaves for the
battle of Helm’s Deep. She is his sister’s daughter and a close kinswoman.
Women rulers were well known in the North sea area. Among the ones
Snorri mentions in his history of the Kings of Norway are Queen Gytha, who
chooses Olaf Tryggvason to marry her and rule with her: Queen Sigurth, who
later refuses to leave paganism to marry Olaf Tryggvason; and the infamous
Queen Gunnhild, who ruled through her husband and her sons.22 l%owyn is
part of a long tradition of shieldmaidens in Northern literature. Her
compliance to and departures from their ways are discussed in the next
15
chapter.
War Service
The bond between a ruler and his people is one of service and reward.
The retainer owes his lord loyalty and obedient service in time of war.
When the Steward of Gondor wants to ask for the aid of the Rohirrim, he
sends a war arrow to them. Denethor’s rider Hirgon presents King Theoden
with “a single arrow, black-feathered and barbed with steel, but the point
was painted red” (III, 72). Norwegian kings used this same technique to
call in their retainers from rural districts. Theoden recognizes the
importance of the war arrow and immediately calls his men to a
weapontake. Retainers who serve loyally and fight well will be rewarded
with suitable gifts.
Stewards
The office of the steward was also a custom in the North Sea region.
Queen Geira has a steward named Dixin who advises her on all important
decisions, including her marriage to 013 Tryggvason? When the king went
out on Viking trips in the summer, he left his steward in charge. And, kings
who ruled more than one kingdom would have a steward to watch over the
other realm. Thus, in Thrond of Gate, the king’s reeve or steward is in
command in the Faereys.24 In NM’s saga, after Earl Sigurd leaves a steward
in the Orkneys, Helgi Nj&lsson; who has his father’s second sight, warns the
Earl that the Scats have killed the steward.25 And, Egil’s ftiend Arinbjom is
King Eirik’s steward and trusted advisor. However, in these North Sea
areas, the kings always returned to take up the throne or a new king was
chosen.
Stewards did not reign generation after generation as they did in
Gondor. According to YJYhe Annals of Kings and Rulers,” the ruling stewards
had all the power of kings and had long since hardened their hearts against
the return of the true king (III, 313-52). Tolkien uses this perversion of the
steward’s role to create dramatic action in Gondor. For example, the
16
successful resolution of the stewards’ long reign necessitates a king who
does not enter his own city. Fararnir’s marriage to the royal lady &owyn and
his investiture as Prince of Ithilien are two more of the dramatic actions
created, !‘t.s
In an explanatory letter about Faramir and gowyn, Tolkien discusses
the role of the steward and the government of Gondor in more detail. He
explains that a Ntimenorean King was monarch ruling within the frame of
the ancient law. As such, he would have a council for all matters of
importance both internal and external. Aragom reestablished the Great
Council of Gondor, in which Faramir would remain as Steward, representing
the King during his absence or illness and between his death and the heir’s
accession to the throne. In addition, .Tolkien emphasizes that Faramir’s
position as Prince of Ithilien was one of imperial power and prestige,
second only to that of Do1 Arnroth, and not a “market-garden job” as the
letter-writer had. intimated [Letters, 323-24). This system of government is
very like that described in the Heimskrind for various rulers.
Burial Customs
The burial customs of Gondor and the North Sea were similar.
Denethor speaks of the funeral pyre as a barbaric custom. It was ancient in
the North Sea, for in the Heimskringla, Snorri says that Odin instituted it.26
Noble Norsemen were burned on pyres, as in the Volsunga saga, or perhaps
on ships.27 Sometimes they were buried in their ships with their worldly
goods and even a wife or servant or dog.28 At other times, they were buried
in stone barrows or cairns. Middle-earth’s peoples practice burning,
barrows, and stone tombs. Denethor burns on a pyre, and the dwarves burn
their kin after the war with the arcs, although their custom was to build
tombs. Yet, Tolkien’s Northern men have built barrows for their dead kings;
the aftergoing-man who inhabits one barrow is discussed later in this
chapter. The newer custom of Gondor, to place dead kings in a vault, is a
variation of barrow burial.
.
17
Funeral Pyre
The poem Beowulf begins with a famous account of the ship burial of
the legendary Scyld Sheafing. A comparison of the burials of kings and
champions in that poem with those in The Lord of the Rina offers some
insights. I
1) War Eauipment The Beowulf-poet comments that “the people of
the Geats made ready for him a funeral pyre on the earth, no small one,
hung with helmet, battle-shields, bright mail-shirts, just as he had asked”
(Beowulf, 54). Denethor’s hastily-conceived pyre has no such ornaments,
but Aragorn has folded Boromir’s cloak and hood and placed them under his
head. His gold belt, helm, cloven horn, and the shards of his sword are l
beside him: the broken swords of his orc enemies are at his feet (II, 19).
The people of Rohan lay King Theoden’s weapons in his barrow “with his
arms and many other fair things that he had possessed” (III, 254).
Denethor’s untraditional end “like the heathen kings before ever a ship
sailed hither from the West” serves a high artistic purpose (III, 99). His
despair contrasts with Theoden’s courageous resolve to stand against the .
force of evil and with his son Boromir’s equally brave attempt to save the
hobbits.
2) Treasures Beowulfs barrow has a wagon load of twisted gold, the
dragon’s hoard. Even in his haste, , Denethor takes\ his greatest treasure --
the palantir to the pyre with him. Aragom, Legolas, and Gimli place “such
trophies of his last battle as they chose to send forth with him” in the small
boat with Boromir (II, 18).
3) Bale-wood Wiglaf orders “many warriors, men who owned houses,
leaders of the people, that they carry wood from afAr for the pyre for the
good man” (Beowulf, 54). They lay the body of their King in the midst. In
one of the interpolated narratives earlier in the poem, the poet describes
the burning of Hnaef: Hnaefs companions also place him on his pyre. Then ’ .
his sister Hildeburh “bade give her own son to the flames on Hnaefs pyre, .
bum his blood vessels, put him in the fire at the shoulder of his uncle”
(Beowulf, 20). Uncle and nephew bum on the pyre together. These
18
passages show the Beowulf-poet in splendid form both in emotional content
and deft description. In The Lord of the Rings_, Pippin reports to Gandalf
that Denethor has sent men to fetch wood and oil. These have been piled
around the unconscious body of Faramir before Gandalf rescues him. With
great imagination, Tolkien has Denethor leap up on the flaming table, break
the steward’s staff of office into the flames; bow, and ,Iay himself down with
the palantir in his hands (III, 130). This action offers a sharp contrast to its
analogs in Beowulfi Tolkien has inverted the elements of the usual pyre
scene.
4) Bodv Bumed This scene is one of the most vivid in Beowulf. The
poet depicts the dead King: *‘the roaring flame mixed with weeping -- the
wind-surge died down -- until it had broken the bone-house, hot in its
heart” (Beowulf, 54).But the description of the burning of Hnaef and his
nephew is more powerful: “Heads melted as blood sprang out -- wounds
opened wide, hate-bites of the body” [Beowulf, 20). Tofkien has no such
penchant for graphic detail, for he only mentions that Gandalf turns his face
away in horror and shuts the door. Denethor gives a cry, then is heard no
more.
5) Lamentation Hildeburh mourns at Hnaef and her son’s pyre: “sang
her lament” (Beowulf, 20). At Beowulfs pyre, the, warriors lament, and “the
Geatish woman, wavy-haired, sang a sorrowful song about Beowulf, said again
and again that she sorely feared for herself invasion of armies, many
slaughters, terror of troops, humiliation and captivity” (Beowulf, 54-55).
The poet mingles the heavy world- sorrow at the passing of a mighty ruler
with the practical concerns for the continuation of order.
The honors which might have attended Denethor’s passing are
omitted because he has fallen from his duty in choosing the hour of his own
death and because the forces of Mordor have Gondor under siege. Tolkien
does observe the concern for order, for Gandalf tells Beregond to give the
key to the Prince of Do1 Amroth, who is in command. Had not Denethor
fallen into despair, he might have had a song sung about his ancestors and
his last battle against the forces of the Shadow like the last song the
19
minstrel Gleowine made for Theoden’s funeral or like the song Aragom and
Legolas improvise for Boromir’s departure.
When Aragom observes Pippin’s sorrow over Theoden’s death, the King
commends Pippin on his brief service and praises the hobbit’s Lord:
“Smoke then, and think of him! . For he was a gentle heart and a great
l l
, king and kept his oaths; and he rose out of the shadows to a last fair
morning” (III, 145). This epitaph is like that for Beowulf. The hero says of
himself: “nor did I swear many oaths unrightfully” (Beowulf, 48). The poet
extols him further: “They [his people] said that he was of world-kings the
mildest of men and the gentlest, kindest to his people, and most eager for
fame” (Beowulf,
’ 55). Both authors endorse the hero’s faithfulness to his
word, gentleness of heart, and heroic action.
6) Large Grave-mound In Beowulf, the people spend ten days
completing a barrow in which they place the dragon’s treasure. The
monument, built on a promontory, was “high and broad, wide-seen by
seafarers” (Beowulf, 55). The house where Denethor bums collapses,
forming a ruin. But in Rohan, the warriors place Theoden in a house of
stone and raise a great mound over him. The contrast between the king
who has been seduced by evil but renounced it and the steward who has
been equally disillusioned and has succumbed to despair instructs and
delights the reader.
7) Warriors’ Ride The Beowulf-poet records the warriors riding
around the tomb: “Then the brave in battle rode round the mound, children
of nobles, twelve in all, would bewail their sorrow and mourn their king,
recite dirges and speak of the man” (Beowulf, 55). So too, Tolkien recounts
that “the Riders of the King’s House upon white horses rode round about the
barrow and sang together a song” (III, 254). The number twelve also
appears in connection with Theoden’s death, for twelve torches stand
around his bier and twelve knights guard it. By having two rulers of equal
stature die in two quite different ways, Tolkien gives himself a method for
reinforcing the story’s values. Tolkien honors Theoden, who drew himself
away from despair into action, in the way that Beowulfs heroes are honored.
.a
20
I . h .
/ ,
..-‘;
In parallel scenes, Tolkien demonstrates how Denethor’s defection from

t s
heroic conduct causes death among his own guard, for Beregond kills one
who guards the door to the hall at a time when all fighting men are needed
for the war against Sauron. !\
In a Christian world, reward or punishment is left to God. In a pre-
Christian world, such as that of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rin@, the
reputation which lives after a person constitutes his reward for the justice
and rightfulness of his life. The funeral rites and honors accorded a ruler
form the beginning of the memory his people will have of him. Theoden
and Boromir, one in the resplendent circumstances of peace and the other
in the hard times of war, receive honor at their burial; their reputations will
live after them. By contrast, Denethor’s desperate end lacks honor.
Certainly, knowing the relationships among traditionally-practiced
funeral customs in North Sea countries is useful to an understanding of the
meaning and intention of Tolkien’s works. In his chapter “Thursday
Evenings,” Humphrey Carpenter creates a conversation about the funeral
customs of dwarves.2Q In this imagined conversation, Tolkien says
passionately that the preferred burial method for dwarves was tombs.
Carpenter builds this discussion into one about Anglican and Roman Catholic
views of the resurrection of the body. While the type of intellectual
conversation generally enjoyed at meetings among scholars typically follows
structures such as the one illustrated, the point that escapes is Tolkien’s
intuitive approach to story. The Inklina as biography works well
illuminating the details of daily life for the Oxford Don, but as a discussion of
the relationship between Tolkzien’s life and art, The Inklina can mislead
the reader. Tkie reader of Tolkien must be careful in his interpretation of
fanciful discussions, .such as the one on funeral customs. Tolkien’s views on
Christian theology are interesting to scholars and seem to be of some value
in interpreting his works. But he was, after all, fascinated with the creation
of heroic myths for England in a pre-Christian, era.
Subterranean Descents
21
The descent of the hero into the barrow, housing the restless spirit of
F
1 .
a dead king or hero, is a part of the tradition of the Bearson folk tale.
Beowulf’s encounter with Grendel’s mother, Grettir’s entrance into old Kar’s
tomb, and Hervor’s awakening of her father Angant$r are all retellings of the
same story. The elements of a Bearson folk tale include: a hero who may,
under certain conditions, shift into the bear’s shape: a descent into the
underworld; companions for the hero; and a reward for faithful fulfillment of
the comitatus bond. 30 The barrow wight incident in The Lord of the Rina
illustrates the elements of the Bearson story. .
The bearson usually enters the barrow as part of an expedition, but in
The Fellowshir, of the Ring, Frodo, Merry, Pippin, and Sam do not enter the *
barrow willingly. The wight of the barrow uses a mirage to lure them in. In
both Norse literature and The Lord of the Rings, the ghoulish corpses of
such dead warriors are dangerous foes when someone seeks to rob them of
their swords and treasures during a subterranean descent. For instance, in
Kod, Korm&k employs “breaker of cairns” as a kenning for hero.31
Kennings are formalized compound metaphors used in Northern poetry to
add to the beauty and meaning of the poem by their unusual comparisons.
Since entering a cairn took courage, the author of the saga uses it as a
synonym for the hero. Not all Vikings were brave enough to enter a barrow
or cairn. The Viking band, which Hervor leads, refuses even to go onto the
island where Angant$r’s barrow is. When his companions see the fire
spewing forth, they desert their comrade Hervor. However, Hervijr
received from Angant$r’s barrow “the keen-edged blade . the sword
l l
dwarf-smithied/ for Sigrlami? Had the timid Hobbits not been lured into
the barrow, they would not have attempted the descent during which they
received their swords.
Grettir’s laying of old Kar’s ghost provides a closer parallel to the
action in The FellowshiD of the Ring than the barrow scenes of the other
tales. Kar’s ghost has frightened away all of Thorfinn’s servants. Thorfinn
warns Grettir not to go into the barrow just as Tom Bombadil warns the
hobbits to stay away from the barrows. After the hobbits are in, Frodo
22
awakens and sees his friends lying unconscious on a slab, and “Round the
corner a long arm was groping.” Similarly, Grettir .feels himself being seized
by a strong hand. Both heroes attack -- Grettir cuts K&r’s head off, and when
Frodo chops at the hand, “there was a shriek and the light vanished.” T&m
Bombadil gets the hobbits out, but Grettir pulls himself up on his rope
because his companion Audun has run away. In both stories, the treasure
I is
brought up and laid out, Tom Bombadil gives each of the hobbits a king’s
dagger, which for them will serve as a sword (I, 188- 208). Thorflnn later
gives Grettir a sword, an old family heirloom.33 ,
In The Return of the Shadow, Christopher Tolkien relates that the
final form of the chapter “Fog on Barrow Downs” is very largely present with
only minor alterations [Shadow, 127) The relationship between Frodo’s
adventures and Grettir’s encounter with Kar’s ghost is a close one, and
Tolkien may have been relying on it in a more conscious manner than was
his usual habit, Many of his letters relate difficulties in starting and defining
a sequel to The Hobbit. The differences between the draft presented in The
Return of the Shadow and The Fellowshix, of the Ring are enormous. The
Shadow version is much closer to The Hobbit in tone, style, and themes.
The darkness, which characterizes The Lord of the Rin@, is not yet
present. Yet, the barrow wight incident was suitable for both stories
because it partakes of the deeper mythopoeic themes which define the
finished three-part work.
Bilbo’s adventures in the goblin caverns are the truest subterranean
descent in The Hob,bit . Gollum’s kinship with the aftergoing man Glam has
been discussed in Chapter Four, but the Gollum created for The Hobbit also
shares many characteristics with Grendel in Beowulf. The correlations
between the introduction of Gollum in Bilbo’s subterranean descent and
Beowulf’s similar adventure as he dives into a dreadful mere and gains
access to Grendel’s home are outlined below. ’
Long Ravaging
Grendel has been raiding Hereot for twelve winters; Hrothgar declares
23
1.
that Grendel has wasted his war-troop. Beowulf must repay Grendel for the
incident in which he devoured fifteen hearth-companions and carried
another such number away (Beowulf, 28). Tolkien’s famous villainous
creation Gollum shares this ravaging trait. Gollum’s possession of the Ring
begins with the murder of Deagol. Before Bilbo comes along, Gollum has
lived long yeis in the lake under the mountain feeding on goblins when he .
could get them.
Part of the long ravaging involves drinking the victim’s blood. In
Beowulf, when Grendel attacks Beowulfs companions inside Hereot, he
seizes a sleeping thane, tears him ravenously, bites into his bone-locks, and
drinks “the blood from his veins” [Beowulf,
’ 13). When Gandalf tells Frodo
the story of the Ring, he relates that the woods through which the
Wood-elves tracked Gollum were full of dreadful tales: “The Woodmen said
that there was some new terror abroad, a ghost that drank blood” (I, 67).
Gollum, whose eating habits continuously appall Sam, shares Grendel’s
vampire nature. The vampire motif also occurs in the Kalevela, which
Tolkien claims as a source.
Half-human
The Beowulf-poet talks about Grendel: “The other wretched shape
trod the tracks of exile in the form of a man, except that he was bigger than
any other man” (Beowulf, 24). In The Lord of the Rings, the Elves of
Lothlorien report “A strange creature also had been seen, running with bent
back and with hands near the ground, like a beast and yet not of
beast-shape” (I, 364). When Gandalf suggests Gollum’s kinship to hobbits, /
Frodo says “with some heat. ‘What an abominable notion!“’ (I, 63). Whatever
Tolkien thought about Gollurn’s kinship in The Hobbit is not clear, but in
The Lord of the Rings, his chain of being has been refined and categorized.
Gollum is a hobbit, the primary representative of the power of evil on that
beloved category of Middle-earth inhabitant. Rather than classifying Gollum
as half-human, saying that he is half-hobbit would perhaps be more accurate.
Although Gollum does not have the strength of Grendel, he can swim long
24
distances, climb up cliffs, and cover many miles ‘walking.
Deep Homes of Darkness

Grendel lives in an underwater cave in a desolate, blighted mere. ‘t
Gollum abjures the sun; Gandalf says “he found a little cave out of which the
dark stream ran: and he wormed his way like a maggot into the heart of the
hills” (I, 63). Gollum stays deep in the cave until he comes out in search of
Bilbo and the Ring.
Monsters Surround Homes

When Beowulf dives into the mere after Grendel’s mother, the poet
reports that “many monsters attacked him in the water, many a sea-beast
tore at his mail-shirt with
. war-tusks, strange creatures afflicted him”
(Beowulf, 27). The cave in which Bilbo meets Gollum houses many
monstrous goblins, including the great goblin himself.
Heroes Divinely Sent

Hrothgar believes that God sent Beowulf: “Holy God of his grace has
sent him to us West-Danes, as I hope, against the terror of Grendel”
(Bebwulf, 8). In addition, in Appendix A “Durin’s Folk”, Gandalf recounts
his chance meeting with Thorin Oakenshield in an inn at Bree. Thorin
approaches Gandalf who proposes that his errand to the Shire may interest
Thorin since Gandalf has been brooding about the Dragon of Erebor, who
slew Thorin’s grandfather Thror. Although revenge does not play an
enormous role in Tolkien’s work, that motive and the lust for treasure form
the basis for the story in The Hobbit. Reflecting on the subsequent turn of
events later, Gandalf remarks that if things had gone otherwise, the Battle of
the Pelennor, the battles of the Dale, the end of the dragon ravaging, and
rightful rule of Gondor would never have been accomplished. He says, ‘We
might now hope to return from the victory here only to ruin and ash. But
that has been averted -- because I met Thorin Oakenshield one evening on
the edge of spring in Bree. A chance-meeting, as we say in Middle-earth”
25
(III, 360). The interaction between fate/chance and character is discussed
more fully in Chapter 9, but Gandalf has been sent by divine beings to aid the
creatures of Middle-earth in their battle against Sauron. And while the
meeting may be chance, Gandalf takes an active role in connecting the
dwarves with Bilbo and in the subsequent success of the expedition.
Heroes Fresh from Other Victories

Beowulf has just finished striving against Breca in swimming and has
killed many sea monsters during that contest (Beowulf, 8). Bilbo has not
been quite as successful, but he has, with the help of Gandalf, just escaped
from his first adventure with some enormous trolls. Bilbo’s life as a hero is *
just beginning. While the trolls have captured all the dwarves, he has
managed to get away, and he has begun his efforts at burglary by attempting
to pick the troll’s pockets (Hobbit, 49, 45).
Handgrip Used to Slay Monster

Beowulf is famous for the strength of thirty men in his handgrip. After
he boasts that he will not use weapons against Grendel, Beowulf kills the
monster by pulling off his arm (Beowulf, 8). Neither Bilbo nor his heir Frodo
kills Gollum: yet, hands are involved. In the struggle for the Ring on the
edge of Mount Doom, Tolkien says “Suddenly Sam saw Gollum’s long hands
draw upwards to his mouth; his white fangs gleamed, and then snapped as
they bit. Frodo gave a cry, and there he was, fallen upon his knees at the
chasm’s edge. But Gollum, dancing like a mad thing, held aloft the ring, a
finger still thrust within the circle” (III, 224). In the mad 6ance that
follows, Gollum falls to his death in the fire. The arm wrestling aspect of
Tolkien’s scene is reminiscent of the scene in Beowulf and others in the
sagas.
.
Monsters Show Fear
When Beowulf seizes Grendel, the monster is frightened: he is eager
to escape from the death grip (Beowulf, 14). Gollum’s long association with
26
the Ring seems to have immunized him to normal fear. He is angry9
frustrated, and hungry in his encounter, but even though Bilbo has a sword
and comes near to killing Gollum, Gollum’s obsession with regaining the
Ring keeps him from fear. In the barrow encounter between Grettir and the
ghost of Kar, the two struggle mightily making so much noise that Grettir’s
companion Audun flees.
Monsters Exposed to View

Beowulf hangs Grendel’s arm up over the doorway into Hereot, and
after Grendel’s mother is slain, the hearth-companions return carrying
Grendel’s head (Beowulf, 16, 29). Gandalf will later praise Bilbo’s pity and
mercy in not killing Gollum when he might have done so. Bilbo develops as
a hero in The Hobbit but his heroism is constrained. Since The Hobbit
shares so much with the poem Beowulf, it is both surprising and fortunate
that Bilbo does not kill Gollum. As was his constant practice, Tolkien was
sensitive to the essence of his characters. In the early part of his
development, Bilbo’s character could not have killed a fellow creature. Very
shortly and under more pressing conditions, he will attack spiders
vigorously. About his part in the war, Tolkien says, “It was a terrible battle.
The most dreadful of all Bilbo’s experiences, and the one which at the time
he hated most, which is to say it was the one he was most proud of, and
most fond of recalling long afterwards, although he was quite unimportant in
it. Actually I must say he put on his ring early in the business, and vanished
from sight, if not from all danger” (Hobbit, 294). The most pleasing result
of Bilbo’s character-based failure to kill Gollum is that Tolkien still had
Gollum to bring into the sequel to the story.
Victors Honored
Beowulf receives a lavish banquet with enormous praise and many gifts
for his victory over Grendel (Beowulf, 29-38). Tolkien shows an awareness
that feasting and giving of gifts should now occur; Gandalf and the dwarves
spend some time discussing the difficulties of hating lost the burglar, who
27
then takes off his ring and reveals himself to them. They all laugh and joke
over the success of their adventures, the killing of the great goblin, and
Bilbo’s narrow escape. They are in a mood to celebrate, but Gandalf reminds
them that the goblins will soon be tracking them. Tolkien replaces the feast
which would normally follow these victories with Bilbo’s desperate request
for supper: Gandalf’s wry suggestion that he should reenter the goblin caves
in search .of their ponies, and Bilbo’s subsequent search for some kind of
berries and herbs. Bilbo discovers that the blackberries are still in flower;
no nuts, not even hawthorne berries are available. His feast consists of a bit
of sorrel, a drink from a small mountain-stream, and three wild
strawberries. Tolkien’s knowledge of the tradition is clear.
The barrow wight scene is one of many subterranean descents as Ruth

Noel in The Mvtholo3 on Middle-earth discusses. She catalogues five from
The Hobbit: Bilbo’s entry into the troll’s cave; the descent into the goblin’s
realm: the tunnel-like paths of Mirkwood; the Elven-king’s subterranean
abode: and Bilbo’s approach to Smaug’s lair. And in The Lord of the Ring,
Noel identifies six descents: the barrow incident mentioned above, the
sequence in Maria: Gimli’s discovery of the Glittering Caves; Aragorn’s
journey through the Paths of the Dead; Sam’s encounter with Shelob; and
Frodo and Sam’s passage through the Chambers of Fire in Mount Doom.34
Not all of these have equal value as traditional barrow descents. Bilbo’s
troll cave entry is not a barrow descent at all. Gandalf suggests that the
trolls must have a hole in the ground, or a cave, which he finds but does not
open. Bilbo produces a key which must have fallen out of the troll’s pocket
before he was turned to stone. The cave is more like a hobbit hole than a
barrow or subterranean chamber, for it is filled with provisions -- food and
ale -- and has clothes hanging on the wall. The swords, which do become
important in the story,.are picked up much more casually than Tolkien will
later prefer. The trek through the tunnel-like paths of Mirkwood is more
truly an evil forest adventure than a subterranean descent, while the elven
king episode shares characteristics with a captive king ransom situation.
28
Bilbo’s approaches to Smaug belong to a tradition of dragon dealings rather
than a subterranean descent tradition. The sequence in Moria qualifies as a
subterranean descent, but Gandalf becomes the protagonist in it. He is the
one who encounters the monster and seemingly fdlls from’the encounter:
The incident in the Glittering Caves functions more accurately as a balance
to the magnificence of Lcirien.
_. No monster inhabits the caverns and they
serve as a refuge for the people of Rohan rather than a place of terror.
Both Aragorn’s journey through the Paths of the Dead and Sam and
Frodo’s encounter with Shelob are true subterranean descents. In Aragorn’s
adventure, the monster has become a group of oathbreakers who may be
released from their restlessness in the same way that Grettir lays Kar’s
unruly ghost. Sam’s killing of Shelob allow him an opportunity to
demonstrate his status as hero rather than companion.
The scene in the Chambers of Fire varies considerably from the
subterranean descent tradition. Here Frodo finally loses strength almost
entirely and crawls towards the summit. Gollum rejoins the hobbits, serving
as the monster for a subterranean descent, but the real monster is the
growing evil inside of Frodo, who will at the crucial moment renounce the
quest. The treasure portion is also inverted, for here the treasure must be
destroyed, rather than gained. This scene carries one of the major themes
of the story -- the power and pervasiveness of evil. By associating it with the
subterranean descent, Tolkien underlines Frodo’s failure. Other heroes have
succeeded in similar situations, but this hero, whose courage has been
proven many times over, must fail. Otherwise, the reader would believe that
the power of evil can be avoided by good hearted creatures.
Subterranean descents are important features of Northern literature
and of heroic literature in general Tolkien finds several occasions to have
his protagonists descend into the underworld, meet and defeat or fall to a
monster, and gain or lose a treasure. The episodes provide a variety of
opportunities. for different heros to act and react, to grow in courage, and to
gain or lose implements important to the conduct of the story. That
Tolkien could tise this theme legitimately once in the Hobbit and four times
29
in the Lord of the Rings with such infinite variety is a credit to the high
order of his genius, his knowledge of the legitimate uses of the tradition,
and his imagination is providing different testing grounds for his characters.
Man Matching
“They got to comparing men” is a signal of danger in the sagas. On one
such occasion in the Faroe Islander’s Saga, Einar picked up an axe and hit
Cresthood on the head. With his scalp laid open, he fell senseless.35 In the
“Saga of the Sons of Magnus” of the Heimskringla, the brother Kings Eystein
and Sigurth have the country divided between them, but they have
.
entertainments regularly back and forth. King Eystein, who begins a
comparison between the two, claims that they have the same title,
possessions, birth, and upbringing. King Sigurth claims precedence in
wrestling; Eystein in agility. Sigurth notes his excellent swimming while
Eystein claims superiority in skating. Sigurth notes that Eystein cannot
even stretch his bow while Eystein notes his superior skiing. The argument
continues until King Sigurth holds forth his expeditions to the River Jordan
and Eystein notes his generosity in letting him return with only one ship to
reclaim his kingdom. The two are furious but maintain the peace
throughout their reigns. 36 In yet another example in The Saxa of the Sworn
Brothers, the two foster brothers also avoided the frequently bloody
outcome of such comparisons by ceasing to talk about their relative
strengths.37 .
Man matching appears to be a leisure time divertisement in the sagas.
It occurs during long winters when men are sitting near the fire with
nothing constructive to do. The relative merits of famous heroes and their
lesser contemporary counterparts are discussed in the same way that sports
fans now compare present and past boxers or football teams. Tolkien has
little such leisure in The Lord of the Rings. These comparisons do not
occur except in Appendix A’s “The Stewards.” ’ There Tolkien reports that a
mysterious stranger named Thorongil, who has served King Thengel of
Rohan, now serves Ecthelion II of Gondor. This unidentified man competes
3 0
with Denethor, heir to the Steward’s Office. Tolkien comments “Indeed he
[Denethor] was as like to Thorongil as to one of nearest kin, and yet was .
placed second to the stranger in the hearts of men and the esteem of his
father” (III, 336). Man matching surely occurred as these two men stro+e
for dominance in Gondor. The result of this competition is as deadly as the
battles of the sagas, for Denethor seems to’ guess Aragorn’s identity and to
harden his heart against the return of the rightful king.
Hard Bargains
Driving a hard financial bargain was-another common custom. In the
Eyrbvggia Saga, Snorri demands his inheritance from his stepfather Bork,
who declares that he will not divide the family homestead Helgafell. Snorri
suggests that Bork value the .homestead and then they will decide who will
buy out whom. Since Bork did not think that Snorri had any ready cash, he
valued the estate low -- at sixty ounces of silver -- but didn’t include the
offshore islands, which he expected to be able to buy up cheaply. He
stipulates that the sale should be in cash at the Althing. Snorri chooses to
buy the farm, using money he has entrusted to his foster-father Thorbrand.
The purse doubtless contained money Bork had advanced Snorri to travel
abroad. Bork comments “Your purse turned out to be fuller than I’d
expected, kinsman.” Bork offers to stay and run the farm, but Snorri asks
him to clear out. At that point, Snorri’s mother divorces herself from Bork.38
One hard bargain negotiated in Tolkien’s works is the division of the

dragon’s treasure in The Hobbit. Bilbo, who had originally contracted with
the dwarves to serve as their burglar for a fourteenth part of the treasure,
still has his original contractual letter when the time for handing out the
treasure arrives. Smaug’s ravaging of the town puts the people of Dale into
such distress that they beseige the dwarves on the mountain. Thorin
refuses to bargain with the rabble at his door until Bilbo slips out at night
and gives them the Arkenstone to use as leverage against the proud dwarf.
Thorin is furious, but Bilbo reminds him that the dwarves said he could
31
choose his own part of the treasure. He remarks “that dwarves are
sometimes politer in word than in deed” (Hobbit, 288). Thorin agrees to
exchange Bilbo’s fourteenth part of the treasure for the stone, but the battle
begins before the accounts can be settled. In the end, of course, the
dwarves bury the Arkenstone with the slain Thorin, Bilbo’s share goes to
succor the people of Dale, and the hobbit returns home with only two small
chests -- one of gold and one of silver.
The dwarves are not the only peoples whose characteristics include
parsimoniousness. In the sagas, the essence of tight fistedness is a
character named Neri in Gautrek’s Sa.@: “a great warrior, but his meanness
is a household word, and all the most niggardly men, the most reluctant to
give anything to others, have been compared with him ever since?
Tolkien represents this characteristic in The Lord of the Rings, too. In
Appendix A, Fengel, a bad prince listed in the chronology like Neri in
Gautrek’s Sa@ or like Heremod in Beowulf, is “greedy of food and gold, and
at strife with his marshals, and with his children” (III, 350). In Beowulf,
Heremod’s story occurs in the minstrel’s song in Hrothgar’s court.
Heremod was an unsuccessful Danish king whose career began brilliantly,
but he became cruel and stingy, and his people overthrew him. Since The
Lord of the Rin@ is about a heroic enterprise rather than about the everyday
affairs of men and women, few opportunities occur for discussion6 about
finances and bargains. Yet, the characters operate within a framework of
contracts and agreements. Failure to honor the basic give and take of the
cornitatus bond provides grounds for an overthrow of a monarch.
ComDassion
Few incidents of compassion occur in the sagas, which emphasize
action. In the HeimskrinrZla, King Olaf appears to be receiving a typical
payback for not killing-off his enemies when one of them attempts his
murder. In “Saint O&f% Saga,” King Oltis robe slips from his shoulders
while he bows to the altar and the blind King Hroerek, who refuses to
become a Christian, thrusts at the king with a dagger. The dagger catches
32
only the clothing and King Olaf shifts balance and grabs forward at his
attacker. Since this is not King Hrcxxek’s first attack on his
t captor, OWs
companions urge him to kill the unbending King. But King Olaf pities his
former foe and relishes the quality of his victory, in which he gained’ five’
kingdoms from other kings without killing any of them. Yet, the King
wonders if Hroerek will not in the end demand the King’s own death.
Similarly, in The Return of the Kirig, like King 01&f, Sam has the same
necessity for killing Gollum. Gollum’s repeated attacks on Frodo make hirn
deserve death and that death would increase Sam and Frodo’s safety. Yet,
Sam’e heart restrains him. Gollum’s fate is upon him, and he ftils into
Mount Doom very shortly after Sam has spared him. Snorri Sturluson
provides a little comic relief before resolving the story of King Hroerek. The
Icelander Thorarin’s ugly foot becomes the subject of King Oltis humor with
the King asserting that he is willing to bet that it is the ugliest foot in town.
Thorarin wagers .he can find an uglier one, and the bet is set at the doing of
a favor. Th6rarin then pulls his other foot from under the covers claiming
that it is uglier because one toe is lackihg. King 01% replies that a four toed
foot must be one toe less ugly than a five toed foot. The favor he extracts
from Thorarin is that he will take the troublesome King Hroerek to Iceland,
where some three years later he succumbs to an illness.*0
Tolkien is not yet ready for comic relief. Frodo comments seriously on
Gandalfs wisdom in saying that “Even Gollum may have something yet to
do?” (III, 225). This contemplative recognition of the quest’s near failure
underlines the importance of compassion as a force in The Lord of the
Shortly,
Ring. Sam urges Frodo to come down the mountain a ways. As
they sit in the lee of the spouting steams, Frodo again comments on the
hopelessness of the end of all things. But in more typical hobbit fashion,
Sam recalls the storytelling in the shire. He wishes that he could hear the
introduction: “Now comes the story of Nine-ftngered Fbodo and the Ring of
Doom?‘! (III, 229). Compassion did not come to Tolkien from the sagas but
I’ /
from some other source. Yet, the coincidence of this tale about 01&f’s J
compassion for the blind King Hroerek combined with Thorarin’s missing
33
digit and Sam and Frodo’s compassion for Gollum combined with another
missing digit is interesting.
Storvtelling Techniaues
The full range of likenesses in language and the nuances of telling a
story between The Lord of the Rings_ and the sagas can only be suggested
here. Many technical elements depend on the sensitivity of the reader to a
variety of shadings. Three subtle likenesses selected for discussion here
are:
l prophecy and fulfillment,

0 repetition’ in lexical terms (The repetition becomes a
guide to the structure of the saga and the intent of the
author.), and
0 units of three to reinforce a tripartite division.
These saga traits will be illustrated from the Laxdale Saa and the poem
Beowulf with corollaries from Tolkien’s works.41
Prophecy and fulfillment as an enactment of destiny produces the
structure of the Laxdale Saga, While the Beowulf poet tackles the concept of
fate, discussing it openly in his work, the saga writer employs popular
beliefs in portents, curses, dreams, and second sight. For Icelanders, these
popular beliefs were a part of real, normal life -- neither fanciful nor
artificial. The characters accept these events as part of their everyday
existence, but the reader develops apprehensions about their relevance.
The reader wonders whether or not the prophecies will be fulfilled and
how and when that might happen. 42 The saga author combines natural and
supernatural causes for events so that fate never operates deus ex machina.
Plot and character complement each other and carry the narrative forward
together. A phrase occurring frequently in the Laxdale Saga describes this
method: “You would not have brought this up, if you did not know where it
was to land? Both the author of the Laxdale Sa@ and Tolkien in The Lord
34
_ -
.*.._1 . . . . I.
_-f -
of the FUna always know where they are going with their ntiatives. In
Tolkien’s case, his incomplete narratives, as published in The Unfinished
Tales. offer a contrast to the finished three part work. In The Unfinished
Tales, little stray pieces are left over. For instance in the Narn, the dader
that young T&in gives his tutor Sador never comes back into play, .YIYirin’s
mother vanishes in the dragon’s fog without a report, and his father H&in is
left in unresolved captivity. Tolkien may have been unclear’about the
direction of his story while he was composing it, but his through revisions
resolved any difficulties in The Lord of the Rins. ,
One of the most noteworthy of these prophetic devices in the Laxdale
Sam is Gudrun’s dream in the chapter ‘Two Rings and Two Headdresses.”
Gudrun’s kinsman Gest has an extensive reputation for his gift of second
sight. Gudrun manages to arrive at a hot spring where he is resting on his
trip to the Althing and asks him to interpret the four troublesome dreams
she has had during the year. Her first dream features an illfitting headdress,
which she jerks off and throws into the brook. In the second dream, she
loses a likeable silver bracelet into a lake. The third dream features an
unsatisfactory gold bracelet, which breaks. Gudrun wears a gold helmet in
the fourth dream; the uncomfortable yet desirable helmet topples into
Hvammsfjord. In Gest’s opinion, these dreams are all very much of one
cloth; he foretells that Gudrun will have four husbands. The ill-fitting ’
headdress betokens a loveless marriage to a man she leaves. The silver
bracelet represents a second fine man who drowns. The gold bracelet
stands for a third husband, whom Gudrun loses through her own
carelessness. The gold helmet depicts an overbearing husband, who will be
a great chieftain and will hold a helmet of terror over her -- that is, he will
hold her in subjugation.
This scene is a tour-de-force with Gudrun’s four dreams and Gest’s
interpretations of them, but the saga author carries his theme of prophecy 1
still further. Gest now rides on to Olaf% house where he recognizes Olaf’s
sons among other handsome men and predicts preeminence for Kjartan.
Later as Gest rides on, his son asks him why he is crying. Gest replies: “It
35
will be no surprise to me, if some day Bolli stands over Kjartan’s crown and
thereby also reaps his own death. An ill thing it is, to know this about such
fine and sterling men.“@ Inside of five pages the entire plot for the
remainder of the saga has been laid out, but rather than dulling the reader’s
curiosity, the prophecies whet enthusiasm.
The reader, of course, wonders who all these husbands will be,
whether they will die as Gest has forseen, what Gudrun’s reactions will be,
and how Bolli will come to kill his fosterbrother Kjartan. Shortly after her
meeting with Gest, Gudrun’s father persuades her to marry Thorvald, whom
she divorces as Gest has forseen. Gudrun marries again happily, but
Breeches Aud, Thord’s ex-wife whose sobriquet reflects manish behavior,
does not take the divorce well. The next summer when Thord is out
working with the sheep, Aud rides in and slashes his hand and breast
catching the sword in the bolster. The sagawriter comments wryly “and this
one time she had breeches on and no mistake.“45 Thord survives his ex-
wife’s attack only to drown in the fjord the next summer under the spell of
the wizard Kotel.
The reader’s heart quickens when the same spring which hosted
Gest’s prophecies about Gudrun’s dreams becomes a meeting place for
Gudrun and Kjartan, widely reputed to be the cleverest young people in
their time. With the disclaimer “but I don’t want to prophesy this,” Olaf tells _
Kjartan that he doesn’t believe dealings with the Lauger folk will prove lucky
for his family. Yet, Kjartan and his beloved foster brother Bolli continue to
visit Gudrun. Kjartan finally asks Gudrun to wait for him for three years
while he goes to seek his fortune in Norway where he remains overlong.
. Finally, Bolli and Gudrun marry. In the summer after Iceland became
Christian, King Olaf allows the hostage Icelanders to leave; he gives Kjartan
an ornamented sword with the prediction that he will never feel a weapon’s
fatal sting while he carries it. Hostile encounters between the two
fosterbrothers escalate until Bolli attacks and kills Kjartan, who does not
defend himself. It is then not very long until Kjartan’s four brothers and
their comrades kill Bolli, thus fulfilling two of Gest’s predictions. Gudrun
36
remains alone for several years until she finally marries Thorkel, a most
strong-minded man. After Thorkel drowns in Breidafjord, all of Gest’s
predictions have finally come true. The saga writer has told the reader
i
exactly what to expect, but the reader delights in the details of the
fulfillment. .
Tolkien accomplishes a similar tour-de-force in The Lord of the Rin@
with the artistic prophetic scenes revolving around Galadriel and her mirror.
He also uses the palantiri to accomplish similar purposes, and of course,
foreknowledge, premonitions, and dreams play a role.
Galadriel’s Mirror
The chapter “The Mirror of Galadriel” contains a theme of testing.
Each member of the Fellowship thinks that Galadriel has seen into his heart:
“All of them, it seemed, had fared alike: each had felt that he was offered a
choice between a shadow full of fear that lay ahead, and something that he
greatly desired: clear before his mind it lay, and to get it he had only to turn
aside from the road and leave the Quest and the war against Sauron to
others” (I, 373). Each believes she has offered him a secret choice between
something he greatly desires and his continuation in the Fellowship.
Galadriel pursues her examination of her guests. After many days, she
appears before Sam and Frodo and creates a prophetic Mirror. About it,
Galadriel says, “But the Mirror will also show things unbidden, and those are
often stranger and more profitable than things which we wish to behold.
What you will see, if you leave the Mirror free to work, I cannot tell. For it
shows things that were, and things that are, and things that yet may be” (I,
377). The Mirror
* does not open directly onto the future but rather onto the
fears for the future that each character holds most closely. Like prophecies
from famous Oracles, the Mirror’s messages are not straightforward, but
must be carefully interpreted.
Using the Mirror, Sam does see the future. He sees the Shire
blighted, Frodo in a death-like trance, and himself climbing the endless
winding stairs of Cirith Ungol. Tolkien’s phrase “like a dream the vision
37
shifted+’ identifies the Mirror’s dream/vision function accurately (I, 377).
Frodo also sees an abbreviated vision of the future. His vision includes the
reborn Gandalf in his white garments, a restless Bilbo in his room at
Rivendell, events from the Pelennor Fields battle, I and the journey to the
Grey Havens. Then the Mirror shifts, and Frodo views the dreaded Eye of
Sauron searching for him.
Testing through prophetic devices continues. Moving from his
brilliant and complex use of the Mirror, Tolkien amplifies the theme of the
test. In offering the F2ing to Galadriel, Frodo evokes an admission of her
own ambitious daydreams of herself as a benevolent dictator. Just as the
vision of the Shire tests Sam and the sight of Sauron’s eye tries Frodo so ’
does his offer of the Ring press Galadriel. She has examined the others and
found them worthy to continue the. Fellowship against Sauron. About her
own test, she says “I pass the test . . . I will diminish, and go into the West,
. and remain Galadriel” (I, 38 1). Even though her secret choice is between
wielding great power and allowing Lothlbrien, to fade, she proves true.
In this chapter, Tolkien reveals the conclusion of the entire work.
The careful reader knows the major events the Ringbearer will endure. But
since the allusions are brief and the Mirror source may not always tell what
it seems to tell, the reader’s suspense is not blunted. By the end of the
Galadriel scenes, Tolkien has moved in a hasty manner through the
remainder of the events without harming the driving force of the narrative.
Palantiri
Further in The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien also uses the palantiri or
Seeing-stones as a means to manipulate the story. The seven stones have a
variety of owners and locations. With them Tolkien motivates characters
and alternately speeds and slows actions. For instance, Saruman gains and
gives information from-his stone until Wormtongue throws it at Gandalf.
When Pippin peers into Saruman’s palantir, Sauron misinterprets its
location and the hobbit’s identity (II, 197-99). Like the best of prophetic
devices, the palantir not only report action but also cause it to happen.
38
----I ---------.
. . . , _“C .- .
.
Denethor despairs because Sauron has shown him ti distorted view of the
future in his palantir (III, 129). And, Aragorn chaenges Sauron through the
palantir, causing Sauron to strike before he is ready (III, 52-5.3).. Like
Galadriel’s Mirror, the palantiri are &usual yet exceedingly handy plot ’
devices.
Foresight
In many literary works, the story sometimes jumps ahead through
various artistic devices, and sometimes the author thrusts explanations from
the past into the story. While the Laxdale sagawriter uses dreams, the
Beowulf-poet applies less obvious devices, such as hints about the fate of
Hereot; prophecies of war between the Danes and the Heatho-bards; and
several interpolated narratives, such as the treachery of Heremod and the
tragedy of Finn.
Similarly, The Lord of the F2ine involves many prophetic devices. The
character Gandalf has long sight, even though Aragorn notes that it failed
him in regard to his own death. For instance, Gandalfs foreknowledge that
Gollum has yet some part to play in the story prevents the creature’s death
(I, 69). Gandalf explains to Frodo that Bilbo’s pity and mexy saved Gollum.
Bilbo has been repaid by having received so little ,evil from his long
ownership of the Ring. Gandalf foresees that Bilbo’s pity will gain a fortunate
fate for many: “My heart tells me that he has some part to play yet, for good
or ill, before the end: and when that comes, the pity of Bilbo may rule the
fate of many -- yours not least” (I, 69). Tolkien also avails himself of fulfilled
prophecies. The Dwarf King’s assumption of his old kingdom in The Hobbit;
the reforging of Aragorn’s sword Anduril; Aragorn’s ride through the Paths
of the Dead to bring the oath breakers to his service: and the return of King
Aragom are examples.
Premonitions
A more concrete example of counterparts occurs in the premonitions
of old leaders: Gest, Hrothgar, Theoden, and Elrond. In Beowulf, after the
39
guard tells Hrothgar that Beowulf has arrived, Hrothgar senses the outcome:
“Holy God of His grace has sent him to us West-Danes, as I hope, against the
terror of Grendel” (Beowulf, 8). Several such premonitions occur in The
Lord of the ~I?in@. In The Fellowshix, of the Rin& Frodo offers to takthe
Ring to destroy it at the Council of Elrond. Elrond foresees the wisdom of
that venture: “I think that this task is appointed for you, Frodo: and that if
you do not find a way, no one will” (I, 284). Like Hrothgar, Theoden sees
that Gandalf has perhaps corrie too late to save his hall and his high seat (II,
120). As Hrothgar’s foreknowledge about Beowulfs mission indicates the
King’s concern for the misery Grendel causes Hereot so does Theoden’s
statement about the bad fate of his hall suggest his knowledge about the
existing perils: “Not long now shall stand the high hall which Brego son of
Eorl built. Fire shall devour the high seat. What is to be done?” (II, 120).
Theoden understands that unless the quest succeeds, his hall and the
freedom of his people will vanish.
Dreams
Each author commands different prophetic modes. The Laxdale saa
author employs prescient dreams and epigrammatic utterances, while the
Beowulf-poet uses ominous references to parallel events and canny guesses
about future outcomes. Tolkien also enlists the prophetic dream, a stock
mythological, device. Boromir, Faramir, and their father Denethor all dream
about the events surrounding-the Sword that was Broken. Frodo dreams
prophetically of the sea, which he will eventually cross, While he is in Tom
Bombadil’s house, he also has a visionary dream of Gandalf’scaptivity at the
hands of Saruman.
Recounting
Like the Beowulf-poet and others, Tolkien rearranges narrative events
by filling in details from the past at various points. The Beowulf-poet
recounts the hero’s youth during his appearance at the court of King
Hrothgar. At the end of the poem, the hero reminisces and reviews his
40
kingship before he engages the dragon .46 Tolkien begins this recounting
when Gandalf verifies the identity of the Ring and tells Frodo its history.
Tolkien continues with past histories in the remarkablely well-constructed
l
chapter entitled “The Council of Elrond.” There, he recites more history of

the Ring, the stories of Gloin, Elrond, Boromir, Aragorn, Bilbo, Galdor,
Legolas, Gandalf, Glorfmdel, and Frodo. The forward movement of the story
pauses while Tolkien completes the vision of events in the past.
Allusion
Tolkien and the Beowulf-poet both make cogent use of allusion. The
Beowulf-poet employs interpolated narratives: the tragedy of Finn, the
treachery of Heremod, the story of Thryth, the tale of the Brosing necklace,
the battle at Ravenwood, and the burning of Hereot.47 Each of these stories
reminds the audience of related events and offers a commentary on the
action of the poem. Tolkien’s problem with allusion and interpolated
narrative was quite complex. He had created the worlds of the first and
second ages in The Silmarillion. All of those characters and events were
available to him in the same way that the Trojan heroes and Greek and
Roman gods were available to the Greek and Roman poets, except Tolkien’s
audience was not familiar with the antecedents to his story. The publishers
rejected Tolkien’s solution -- to publish The Silmarillion first. Thus,
Tolkien faced the problems that many modern readers of the Odvssev, Iliad,
Aeneid, and Beowulf face. His audience could not immediately respond to
the complexities of his allusions and interpolated stories. He solved the
difficulty by explaining allusions as he introduced them and by providing
supplementary materials in the appendices.
In the first reading of any really good story, most readers concentrate
on the action plot. Nuances of character and meaning must be sacrificed to
the resolution of the story line itself. But after this first devouring of the
tale, readers begin to desire more details. This desire prompted the
long-delayed publication of The Silmarillion and now of The History of
Middle-earth. Just as a careful study of the allusions in classical epics or the
41
Beowulf greatly enriches a reader’s appreciation of the intricacies of the
tale, so now an in-depth study of the newly- published associated tales
mentioned in the The Lord of the Fain@ adds to an appreciation of the story
itself.
While the saga writer of Laxdale prefers dreams and long-sighted
utterances, the Beowulf-poet employs foreshadowing comments and
interpolated narratives. Tolkien in 1 uses Galadriel’s
Mirror, the palantiri, inserted stories and poems, and a variety of prophetic
devices. All three authors control narrative action by looking ahead in the
story with these techniques. And all enrich the reader’s experience with
embroidered tales from the past.
Repetition in Lexical Items

Linguistic patterns .
The saga author also employs repetition in lexical items as a device to
insure unity in the narrative. Linguistic patterns are established and used to
evoke comparisons between themes, characters, and scenes. The linguistic
components make the relationships the author is emphasizing clear to the
reader. One example of this technique from the Laxdale Sa@ revolves
around a pair of swords. Geirmund has a good sword about which the
sagawriter says, “This sword he called Footbite, and he never let it very far
out of his sight. “48 King Olaf gives Kjartan as a parting gift the sword
Konungsnaut, which is stolen at a party between the fosterbrothers. About it
the sagaman makes a similar comment: “Kjartan had not been camg his
sword Konungsnaut around with him while going about these duties,
although he was rarely in the habit of letting it very far out of his sight.“49
When Kjartan recovers the sword, its scabbard is missing; thus Kjartan quits
carrying it with him as frequently as he did before. The fulfillment of King
Olaf’s prophecy that Kjartan will not meet harm as long as he has the sword
is facilitated.
Tolkien uses these linguistic patterns also to maintain unity of
structure in The Lord of the Rina. One such unifying device contains
42
- -.- -_.-_.
, ..,,.A. .
< .-,., . \. . ,.r..~
1.
’ references to the story of the hobbits’ adventures. Tolkien begins this

device in a conversation between Gandalf and Bilbo, in which Bilbo brings
up the idea of finishing his book. The story and its ending recur throughout
the work until Frodo finally presents Sam with an almost finished book; b,nly
the last pages are reserved for Sam to fill in. The various crossed out titles
indicate the deepening concerns of the story from Bilbo’s “My Diary” and
“My Unexpected Journey” to Frodo’s authoritative .“The DoWnf&ll of the Lord
of the Rings and the Return of the King.” Another such uni@ing pattern
consists of references to what was meant to be -- the roles that various
characters had to play in the working out of the drama. Bilbo and Frodo
were meant to have the Ring; Gollum should not be killed because “he has
some part to play.”
Another set of linguistic repetitions takes its cue from Bilbo’s third
title “There and Back Again” the actual subtitle of The Hobbit. After the epic
events of the war, the ring’s destruction, and the crowning of the King,
Tolkien needs to bring his readers back into the environment of the Shire,
to remind them that the story has had ;a focus on the doings of the little
people. Repetition of the key phrase accomplishes this. After Frodo visits
Bilbo in Rivendell, Elrond takes him aside, saying “I think Frodo, that maybe
you will not need to come back, unless you come.very soon.” (III, 267). This
reminder of Bilbo’s frailty is one of the saddest moments in the work. .
Tolkien continues his word play with Sam’s greeting to Farmer Cotton “I’ve
come back” (III, 287). After the hobbits can no longer see Frodo’s elvish
light from the westward sailing ship, they ride silently homeward, “and they
spoke no word to one another until they came back to the Shire.” (III, 3 11).
Shortly thereafter, Sam utters the last spoken words ‘in the narrative: “Well,
I’m back.” (III, 311). These linguistic repetitions do not derive from any
poverty of invention on the author’s part but rather from the desire to guide
the reader in following the structure of the work.
Repetition of Events
Another type of repetition in the Laxdale Saga is recurrence of events.
43
Gudrun’s meetings with men, their suits for her hand, her marriages (happy
and unhappy), and her husbands’ deaths form one set of recurrences.
Similarly, Gest’s prediction about Kjartan’s death, Bolli’s actual killing of his
fosterbrother, and the subsequent death of Bolli form another. Laxdale
translator Margaret Arent argues that the structural devices of repetition
and recurrence symbolize the formal aspects of the integration between the
supernatural sphere (fate) and the moral realm (the binding code of honor
and revenge) 50 In the Laxdale Saga, recurrence enhances the sense of a
l
predetermined and calculated world, in which the characters are unable to

escape from a wheel of fortune bearing deaths and revenges. I
Tolkien also achieves effect through repetition. The effect he achieves.
correlates with his theme in the same way that the Laxdale sagaman’s does.
The Laxdale sagaman wants the reader to see his story not as a tragedy of
characters bound by fate and by their own natures but as a tragedy of the
comitatus way of life. The code of honor and revenge creates the tragedy.
Time and again the protagonists Kjartan and Bolli are begged to desist, for
their families, and indeed all of Iceland, can ill afford to lose such good men.
Thorstein voices his disapproval of the plans for Bolli’s death: “It is a great
pity that you kinsmen should continue killing one another off. There are
few enough like Bolli left in your family as it is.“51 Yet, Bolli does die and l
then Gudrun demands revenge for.his death.
Tolkien’s story emphasizes not only the inevitability that evil will
appear and reappear throughout history but also the responsibility for all
people to stand against evil no matter how insignficant they may consider
themselves. Thus, in the matter of The Lord of the Rings, repetition occurs
in the death of rulers. Thorin, corrupted by his dwarfish greed and his
avarice for the Arkenstone, dies in the Battle of Five Armies at the end of
The Hobbit. Denethor, shot through with despair at Sauron’s power, his son
Boromir’s death, and his possible loss of the stewardship, lights his own
funeral pyre. And, Theoden, rescued at last from long neglect of his Kingly
duties, dies at the hand of the Ring-wraith. Most of the rest of the noble
characters--Elrond, Celebom, Galadriel, and Gandalf-take ship for the
0
44
havens. This repetition underscores for the reader the penrasiveness of evil,
even though its dominance has been averted for the moment.
Similarly, the importance of heroism on the part of the less powerful
characters also bears repeating. Bilbo’s visit to Smaug sets a standard fof
hobbit courage that the rest of his family must live up to, and they do.
Elrond warns that the younger hobbits would not dare the journey if they
had a fuller understanding of its terrors, but they acquit themselves well.
Merry aids in the slaying of the Lord of the Nazgul, a truly fearsome
creature; Sam takes on a whole company of Ores when he thinks they are
despoiling Frodo’s body; Pippin struggles with the Dark Lord himself in the
palantti; and Frodo endures months of stalking by Ringwraiths and
searching by the Eye of Sauron. This repetition reinforces the lesson that
individual courage and heroism can make a difference. Hotheaded,
flamboyant courage brings the world of the Laxdale Saa to an unhappy end,
but the cautious courage of the hobbits and their allies saves Middle-earth
for another age.
Tripartite Division
Arent also praises the Laxdale sagaman for his tripartite division of’the
saga and his use of three main characters. She observes that three parties, .
three goadings, three drownings, and three land sales contribute to the
action of the story. Throughout these actions, the author emphasizes the
bargaining process itself, the meeting out of justice and the evening of sides.
All elements must be compared with their counterparts -- the worth of
men, weregild payments, land sales, skirmishes at arms, horse trades, and
marriage contracts. These images reflect a central theme of the saga.52
Tolkien also understands the dramatic value of threes. Like the Laxdale
Saga, The Lord of the Rings also has a tripartite structure. While the
obvious divisions are the six books, two each into three volumes, the more
organic divisions might be labelled as the prelude, the central theme, and
the postlude, as Arent does with Laxdale. In The Lord of the Rings, the
prelude includes Bilbo’s birthday party, Frodo’s lingering in the Shire, the
45
hobbits’ journey to Crickhollow, their adventures in the Old Forest, their
stay with Tom Bombadil, their narrow escape from the Barrow Wight, their
antics in the Prancing Pony, their escape on Weathertop, their flight to the
Ford, and their participation in the Council of Elrond (I: Book 1 and Book 2,
Chapters 1 and 2) The central action begins with the forming of the
Fellowship of the Ring and continues through the ring’s destruction in
Mount Doom (I: Book 2, Chapters 3-10; II: Books 3 and 4; and III: Book 5
and Book 6, Chapters 1-3). The postlude consists of the rescue of Frodo and
Sam, Aragom’s claiming of his throne, the marriages, the hobbits’ journey
home, the scouring of the Shire, and the departures at the grey havens (III:
Book 6, Chapters 4-9 and Appendices). As in Laxdale and other sagas, this
tripartite structure is very satisfying for the reader. The opportunity for
getting acquainted with the characters and their eccentricities gains
interest for the action to come, and the long postlude allows the stray bits of
story to be completed in a satisfactory manner.
Thus, the use of storytelling techniques forms another bond between
the sagas and The Lord of the Rings_. In techniques for prophecy and
fulfillment, Tolkien has many familiar devices--foresight, premonition,
dream, recounting, and allusion--but he also has some unusual and
innovative techniques-the mirror of Galadriel and the palantiri. With these,
he enables the reader to see the end of the story without spoiling the
suspense of its actual unfolding. Like great sagawriters, Tolkien carefully
repeats both linguistic phrases and events in order to underscore his
themes of the recurrence of evil and the courageous responses to it. Both
sagawritersand Tolkien use a tripartite approach to make sure that their
readers come to understand the themes illustrated in their works.
.
Comitatus, Kinship. and Reven@
* Comitatus
“The Havamal”, one of the poems in the Poetic Edda, is the main
source for understanding the Northern lands’ ethical system, which is
illustrated rather than stated in the Icelandic sagas. The cornerstone of
46
-. _-- .-- -“-“‘~~
> j *.. . . ,_ . ..Y . . , _
behavior was loyalty -- to friends, to the lord or the chieftain, and to kin.
This bond of loyalty is called cotnitcztus. The “Havam&l” says that:
With his friend a man should be friends ever,

and pay back gift for gift,
Laughter for laughter he learns to give,
and eke lesing for lies.
With his friend a man should be friends ever,
with him and the friend of his friend: *,
but foeman’s friend befriend thou never,
(and keep thee aloof from his kin).53
In The Lord of the IZingS, the Fellowship is composed of nine brave people
whose loyalty is bound, not by an oath but by an unspoken commitment.
They are committed to the leader, Gandalf and then Aragorn; to the
Ringbearer, Frodo; and to the mission, the . destruction of the Ring. At the
touching moment of farewell from Rivendell, Elrond pronounces a
benediction on the group noting that only the ringbearer has a charge laid
upon him while the others go as free companions. Gimli replies that any
who leaves when the road darkens would be faithless. Elrond counsels, “let
him not vow to walk in the dark, who has not seen the nightfall” (I, 294).
Gimli urges that “sworn word may strengthen quaking heart” (I, 294) Yet,
Elrond fears that it may also break the heart. He then blesses them in the
name of Elves, men, and all Free Folk, to which Bilbo adds his good luck.
After Gandalf is lost, Gala‘driel tests the faith of the others by offering each a
secret choice between the individual’s greatest desire and the dangerous
trip ahead. Each thinks that the choice is his alone, that Galadriel has the
power to honor the choice, and that the choice will remain secret. Yet all
eight members of the Fellowship continue the quest. Later, Boromir’s greed
for power makes him threaten Frodo, but after his weakness, he dies trying ,
to protect Merry and Pippin from the arcs. He is true to his word: “It is not
the way of the Men of Minas Tirith to desert their friends at need . . . ” (I,
47
*.
c
406). Even though he has strayed from his unspoken oath in attempting to
suborn Frodo, he reclaims his honor with his death. Clearly, the code of
.
loyalty to one’s friend is an important one in The Lord of the Rin@.
Kinship
The effect of cornitatus is to make the bond of friendship as close as
that of kinship. Thus, when the witch king Angmar, the Ringwraith, kills
King Thcoden in battle, the men of his house are slain around him trying to
protect his body. His newest retainer Merry believes that he is the King’s
man, that the King is a father to him. Merry aids the King’s sister’s daughter,
.
&owyn, in killing Angmar, thus fulfilling his bond to the King. In The
Hobbit, the dwarves observe the ancient customs of kinship, too, for the
closest relationship is between the uncle and his sister’s son: “Fili and Kili -
had fallen defending him [Thorin] with shield and body, for he was their
mother’s elder brother. The others remained with Dain; for Dain dealt his
treasure well” [Hobbit, 303-04). Here in a brief passage the bonds of
comitatus are fully illustrated. The retainer’s ultimate duty is to die with his
Lord on -the field of battle. The Lord or King’s ultimate obligation is the free
giving of gifts, as the “Havamal” dictates. This ethical system of loyalty is one
of the major forces for good in Tfl. The loyalty
demonstrated in these works is for friends, kin, and rightful overlord, not
for God or some supernatural being.
Revenge
The code demanded revenge when a friend or a kinsman was killed.
This motive alone accounts for much of the action in the family sagas.
Revenge was demanded for dead relatives, such as Kari’s revenge for his
wife’s family, that is, NjZil, Nj&l’s sons, and Kari’s own son. Revenge was also
required for a friend asin The Sworn Brothers, or for an injury to goods or
pride as in Hrafnkel’s Sam where the servant is killed for riding Hrafnkel’s
horse. Revenge is the single most important motive in the sagas. In that,
the sagas differ markedly from The Lord of the Rings, in which revenge is
48
i not a major motivating force because the emphasis is not on the small evils
done by one man to another but on the greater evil of attempting to deprive
all peoples of freedom.
In the history of the dwarves in Appendix A, the dwarves fight a long
war to avenge the killing and humiliation of Thror. ThrZiin declares victory,
but since half their people have been lost, his people answer, “We fought this
war for vengeance and vengeance we have taken. But it is not sweet, If this
is victory, then our hands are too small to hold it” (III, 356). And their
cousins said that “Khazad-Dum was not our Fathers’ house. What is it to us,
unless a hope of treasure? But now, if we must go without the rewards and
weregilds that are owed to us, the sooner we return to our own lands the
better pleased we shall be.” (III, 356). Weregild, payment for death, was an
honorable alternative to revenge. If the killing were part of a feud, then
weregild paid to the surviving relative could stop him from revenge .
especially when the relationship was not the closest. However, if death
came in war, then the King sometimes paid weregild for a valiant man who
died fighting in his service. For example, King Aethelstan gives Egil
Skallagrimsson two chests of silver to give to his father for the death of
Egil’s brother Thorolf. Also, King Thrain would have been expected to pay
weregild to the relatives of Dain’s men who died in battle.
The tale of revenge told in “Durin’s Folks,” Appendix A of The Return
of the King has other Northern analogs. When Thror returns to Erebor to
try to regain his treasure, his friend Na.r accompanies him and waits outside
while Thror marches into Moria. Many days later the horns sound and the
ores come to the gates. They bid N&r to come to them calling him’ first
“beardling” and then “begger-beard”. They throw out Thror’s headless body
and severed head with the name AZOG branded on it in Dwarf-runes. Azog
throws out a small bag of coins as a fee for N&r to take back a message to
Thror’s family that Azog, not Thror, is now king of Moria. In Nial’s Saga,
NjzZl’s sons gain Earl Hakon’s displeasure during a visit to the Orkneys
because Thrain Sigfusson, their fellow Icelander, has helped the villainous
Killer Hrapp to escape. After considerable fighting, Earl Hakon captures the
49
Njtissons, whom he plans to put to death. They escape and join their
brother-in-law Kari. Finally, a peace is arranged between the two parties,
but the Nj&lssons consider themselves injured by Thrain’s lawless action.
When Kari and the sons of Nj&l go to Thrain to talk about compensation,
Thrain asks how long they are going to go on begging. Hallgerd, the ignoble
wife of the now-dead Gunnar, calls them “little Dung-beards” and says that
their father should be known as “Old Beardless”. Nj&l has instructed his
sons to bear these insults so that proper legal grounds can be established for
their eventual killing of Thrain and his companions?* Adequacy of beards
becomes an insult in both tales, while a small bag of coins forms another link
between them. When Gunnar’s wife Hallgerd and Nj&l’s wife Bergthora have
been feuding, Gunnar and Nj&l are determined to stay friends. Njiil carries
the purse that Gunnar has given him as compensation for a servant Hallgerd
had killed; the compensation had been 12 ounces of silver. When Bergthora
has accomplished her revenge, Nj&l “took the purse and handed it to
Gunnar, who recognized it as being the money that he himself had given
Nj91 . “55 Similarly 9 in “Durin’s Folk”, when the dwanres have won the battle,
the purse thrown at N&r occurs again: “They took the head of Azog and
thrust into its mouth the purse of small money, and then they set it on a
stake” (III, 356). Another likeness between these two works is the action of
coming to a decision by casting a cloak over the head and sitting silently
until the the thought process is finished. In “Durin’s Folk”, NZir sits for
seven days after he returns with the news of Thror’s death and the
prohibitions of Azog. At the conclusion of that time, he stands up, says “This
cannot be borne!“, and begins the long war of the dwarves and ores (III,
355). In NJ&l’s Saga, the Althing debates whether Christianity shall become
the prevailing religion of the land. The Christians choose the heathen
Thorgeir the Priest of Ljosawater to be their spokesman. “For a whole day,
Thorgeir lay with a cloak over his head. No one spoke to him.“56 When
Thorgeir speaks, he announces a new way of life for Icelanders -- all the land
shall be Christian, certain heathen practices shall stop, and public heathen
worship will no longer occur. In both cases, a great change in wrought in
50
c-r
1 . , ._, .
.. -. . .
the lives of the comxnon people by a man who has been in silent meditation.
Both stories also feature a revenge battle in a, valley. Thrain decides to
return through the Markar River valley even though the river has great ice-
strips in it. He is travelling with seven companions, including KillerHra~p.
Although his friends advise him to stay longer, Thrain says to do so would be
a sign of fear. Some beggar women bring the news to the NjZilssons, who put
on their brightly colored clothes, gather their weapons, and’ set. out to attack
Thrain’s party. The most spectacular killing of the saga occurs when
Skarphedin slides down a huge sheet of ice as fast as a bird, crashes the
head of Thrain who is starting to put on his helmet, and spills his back teeth
on the ice. Kari cuts off Killer-Hrapp’s hand while Hrapp quips about that
needing to be done since so many men had died by the hand and then Grim
runs him through with a spear. Kari leaps to avoid Tjorvi’s spear and
plunges his sword into his chest. At the end of the battle, Skarphedin lets
four of the attackers go. In “Durin’s Folk,” the battle between the dwarves
and the arcs is joined in the great vale of Azanulbizar. Thorin wins his
sobriquet Oakenshield by using a branch of an oak as a shield after his has
been cloven. Both Thrain and Thorin are wounded. N&n taunts Azog asking
if the play in the valley is too rough. Azog, wearing an iron helmet, attacks
N&in, shatters his mattock, and hews his neck, N&in’s metal collar saves
him from beheading, but the blow breaks his neck. Like Thrain in N_iWs
Sam, Azog discovers that his forces are losing in the valley. As he turns to
flee into MO&, D&in, N&in’s young son, leaps up and beheads him with a red
axe. (III, 355356). The numeric victory for the Njalssons is a great one;
five of them attack eight, kill four, and release four others. The dwarves are
also victorious but too many of their numbers are killed. They must build
funeral pyres and burn their dead rather than building tombs for them.
From this historical incident comes the phrase “he was a burned Dwarf”. (III.
357). Nj&l and his sons aIl burn inside his house when their attackers can
defeat them no other way; Nj&l’s saga is frequently called “The Saga of Burnt
.@ 11
Y.Jdl
A character named Thrain and the use of axes may have been the
51
ii‘ intersections between thes.e two stories. Skarphedin’s axe Battle-troll is a
famous weapon from the sagas and his use of it to kill Thrain in the valley
battle is indeed memorable -- too memorable for Tolkien to make any
\ greater use of it than to set a battle in a valley, change a man putting on a
helmet to an arc wearing a helmet, and recast Battle-Troll as a plain “red
axe”. The dwarves, like the sons of Njiil, share several traits -- stiffed
necked behavior, rashness, and fey inclinations. Whether Tolkien’s memory
‘of the events in the Starkar valley was conscious or unconscious as he wrote
the account of “Durin’s Folks” , the number of parallels between the two
scenes shows a great kinship.
The men of Middle-earth practice comitatus, kinship, and revenge
even more briskly than do the other creatures, except perhaps dwarves. In
fact, the One Ring came into the possession of Isildur after the war as
weregild. Weregild (Old Norse were, “war” and gild, “blood”) is a payment of
money to a dead person’s family; money takes the place of the bloodshed
required by revenge code. In the NJal’s Saga, twelve ounces of silver is the
usual payment for a slave; one hundred ounces for a free man, and some men
are compensated at double or triple weregild of two to three hundred
ounces of silver. After Sauron is defeated, Isildur takes the Ring even
though Elrond advises against it. Isildur says, ‘This [the Ring] I will have as
weregild for my father, and my brother” (I, 256). Since the Ring is of such
great value, Isildur has put a high price on his closest kin. However, the
Ring betrays him to his death, ‘for an arc arrow kills him at Gladden Field,
and the Ring slips off his finger into the river.
Service Weregild
Another alternative to revenge or weregild also occurs in The Lord of
the Rina. When Pippin is explaining to Denethor how his son Boromir died
defending the two hobbits, Pippin chooses a third alternative to blood
revenge or money payment and offers his service in place of the man who
saved his life. The oath he takes establishes the relationship between the
lord and his man: .
52
The old man [Denethor] laid the sword along his lap, and
Pippin. put his hand to the hilts, and said slowly after Denethor:
8
‘Here do I swear fealty and service to Gondor, and to the
Lord and Steward of’the realm, to speak and to be silent, to do
and to let be, to come and to go, in need or plenty, in peace or
war, in living or dying, from this hour henceforth, until my lord
release me, or death take me, or the world end. So say I
Peregrin son of Paladin of the Shire of the Halfings.’
‘And this do I hear, Denethor son of Ecthelion, Lord of
Gondor, Steward of the High King, and I will not forget it, nor
fail to reward that which is given: fealty with love, valour with
honor, oathbreaking with vengeance’ (III, 28).
Because Denethor’s son Boromir has died to save Pippin and Merry’s lives,
Pippin offers his service to Denethor. A money payment to Boromir’s father
would have been the more usual way of satisfying the debt.
This arrangement has many antecedents in the sagas. In the
Orknevinga Saga, King Olaf Trygvasson comes to such an agreement with the
Earls of Orkney after some difficulties: one third of the islands go to Earl
Brusi, one third to Earl Thorfinn, but the third part, which had belonged to
Earl Einar, now stays with King Olaf in payment for his retainer and close
companion Eyvind Aurochs-Horn. 57 Einar had been killed by Thorkel
Amundason who realizes that this settlement may not be entirely satisfactory
to Earl Brusi. Thorkel goes to Brusi to ask him to settle the differences
between them. Earl Brusi demands Thorkel’s service: “you come with me
to Orkney, stay with me, and never leave me without my permission. You’ll
be duty bound to defend my realm and do whatever I wish to be done, for as
long as we both live.“~8 Marriage also could be used as compensation. King
Magnus gives. Earl Erlend’s daughter Gunnhild to Kol, as a compensation for
the death of his father. Money is used in the traditional way in this saga, too:
when the King awards compensation for the killing of Einar, the sum is the
53
same as that for three landed-men, but Einar’s own offenses allow a
one-third remittance of the payment.59 .
In the yatnsdale Saga, Thorstein kills the highwayman Jokul, but
since Jokul could have killed him, too, he agrees to return to Jokul’s family
with news of the death. Following Jokul’s advice, Thorstein approaches the
mother Vigdis. After recognizing the token ring, she agrees to support
Thorstein’s plea for life with her husband Ingimund. She tells Ingimund
that their son gave Thorstein peace and pardoned his offenses, even
suggesting that Thorstein might be a suitable husband for their daughter
Thordis. Ingimund notes that she has spoken long and wants to know why
he should honor the man who slew his son, saying that that man deserves l
death rather than a friendly return. Vigdis convinces Ingimund to honor

their dead son’s word because Ingimund is old and needs someone to take
his place. When Thorstein comes before Ingimund, the young man offers
the father selfdoom, that is to name his own recompense for the death of
his son Jokul. But Thorstein reminds the earl that many great lords grant
men life who yield themselves of their own free will. Ingimund replies “I
like the look of you enough to spare your life . . . and the properest amends
for my son will be that you should come instead of him, if you are content to
make your home with me.“60 Thorstein agrees to stay there and eventually
marries the daughter.
In “Thorstein the White’s Saga,” Thorstein the Fair goes to Thorstein
the White to offer compensation for the death of his son. The old man
refuses money compensation, saying that he will not carry his son in his
purse. In a touching scene, Thorstein the Fair has put his head in the blind
old man’s lap. The grieving father says “I shall not have this head of yours
struck from your shoulders. Ears are most becoming where they have
grown. But I shall make the agreement between us, that you shall fare here
to Temple as a comfoti to me with all you have, and be here as long as I
wish; but do you sell your ship? Thorstein the Fair then remains there,
marries, and lives there for eight years “as a son”. Finally, Thorstein the
White notes that Einar’s son will be eighteen years old and ready for blood
54
revenge, and advises Thorstein the Fair to take his family and move to
Norway.
In Appendix A to The Lord of the Rings, Earl of Rohan uses this
service alternative as weregild against the horse that threw arid killed his
father. Instead of shooting the horse with an arrow, he Calls to the horse.
When it stands before him, he said, “Felar6f I name you. You loved your
freedom, and I do not blame you for that. -But now you owe ‘me .a great
weregild, and you shall surrender your freedom to me until your life’s end”
(III, 346). For the injury to his family, Earl extracts service
, rather than
money. The traditions of revenge are rich and powerful in the sagas. Yet,
Tolkien manages to give them fresh and relevant representation in his own
work, even though his theme of good and evil is played out on a more
cosmic scale than that of his antecedents.
Thus, the ethical code of the creatures of Middle-earth is like that of
the Norsemen. The Christian virtues of humility, meekness, forgiveness
have not yet arrived. The emphasis is on comitatus, loyalty to friends and to
kin. To be virtuous is to live according? to the code; the end of life is not the
glory of the Heavenly City but the knowledge that honor has not been
abandoned. Here again an understanding of the traditions from which the
customs of Middle-earth are constructed helps me reader to a correct
interpretation of Tolkien’s three-part work.
55
NOTES
1. J. S. Ryan, “German Mythology Applied: The Extension of the Ritual Folk-

, Memory,” Folklore 77, (1960): 45-49. Ryan lists the following themes in
The Hobbit: comtiatus, heroic last stand, love of treasure, and the special
relationship between a warrior and his sister’s son. From The Lord ‘of the
Rings, Ryan notes the unconsolable grief of the leader at the death of his
heir, hospitality, false counsellors, the doomed hero’s courage, the call to
duty, and the council of war. My own arrangement of materials makes it
difficult for me to cross index Ryan’s comments and note their likeness to
my own ideas in the proper places. I believe that he is wrong when he says
that final failure under the shadow of fate is not true for Frodo because
although the quest is achieved, Frodo does not throw the Ring into Mount
Doom. At the critical moment, Frodo fails because he wishes to keep the
Ring. He says “‘I have come . . . But I do not choose now to do what I came
to do. I will not do this deed. The Ring is mine!’ And suddenly, as he set it
on his finger, he vanished from Sam’s sight” (III, 223). This opinion is
discussed further in the next chapter.
2, Norman Davis, “Man Monsters at Sutton Hoo,” English and Medieval

Studies Presented to J.R.R. Tolkien on the Occasion of his Seventieth I
Birthdav, ed. Norman Davis and C. L. Wrenn (London: Allen and Unwin,
1962), 32 l-29. If Norman Davis can find a parallel between a Sutton Hoo
plaque of a man with rampant animals on either side with mouths close to
his head and a similar figure on a New Zealand Moorea caning, then Bilbo
and Gollum’s riddle game must have innumerable but perhaps meaningless
parallels in cultures Tolkien was not even aware of. Here are discussed only
those he probably knew well.
trans. Christopher Tolkien (London: Nelson, 1960)) 32. Christopher
56
Tolkien notes in the introduction that this riddle contest is the only one in
the sagas while Old English literature has many riddles.
,
6. The Saga of King Heidrek, 36.
7. The Saga of King Heidrek, 44.
8. Ruth M. Noel, The M-ythology of Middle-earth (Boston: Houghton Mifflin,

1978), 33.
9. William Howard Green, “The Hobbit and Other Fiction by J.R.R. Tolkien:
Their Roots in Medieval Heroic Literature and Language,” (Ph.D. diss.,
Louisiana State University, 1970), 112-18.
10. Humphrey Carpenter, Tolkien: A Biographv (Boston: Houghton Mifflin,

1978), 100-01.
11. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return, of the Shadow, ed. Christopher Tolkien
(Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1989), 173. (AI1 references are to this edition
and are in the text as Shadow).
12. Ralph W. W. Elliot, Runes: An Introduction (New York: Philosophical

Library, 1959), 7.
13. Runes: An Introduction, 11.
14. Kevin Crossley-Holland, The Norse Myths (New York: Pantheon, 1980),
188.
57
15 . Runes: An Introduction, 1.
16 . Sandra L. Miesel, “Some Motifs and Sources for Lord of the Rings [sic],”
Riverside Quarterlv III (1968): 125.
For instance, Sandra L. Miesel says the following:
“The geography of Middle Earth’s [sic] principal continent is vaguely

like that of Western Europe and the philological and cultural
relationships between its races are patterned on those of the British
Isles. Schematically: the elves are the Romans, the Dunedain [sic] the
Romanised Celts, the Northerners the non-Romanised Celts, and the
Wild Men the pre-Celtic aborigines, the Rohirrim the Anglo-Saxons
(by extension, the other Nordic elements as well), and the hobbits late
mediaeval English yoemen. The last correlation is re-enforced by the
dating of the Shire Calendar.” [ 1251.
This statement is strangely illogical with its shifting time periods from the
Romans in the first through fifth centuries A.D. to the Middle Ages while in
Middle-earth the civilizations all exist at the same time. The statement is
also unsupported.
In fact on the next page, Miesel contradicts herself: “In the most
primitive Norse myths, gods5 *and other heroes came from Paradise beyond
the sea and returned thence when their missions were accomplished. This
recalls the elves’ migrations. Also consider the eschato-logical similarities.
At Ragnarsk, evil would be defeated, but Asgard and the old order would
perish. Only the gods’ sons would survive to guide humanity into a new age.”
[ 1261 First, Miesel flatly states that “the elves are the Romans,” then she
suggests that the elves’ return from “Paradise” is like that of the Norse gods
and heroes. Then, immediately following, she notes that “Tolkien’s Undying
Lands in the Western Sea resemble the Immortal Isles of Celtic fable.” [127]
In Miesel’s words, the elves (Remans/Norse gods and heroes) come from
58
“Tolkien’s Undying Lands in the Western Sea” (relationship to..Romans
unspecified / “Paradise” of the Norse gods and heroes / the Immortal Isles
of Celtic fable). This tangle seems more than “vague.”
Miesel’s footnote five above only adds to the confusion, for “the gods.”
she refers to are “Vanir, or nature deities, not the later and more familiar
Aesir-folk.” In his volume of Norse mythology, Turville-Petre includes Freyr
and F’reyja in his lists of Van.&. The maingods of Norse mythology -- such as
Othin, Thor, and Frey -- include both Vanir and Aesir. The “more familiar
Aesir-folk” who survive the Ragnarsk include Vithar,, Vali, Mothi, Magni, and
Ho&-all virtually unknown gods. [E.O.G. Turville- Petre. Mvth and Religion
of the North: The Religion of Ancient Scandinavia. (New York, 1964),
156-79, 275-851 The death of all the well-known Norse gods must be seen
as significant. The reader should not interpret the succession of the
unknown children of the gods as a happy ending.
17. John Tinkler, “Old English in Rohan,” Tolkien and the Critics, ed. Neil
D. Isaacs and Rose A. Zimbardo (Notre *Dame: University of Notre Dame
Press, 1968), 164-69.
18. Snorri Sturluson, Heimskringla: The Historv of the Kings of Norwav,

trans. Lee M. Hollander (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1964), 149.
19 . H e i m s k r i n g l a , 7 8 . ’
20 . Tolkien and the Critics, 164-69.
21 . Egils saga Skallagrimssonar, Egil’s Saga, trans. Gwyn Jones (Syracuse:

Syracuse University Press, 1960), 110-40.
22. Heimskringla, 144-244, 100-42.
23. Oddr Snorrason, munkr, Saga 01&f Trvmason l’sicl who Reigned over
59
Norway. A. D. 995 to A. D. 1000, trans. J. Sephton (London: D. Nutt, 1895),
70-71.
24. Faereyinga saga, The Tale of Thrond of Gate, trans. F, York Powell
(London: D. Nutt, 1896), xxxvi.
25. Njals saga, Niti’s saga, trans. Carl F. Bayerschmidt and Lee M. Hollander
26. Snorri Sturluson, Heimskringla, 11-13.
27. Volsunga saga, Volsunga Saga: The Story of the Volsungs and Niblungs,
trans. William Morris (New York: Collier, 1962), 20 1.
28. E.O.G. Turville-Petre, Mvth and Religion of the North: The Religion of
Ancient Scandinavia, (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1964), 2710
73 .
29. Humphrey Carpenter, The Inklings: C. S. Lewis. J.R.R. Tolkien, Charles

Williams and their Friends (London: Allen 6s Unwin, 1978), 146-47.
30. Carpenter, Rhys, Folk Tale. Fiction and Saga in the Homeric Epics
(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1946), 1360 156.
31. Korm&ks saga, The Saga of Kormak and the Sworn Brothers, trans. Lee
M. Hollander (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1949), 27.
32. King Heidrek, 14-16.

1,
33. Grettis saga, The Saga of Grettir the Strong, trans. G.A. Hight, ed. Peter
Foote (London: Dent, 1965), 44-45, 56. Ryan also notes this similarity.
60
34. The Mvthology of Middle-earth, 21-25. About Beowulfs descent, Noel
remarks, “The whole sequence is impossible, even to the gushing of hot
blood from the body of the long-dead Grendel . . . The same sense of
unreality is present in Tolkien’s descent sequences, as is the subsequent
return to practical reality after the achievement of an important goal.”
35. Faereyinga saga, The Faroe Islander’s Saga, trans. George Johnston
(Canada: Oberons, 1975), 25.
36. Heimskringla, 702-04.
37. Korm&k’s Saga, 105.
38. Evrbvggja Saga, 56-57.
39. Gautrek’s SJ, trans. Hermann Palsson and

Paul Edwards (New York: New York UnWersity Press, 1968), 36.
40. “Saint OlZif’s Saga,” in Heimskringla, 327-30.
41. The Laxdoela Saga, trans. A. Margaret Arent (Seattle: University of

Washington Press, 1964), xxxiii-xxxix.
42. Laxdale Saga, xxxiii.
43. Laxdale Saga, xxxiii.
44. Laxdale Saga, 80-84.
45. Laxdale Sam, 87.
46. Tom Bums Haber, A Comparative Studv of the “Beowulf” and the
61
“Aeneid” (1931; reprint, New York: Phaeton Press, 1968), 49.
47. Comparative Studv, 50.
48. Laxdale Saga, XZW.
49. Laxdale Saga, xxv.
50. Laxdale Saga, xxxvi
51. Laxdale Saga, 141.
52. Laxdale Saga, xxxvii.
53. Poetic Edda, trans. Lee Hollander (Austin: University of Texas Press,
1962), 20-21.
54. Nj5l’s Saga, 197-98. .
55. NM’s Saga, 103.
56. N_i&l’s Saga, 225.
57. Orknevinga Saga: The Historv of the Earls of Orknev, trans. Hermann
Palsson and Paul Edward (Harmondsworth, England: Penguin, 1984), 47.
58. Orknevinga Saga, 48.
59. Orkne-vinga Saga, 48.
60. Vatnsdoela saga, The Vatnsdaler’s Saga, trans. Gwyn Jones (Princeton:
62
61. “Thorstein the White’s Saga, in ” Four Icelana, trans. Gwyn
Jones (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1935), 7 1 l
63
f “’ ‘- ,.
CHAPTER EIGHT *
4 Q
“Charlemagne’s
I mother and the Archbishop were put into the Pot, in fact got
i
into the soup . . . ” (“Fairy-Stories”, 30)
“Personalities”
The essence of the fate-ruled Norse ethical system of kinship,

comitatus, and revenge is more usually practiced than preached.
Personalities and actions supply a more accurate guide to its tenets than
verbal doctrines. The characteristics of prominent men of Middle-earth
provide a better indication of ,the relevance of Northern materials than a
further cataloging of disembodied principles. Prominent characters with
Old Norse analogs include 1) Beorn, 2) Denethor, 3) Boromir, 4) Faramir, 5)
Aragorn, 6) Theoden, 7) gowyn, and 8) Galadriel. Two kinds of comparisons
appear;. some characters resemble specific personages in Northern
literature; others represent traditions. E
Beorn
The shape-changer, who is bear by day and man by night or the
reverse, is a common Norse folk tale figure. Variations-include Bjom [bear]
, in Hrolf saga Kraka, Beowulf in the Old English poem, and perhaps even
Odysseus in the 0dvssev.l Frequently, the bear is under enchantment from a
wicked stepmother, but Gandalf assures Bilbo that Beom in The Hobbit is
under no enchantment except his own. The Bjoms in the sagas were often
berserkers, men who go into a fighting fury which makes them strong and
insensitive to pain. Some may even have believed that they turned into
b e a r s . 2
Gandalf attributes to Beom the berserker’s strength, gruff
l
temperament,, and inhospitable attitude. In The Hobbit during the Battle of

the Five Armies, the berserk-fury seizes Beom after he carries
mortally-wounded Thorin to his tent: “Swiftly he returned and his wrath
1
was redoubled, so that nothing could withstand him, and rio weapon seemed
to bite upon him. He scattered the bodyguard, and pulled down Bolg himself
and crushed him. Then dismay fell on the Goblins and they fled in all
directions” (Hobbit, 302). Beom displays both the animal ferocity of the
fighting berserker in his fury, and at the same time a human tenderness in
his attendance on Thorin. Beorn even grows drowsy in the evening like
Kveldulf, a wolf skin-changer in &iI’s Sam. Possibly, Bodvar Biarlci, a
warrior of the Danish king Hr6lf Kraki, may have been a model for Beom.
Bodvar himself apparently remained at home, seemingly asleep while his
bear-spirit fought the enemy.3
Green suggests an intriguing parallel from the Heimskringla. A&rid l
and her companions, cl&d in shabby clothing for concealment, flee from a
troop of armed men across Skon. They seek lodging in a large mansion
with a rich but inhospitable bonder (farmer) called Biom Edderquise. Both
Skon and the dwarfs’ location are east of the mountains; goblins pursue the
flying troop until they reach a “wide hall” to beg for lodging; and Bilbo’s
consciousness of his “many missing buttons” may reflect the mean clothing
of A&id’s troop. Green also notices that Beom’s bee-keeping recalls the
eminent Beowulf editor Klaeber’s derivations of Beowulf’s name from
bee-wolf, meaning the bear as the wolf creature who likes honey.4
Furthermore, Tolkien has Beorn living in an Icelandic farmhouse -- “a
wide hall with a fire-place in the middle.” (Hobbit, 129). The resemblance
between Tolkien’s drawing of the hall in the hardback edition of The Hobbit
and the illustration of the interior of a Norse hall in E.V. Gordon’s
Introduction to Old Norse, which Tolkien helped prepare for the press, is
strong.5 Beorn serves mead on a table made of boards set up on trestles and
his quarters consist of a “raised platform between the pillars and the outer
wall” just like the ones in Grettir the Strong and in Beowulf (Hobbit, 138).
The owner of this -wooden house “was clothed in a tunic of wool down -
to his knees, and was leaning on a large axe” (Hobbit, 128). All the brightly
clothed, jeweled Vikings who sailed off to Byzantium went to get money to
buy a farm. On these farms, they worked beside their slaves and free
2
servants. in plain homespun. On special occasions, they opened their large
trunks and took out their brightly- colored silken clothing. They wore these
to feasts, to the Althing and at the times when they went out to kill their
enemies. In The Hobbit, Tolkien describes Beorn as “a huge man with a ’
thick black beard and hair, and great bare. arms and legs with knotted
muscles.” (Hobbit, 128). He is like Halfdan the Black, who was “large and
strong, and he had black hair.” The love of animals, especially horses, was
also typical of Norsemen. Hrafnkel, for instance, loves his horse Freyfm so
much that he killed a servant who stole a forbidden ride on the horse.6
Beorn’s ending is that most often ascribed to saga heroes -- his
descendants were numerous and worthy: “Beorn indeed became a great
chief afterwards in those regions and ruled a wide land between the
mountains and the wood; and it is said that for many generations the men of
his line had the power of taking bear’s shape, and some were grim men and
bad, but most were in heart like Beorn, if less in size and strength.” (Hobbit,
307). In characteristics, Beorn’s famous descendants would include not only
his son Grimbeorn but also literary and historical characters from the evil
berserker Bjorn of Gisli Saga to Bjarni (Old Norse bjarni, “bear”) Herjolfsson,
a real Norseman who sailed up and down the coast of America in 986 A.D.
but did not come ashore.7
As discussed in Chapter 6, the encounter with a gruff host in a well-
kept house is a common occurrence in Northern literature. Tolkien’s
technique of presenting the unwelcome dwarves to Beom resembles5 i/
the one from Gautrek’s Saa. Beom serves as an additional helper or
companion for Bilbo in The Hobbit. He provides shelter, protection through
his land, and unexpectedly strong aid in the final battle. Tolkien liked the
effect of the encounter with Beorn so much that he repeated it in The Lord
of the Rins with Tom Bombadil, a character he had already created in
, another format. The influence of the berserker tradition on the creation of
Beom is clear
Denethor
3
Just as Beorn is a part of a tradition of berserkers in Northern
literature, so to is Denethor in a tradition of men who commit suicide rather
than live with the shame of being unable to revenge the death of a son or
close friend. Noel draws an extended parallel between Denethor and the
Greek hero Thesus’s father who commits suicide because his son does not
remember to change his sails from black to white to indicate his victory over
the Cretan Minotaur.8 This analogy does little to explain Denethor’s
character. In The Song of Middle-earth, David Harvey’s comparison between
Denethor and Theoden as declining King of the Wood and recovering Fisher
King provides more insight but is generic rather than specific.9
Cases of men who chose to die rather than live with disgrace are
numerous in the sagas. For instance, in the Evrbvg&a Sam, the villainous
Thorolf challenges Ulfar to a duel for his lands. Since Ulfar is old and
childless, “Ulfar chose to die rather than let himself be bullied by Thorolf.“1°
In the fight that follows, Ulfar does die, but Thorolf is wounded in the leg,
thereby gaining his sobriquet Twist-foot. In the Vatnsdale Saga, after the
noble chieftain Ingimund has been killed, the news comes to his friend
Eyvind Sorkvir and to their mutual friend Gaut. Eyvind and Gaut then fall on
their swords. These two men partake of the pagan philosophy that a man
. who is no longer strong enough to avenge the death of his friend should not
linger in disgrace. 11 The conventional behavior for a bereaved Norseman
was to shut himself in his bedcloset to die of grief. For example, when Egil’s
favorite son drowns, Egil locks himself in his bedcloset and refuses food
until his daughter convinces him that he must write a proper elegy for his
son. 12 When King Harold has Aki slain, his brother Palnir “was so shaken
that he took to his bed, for he saw no chance of revenge against the man he
had to deal with, that is the king himself.“13 Practice of the ethical system
of revenge often resulted in despair for the aging warrior:
The Beowulf poet-chronicles the father’s grief for his dead son in a
beautifully-written passage in the poem. The poet tells the story of Hrethel,
whose son Haethcyn killed his other son Herebeald.
So it is sad for an old man to endure that his son should
_ r.
/
..
I .
ride young on the gallows. Then he may speak a story, a

t.
sorrowfd song, when his son hangs for the joy of the
8
raven, and, old in years and knowing, he can find no help
for him. Always with every morning he is reminded of
his son’s journey elsewhere. He cares not to wait for .
another heir in his hall, when the first through death’s
force has come to the end of his deeds. Sorrowful he
sees in his son’s dwelling the empty wine-hall, the windy
resting place without joy -- the riders sleep, the warriors
in the grave. There is no sound of the harp, no joy in the
ing, as there was of old. Then he goes to his couch,
sings a song of sorrow, one alone for one gone. To him all
too wide has seemed the land and the dwelling (Beowulf,
43) 0
The scenes among Denethor, Gandalf, and Pippin contain much of the same
emotional content. Like Hrethel, Denethor has two sons -- Boromir is dead
and Faramir dying. Both sit in long, empty halls, silent, blasted. Denethor,
bereft of warriors, takes Pippin into his service, asking if he can sing.
Pippin replies ‘Well, yes, well enough for my own people. But we have no
songs fit for great halls and evil times” (III, 80). Yet, Tolkien takes this
scene beyond that in Beowulf, for when Denethor goes to his couch -- the
couch is a burning pyre.
In addition to being in the tradition of the bereaved norseman,
Denethor has a specific analog in the sagas -- the character of Njal from
NM’s Sam. Although the total impression of Denethor, the Steward of
Gondor, is unlike that of Nj&l, Denethor has many of Nj6l’s characteristics
and problems. For example, both are noble-looking men, and foresight is a
quality mentioned immediately about both of them. The saga writer
describes Nj&l: “Njal was a wealthy man and handsome, except that he grew
no beard. He was so well versed in the law that his equal could not be found
5
anywhere. He was learned and had the gift of second sight. He was
benevolent and generous in word and deed, and everything which he
advised turned out for the best. He was gentle and noble-minded, and
helped all people who came to him with their problems.“14 Throughout
Ni Al’sm, Nj&l counsels his friends toward moderate and sensible behavior.
His friendship with Gunnar is constant and noble.
Denethor is also noble looking: “The old man looked up. Pippin saw
his carven face with its proud bones and skin like ivory, and the long curved
nose between the dark deep eyes; and he was reminded not so much of
Boromir as of Aragom” (III, 27). This association with Aragorn is
particularly ironic. In The Unfinished Tales and in Appendix A of The Lord
of the Rings, Tolkien describes an earlier time in Gondor. Then, Denethor’s
supremacy as a man is only challenged by the presence of the mysterious
Thorongil who turns out to be Aragom. Tolkien says, “Therefore later, when
all was made clear, many believed that Denethor, who was subtle in mind
and looked further and deeper than other men of his day, had discovered
who this stranger Thorongil in truth was, and suspected that he and
Mithrandir designed to supplant him” (111,336). The final test of Denethor’s
nobility occurs when Aragom comes back without his disguise. The return
of the King would mean that Denethor must surrender much of his power as
ruling steward, but his despair at this test of character drives Denethor to
his death. After Pippin’s interview with Denethor, .Gandalf explains that
Denethor has foresight: “He hzs long sight. He can perceive, if he bends his
will thither, much of what is passing in the minds of men, even of those that
dwell far off. It is difficult to deceive him, and dangerous to try” (III, 3 l-32)
l
In spite of their gifts, both of these super-sighted men, Denethor and Nja,
follow a fated path. Each knows or thinks he knows what the outcome will
be and each makes a wrong decision based on that knowledge.
Each of them loses his favorite son. Denethor’s son Boromir dies
defending Pippin and Merry against arcs. Njal’s sons and the slanderous
Mord, who lies about Hoskuld to trick NjAl’s oldest son Skarphedin into the
attack, kill NjBl’s foster son Hoskuld. Nj&l, utterly distressed by the news of
6
Hoskuld’s death, says, “Most distressing tidings these are, and harrowing for
.
me to hear e . for I can truthfully say that I am so saddened that I would

l
prefer to have lost two of my sons and have Hoskuld still alive!“15 Afterward,
NjAl prophesies that he, his wife Bergthbra, and all their sons will die as ‘a
result of this act, and they do. Likewise, Denethor, who mourns Boromir
extravagantly, accuses his son Faramir of duplicity. Faramir asks, “Do you
wish then . . e that our places had been exchanged?+’ And Denethor replies,
‘Yes, I wish that indeed . . For Boromir was loyal to me and no wizard’s
l
pupil. He would have remembered his father’s need,, and would not have
squandered what fortune gave. He would have brought me a mighty gift [the
Ring]” (III, 86). Denethor resents Faramir because Gandalf has been as a
foster father to him and loves him as NjZilloves Hoskuld. Notes in The Lost
Road and Other Writin@ indicate that Tolkien had a continuing fascination
f
with the father-son relationship. 16
Both men complain that their sons do not follow their advice any longer.
When the sons of Nj&l are getting ready to meet Mord and kill Hoskuld,
Bergthora asks Nj&l what they have been talking about. Nj&l answers
bitterly, “I am not in their plans . . In the past I was rarely kept out when
l
something good was being considered!++17 Likewise, when Faramir reports

on his meeting with Frodo and Sam on Gondor’s border, he asks his father if
he has done il to let the Ringbearer go into Mordor. Denethor screanss,
‘I Ill?
l . Why do you ask? The men were under your command. Or do you
. .
ask for my judgement on all your deeds? Your bearing is lowly in my

presence, yet it is long now since you turned from your own way at my
counsel. See, you have spoken skillfully, as ever; but I, have I not seen your
eye fuced on Mithrandir, seeking whether you said well or too much? He
has long had your heart in his keeping++ (III, 85). Both fathers resent their
sons’ independence of action and both complain that they are not consulted
when plans are being made. Faramir’s allegiance to Gandalf as his spiritual
foster father parallels the natural love of NjZil for his spiritual son Hoskuld,
who, like Nj81, is adept at the law.
However, after the Ringwraiths wound Faramir and after Denethor has
7
seen the destruction of Gondor in the Palanti, the old steward despairs. He
tries to convince Gandalf and Pippin that the Rohirrim will not come and
that Sauron must triumph. Denethor even despairs of his son’s life and of
his noble house’s end. Denethor does not want to mourn or to die slowly in
the tradition of sonie bereaved fathers. His despair leads him to a special bed --
a funeral pyre: “Better to bum sooner than late, for bum we must. Go back
to your bonfires. And I? I will go now to my pyre. To my pyre! No tomb for
Denethor and Faramir. No tomb! No long slow sleep of death embalmed.
We will burn like heathen kings before ever a ship sailed hither from the
West. The West has failed. Go back and burn!” (III, 98-99). Since Denethor
also despairs for Faramir’s life, Denethor has his wounded son brought to the
tomb, and “at a sign from Denethor, they laid Faramir and his father side by
side and covered them with one covering . . . ” (III, 100). Other aspects of
this funeral pyre have been discussed in Chapter 7, but the scene also has a
specific parallel in NjBl’s story.
When Flosi and his band begin to bum NjAl’s house, Flosi begs Nj&l and
Bergth6ra to come out with the women and children. Nj&l refuses, “No, I
will not come out, for I am an old man and little fit to avenge my sons, and I
do not want to live in shame.” Bergthora refuses, too, “As a young woman I
was married to Nj&l and vowed that one fate should befall us both!“18 Then
the two of them go to their bed with a grandson who Bergth6ra had
promised would never -have to leave her. The servant covers them, like
Denethor and Faramir, with one cover: “Then Nj&l and Bergthora lay down
on the bedstead and laid the boy between them. They made the sign of the
cross over themselves and the boy and commended their souls to God.
These were the last words they were heard to say. The steward took the
hide, spread it over them, and then went out.“19 These three members of
Njal’s family perish together in the way that Denethor intended for Faramir
and himself to perish. .- Like Nj&l, Denethor will not abide a life without
honor: “I would have things as they were in all the days of my life . . and in
l
the days of my longfathers before me: to be the Lord of this City in peace,
and leave my chair to a son after me, who would be his own master and no
8
!‘.’ .-’ ; wizard’s pupil. But if doom denies this to me, then I will have m: 2
‘.‘.- *
t-
neither life diminished, nor love halved, nor honor abated!” (III, 130). Both
men require honor to sustain life.
Denethor and Nj&l are overcome by their despair, which derives from
false information. Denethor’s incorrect view of the outcome of the war
comes from his visions through a palantir under Sauron’s control. Njal’s
wrong information comes from his prideful assessment of the intention of
the burners. Nj&l believes that since Gunnar’s attackers refused to lower
themselves to the ignoble alternative of burning Gunnar’s house’to
accomplish his death, the band attacking NjZil’s house will have the same
standards. Although his son Skarphedin warns Nj&l that they will survive if
they remain outside, Njal urges his sons to enter. In a fey mood,
Skarphedin agrees and the tragedy begins. All except Njal’s son-in-law Kari
die. 0
The parallel between these two men definitely adds dimension to the
character of Denethor. NjAl is what Denethor might have been if Denethor
had not had power ‘or perhaps even if he had not come under Sauron’s
influence through the use of the palantir. Since the reader does not see
Denethor unti the death of Boromir and his despair for Gondor have made
him mad, the reader has difficulty identifying with Gandalfs respect for him,
but knowing NjZil’s courage, wisdom, and kindness adds scope to Denethor’s
personality. -
The character of NjAl in Ni&l’s Sam is clearly a conscious source for
Denethor. Tolkien found numerous occasions to borrow from the finest
piece of Icelandic literature. Since the Coalbiter Club read all the major
sagas, Tolkien’quite likely had occasion to reread this masterpiece and
discuss it with his colleagues in the years before he began work on The Lord
of the FUna. The Coalbiter Club met during the years 1926 to early 1930s
and The Lord of the Rine was composed between 1’937 and 1954/55.2*
Nal’s Sam is memorable, and someone like Tolkien who read it at least
twice in the original language would continue to have a strong impression of
its characters and actions.
.
Boromir
Boromir typifies the Old Norse heroes, many of whom also had fatal
flaws. He has been described in the third chapter. His dark hair, if not
typical, was at least common. K&n&, for example, .“uTas dark-haired, with \
curls, and his skin was of a light color. He resembles his mother somewhat;
he is big and strong and of an aggressive disposition,“21 Thorrndd of The
Sworn Brothers* Sam is ‘*of middle height and has black curly hair.“22What
Boromir may lack of the typical blond Norse image in looks, he makes up in
words. He expresses comitatus: “It is not the way of the Men of Minas
Tirith to desert their friends at need” (I, 406). He boasts “and you will need *
my strength” (I, 406). , In fact, his belief in his own’strength, in this case his
ability to control the One Ring, brings him to threaten Frodo. He says that
“True-hearted Men, they will not be corrupted. We of Minas Tirith have
been staunch through long years of trial. We do not desire the power of
wizard-lords, only strength to defend ourseIves, strength in a just cause” (I,
414). He is wrong, for his own father Denethor has already begun to
succumb to Sauron’s power through the palantir. In his pride, Boromir does
not understand or acknowledge the power of Sauron and Sauron’s Ring to
corrupt. He breaks his own bond of comitatus when the Ring seduces him
into trying to take it from Frodo by force.
Similarly, when KormGk has interrupted the witch Thordis’s magic
ceremony, he swears that he does not need that magic to win in single
combat. He praises his own power in a verse:
Ounces gave I on island

each time -- twice the beldam
bled the birds -- so that the
better I’d get of Thorvard:
blood there’ll flow from blood -- let
be to offer such to
skald the matchless mead who
IO
masters -- of two ganders.23
In other words, he says that although he has had to buy himself off from the
combat twice because of slight injuries, this time events will be different:
The blood of his enemy Thorvard will take the ‘place of the blood of the
geese, which the witch has not finished sacrificing. Kormak falls at the end
because he cannot control the magic of his giant opponent. Boromir falls by
the temptation of the magic Ring and at the hands of the wizard Saruman’s
ore servants.
Boromir’s count of dead enemies exceeds even that of Nj&l’s friend,
the famous hero Gunnar, who killed two and wounded eight when they
attacked him in his house. Around Boromir were at least twenty slain arcs;
his funeral befits his valor. Two alternatives are considered -- a barrow and a
ship funeral. Barrows were customary for the chieftains of Iceland and for
the rulers of Gondor. Ship funerals are recorded for the kings of the early
heroic age in Scandinavia, Tolkien relates that Aragom, Gimli and Legolas
place Boromir on the craft with his weapons around him and cast loose the
funeral boat to go on the bosom of the water to the Great Sea. Only the
Beowulf poet’s description of the ship burial of Scyld Scefmg is comparable:
There in the harbor stood the ring-prowed ship, ice-covered

and ready to sail, a prince’s vessel. Then they laid down the
ruler they had loved, the ring-giver, in the hollow of the ship,
the glorious man beside the mast. There was brought great
store of treasure, wealth from lands far away. I have not heard of
a ship more splendidly furnished with war-weapons and
battle-dress, swords and mail-shirts. On his breast lay a great
many treasures that should voyage with him far out into the sea’s
possessions. They -provided him with no lesser gifts, treasure of . .
the people, than those had done who at his beginning first sent
him forth on the waves, a child alone. Then also they set a
golden standard high over his head, let the water take him, gave
11
him to the sea. Sad was their spirit, mournful their mind. Meri
cannot truthfully say who received that cargo, neither
counsellors in the hall nor warriors under the skies (Beowulf, l-
2) 0 .
Both Boromir and Scyld Scefing are placed in a waiting cr&t with jewels and
weapons. In neither case does the reader know what the final resting place
of the body is. Aragorn and Legolas sing a lay for the dead Boromir: Aragorn
first addresses the West wind asking it for news of Boromir the Tall. Legolas
the requests tidings of Boromir the Fair: Aragorn concludes then speaking
to the North wind of Boromir the Bold, who has been placed on the breast of
golden Rauras. The questions in the lay are reminiscent of the Ubi-sunt
portions of the Old English poem “The Wanderer.” The sense of loss and
sadness of that poem also pervade this elegy. Tolkien lightens the mood
somewhat and closes the incident of Boromir’s death by having Gimli
remark that they have left the East wind to him, and he will say naught of it.
Aragorn replies that this is appropriate, for in Minas Tirith they endure the
East Wind but do not ask its tidings (II, 20).
Boromir and Aragorn both suffer from a conflict of loyalties, a frequent
motif in Norse literature. Turville-Petre in Origins of Icelandic Literature
remarks that “poets were often inspired by conflict of loyalty.“24 With
Boromir, the difficulty is between his love for father, brother, and people in
Minas Tirith and his unspoken obligation to the Fellowship of the Ring.
Likewise, in The Sworn Brothers Saga, Thormod must kill his kinsman in
order to avenge the life of his sworn brother. 25 Boromir’s choice would have
been for his family and people as his misguided attempt to take the Ring
shows. Aragorn also must choose between Minas Tirith, the city of his
inherited kingship, and his own obligation to the Ringbearer’s task. Aragom
says that he would have gone with Frodo to the Mountain of Doom to fulfill
the quest. But Frodo has saved Aragorn this difficult choice by leaving the
company after Boromir’s attempt to steal the Ring. Boromir is a difficult
character to comprehend because we see so little of him, He arrives at the
12
Council of Elrond in Volume 1 Book 2, Chapter 2, and dies in defense of
Merry and Pippin in Book 3, Chapter 1, less than 200 pages later. He offers
a sharp contrast to Aragom because of his much more evident pride, his
boasting, and his proclivity for aphorisms about courage and duty. The ‘\
reader is just beginning to dislike him a little when he dies heroically. His
deathbed confession to Aragom gains sympathy for him; subsequently, the
reader’s affection for Faramir extends to him. Boromir is clearly in the
tradition of Norse heroes, but no specific analog presents itself, although the
existence of a precise source might clarify his character.
Faramir
While Nj&l was a source for Denethor and the tradition of the farned
Norse hero aided in the creation of Boromir, the character of Arnkel from
the Evrbv-a Sa@ may have been an influence on Tolkien’s conception of
Faramir. Gondor has the largest number of creatures, customs, and
characters from Northern literature. It is only fitting that the family of
ruling stewards should derive from the sagas.
When Arnkel is introduced into Evrbvg#a Sam, the sagawriter notes
that he is a big strong fellow, clever at law, and very shrewd. He is also
noted for his great-heartedness, his popularity, and his strength of
character. His adventures are various: he defends his sister against charges
of being a night witch, overcomes the witchcraft of Katla and her son Odd,
and endures a curse that he will suffer more because of his father than Odd
has because of his witch mother. Arnkel then advises Thorarin to go abroad
to avoid further trouble over his illegitimate son. His adversary Snorri
attacks and bums the ship; later killing a man who tries‘to get revenge for
the burning. When his widow sends his head to .his uncle Arnkel, he takes
up a case for vengeance, but finalry accepts the judgment of the arbitrators.
Arnkel’s father Thorolf Twist-foot begins to get more difficult in his old age.
He steals all the hay from a jointly owned meadow and refuses to pay
compensation for it. Arnkel pays for the hay, but later slaughters seven of
his fathers oxen to even things up. Thorolf then sends -his slaves to bum
13
.- Ulfar in his farmhouse. When Arnkel sees the flames, he goes over, puts out
the fire, and kills the slaves. Ulfar, who had previously been a slave of the
Thorbrandssons, now deeds all his land to Arnkel. Thorolf demands
compensation for his slain slaves, but Amkel refuses to pay. Thorolf then
asks Snorri, Arnkel’s enemy, to take up the case, offering Snorri ownership
of a prize piece of woodland. Snorri wins the ,lawsuit on a technicality and
Arnkel pays compensation, although Thorolf is disgruntled over the
smallness of the award. Tolkien was interested in such troublesome father-
son relationships.
When Ulfar’s brother dies, Ulfar claims his lands as next of kin and
Arnkel supports him. Next Thorolf incites another of his slaves to attack
and kill Ulfar. When Arnkel sees the slave running with the shield he had
given Ulfar, he suspects what has happened. At Thorolfs instruction,
another slave runs to the Thorbrandssons to suggest to them that they
should claim their former slave’s property. When the Thorbrandssons
consult Snorri, he tells them that Arnkel is most likely to be able to keep
what he has his hands on already. Subsequently, Thorolf tries to talk Arnkel
into fighting with Snorri over the possession of the bartered woodlot, but
Arnkel refuses. Thorolf dies that night in his high seat. His death is so ugly
that the servants call Amkel to deal with the body, which has to be taken out
a hole knocked in the wall. Thorolfs ghost now makes so many
disturbances that the farm is abandoned. Then the ghost begins to haunt
over the entire district so thatAmke1 has to remove the body. Arnkel now
takes the timber that Snorri has cut from the woodlot. Snorri’s slave Hauk
has lunged at Arnkel in this process with the result that Arnkel kills him.
One of Snorri’s henchmen makes unsuccessful attempt ori Arnkel’s life. At a
feast at Snorri’s house, the men get to man matching with the result that
Thorleif Kambi argues that Arnkel is the most outstanding man. in the
district. Snorri gives his an axe as a parting gift sugge&ing that it will not
have a long enough handle to reach Arnkel’s head. When Arnkel goes over to
transport hay one night, the attack is mounted. Arnkef defends himself for a
long time, but the slave he has sent to bring his men has not delivered the
14
i
message. So, Arnkel is slain there by the haystack. The saga author
comments that “of all men in pagan times he was the most gifted. He was
outstandingly shrewd in judgment, good-tempered, kind-hearted, brave,
honest, and moderate. He came out on top in every law-suit. . . . “26 The’
father-son relationship, the uneasy ghost, the man matching, and the hero’s
death are all themes that Tolkien knew and employed in his works.
In The Lord of the Rings, Faramir shows many of the characteristics
attributed to Amkel. Fararnir demonstrates his shrewdness in judgment
when Frodo stands before him after the battle with the Southrons. Faramir
quickly deduces that Frodo tells only part of the truth and begins to question
him about several points -- what his role was in the company, why he left
Boromir, where he was going, and what is the nature of Isildur’s bane.
Faramir interrogates him closely about his relationship with Boromir and
asks specifically if he was Boromir’s friend. Frodo, recalling that his last
contact with Boromir was that man’s attempt to take the Ring, hesitates
before he answers “yes”. Then Faramir, wondering if Frodo would be sorry
to know of Boromir’s death, asks if the mhobbit recalls any token
characteristic of Boromir. Frodo takes heart, noticing “that Faramir, though
he was much like his brother in looks, was a man less self-regarding, both
sterner and wiser.” (II, 274). Faramir then relates the haunting tale of
hearing the horn blow and seeing Boromir float past him down the river to
the sea in a dream vision. Likewise, Faramir judges keenly that he has .
talked too freely and openly about a hidden matter and desists from his
conversation about Isildur’s bane until he and Frodo are walking alone
together. Then he is able to unravel almost all of the story, putting together
pieces of his learning from Gandalf with old tales he has heard and read
about Isildur.
Faramir is honest about his brother Boromir’s attributes and follies.
He is also forthright about the place of Gondor among the men of
Middle-earth. He names the High or the Men of the West; the Middle
Peoples, the Men of Twilight; and the Wild people, the Men of Darkness. He
tells Frodo and Sam that the Rohirrim have grown more like the men of
15
Gondor -- “enhanced in arts and gentleness” while the people of Gondor
may no longer claim the title High. Faramir says, “We are become Middle
Men, of the Twilight, but with memory of other things.” (II, 287) This
assessment is not one that his brother Boromir or his father Denethor could
have made.
Faramir shows his kindness in many ways. He treats the hobbits well,
is thoughtful about their well-being in the matter of blindfolding them, and
is solicitous about their comfort. Later, when the Warden has him
incarcerated in the House of Healing, he demonstrates his kindness to the
Lady fiowyn, telling her of her beauty and of the hope she gives him in a
.
time of despair. She rebuffs him, calling herself a shieldmaiden with
ungentle hands. But he continues his kindness to her as their love becomes a
a healing bond. (III, 238-39).
Faramir has an opportunity to show his good temper in Henneth
Anntin. When Frodo and Sam are telling Faramir about their experiences in
Lorien, Sam rashly tells Faramir that Boromir has attempted to take the
Ring from Frodo. Sam then implores Fararnir not to take advantage of Frodo
for his servant’s foibles. Before he understood the nature of the Ring,
Far&rnir swore that he would not take the heirloom Isildur’s Bane. He
repeats his vow: “We are truth-speakers, we men of Gondor. We boast .
seldom, and then perform, or die in the attempt. Not Z’f Ifowzd it on the
highway wouU I take it I said.” (II, 289). Then he kindly comforts Sam with
an assurance that it was fated to be so. In this scene, Tolkien joins Faramir
with the two other characters who refuse the ring -- Gandalf and Galadriel.
In The Return of the Kin& brave Fararnir narrowly escapes death as
he races towards the walls of Minas Tirith. The Nazgfil sweeps to kills him,
only to be foiled by Gandalf on Shadowfax. But his father Denethor still
taunts him about the death of his brother Boromir, and at the Steward’s
command Fararnir bravely undertakes another trip beyond the walls to fight .
a hopeless action at the River ford. Like Arnkel, Faramir has a difficult father
who does not always have his well-being at heart. From this expedition, the
brave lord returns gravely wounded in the arms of his kinsman the Prince of
16
Do1 Amroth. The Nazgul’s deadly dart has struck him while he held a
mounted champion of Harad at bay(II1, 94). The leader of many brave
skirmishes against ores and other enemies, Faramir narrowly escapes death
when his father despairs and tries to have Faramir burned on a pyre with
. 0 The value of the foster-father relationship emerges here: Faramir’s
l&m
foster father Gandalf saves him from their enemies only to have him almost
killed by his natural father.
Faramir also shares Amkel’s moderation. Before Sam’s slip about the
nature of Isildur’s bane, Faramir reassures Frodo that Fararnir will not ask to
know more of the story than the hobbit is willing to tell. Faramir shows
further moderation in the judgment of Gollum, who has broken Gondor’s
laws in his trespass into the pool before Henneth Annun. The penalty for
even looking at the pool is death, but Frodo pleads for Gollum’s life, which
Faramir spares on condition of Gollum’s oath never to return or to guide any
other to that place. Faramir also puts Frodo and all his companions under
his protection and that of the shield of Gondor. Sam’s judgment of Faramir
must stand; Sam says, “You took the chance, sir, . . and showed your quality:
l
the very highest” (II, 290-91).

While the relationship between Faramir and his father Denethor is
difficult like that between Arnkel and Thorolf TM&t-Foot, the relative’merits .
of the two brothers Faramir and Boromir must find its model in other sagas.
The two brothers in Hrolf Gautreksson have a like configuration. The saga
writer characterizes the older brother Ketil as being “boisterous, ambitious,
impulsive, and full of drive and grit” while the younger Hrolf is “a man of
few words, always honored his promises, and wasn’t overambitious.“27 The
saga writer notes that he would pay no attention to people’s attempts to
sway his opinions, but years later, after he had thought it out fully, he would
raise the matter again. As is usual with persons dropped into Tolkien’s
cauldron, they do not come out as might be expected. Unlike Boromir, Ketil
is a small man and not his father’s favorite. When King Gautrek knows that
he is to die, he asks his counselors to give the Kingdom to Hrolf rather than
Ketil. And agziin unlike Boromir, who was wont to ask his father how long a
17
king could be absent before the Steward could ascend to the title, Ketil says
that he isn’t that keen to govern. Throughout the saga, Ketil is the urger of
immoderate action while Hrolf weighs matters judiciously, practices
moderation in all matters, and is a good-tempered, kind-hearted ruler.
The reader may wonder why Tolkien would base Denethor on Nj&l and
not extend that relationship to include his sons. Certainly, Njhl’s oldest son
Skarphedin is a worthy model; he is brave, clever, witty, and at the end of
the story, fey. Yet, his favorite weapon is his axe Battle-Troll, while
Boromir’s is the sword. As discussed in Chapter 7, Skarphedin seems to
have been an influence in the creation of the dwarf Dain. Following a Nj2l
family pattern, Tolkien then might have used Hoskuld, NjWs foster son, as a ’
model for Fararnir. However, the foster father/son relationship here exists
between Gandalf and Faramir. Gandalf twice saves his beloved pupil’s life,
and at the ending, Faramir receives rich rewards - the spare princess
I?owyn, whom he loves, and his own land to hold for the king. He deserves
this largess, for he has learned enough from his studies with Gandalf to
forego any temptation to take the Ring, and he has fought bravely, been
rebuked by his father, and fought again in a fey mood.
.
Aragorn
When Aragorn first enters the story, he is merely a weather- beaten
l ranger. In his biography of Tolkien, Carpenter alleges that when Tolkien
introduced this character, he did not know who Aragom was or that Aragorn
was going to be the king. 28 The publication of the first draft in The Return
of the Shadow now shows that the first conception of the character was as a
hobbit named Trotter. In a letter to W.H. Auden, Tolkien admits “Strider
sitting in the comer at the inn was a shock, and I had no more idea who he
was than had Frodo’! (Letters, 2 16). The rangers form a kind of Robin Hood
group living in the wilderness protecting gentle people like the hobbits
from the realities of Sauron’s growing evil. They are noble men of the
Dtinedain, whose descent appears in The Silmarillion.
18
Outlaws
The lives of the rangers are like those of some of the noble “outlaws” of
Iceland. If the family of a man who has been killed refuses to take weregild
or blood money for him, then the family could accuse the murderer at the
Althing, the annual democratic assembly for legal matters in Iceland. The
murderer could be given a sentence of “lesser outlawry”, which required
him to leave the country for three years or of “greater outlawry”, which
exiled him permanently. If the man convicted did not go into exile, then he
could be killed by anyone without legal revenge or weregild. But the
sentence of the Althing had no executive power. Thus, an outlaw could live
in Iceland as long as no one wanted or was able to kill him.
Grettir the Strong lives in Iceland as an outlaw for nineteen years, and
Gisli lives there for fourteen. During this time, the outlaw travels around the
country staying with men who are friendly to him and strong enough to
protect him from his enemies’ attacks. Grettir, Gisli, and other men whose
enemies had been able to have them outlawed sometimes act as champions
for their friends. Thus, Grettir fights Gl&n not because he has a particular
interest in the ghost, but because he wants to help a farmer who has
sheltered him in spite of his outlaw status. Similarly, Aragom’s status, while
he is living in Gondor as Thorongil, is like that of an outlaw. He has been
outlawed from his legitimate kingship by the abuses of Sauron. He cannot be
restored to his rightful legal status in Gondor until he has defeated his
enemy Sauron and thus regained his crown.
Likewise, famous outlaws sometimes fought duels against berserkers
and evil outlaws when the family challenged had no suitable adult male. The
story of Grettir is not the story of an evil man but of a luckless man who gets
pushed into untenable situations. The reader has an enormous liking for
him and sees his tragedy as deriving as much from fate as from, a flaw in his
character. Vigfusson generalizes: “Bands of outlaws or broken men
established themselves in the outskirts of the country, and lived by receiving
and levying blackmail, very much in the fashion of Robin Hood and Rob Roy.
There were sin& outlaws such as Grette+ Gisle, Grim, who took to the wilds
19
, in the old days . . 99 Thus, a group such as the rangers would have been
. possible within the Icelandic tradition.
l
Epithet
The name that Aragom takes in connection with his duties as ranger
is Strider. The name may have been suggested by Thrand the Strider of
Evrbm. The sagawriter describes Thrand the Strider as “the biggest and
strongest of men, and the swiftest of foot.” Not much is told of Thrand
except that he is a great fighter and “a mighty man in his hands.“30 The
epithet “strider” is appropriate for Aragorn, who has covered much of
Middle-earth by foot in his task of protecting its inhabitants. This
characteristic was apparently central to the hero, for Tolkien’s earlier
epithet for his brown hobbit equivalent was “Trotter.“31
Symbols
As Strider moves toward taking his place as king, the symbols for the
kingship relate him more closely to some possible Old Norse sources for his
l
character. While Strider is in Rivendell, the sword Anduril is forged anew.

When Sigmund of the Volsunga Saa dies, he gives his wife his broken sword
telling her to save it for his unborn son: “Preserve also the shattered sword,
from which a goodly one may be made anew, and it shall be called Gram, and
our son shall bear it and achieve therewith great deeds, which shall never
grow old, for his name shall live on while the world endures.“32 What is
prophesied for Sigmund also applies to Aragom. Aragom has the sword
reforged, uses it to accomplish great deeds, and achieves everlasting glory
for his name.
The white tree Nimrod, one of the symbols of Aragorn’s kingship, also
appears in the Volsmam: “It is said that King Volsung let build an
excellent hall in such wise that a great oak stood in the midst of it, and the
limbs of the tree with their fair blooms upon them reached out over the roof
of the hall, and the trunk was within; and they called the tree Branstock.”
The tree, the token of Aragorn’s family, has died out in the courtyard. But
20
1. after Aragom is crowned, Gandalf helps him find a sapling that had been
planted on a hill long ago by his ancestor Isildur as told in the “Akallabeth”.
Even though Nimrod is white, Tolkien’s description is much like that in the
V’s: “And Aragorn planted the new tree in the court by the
fountain, and swiftly and gladly it began to’grow; and when the month of
June entered in it was laden with blossoms” (III, 250). For the kings of
Numenor the tree has been a symbol of their loyalty to the Valar and the
values of the West. The evil King Ar-Pharazon, at the urgings of Sauron, had
burned the old tree.
Before the Kin-strife, the kings of Aragorn’s line are called
“Ship-kings.” Like the Norse kings, Aragorn and the men of Dunedain/ are
skilled sailors. The Haradrim, who long owned the ships, had manned-them
with chained slaves. Under Aragorn’s command, free men wield the oars.
The Norse custom was for the fighting men of the ship to do the rowing.
The ships have black sails, and when they approach, Aragorn has his banner
unfurled: “There flowered a White Tree, and that was for Condor: but Seven
Stars were about it,‘and a high crown above it, the signs of Elendil that no
lord had borne for years beyond count. And the stars flamed in the sunlight,
for they were wrought of gems by Arwen daughter of Elrond; and the crown
was bright in the morning, for it was wrought of mithril and gold” (III, 123).
The Norwegian ships of King ‘01&f’s time were perhaps similar, and they,
too, carried the king’s banner in the forecastle.34 The Northern kings and
the protagonists of the Icelandic family sagas were all great sailors.
Accounts of sea voyages, descriptions of ships, and battles at sea are
common.
In the Heimskringla, the King often has the power to heal as Aragorn
does in The Lord of me Rinm. #01&f Helga can cure by the laying on of hands
. even before he is made a Saint. “He [King #Olaf Helga] laid his hands on
Egil’s side where it hurt and said his prayers over it, and straight-way it
stopped hurting. After that Egil recovered? King @01&f continues to heal
after his death; his companion Thor& comes in contact with the King’s
blood, and wounds in his hands are healed. A blind man wipes his eyes with
21
blood from the cottage floor and receives his sight.36 In NJ&l’s saga, King
Sigtrygg’s blood heals the wound of a boy who was trying to protect the King.37
And inthe Volsunga saga, Sigmund sees two weasels fighting, “and one of
them bit the other in the windpipe: then it ran into the woods and fetched a
certain leaf and laid it over the sore, and straightway the other weasel
sprang up whole and well. Sigmund went out and saw that a raven came
flying with a leaf of that plant which it delivered to him. This he put upon
Sinfjotli’s sore, and straightway he sprang up whole, as though he had never
been wounded? Likewise, Aragom uses the leaf athelas, or kingsfoil, to
heal Faramir, Eowyn, Frodo, and Sam.
Moreover, Aragorn’s ride through the kingdom of the dead may be
associated
I with the god HermGth’s ride to He1 to beg the goddess to return
Balder to the gods. Balder, Odin’s son, was killed by a piece of mistletoe,
because his mother had neglected to beg the lowly mistletoe to swear never
to harm him. Aragom and his company do pass through dark deep dales like
those rides into Hel: “and beyond, going steeply down, was a road between
sheer cliffs, knife-edged against the sky far above. So deep and narrow was
that chasm that the sky was dark, and in it small stars glinted” (III, 61). .
Ryan notes that Gimli’s fall before the door recalls Hel’s threshold, “the pit
of stumbling. “39 As discussed in the third chapter, Aragom shares the
characteristic descent into the underworld with other heroes.
The traditional crown of the ruling house of Gondor also ties it to the
Norse culture. Tolkien describes it: “It [the ancient crown of Gondor) was
all white, and the wings at either side were wrought of pearl and silver in
the likeness of the wings of a sea-bird, for it was the emblem of kings who
came over the Sea; and seven gems of adamant were set in the circlet, and
upon its summit was set a single jewel the light of which went up like a
flame” (III, 245). In its height, the crown is reminiscent of the double
crown for Upper and L,ower Egypt used by the Pharaohs. Here elements of
Egyptian civilization are combined with those of Norse civilization to
produce tokens that enrich the imagery of Middle-earth. In The Letters,
Tolkien answers a question about Middle-earth clothes which he likens to
22
those shown on the Bayeux tapestry and then abdutlhe winged crown of
Gondor. Tolkien says ““I&e Numenoreans of Gondor were’ proud, peculiar,
and archaic, and I think are best pictured in (say) Egyptian terms. In many
ways they resembled ‘Egyptians’ -- the Iove of, and power to construct, the
gigantic and massive. And in their great interest in ancestry and in tombs. . .
e I think the crown of Gondor (the S, Kingdom) was very tall, like that of
Egypt, but with wings attached, not set straight back but atan angle”
(Letters, 281). This statement about an Egyptian connection primarily
concerns crowns and buildings. It does not seem to, invite great expansion
beyond those areas, for the final products from Tolkien’s cauldron are
greater than the sum of the ingredients put into the pot.
Although neither the Heimskringla nor the Prose Edda describes
Odin’s helmet, artists and writers have conceived it as a winged helmet. For
instance, fellow fantasy writer and saga reader E.R. Eddison in his
twentieth- century saga,, Stvrbiorn the Strong, has Styrbiorn bind raven’s
wings on his helm before he goes to his final combat with King Eric.
Sigvaldi tells Styrbiorn: “Some men would say thou wast fey, Styrbiom,
seeing thee commit so proud a blasphemy as bear raven’s rings on thy helm.
For this is a thing befitteth no man, nor yet the lesser Gods neither, but the
All-Father alone.“40 Styrbiom is fey, for Odin calls. him to Valhalla telling his
Val&rie: “Frontward are his wounds, and death availed but to tighten his
grip on the sword-hilt. Be still and question not: I chose him first I loved
the best.“*1 Therefore, the crown, like the other tokens of Aragorn’s
kingship, is some mixture of Egyptian and Norse in its style. In the query
letter cited above, letter writer Rhoda Beare suggests a relationship to
Valkyrie head gear; Tolkien does not refute this.
Furthermore, Aragorn rules two kingdoms, the Northern kingdom and
Gondor, and several other lords are his men. The Kings of Norway at
different times ruled Norway, Sweden, Denmark, England, the Orkneys, and
the Faeroe Islands in various combinations. The pharaohs of Egypt also
ruled an upper and a lower kingdom, but further correlations are difficult.
Thus, judging from his accouterments, it seems probable that Aragom and
23
his people are more closely related in their culture to the North Sea people
.I
P
I
than to some other culture. 1
Definition of a Hero
In The Mvthology of Middle-earth, Ruth Noel applies a listI of
. twenty-two common points constituting a definition of the hero to Aragom.
This list from Lord Raglan’s The Hero has been constituted from the stories
of Sigurd, King Arthur, Perseus, and Moses. In spite of Noel’s allegation that
most points fit, a close textual analysis shows that only about half do align.42
Since Sigurd, the hero of the Volsunga Sa.ga, is the only Norse hero cited, he
has been selected for further comparison Raglan’s list appears here with ’
Aragom and Sigurd’s adherence to the points outlined.
NO 1. The hero’s mother is a royal virgin.

Aragom’s mother Gilraen is the daughter of Dirhael, a descendant of
the last Aranarth, the last King. Her claim to royalty seems attenuated: the
birth is not the miraculous virgin birth common for heroes; Sigurd also has a
mortal mother.
NO 2. His father is king and

Aragom’s father is a Chieftain of the Dunedain; he has not been
crowned King; the steward rules in Gondor and no one rules in the North.
Sigurd’s father is dead before his birth but was a ruling king.
NO 3. Often a near relative of his mother, and I

Their common ancestor is fourteen times removed. No relationship
between Sigurd’s father and mother is noted.
NO 4. The circumstances on his conception are unusual, and

Although his mother marries young and the marriage does not last
long because of his father’s death, these circumstances are not like those of
Sigurd. Sigurd’s half brother Sinfjotli’s conception involves a brother
24
begetting a child on his disguised sister but Sigurd is a normally conceived
child, although his mother changes clothes with her maid to escape from
the battlefield with the broken shards of the sword Gram. King Arthur
t
likewise incestuously conceives a son on his sister.
NO 5. He is also reputed to be the son of a god.

Aragorn, like Beowulf, is a man and that is tragedy enough. Sigurd is
also mortal and dies.
NO 6. At birth, an attempt is made usually by his father or maternal

grandfather, to kill him, but
Sauron’s generally enmity towards the Heirs of Isildur hardly qualifies
here. Sigurd’s mother escapes safely and her disguise is soon penetrated.
YES 7. He is spirited away, and

His mother Gilraen takes him to live in the house of Elrond because
the ores have killedhis father. Sigurd lives with King Hjalprek.
YES 8. Reared by foster. parents in a far country.

Elrond rears him in Rivendell, which is in the Northern part of his
own kingdom. “Sigurd waxed in King Hjalprek’s house.“*3
YES 9. We are told nothing of his childhood, but

Until he is twenty years old and Elrond reveals his heritage, his story
is unknown. Only a few episodes from Sigurd’s youth are related.
YES 10. On reaching, manhood he returns or goes to his future kingdom.

After finding out his heritage, he goes into the wild and labors for
thirty years as a Ranger in his Northern Kingdom and in Gondor and in
Rohan as Thorongil. Sigurd reforges the sword and regains his kingdom.
YES 11. After a victory over the king and/or a giant, dragon or wild beast
25
1
,
Aragorn and his forces do triumph over Sauron, who is a king, a giant
creature, and a beast in behavior. Sigurd chops his father’s slayer in half.
YES 12. He marries a princess, often the daughter of his predecessor, and
He marries Arwen Evenstar, the elven daughter of Elrond. Sigurd’s
marital problems form the central dilemma of the saga.
YES 13. Becomes king.

He assumes the winged crown of Gondor on May 1, 3019. Sigurd is a
King, but not much is made of it.
NO 14. For a time rules uneventfully, and

There remains much to do in Middle-earth. He requires the
assistance of Faramir and of the Prince of Do1 Amroth. The great evil of
Sauron cannot be mended so quickly. Sigurd’s fate moves along quickly.
NO 15. Prescribes laws, but

Aragom gives judgments when he becomes King, but he does not
prescribe new laws, his duty is rather to restore old laws. Sigurd does not
have much time for laws either.
NO 16. Later he loses favor with the gods and/or his subjects.
Aragom rules successfully until his death. Sigurd continues in favor
with everyone except Brynhild, her husband, and his brothers.
NO 17. Is driven from the throne and city, after which

King Elessar continues in his city on his throne. Sigurd also remains
in place.
NO 18. He meets with a mysterious death.

The King, having lived a span thrice that of mortal men (from 1 March
2931 to 1 March F.A. 120 (Shire X541)), goes into his family’s vault and wills
26
himself to die. Certainly, this death, while not common, is not mysterious in
the same way that Arthur’s is. Guttorm slays Sigurd . . ‘as he lies in his own
bed.
NO 19. Often on top of a hill.

The House of Kings in the Silent Street in Minas Tirith is on a hill but
not on a wild hill. Sigurd burns in a funeral pyre with Guttorm, Brynhild,
and Sigurd’s three year old son.
NO 20. His children, if any, do not succeed him.

He has several children. His son Eldarion “a man full-ripe for
kingshi$ receives the winged crown of Condor and the sceptre of Arnor
(III, 427). Brynhild has had his son slain.
NO 21. His body is not buried, but nevertheless

Technically, his body is not buried in a grave in the ground, but he lies
with his ancestors in the manner prescribed. Sigurd goes to a 9 pyre as Norse
custom dictates.
YES 22. He has one or more holy sepulchers.

The beds of Merry and Pippin come to be beside that of the King; so
that the three members of the Fellowship who do not go to the Grey Havens
lie in solemnity together. None is reported for Sigurd.
This comparison shows that in seventeen out of tienty-two cases,

Sigurd and Aragorn either fit or do not fit the prescription in the same way.
Aragom is more like Sigurd than he is like the other models for the list q
Perseus, Moses, or King Arthur. Yet, Aragom and Sigurd are really quite
different. Tolkien admits using Sigurd as a model for his apprenticeship
writing story about Turin. Sigurd’s career lacks the major concerns of
Aragorn’s; Sigurd is hero but not king. Aragom is more clearly King than .
hero, and that fact has important thematic implications. It would be easier
2 7
.
I ..-’ for the critic if Aragorn were more clearly Sigurd, Grettir, Olaf Tryguasson,
b
01&f Helgi, King Hrolf, or King Heidrek, but he is not. He is a much more
sophisticated blend of many Northern heroes and kings than might be
expected.
Some important differences revolve around his relationship with
Elrond. Mixing Aragom’s fate with that of the departing elves gives him
dimension, an unusual upbringing, a mini-quest to obtain the hand of his
beloved, and a true test of his lady’s love for him. With this, Tolkien casts
Aragorn into his own tradition of famous heroes and lovers - Beren and
Tinuvial and Idril and Tuor. This relationship also creates an unusual
dramatic effect, for the unrequited love of Eowyn must now be considered. ’
Tolkien resolves their situation much more happily than the Volsunga Saa
author does, for Eowyn’s marriage to Faramir is happier than Brynhild’s to
Gunnar. Another difference between Aragorn and the traditional myth-hero
is that the reader observes him in a variety of roles: as a potential villain in
the inn at Bree, as follower in a Gandalf-led expedition, as band leader, as
lover, and only finally as warrior and king.
The difference between Aragorn and typical myth heroes becomes
important in an attempt to understand the overall meaning of the work. If
Aragorn is a hero of great mythic tradition, the hobbits and the other lesser
creatures of the story may look to him to save them. They need not trouble
themselves with their own trials of courage. Aragom is heroic but not the
sole hero of this work in the way that Sigurd or King Arthur is a lone
protagonist in other literary pieces. Therefore, Tolkien requires the
courageous behavior of all folk -- heroic and timid -- to fulfill the quest.
Theoden
Theoden was probably suggested by aging rulers in Northern
literature, too, but he imay have a more specific source in King Hrothgar in
Beowulf. Both are kings with glorious pasts; both have succession problems -
Theoden’s son is dead; Hrothgar’s are very young. A review of the arrival of
the hero and his companions at the court shows the closeness of the analog.
28
In Beowulf, the coast guard asks Beowulf who he is. The guard
maintains that he must know the leader’s lineage before he will know
whether the goodly-appearing men are legitimate visitors or spies. He
wishes to know where they came from, too [Beowulf, 5). Likewise, in The
Lord of the Rin@, when Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli approach King
Theoden’s court, the guard asks them who they are, strangely clad and
riding horses that look like the horses of Rohan. The guard asks if Gandalf
is not a wizard and accuses him of being a spy for Saruman (II, 112-14).
When Gandalf and Pippin enter Minas Tirith, the guard recognizes Gandalf
and comments on his knowledge of the passwords, but he wants to know
who Pippin is and whether he is a dwarf from the mountains in the North.
In the same way, the sea guard in Beowulf suspects that the party may
contain spies.
Beowulf is invited to proceed to confer with Hrothgar himself.
Members of the fellowship enter both King Theoden and the steward
Denethor’s council rooms without a friendly welcome. King Theoden, under
the tutelage of the depraved Wormtongue, greets his guests most
ungraciously, saying that they are unwelcome. Denethor angers Gandalf by
talking exclusively to Pippin although Gandalf clearly knows more of
importance.
Hrothgar’s speech to Beowulf about his father is poignant: “I knew him
when he was a boy. His father was called Ecgtheow: Hrethel of the Geats
gave him his only daughter for his home” (Beowulf, 7). The aged ruler
expresses joy at receiving the son of his old comrade. But the evils of
Saruman have curtailed the courtesies in the courts of Middle-earth.
Gandalf upbraids Theoden for not recognizing the stature of his guests,
whose mighty weapons lie outside his doors. Denethor is equally rude to
Pippin saying that he has no love for Halflings. The lack of courtesy in the
King’s hall is a sign of the growing evil of the times. Although both countries
are besieged, .Gandalfs annoyance with the treatment he and his fellow
travelers receive indicates that the failure of courtesy signals a greater
rottenness.
29
King Hrothgar invites Beowulf and his companions to a feast. Beowulf’s
men are seated at benches, the king takes his place, an embellished ale-cup
passes, and a stop sings for their entertainment. The poet comments: ’
“There was joy of brave men, no little company of Danes and Weather-Geats,”
a typical understatement of the hospitality the ruler provides for his visitors
(Beowulf, -9). The members of Tolkien’s fellowship do not get such good
treatment. Gandalf brings Theoden back to his kingly duty and some
measure of rationed courtesy; they eat a sparse meal at the king% board (II,
127). Pippin momentarily breaks through Denethor’s despair by offering his
service as weregild for Boromir’s death. After Denethor has accepted
Pippin’s pledge, the Steward orders food, wine, and seats for his guests. . .+
Denethor, too, recalls that courteous behavior is an outward sign of an
inward commitment to true values.
The aged ruler Hrothgar considers the hero to be divinely sent.
Because Tolkien eschews worship and other evidences of religion in
pre-Christian world of The Lord of the Rings, neither of his aged rulers
makes such an assertion. Indeed, the arrival of Aragorn, Gandalf, Legolas,
and Gimli in time to awaken Theoden to his duty is one of the many
elements of chance which mitigate for the successful battle against Sauron.
Here as elsewhere, Tolkien uses as much of any motif as suits his purpose.
At the end of the poem, King Beowulf reflects on his long rule: he
thanks god for the treasures to help his people, bids a barrow be built as a
beacon for sailors, and gives Wiglaf -- the last of his kin -- necklace, helmet,
ring, and mail-shirt (Beowulf, 48-49). In The Lord of the Rings, Theoden,
knowing that he will die once he has committed himself to battle, talks
about his reign. He acknowledges his nephew &omer, who under
Wormtongue’s influence has been banished, as his heir by calling him “son”.
He rejects the personal safety of staying behind in the hills; he knows that
living unrevenged past +Ae fall of his kin would be too sorrowful (III, 78). In
The Hobbit, the aged dwarf ruler Thorin also philosophizes lying with many
wounds on his deathbed. Like Beowulf, he leaves behind a mighty treasure.
He wishes now to part in friendship with Bilbo. Thorin says, “If more of us
30
_
. I . . ._ ,. . - . * I,
valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a better
world” (Hobbit, 273). As Wiglaf buries the treasure with Beowulf’, so Bard
lays the Arkenstone on Thorin’s breast deep beneath the mountain.
Tolkien’s use of Beowulf as source here is complex; parts of the Beowulf ’
description appear in The Hobbit and are not repeated in the later The Lord
of the Rina. Although King Hrothgar’s welcome of Beowulf is a courteous
and sprightly one, he is not an effective ruler. He has lost the essential
strength to combat Grendel his enemy; he sleeps in his’ bower with his wife
rather than remaining to confront Grendel in the hall; In The Lord of the
m, the evils of Theoden’s court have been objectified into the character
of Wormtongue; he is seen as the one sapping the King’s vitality. When the
King rallies himself enough to reject Wormtongue and recognize his true kin
again, then he joins the other characters in the war against Sauron.
King Hrothgar dies leaving his kingdom under Beowulf% protection.
Theoden fights again, regaining the honor of his youth, and achieving that
glorious death in battle beloved of Northern peoples. He surpasses Hrothgar
in his death as has been discussed in Chapter 7. Theoden’s succession
follows customs of Northern governance; his sister’s son fiomer assumes
the Kingship. Thus, Theoden is allowed to join the cavalcade of those who
must contribute their courage to the battle against Sauron.
A common feature of heroic literature and The Lord of the Rine is the
.
warrior maiden. Camilla in Aeneid and Britomart in The Faerie Queene are
two examples from outside Northern literature. Virgil comments on
Camilla’s lack of household experience: “Hers were no woman’s hands,
attuned/ to distaff and wool.”44 &owyn is equally unsuited for domesticity.
When Faramir speaks to her about healing, she replies “Look to me not for
healing! I am a shieldmaideri and my hand is ungentle” (II, 239). As warrior
women, neither excels at the gentler household tasks. Camilla kills many
Trojans in the Aeneid. Camilla reminds one of them that he dies by a
woman’s hand in the same way that &owyn triumphantly laughs in the
r, - Nazgfil’s face that she is “no living man” but a woman (III, 116). Both also
fight on
* foot: Camilla responds to a TYojan challenge by dismounting and
running past her horse to engage in sword play. Eowyn’s horse has fallen
beneath her. While Britomart of The Faerie Queene has been suggested as
an English source for this behavior, her allegorical nature makes her rather
too prudish and -didactic.45 She marries her king while Eowyn does not.
In Ragnar Lodbrok, Queen Aslaug Sigurdsdottir might also be an
analog, for she dresses in armor, calls herself Randolin, and leads an army to
avenge her stepsons.46 Even excluding the Valkyries, Erik Wahlgren in “The
Maiden King in Iceland” has found the story of the martial maiden in three
sagas of olden times and twelve lying sagas. 47 Of course, Tolkien knew most
of these maidens. Brynhild differs from others in the Northern tradition in
her attitude towards needlework. In the Volsunga Saa, she defines herself:
“I am a shield-may, and wear helm on head even as the kings of war, and
them full oft I help, neither is the. battle become loathsome to me.“*8 She is
a warrior woman, but she also is reputed to have more skill with handicraft
than any other women. Her enemy Gudrun, the wife of Sigurd, who was
once betrothed to Brynhild, turns out to be a doughty fighter, too. In a battle
between her husband King Atli and her brothers, she puts on her mail coat,
takes up her sword and fights with her kin. She accounts herself as bravely
as any of the men. Like Brynhild, Gudrun does extensive needle work.
Hervor, King Heidrek’s mother, also becomes a shieldmaiden and
leads a band of Vikings into battle 39 One particaular scene from King
Heidrek seems to have gone into the cauldron. Hervor commands the plains
from a stronghold: she and her foster-father Ormar defend the land against
the Huns. The sagawriter reports “One morning at sunrise Herv6r stood on
a watchtower above the fortress-gate, and she saw a great cloud of dust from
horses hooves rising southwards towards the fortress, which for a long time
hid the sun.”50 Through the dustcloud, she sees the brightly gleaming q
armor, shields, helmets, and corslets of a mighty Hun host coming to attack.
When Eowyn, retained in the tower House of Healing, complains to her
physician of her captivity, the warden refers her to Faramir. She tells him
32
that her window does not look eastward over the battlefield. Faramir agrees
that she should have a window looking east and notes that he also wishes to
watch the battle he cannot join.Tolkien says “But in the morning, as Faramir
came from the Houses, he saw her, as she stood upon the walls: and she has
clad in white, and gleamed in the sun” (III, 239). In both, a shieldmaiden
stands in a tower and views a battlefield in the early sun.
A favorite shield maiden who may have contributed to Eowyn’s
character is Thombjorg, daughter of King Eirik of Sweden in Hrolf
Gautreksson: a Viking Romance. King Hrolf has heard that she is a most
outstanding woman but that she will not allow anyone to address her as a
woman, that she is the sole ruler over one third of Sweden, keeping her
own retainers and court there, and that she has killed and maimed several
who tried to press their attentions on her. His brother Ketil predicts that
“the more arrogance she shows, the harder her pride’s going to fall when
the time comes? King Hrolfs first expedition against Thornbjorg ends in
disaster for the hero. King Hrolf enters the hall with twelve brave men; he
tells the King that he knows that she is the daughter, not the son of the
Swedish King and that he has permission to ask for her hand in marriage.
King Thorberg and her men grab weapons and attack Hrolfs party who
barely get away even though King Hrolf himself kills twelve men in the hall.
King Thorberg decides to prevent further insults by strongly fortifying
her kingdom with all kinds of devices and machinery. When Hrolf comes up
against her again, he brings his brother Ketil and his blood brothers Ingjald
and Asmund with him. They attack the fortifications unsuccessfully for a
fortnight; then Hrolf starts his men to tunnelling through the wall under the
protection of a well built platform. When King Thorberg learns of this, she
runs into the woods, leaving all the precious goods and sumptuous feasts
behind. But King Hrolf is not deceived by these baubles and follows the
King’s escape route. Ketil manages to hit the Swedish king on the backside
with’ the flat of his sword, for which he gets knocked head over heels. King
Hrolf then offers the Swedish King the lives of all her men if she will lay
down her weapons. He offers to let her father King Eirik make the
33
judgment between them. At that, the Swedish King declares Hrolf to be a .
shrewd and patient man and agrees to his terms. She reports to her father
that she has been run out of the kingdom by strong fighting men and will
now allow him to arrange her marriage. The King suggests that she give up
fighting and take up feminine matters in her mother’s boudoir, which she
does. Many martial maidens dot the pages of Icelandic sagas, but
Thornbjorg, who styles herself as King Thorberg and will allow no one even
to refer to her with female pronouns, is one of the most interesting. The
sagawriter comments: “She was the loveliest, most polished and courteous
woman in the whole of Europe, intelligent, popular, eloquent, and the best
of advisers, but imperious too.” 52 Her character must have been among .
those contributing to the creation of shieldmaiden Eowyn, a woman warrior
who brings about the death of a Ringwraith.
Considering the number of martial maidens in Northern literature, it
is fascinating that Tolkien limits himself to one., Galadriel might have played
a greater role; he has prepared for that by defining her role towards the
dwarves as being that of a commander. But renouncing the Ring is such a
supreme act that further involvement would be anticlimactic. Arwen is
really omitted in this aspect, being represented only by her needlework,
something that many martial maidens abjure. Eowyn shares the thwarted
love role with Brynhild, whose beloved Sigurd marries another woman. But
Tolkien is most careful to demonstrate Aragom’s feelings towards Eowyn,
and they are not romantic ones: he sorrows for her misplaced love. The
substitution of Faramir is an appropriate one. Faramir wins his love himself,
gains sufficient glory in battle, and attains a suitably high office. In addition,
Faramir makes himself a major hero in the story by refusing to be tempted
by the ring. Tolkien creates a needlework sampler of persons who fight
courageously to destroy the ring: four hobbits (Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin),
one Dwarf (Gimli), one -main elf (Legolas), two main men (Boromir and
Faramir: the Prince of Dal Amroth is quite minor), one wizard, one
uncrowned king, and one shieldmaiden. Towards the end, he had almost
more characters than he could comfortably manipulate. Quite sensibly, he
34
t’
saves Arwen for the ceremonies at the end.
Galadrief .
Galadriel’s tale is an unfinished one. While the stories of many ’
characters in The Lord of the FZingg have reached firll development, Tolkien
was still evolving Galadriel’s nature and her adventures. In The Unfinished
Tales, Christopher Tolkien notes that the story of Galadriel and Celeborn
has more problems than any other story in the history of Middle-earth. He
concludes that “the role and importance of Galadriel only emerged slowly,
l
and that her story underwent continual refashionings.” (Unfinished Tales,

228). Readers can only speculate on the variety of adventures that Tolkien
might eventually have discovered for this fascinating elven woman.
Pieces of Galadriel’s complex story occur in various works, most of
them published after Tolkien’s death. The Silmarillion mentions her only
incidentally as she figures into stories dealing with the Maia and her
mentor the elven Queen Melian and into tales about her brother King Finrod
Felagund. The Unfinished Tales contains a section entitled “The History of
Galadriel and Celeborn,” in which Christopher Tolkien presents his father’s
latest work on her history. Christopher Tolkien also observes that the
description of Idril Celebrindal serves as a prototype for Galadriel. In early
version of “The Quenta” printed in The ShaDing of Middle-earth, J.R.R.
Tolkien describes Idril: “Very fair and tall was she, well nigh of warrior’s
stature, and her hair was a fountain of gold.” (The ShaDing of Middle-earth,
148). In The Lord of the Rings_, Galadriel reigns over Lorien, assists the
company in their quest, has the ruling ring offered to her, passes that test
of temptation, and is allowed to end her exile. in Middle-earth and sail for
the Havens with the other heroes in the War of the Ring.
Similarly, the saga story of Unn the Deep-minded is a fragmented one.
Unn’s adventures occur in the Laxdale Saga, the Sturlunga Saga, and the
Landnamabok. Unn has several characteristics which may have been drawn
out of Tolkien’s cauldron when he was preparing Galadriel’s character. Urin
the Deep-minded is the daughter of Ketil Flatnose, whose descendants
35
.
people the Laxdale Sam. Her son Thorstein has been so consistently
successful in his raids on the Scats that he has made himself king over half
of Scotland. His reign is, however, short-lived: the Scats betray and kill him.
The news of her son’s killing causes Unn to realize that she has little chance
of maintaining her position in Scotland since her father, too, is dead, but
Unn is a woman of action. She has a ship secretly built in the woods, fills it
with her goods and all her living kinsmen, and sails away. People thought
that her ability to salvage her retainers, her family, and her wealth from a
hostile land showed what a paragon she was.53 Unn sails her ship to the
Faroes, where she stays for a time, and then to Iceland, where the group is
shipwrecked. Unn goes with a party of twenty to visit her brother Helgi,
who invites her to stay but with only ten retainers. Her retort is that she did
not know what a petty person he was. Her brother Bjorn generously invites
her to stay with him with her entire party. Unn settles and gives land to the
nobles accompanying her and to her freed bondmen in return for their loyal
service. She is a generous woman. At the end of her life, Unn arranges. a
marriage for her favorite grandson Olaf Feilan. She prepares a great feast
and invites many guests. In front of the assembled company, she wills her
homestead, stock, and stores to Olaf. The company comments on her
dignity and her stately appearance: she begs them to continue their
enjoyment of the feast while she herself retires to her bedcloset. The next
morning Olaf finds her dead propped up in bed. The sagawriter comments
‘*Everyone thought it remarkable how Unn had kept her dignity up to the
day of her death.“54 The wedding feast now turns into Unn’s funeral feast.
She is laid in a ship and covered with a mound.
Galadriel shares several characteristics with Unn. Galadriel is also a
paragon among women. In Appendix B to The Lord of the Rine, Tolkien
calls her “greatest of Elven women.” (III, 363). In The Silmarillion, Tolkien
designates her “the mightiest and fairest of all the Elves that remained in
Middle-earth” (Silmarillion, 298). The name given to her by her mother is
Nerwen, which means man-maiden. This name reflects her height and her
prowess as a leader. In The Unfinished Tales, Tolkien records “she was
36
strong of body, mind, and will, a match for both the loremasters and the
athletes of the Eldar in the days of their youth.” (Unfinished Tales, 229). In
his last writings about her, Tolkien records “being brilliant in mind and
swift in action she had early absorbed all of what she was capable of the ‘.
teaching which the Valar thought fit to the Eldar, and she felt confined in
the tutelage of Aman” (Unfinished Tales, 232) She has, therefore, asked
permission to depart, but Manure has neither forbidden her nor given her
formal leave to go. Further, not all of Galadriel’s learning came to her in her
youth, for she increases her lore and wisdom through study with Queen
Melian in Nargothrond (Silmarillion, 115). Her wisdom has practical uses in
Middle-earth; she has wished that Gandalf rather than Saruman should be
the head of the White Council, but Gandalf refuses citing his mission’s
preeminence over other duties. (Silmarillion, 300). Several mentions are
made of Galadriel’s foresight; Unn’s sobriquet “Deep-minded” refers both to
her intelligence and to her second sight.
Like Unn, Galadriel is a ship builder. While she is trying to decide
whether to leave without explicit permission, she goes to Teleri where ships
are available. There she meets the Telerian prince Celeborn; together they
plan to build a ship to sail to Middle-earth. At that time, Melkor destroys
the light of the Trees. Although Galadriel has no part in F&nor’s revolt, she
does sail without leave from Manwe. In this she violates the ban against
departure and is forbidden to return. The outline “Concerning Galadriel and
Celeborn” credits Galadriel with a sea-longing so strong that she decides to
leave Lorinand to dwell near the sea as Unn does when she moves at Hvamm
(Unfinished Tales, 240).
Galadriel’s reaction to F&nor’s revolt against the Valar is like Unn the
Deep-minded’s reaction to her son Thorstein’s defeat and death, Galadriel
“yearned to see the wide unguarded lands [of Middle-earth] and to rule there
a realm at her own will.” (Silmarillion, 84). Like Unn, Galadriel provides
leadership, for the Noldor “led by Fingolfin and his sons, and by Finrod and
Galadriel” . “dared to pass into the bitterest North: and finding no other
l l
way they endured at last the terror of the Helcaraxe and the cruel hills of ice.
.
37
Few of the deeds of the Noldor thereafter surpassed that desperate crossing
in hardihood or woe” (Silmarillion, 90). Galadrief is farsighted in her
understanding of the events to be in Middle-earth. She sees that
Middle-earth could only be saved by an alliance of all peoples. She looks
upon the dwarves as a commander would, perceiving them as the finest
warriors to send against the Ores (Unfinished Tales, 235).
Galadriel has two characteristics not shared with UM the
Deep-minded: golden hair and pride. Galadriel’s long golden hair, which is
so extravagant in its color that it seems that the light of the Tw’o Trees
Laurelin and Telperion has been snared in it, does not derive from UM.
Unn’s hair does not bring the sagawriter to comment. Tolkien repeatedly
mentions Galadriel’s pride. She is described as being “proud, strong, and
self-willed”; pride keeps her from returning to the west, and pride moves
her to refuse the pardon (Unfinished Tales, 230). While some pride can be
attributed to Unn, who’ refuses her brother’s offer to take only ten of her
retainers, that action may also be viewed as a political move to establish her
own independence as an equal to her brothers. Pride is not an adjective
that sagawriter uses to describe her.
Both of these characteristics may be derived from another saga
heroine, Hallgerd from Ni&l’s Saa. One of her most memorable
characteristics is her hair which the sagawriter mentions as “long silken
hair that fell to her waist,” ”lovely hair so long that it could veil her whole
body, ” “hair hanging loose on either side of her bosom and tucked into her
belt,” and “her beautiful thick hair flowed down over her bosom.“55 Yet this
distinguishing mark may have several other origins. In Gunnlaug’s Saga, the
two poets Gunnlaug and Hrafn both love the fair Helga, who is noted as “the
loveliest woman there has ever been in Iceland.” The sagawriter comments
“Her hair was of such a length that it could cover her entirely and it was as
fair as beaten gold.” 56 -In Norse myth, the goddess Sif’s golden hair is
manufactured by that scheming god L&i to replace her r’eal hair which “as
she moved rippled and gleamed and changed from gold to gold like swaying . .:
corn . ‘W Loki has shape-shifted himself, entered Sifs bedroom, and cut off
38
... .... - .
.
.
her hair while she slept. The hair Loki crafts for her takes root and grows
like her own. Crossley-Holland categorizes &f’s hair as a fertility symbol.
That attribute has not been transferred to Galadriel. .
In the chapter ‘The Farewell to Liirien,‘! Galadriel. gives hgolas “a bow
such as the Galadrim used, longer and stouter than the.bows of Mirkwood,
and strung with a string of elf-hair” (I, 391). The idea of using hair to sting a
bow immediately recalls NM’s Saga’s justly famous scene in which Gunnar
defends himself against his enemies with his bow. After Thorbrand
Thorleiksson cuts Gunnar’s bowstring, Gunnar asks his wife, Hallgerd, for
two strands of her hair to wind into a new bowstring. The proud Hallgerd
reminds Gunnar of a slap he once gave her and refuses. Gunnar, who will
not ask again, fights bravely until, overcome by weariness and many deep
wounds, he dies.58
But Tolkien uses more than the hair bowstring from the scene. When ’
Galadriel tells the dwarf to choose a gift, he begs for one strand of her
golden hair. Both Galadriel and Gunnar’s wife Hallgerd are extremely
beautiful and have luxuriant hair, but the resemblance ends there. Galadriel
graciously unbraids her hair and gives Gimli three strands (I, 392). This
gift’s import increases because F&nor had begged Galadriel three times for
a tress
. of her hair, and she has refused. F&nor is the insurgent elf whose
rebellion instigates the Kinslaying and the banishment to Middle-earth; The
two were unfriends (Unfinished Tales, 230). Although the action of asking a
lady for a lock of hair has a different result, the ideas of a hair bowstring and
a request for a lady’s hair have a source in Ni8.~.
Another scene from the family sagas seems relevant to the elf-lady,
Galadriel. One winter, Viga-Glum has a dream: “He thought he saw a woman
going out over the district, and she moved toward Thverar, and she was so
big that her shoulders reached up to the mountains on both sides. And he
thought to go from the fence to meet her and bid her come to him, and
afterwards he. awakened? This woman is Glum’s guardian spirit, who later .
forsakes him. A little imagination transforms this dream into the scene
between Frodo and Galadriel. “She stood before Frodo seeming now tall
39
beyond measurement, and beautiful beyond enduring, terrible and
worshipful. Then she let her hand fall, and the light faded, and suddenly
she laughed again, an lo! she was shrunken: a slender elf-woman, clad in
simple white, whose gentle voice as soft and sad” (I, 381). Galadriel serves
as a kind of guardian spirit for Frodo, too. She encourages him and provides
the vial which lights his way through Shelob’s subterranean areas. Although.
many characters shrink and grow tall, the two scenes seem to come from
the same pot.
Glum identifies his dream girl as hamin-, which is usually a female
fetch, in this case the guardian spirit of his grandfather who has just died in
Norway. In the poem, she is-also called a dis, which was discussed in
connection with the dwarves. Turville-Petre translates the verse Glum
speaks in his dream of the woman as follows: “I saw a woman spirit of
towering stature, a goddess of the head-dress, walk hither to Eyjafjoror,
with a helmet on her head. So that in my dream the battle-goddess seemed
to stand beside the hills, warrior.“60 Both accounts include a supernatural
woman who appears to be quite tall, and in both the woman’s appearance is
an illusion.
Hallgerd of NizVs Sa@ lends other attributes to Galadriel as well.
Hallgerd is a proud woman, so proudp . at she has a servant steal food so that
/
she will not be embarrassed by a poorhable. When Gunnar finds out, he slaps
her, gaining her undying enmity. Hallgerd’s pride also leads her into a battle
with Bergthora over who will sit at the high table. This feud results in the
death of several men as discussed earlier. Galadriel’s pride results in a long
I
exile for her from the West. Although forgiveness is offered, she does not
accept it until she believes she has earned it through her rejection of the .
Ring. Both women are also beautiful with long, thick hair and sharp tongues.
In The Letters, Tolkien discusses Galadriel’s origins and nature several
times. In a 1973 letter to Mrs. Catherine Findlay, Tolkien explains that
Galadriel’s name means “Maiden crowned with gleaming hair.” She was .
given the name in her youth because she had long hair which “glistened like
gold but was also shot with silver.” This, she bound up as a crown when her
Amazon disposition engaged her in athletic feats (Letters, 428). In 1953,
Robert Murray commented on the order of grace and compared the image of
Galadriel to that of the Virgin Mary. While Tolkien acknowledges Murray’s
reference to the order of Grace and Tolkien’s own devotion to Our Lady, ‘he
does not comment on the parallel (Letters, 431). In a 1971 letter to Mrs.
Ruth Austin, Tolkien is more forthright about the relationship to Mary: - “I
think it is true that I owe much of this character to christian and Catholic
teaching and imagination about Mary, but actually Galadriel was a penitent;
in her youth a leader of the rebellion against the Valar (the angelic
guardians). At the end of the First Age, she proudly refused forgiveness or
permission to return. She was pardoned because of her resistance to the
final and overwhelming temptation to take the Ring for herself” (Letters,
407). Clearly, when this statement was written her story had not yet
reached its next development in his mind, for two and a half years later,
Tolkien, writing to Lord Halsbury, says “Galadriel was ‘unstained’: she had
committed no evil deeds. She was an enemy of F&nor. She did not reach
Middle-earth with the other Noldor, but independently. Her reasons for
desiring to go to Middle-earth were legitimate, and she would have been
permitted to depart, but for the misfortune that before she set out the revolt
of F&nor broke out, and she became involved in the desperate measures of
Manwe, and the ban on all emigration” (Letters, 43 1). The text of The. Lord
of the Rings does not provide any inconsistencies with either of these
interpretations. In it, only the noble ending of Galadriel’s tale is set forth.
Since Tolkien still had The Silmarillion in manuscript form, he could amend
it to fit either interpretation. The reader may be reminded of a medieval
mystery play in which a good angel sits on one shoulder and a bad angel on
the other, each clammering for the protagonist’s attention. Similarly,
Tolkien may be seen to be wavering between the inspiration of one of the
great villainesses of Northern literature, Hallgerd in NW’s Sag and one of
its truly noble heroines, Unn the Deep-minded from the Laxdale Saga. Unn
was winning.
41
Conclusion
Tolkien’s great craft permits few accidents. Most of the personalities
in the tradition of Northern literature, influenced by the sagas, or having
specific sources in the sagas, are the men and women of Rohan and Gondor.
In those two kingdoms, the implements, the languages, the customs, and
the peoples have clear counterparts in Northern literature and mythology.
That Galadriel may be numbered in this company is surprising. Yet, her
story was an evolving one; if Tolkien had developed other stories to this .
level, they, too, might have been equally indebted to the Northern tradition.
.
42
NOTES ’
1. Carpenter, Rhys. Folk Tale, Fiction and Saga in the Homeric EDics
(Berkeley:University of California Press, 1946), 139.
2. Gisla saga Surssonar, The Saga of Gisli, trans. George Johnson, (London:
Dent, 1963), 64-65.
3. Ruth Noel, The Mvthologv of Middle-earth. + (Boston: Houghton Mifflin,

1978), 92.
4. William Howard Green, “The ~Hobbit and other Fiction by J. R. R. Tolkien:

Their roots in Medieval Heroic Literature and Language.” (Ph.D. diss.,
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, 1969).
5. E.V. Gordon, An Introduction to Old Norse, rev. A.R. Taylor, 2nd ed.
(Oxford:Clarendon, 1956), 225.
6. Old Norse, 64.
7. Old Norse, 41-43.
8. Mvthology, 77.
9. David, Harvey, The Song of Middle-earth (London: Allen & Unwin, 1985),
108-110,
10. Eyrbyggja saga, Evrbvggia Saga, trans. P. Schach (Lincoln: University of

Nebraska Press, 1959), 45.
11. Vatnsdoeli saga, The Vatnsdalers’ Saga, trans. Gwyn Jones (Princeton:
43
A Princeton University Press, 1944), 70.
12. Egils saga Skallagrimssonar, Egil’s Saga, trans. Gwyn Jones (Syracuse:
Syracuse University Press, 1960), 153- 154.
13. Saga of the Jomsvikings, trans. Lee M. Hollander (Austin: University of

Texas Press, 1955), 25.
14. NjaI’s saga, Ni&l’s Saga, trans. Carl Bayerschmidt and Lee M. Hollander
15, Ni%I’s Saga, 228. .
16. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lost Road and Other Writin@, ed. Christopher
Tolkien (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1987), 75.
17. NjAl’s Saga, 227.
18. Nigl’s Saga, 265.
19. Ni&I’s Saga, 265-266.
20. Biographv, 149, 266. l
21. Kormak’s saga, The Saga of KormAk and the Sworn Brothers, trans. Lee
M. Hollander (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1949), 85.
22. Fostbroethra saga, In The Saga of Korm&k and the Sworn Brothers,
trans. Lee M. Hollander (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1949), 85.
23. Saga of Kormtik, 61,62.
44
- 24. E.O.C. Turville-Petre, Origins of Icelandic Literature (Oxford: Clarendon
:
Press, 1953), 9.
t
25. Saga of KormZik, 85.
26. Eyrbvggja Saga, 124-25.
27. Hrolfs saga Gautreksson, Hrolf Gautreksson: A Viking Romance, trans.

Hermann Palsson and Paul Edwards (Toronto: University of Toronto Press,
1972), 30.
28. Humphrey Carpenter, Tolkien: A Biography (Boston: Houghton Mifflin,

1977), 188.
29. Gudbrand Vigfusson, ed. “Prolegomena,” in Sturlunga Sa@ (Oxford:

Clarendon, 1878), v. 2, 43.
30. -a Saga, 167-171.
3 1. Biography, 188.
32. Volsunga saga, The Saga of the Volsungs. The Saga of Rangar Lodbrok
with the Lav of Kraka, trans. Margaret Schlauch (Princeton: Princeton
34. Snorri Sturluson, Heimskringla: The Historv of the Kings of Norwav,

trans. Lee M. Hollander (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1964), 64.
35. Heimskringlzi, 447.
45
36. Heimskringla, 5 16.
37. Nid’s Saga, 357.
39. J.S. Ryan, “German Mythology Applied--The Extension of the Literary

Folk Memory,” Folklore, LXXVII (1965), 49.
40. E.R. Edison, Stvrbiorn the Strong (New York: A. 8s C. Boni, 1926), 157-
165.
41. Stvrbiorn, 255.
42. Mvthology, 68-70.
43. Volsunga saga, Volsunga Saga: The storv of the Volsungs and the
Niblungs, trans. William Morris (New York: Collier Books, 1971), 125.
44. Vergil, The Aeneid, trans. Frank 0. Copley (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill,

1965), VII, 805-06.
45. Edmund Spenser, The Poetical Works of Edmund Spenser (London:

Oxford, 1912).
46. Saga of the VolsunB, 229. /
47. Erik Wahlgren, “The Maiden King in Iceland” (Chicago: University of

Chicago, 1938), 61-63:
48. Volsun~a Saga, 163.
46
trans. Christopher Tolkien (London: Nelson, 1960), 52-54.
trans. Christopher Tolkien (London: Nelson, 1960), 52.
A
5 1. Hrolf Gautreksson, 42 .
52. Hrolf Gautreksson, 68 .
53. The Laxdoela saga, Laxdale Saga, trans. A. Margaret Arent (Seattle:
University of Washington Press, 1964), 7.
54. Laxdale, 14.
55. Nial’s Saga, 39, 54, 66, 99.
56. Gunnlaugs saga ormstungu, Gunnlaug’s Saga in Three Icelandic Sagas,

trans M. H. Scargill. (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1950), 15.
57 . Kevin Crossley Holland, The Norse Myths (New York: Pantheon, 1980),
48 .
58 . Ni&l’s Saga, 159-161.
59 . Viga-Glum saga. The Storv of Viga-Glum, trans. G. Turville-Petre, 2nd

ed. (Oxford: Willianx and Norgate, 1960), 15. ’
60. Viga-Glum, 317-333.
47
- - -... - - - - y - .
d.., c. , :,: - . , + .
.
-.
CHAPTER NINE ’ . t.
“they have been in the Pot . . turning [off the bear-boy into the knight
l
f
Beowulf’ (“Fairy-Stories”, 30).
Beowulf and The Lord of the Rins
In The Road to Middle-earth, T.A. Shippey says that the scenes in the
Golden hall are straight-forwardly calqued on Beowulf.1 Certainly,
throughout this book a number of likenesses between the Old. English poem
Beowulf and The Lord of the Rin@ have been observed in weapons, customs,
landscapes, and personalities. In this chapter, the more comprehensive
relationships between these two works will be discussed. Three such areas
of comparison are the heroic elements (fights, a spirit of hardihood, and the
characteristics of the hero): the concept of fate; and the meaning of the
works. A discussion of the elements of Tolkien’s essay “Beowulf: The
Monsters and the Critics” will be used to facilitate an understanding of the
Old English poem and correspondingly of The Aord of the Rin..
The Heroic Elements
Fights
First among the heroic elements is the hard-fought, well-matched
fight. While the battle between Grendef and Beowulf is fierce, the fight
between Grendel’s dam and Beowulf is even more hotly contested. Beowulf
quickly finds that his sword is not effective against his enemy. He seizes
Grendel’s dam by the hair, pulling her to the ground. They wrestle
desperately in the bottom of her underwater cave. She attacks with her
broad, bright-edged knife, but his armor saves him. He seizes an ancient
giant-crafted sword from the floor and hacks her neck with it. The heat of
her blood melts the sword (Beowulf, 27-28). This wonderful fight further
embellishes the hero’s reputation.
The heightened action in The Lord of the Rine begins early with
several frightening incidents climaxing in Frodo’s narrow escape at the Ford
of Rivendell at the end of Book I. Glorfindel, Aragorn, and the flood are
barely able to save Frodo from the nine gathered Ringwraiths (I, 225-227).
A sword melts as described earlier in Chapter 5. Close escapes and bad
scares continue to yet another climax with the battle between Gandalf and
the ancient and terrible Balrog followed by the death of Boromir and the
division of the company (I, 344-45: II, 15- 17: II, 22). More perils, war, and
death follow closely until yet another climax occurs with Frodo’s failure to
renounce the Ring and the struggle with Gollum (III, 223-25). Even after
the joyful wedding/coronation celebration, another battle remains between
the hobbits and Saruman (III, 297-300). The Fellowship triumphs by
narrow margins.
Spirit of hardihood
The determination to conquer or to die bravely in the face of great
odds is a hallmark of both Beowulf and The Lord of the Rina. Beowulf
speaks to King Hrothgar, whose friend Aeschere has just been killed by
Grendel’s dam. Beowulf voices a central tenant of the Norse doctrine of
courageous behavior: “‘Sorrow not, wise warrior. It is better for a man to
avenge his ftiend than much mourn. Each of us must await his end of the
world’s life. Let him who may get glory before death: this is best for the
warrior after he has gone from life”’ (Beowulf, 25). The warrior’s reputation
after death surpasses his concern for continuing life without honor. Similar
statements occur in The Lord of the Rine. For example, Gandalf says to
Theoden: “Doom hangs still on a thread. Yet hope there is still, if we can but
stand unconquered for a little while” (II, 12 1). And Eomer almost quotes
Beowulfs advice to Hrothgar when the Nazgtil kills Theoden. Eomer makes
this poetic commentary: “Mourn not overmuch! Mighty was the fallen/meet
was his ending. When his mound is raised,/women then shall weep. War
now calls us!” (III, 119). No matter how desperate the situation, the
warrior’s duty is to continue the fight.
2
In the Battle of Pelennor Fields, the Lard 6f the NazgQl comes into the
field with the standard displaying a red serpent on a black field to challenge
Theoden. Tolkien describes the product of their meeting: “But the white
fury of the North-men burned the hotter, and more skilled was their
knighthood with long spears and bitter. Fewer were they but they clove
through the Southrons like a fire-bolt in a forest” (III, 114). These lines
recall similar ones from the well-known old English poem “The Battle of
Maldon”: “Purpose shall be the firmer, heart the keener, courage shall be
the more, as our might lessens. “2 The need for greater effort when the
chances of success dwindle reflects the Ragnarok emphasis on courage.
The spirit of hardihood displayed in these works is integral to their
themes. The warrior spirit demands that the battle go on no matter how
grievous the current losses are. Each of these authors values individual
courage greatly. The correlations both in action and in verbal expression of
attitude are at their highest in the scenes surrounding Theoden and the
heroic exploits of Beowulf. Shippey’s assertion that the description of the
golden hall is calqued or copied perhaps has an unwelcome negative
connotation. However, when Tolkien uses Beowulf closely, he greatly
enriches the reader’s experience in The Lord of the Rings.
Characteristics of the Hero
Fate of the Nation

The heroes in The Lord of the Rim@ are profoundly different from
those in Beowulf. In his essay “Beowulfi the Monsters and the Critics,”
Tolkien defends the poem against a charge of being broken backed by
demonstrating the unity that a single hero gives to the work. Beowulf, a
young warrior of superior strength and athletic ability, comes to the court of
his father’s friend King Hygelac, defeats the monster Grendel not only alone
.
but also without weapons. Subsequently, while his companions sit around
the edge of the loathsome mere, he dives to its bottom and defeats
Grendel’s fierce mother. In his final adventure with the dragon, an old king
3
Beowulf finds that most of his companions desert him before -the fierce fire
of the dragon. Only his young kinsman Wiglaf goes with him into a final,
mutually deadly combat with the dragon. As discussed in Chapter 3 with the
traditions of the epic genre, the fate of the nation does depend on the
actions of the hero in the poem Beowulf.
In The Lord of the Rings, the Fellowship of the Ring carries with it the
fate of all free peoples in Middle-earth. Aragorn as hero stands not only for
the freedom of Condor but also for the freedom of the allies. Aragorn
represents the traditional hero, but Tolkien has deliberately underplayed his
role in order to emphasize the importance of all creatures in the fight for
freedom. Frodo as hero stands for the contribution that timorous creatures
must make when the need arises. Tolkien’s use of a hobbit in the key role of
the quest figure is one of the secrets of his enormous success. This unusual
hero, not an antihero as might have been expected from the milieu, but an
ordinary being called upon to perform the extraordinary in dangerous and
trying circumstances, is a work of true genius. Gandalf as hero stands for
the kind of help that mortals can expect from the powers beyond. His
power to help seems limited when compared with that of the enemy
Sauron, but the wizard does have knowledge and ability beyond that of
hobbits or men.
The efforts of the companions of these diverse heroes are also worthy
of notice. Unlike Beowulf’s companions who sleep through the encounter
with Grendel, sit through the battle with Grendel’s mother, and flee from
the encounter with the dragon, the companions in The Lord of the FUna
play a vital role in the success of the story. The companions of the
Fellowship -- Legolas, Gimli, Boromir, Merry, and Pippin -- all contribute to
the success of the early part of the tale. Several important companions join
the battle against Sauron and acquit themselves with honor on the
battlefield: Theoden;Eomer, Ikowyn, Faramir, and the Prince of Do1 Amroth
are human allies while the Ents, the Eagles, and the spirits of the oath
breakers are more unusual ones. The efforts of all these creatures are
required to defeat evil in The Lord of the Rina. Beowulf himself could not
4
.---.- - --- --a.e-.m.,. - - w., <
^. - .
have accomplished the task alone. This difference between the two works is
profound.
Boasting
The heroes of Northern literature and of the greater epic tradition are
not known for their modesty; boasting is common among them. For
instance, Beowulf boasts of his kinship, of his strength, of his destruction of
a family of giants, of his championship swimming, of his slaughter of sea
monsters, and at the speech’s end, of his intention to., destroy Grendel
without weapons. In Tolkien’s long work, Boromir boasts of his prowess
among men and his faithfulness to the code. When he is first introduced at
the Council of Elrond, he says “‘Believe not that in the land of Gondor the
blood of Numenor is spent, nor all its pride and dignity forgotten. By our
valour the wild folk of the East are still restrained, and the terror of Morgul
kept at bay: and thus alone are peace and freedom maintained in the lands
behind us, bulwark of the West”’ (I, 258). And when Aragorn meets the
hobbits, he boasts of his kin, of the work of the Rangers, of his ability to save
the hobbits, and of his sword (I, 182483).
When Frodo reveals the Ring during the Council of Elrond, Boromir
declares that it is “the doom of Minas Tirith” and .quest.ions why the men of
Gondor should seek the bro.ken sword. Aragorn reminds Boromir of the
sword’s importance and asks whether he wishes for the House of Elendil to
return to Gondor. When Boromir seems doubtful, the usually careful Aragorn
boasts of his accomplishments: “You know little of the lands beyond your
bounds. Peace and freedom, do you say? The North would have known them
little but for us. Fear would have destroyed them. But when dark things
come from the houseless hills, or creep from sunless woods, they fly from us.
What roads would any dare to tread, what safety would there be in quiet
lands, or in the homes of simple men at night, if (the Dunedain were asleep
or were all gone into the grave ?” (I, 261). He is proud of the hard work the
Rangers have done in guarding the freedoms of quieter peoples. And he
must convince Boromir to accept his claim to the King’s throne even though
5
. ._ his ascension will render Boromir’s service as the heir to the Steward’s
office unnecessary.
The men of Gondor and Rohan boast as Beowulf does; the Ents boast of
their ability to control Sauron; Legolas and Gimli boast of their
accomplishments and compare the numbers of their dead. This trait is one
the younger hobbits of the Fellowship acquire. When Frodo explains to the
ruffians who occupy the Shire that the Dark Tower has fallen, that the King
has been restored, and that the King’s messengers may be expected to ride
the roads, the bully calls him “my little cock-a-whoop”. Pippin is incensed
and boasts: “I am a messenger of the King . . . You are speaking to the King‘s
friend, and one of the most renowned in all the lands of the West . . Down
l
on your knees in the road and ask pardon, or I will set this troll’s bane in
you” (III, 285). Merry joins Pippin with his own stem command: “G 1 l . If
l
you trouble this village again, you will regret it.” (III, 285 ) Thep” obbits who I/
return from the battle with Sauron are very different from those whom.
Elrond judged almost too young and inexperienced to accompany Frodo.
Frodo acts firmly in this last battle against the forces of evil, but he
does not express the bravado the others do. While his lack of boasting may
be attributable to the wounds he has received during the quest and to his
own failure at its end, his reluctance to boast reveals an essential part of his
character. In The Return of the Shadow, the reader can observe Tolkien
striving to create this character and to express it in a meaningful fashion. In
“The Council of Elrond,” the d’ecision is made that someone must take the
Ring to its destruction. Frodo’s reply first reads: “At last with an effort he ‘(
spoke. ‘If this task is fated to fall to the weak,’ he said, ’ I will attempt it.
But I shall need the help of the strong and the wise”’ (Shadow, 406). At this
point, To&en conceived of a fellowship completed composed of hobbits
with the role of the strong and wise Strider occupied by a ranger hobbit
named Trotter. Tolkien’s later conception was more profound; the task
would indeed be appointed to a hobbit, but the companions would come
from all the peoples of Middle-earth. In the revised version, Tolkien writes,
“At last with an effort he [Frodo] spoke, ‘I will take the Ring,’ he said.
6
.
‘Though I don’t know the way”’ (Shadow, 406). This revision is truly
brilliant; in it Frodo says much about his own abilities or lack of them and he
succinctly defines both his courage and his humility. In the final version,
Tolkien adds yet another element by including one more phrase after “with
an effort he spoke”: “and wondered to hear his own words, as if some other
will was using his small voice” (I, 284). The reader senses Frodo’s own
wonder at his boldness. Tolkien’s repeated success in revising his work to
make it incisive and eloquent that sets him above all other writers in this
genre.
Inspires Loyalty
Another characteristic of the hero in Beowulf,,andThe
( , Lord of the
m is the ability to inspire loyalty from companions and from the people
in general. When Beowulf dives in to the Mere to kill Grendel’s mother, his
bond with his men makes them stay until he emerges from the horrid lake,
long after the Danes have returned to Hereot. Beowulf, whose long reign has
been peaceful, fights the dragon to save his people from its terror. This
action contrasts with Hrothgar’s failure to kill Grendel himself. Beowulf
believes that he has gained his people a great treasure with his death. But
the dragon’s spell still lies on the treasure, and Wiglaf includes it in
Beovvulf s funeral pyre.
In The Lord of the Rine9 Aragorn lives and works with his peers as a
Ranger for many years. He continues as a part of the Fellowship under the
leadership of Gandalf. His greatest concern, after he has done his duty to
the Ringbearer, is to provide for the welfare of his people, the men of
Gondor. Thus, when Gandalf relieves Aragorn of his responsibilities for the
Fellowship in a scene on the edge of the woods, Aragorn goes to recall
Theoden to his duty to the treaty between Rohan and Condor (II, 104). Like
Beowulf, Aragorn wishes to provide a monster-free environment for his
kingdom.
The issue in The Lord of the Rina is a larger one; freedom depends
not just on heroic men but also on the aide of other creatures. Tolkien’s
7
, decision to make the Fellowship a representation of the main kinds of
creatures in Middle-earth and his conscious inclusion of other types of
beings--Tom Bombadil and Goldberry, the Ents, and the Woses-emphasize
the battle between the Free People of Middle-earth and those who would
have slavery. In composing the Fellowship, Elrond says “For the rest, they
shall represent the other Free Peoples of the World: Elves, Dwanres, and
Men.” (I, 289). The courage of a single hero and his companions might have
been enough to defeat the monsters in Beowulf’s times but in our times, all
are called to the struggle.
.
Concept of Fate
Beowulf critic Thomas Haber in A Comparative Study of the “Beowulf’
and the “Aeneid” presents many likeness between Virgil’sAeneti
d and the
Old English poem Beowulf. 3 The Lord of the Rine shares part of one
central area -- a tension among three elements for control of the action.
The three elements vying for sovereignty are God, fate, and the heroes’
courage.
God
According to Haber, God is mentioned thirty-two times in Beowulf. In
sixteen cases the emphasis is on his role as the supreme arbiter of human
fortunes. Despite the many pages of scholarship written about the Christian
elements in The Lord of the Rings, neither the reader nor the critic can
compile thirty-two references to God in Tolkien’s work because the
references are not present.
Tolkien explains his conception of God in Middle-earth and in The
Lord of the Rinm quite clearly in a ‘letter to Robert Murray, S.J., whohad
complained about Gandalf’s reappearance after he has died in the conflict
with the Balrog in Mozia. Tolkien acknowledges his handling of Gandalfs
reappearance as a defect: “There are, I suppose, always defects in any large-
scale work of art; and especially in those of literary form that are founded on
an earlier matter which is put to new uses -- like Homer, or Beowulf, or
8
._ _ . <.> -, . . . . . . . - .- -._----
. ---. * .._,.
Virgil, or Greek or Shakespearean tragedy! In which class, as a’class not as a

competitor, The Lord of the FUngy, really falls though it is only founded on
the author’s own first draft!” (Letters, 201). Clearly, when Tolkien thought
about the problems of god as a supreme being in his work, he associated his
problems and his solutions with those of the Beowulf-poet, Virgil, and other
writers of epic and tragedy. Tolkien elaborates on the narrative reasons for
shortening Gandalf’s explanation of his return, then he says7 have
purposely kept all allusions to the highest matters down to mere hints,
perceptible only by the most attentive, or kept them, under unexplained
symbolic forms. So God and the ‘angelic’ gods, the Lo.rds or Powers of the
West, only peep through in such places as Gandalfs conversation with Frodo:
‘behind that there was something else at work, beyond any design of the
Ring-maker’s’: or in Faramir’s Numenorean grace at dinner” (Letters, 201).
Tolkien recognizes the existence of God as supreme ruler in this work but
he has purposely minimized its impact.
Faramir’s grace does constitute a formal act of worship:
Before they ate, Faramir and all his men turned and faced
west in a moment of silence. Faramir signed to Frodo and Sam
that they should do likewise. ,
“So we always do,” he said, as they sat down: “we look
towards Numenor that was, and beyond to Elvenhome that is,
and to that which is beyond Elvenhome and will ever be. Have
you no such custom at meat?”
“No,“said Frodo, feeling strangely rustic and untutored. “But
if we are guests, we bow to our host, and after we have eaten we
rise and thank him.”
“That we do also,” said Faramir (II, 284-285).
This oft cited instance of the silent thanksgiving among the people of
Condor stands as one of two acts of worship in The Lord of the Rins. The
second occurs at the beginning of the banquet after the wedding of King
9
Elessar and Arwen, “after the Standing Silence, the wine was brought” (III,
233).
The other concrete presence of God as sup,reme ruler occurs through
elven references and invocations to Elbereth, the Queen of the Blessed
Realm and their especial friend. Thus, when r-- the hobbits part from Gildor,
(wt..,; *Q; .:+- : I .-&it :r$!- :& I L&+d..i 4
the elf says “May Elbereth protect you!” (I, 94):;:F?6do’&mosf sucdumbs to k’
\
Black Riders in the attack on Weather-top. A complex of actions saves him:
he strikes at the Black Rider with his sword, he calls out “0 E&ret/z!
Gilthoniel!’ “, and’strider leaps out of the darkness with brands of wood (I,
208) Later as Strider discusses the attack, he notes that Frodo’s sword
thrust ripped only the Ringwraith’s cloak; his analysis is “More deadly to
him was the name of Elbereth” (I, 2 10). Similarly, when Frodo is greatly
tempted to despair as the Nine Ringwraiths call to him, the hobbit calls out
“By Elbereth and Ltithien the Fair, . . . you shall have neither the Ring nor
me.” Again the invocation alone is not enough; the Black Riders proceed
only to be stopped by Gandalfs calling up a flood in the river. Legolas
engages in a similar compound action when he invokes the name of Elbereth
and shoots an arrow at a dark shape in the sky (I, 403). Sam uses the name
of Elbereth against Shelob as he fights her with Galadriel’s phial and with his
sword after she has bound Frodo (II, 339). When Sam is trying to extricate
Frodo from Ore captivity in the Tower of Cirith Ungol, th& hobbits use
Elbereth’s name as a password (III, 189-191). And in the final pages of the
work, the Elves sing their przise of Elbereth as they prepare to depart for
the Havens (III, 308). This survey of invocations of Elbereth is educational
because in each case, the name alone does not suffice. The characters must
also be engaged in actions to solve their own problems.
In the end of his letter to Robert Murray, Tolkien continues his
discussion of the role of God in the Middle-earth of the War of the Rings. He
says that while God was a datum of good in Ntimen6rea.n philosophy and an
important factor in their history, worship and hallowed places did not exist.
The Ntimenorean peoples did not worship any creatures: they had no /
pensionary prayers and preserved only “the vestige of thanksgiving”
IO
(mentioned above). The King had served as major priest, and Tolkien cites
Aragorn’s planting of the sapling of the White Ikee as a reemergence of the
lineal priest kings. Tolkien says that then the “worship of God would be
renewed, and His Name (or title) be again more often heard. But there
would be no temple of the True God while Numen6rea.n influence lasted.”
(Letters, p. 207). Tolkien recognized the difficulties that a complex
conception of God as supreme ruler, Fate, and individual courage plays in
major works of art. He made a decision to include a concept of God as
supreme ruler but to subordinate it in his work. He ,demonstrates his
adherence to this decision by rigorously excising religious practice from
Middle-earth in the time of the War of the Rings.
Fate
References to Fate in Beowulf are not as numerous as references to
God, but their import should not be underestimated. Here are some
examples of Fate’s workings. In his first speech to King Hrothgar, Beowulf
boasts of his prowess and his determination to destroy Grendel. He
reminds Hrothgar that if Beowulf fails, Grendel will eat his body, but his
famous mail-shirt, the work of the mythic smith Weland, should be returned
to his lord Hygelac. Beowulf finishes the speech by saying “Fate always goes
as it must” [Beowulf, 9). As a warrior, he believes Fate controls events.
In his reply, Hrothgar, too, acknowledges the working of Fate: “My
hall-troop, warrior band, has shrunk; fate has swept them away into
Grendel’s horror” (Beowulf, 9). Hrothgar as warrior recognizes Fate’s
control over events. But in his next words, Hrothgar parenthetically
acknowledges God’s possible intervention: “(God may easily put an end to
the wild ravager’s deeds!)” (Beowulf, 9). This example illustrates the
continuing tension between the rule of Fate and the rule of God in the poem.
Tolkien thought the pull between the two concepts deepened the poet’s
sensitivity for his pagan hero’s situation.
Beowulf as warrior now describes his exploits in swimming with Breca
and his encounter with malice-filled sea monsters. Beowulf attributes the
11
outcome of that battle to fate and courage: “Fate often saves an undoomed
man when his courage is good” (BeowuIf, 11). Here Fate depends not upon
God’s will but upon the warrior’s personal courage.
Sometimes the Beowulf-poet mingles all three controlling elements:
“Then further the lord [Hrothgar] gave treasure to each of the men on the
mead-bench who had made the sea-voyage with Beowulf, gave heirlooms;
and he commanded that gold be paid for the one whom in his malice
Grendel had killed -- as he would have killed more if wise God and the
man’s [Beowulf s] courage had not forestalled that fate” (Beowulf, 19). Fate
seems to be the controlling element unless God wishes otherwise and unless
the hero’s courage can overcome it. After the banquet celebrating Grendel’s
death, Hrothgar’s household settles down to sleep. The poet notes ironically
“They did not know the fate, the grim decree made long before . . .”
(Beowulf, 22). Fate here is specifically the coming deadly visit of Grendel’s
dam. Aeschere, “one of the beer-drinkers, ripe and fated to die” will be the
one Grendel’s mother kills, for death has become his fate (Beowulf, 22).
Beowulf underscores the importance of fate to survival as he relates his fight
with Grendel’s dam to his lord Hygelac: “Not-without trouble I came from
there with my life. I was not fated to die then . ” (Ejeowulf, 37). Fate
l l
dictates that Beowulf, unlike Aeschere, survives his encounter with

Grendel’s dam.
The final episode in Beowulf relates his deadly encounter with the
dragon. This section contains several references to fate. Beowulf address
his troops, boasting that he would not use a sword against the dragon if he
thought he could kill the dragon by grappling with it in the same way he
killed Grendel. Then he ascribes the result of the battle to fate: “I will not
flee a foot-step from the barrow-ward, but it shall be with us at the wall as
fate allots, the ruler of every man” (Beowulf, 44). Beowulf indicates that he
believes fate rules men’s lives. As the dragon and Beowulf come together in
their fearful encounter, the poet foretells the outcome: “Then, coiling in
flames, he [the dragon] came gliding on, hastening to his fate. The good
shield protected the life and body of the famous prince, but for a shorter
12
- . - --------*--I I/.-.-L “.,
‘ i.
while than his wish was. There for the first. time, the first day in his life, he
might not prevail, since fate did not assign him such glory in battle”
(Beowulf,
L/ 45). Fate rules this encounter; both Beowulf and the dragon are
fated to die.‘:cse.,
Beowulf’s courage and bravery have saved him many times ’
before, but they will not save him now. .
The dragon’s terror overpowers Beowulfs companions, and they
desert him. Only his kinsman Wiglaf stays to help him against the dragon’s
fire. In a wonderfully dramatic scene, Wiglaf wades into the battle against
the dragon and shelters himself from the flames under Beowulf’s shield
when fire consumes his own wooden buckler. Beowulfs famous sword
Naegling breaks because “it was not ordained for him that iron edges might
help in combat” (Beowulf, 47). The dragon attacks again and Beowulf uses
his knife to cut through the dragon’s middle /$ut Beowulfs wounds from the
J
dragon are too grievous. Beowulf now recalls his fifty years’ rule and wishes
for a son to give his armor to. He speaks of the long peace during his reign:
“In my land I awaited what fate brought me, held my own well, sought no
treacherous quarrels, nor did I swear many oaths unrightfully” (Beowulf, 48).
The Fate that Beowulf waited for has finally arrived. He sends Wiglaf to view
the treasure he has won for the aide of his people. When Wiglaf returns with
parts of the treasure, Beowulf orders that a mound shall be built on the sea’s
cape to stand as a beacon to sailors. Then he says ‘You are the last left of our
race, of the Waegmundings. Fate has swept away all my kinsmen, earls in
their strength, to destined death. I have to go after them” (Beowulf, 49). In
his last words, Beowulf acknowledge Fate as the controlling force over his
life. Tolkien summarizes in “Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics”, “He is
a man and that for him and for many is su@ikient tragedy.“* The end of life
for a pagan hero is here on earth; his only immortality is praise for his deeds.
The concept of fate as controlling force appears regularly in The Lord

of the Rin& in several different ways. Some discussions about outcomes
clearly involve but do not use the words “fate” or “doom”. The most
important of these is Gandalf’s statement to Frodo: “Behind that there was
13
something else at work, beyond any design of the Ring-maker. I can put it
no plainer than by saying that Bilbo was meant to find the Ring, and not by
its maker. In which case you also were meant to have it” (I, 65). Gandalf
clearly believes in a controlling force. Ke also refers to this force,in
describing his meeting with Thorin in the inn in Bree as “A chance-meeting,
as we say in Middle-earth” (III, 360). Gandalf is lightly ironic in this
statement, for the context of the statement delineated the tragedies that
have been averted by the chain of events set in motion by that meeting.
Gandalf’s presence in Middle-earth is not chance but a product of the
controlling force. He has been sent by the Supreme Being to combat
Sauron’s rising power.
Soon after Gandalfs statement to Frodo, the hobbit questions Bilbo’s
judgment in not killing Gollum, but Gandalf argues that Bilbo’s pity and
mercy will be needed before the end: “And he [Gollum] is bound up with the
fate of the Ring. My heart tells me that he has some part to play yet, for
good or ill, before the end; and when that comes, the pity of Bilbo may rule
the fate of many -- yours not the least” (I, 69). The “fate of the Ring” and
“the fate of many” are fairly typical of statements about fate in The Lord of
the Rine.
Old English w_vrd is the word used most frequently for a controlling
force in the original language of Beowulf. The modern English word “fate”
derives from the Latin fatum, meaning to spe&. The modern English noun
“weird” derives from the ‘Old English wvrd meaning fate or destiny, but the
adjective “weird” with its meaning of supernatural or fantastic is more often
employed. Tolkien wisely avoided both the noun and the adjective. But he
does often avail himself of the word “doom” from the Old English dijm
meaning judgment. There appears to be no significant difference in the way
he uses each of the words “fate” and “doom”. Tolkien applies these two
words repeatedly in mare different contexts, in The. Lord of the Rins than it
is practical to examine here. However, a study of the two words’ contexts in
a brief scene, the encounter between Faramir and Frodo, may be
‘ illuminating.
14
Some statements about fate are like those in Beowulf. Mablung, one of
Faramir’s retainers, talks about Captain Faramir’s courage: “He leads now in
all perilous ventures. But his life is charmed, or fate spares him for some
other end” (II, 268). In a discussion with Faramir, Frodo advises him: “Go
back, Fararnir, valiant Captain of Gondor, and defend your city while you may,
and let me go where my doom takes me” (II, 276). At this point in his
journey, Frodo conceives of his mission as a doomed one, Throughout his
continuing talk with Frodo, Faramir now laments the circumstances: “Alas! it
is a crooked fate that seals your lips who saw him [Boromir] last, and holds
from me that which I long to know: what was in his heart and thought in his
latest hours” (II, 278). Of course, the reader knows that the fate which
keeps Frodo from telling of Boromir’s last hours is not a crooked one but a
kind one since Boromir had betrayed the Council’s trust and tried to seize
the Ring. Frodo’s generous character keeps him from telling Faramir this,
although Faramir begins to divine part of the truth. Yet, it is fate that these
two characters are thrown together.
On hearing of the loss of Gandalf, Faramir blames fate: “An evil fate
seems to have pursued your fellowship” (II, 279). Then Faramir
hypothesizes about an alternative set of circumstances: “Maybe, it would
have been better had Boromir fallen there with Mithrandir . . and not gone
l
on to the fate that waited above the falls of Rauros” (II, 286). Here Faramir v’
has already come closq to the reality of Frodo’s difficulty. Sam eventually
blurts out the truth about Boromir, but Faramir reassures him with another
reference to fate: “And be comforted, Sam-wise. If you seem to have
stumbled, think that it was fated to be so” (II, 290). Faramir then gives his
judgments: Frodo is enjoined not to come to the cave behind the waterfall
without invitation for a year and a day. But on Gollum, Faramir lays a harsher
penalty: “You are under doom of death; but while you walk with Frodo you are
safe for our part” (II, 300). Finally, Faramir and Frodo discuss choices for
the journey. Faramir sympathizes with Frodo’s part: “It is a hard doom and a
hopeless errand” (II, 302). Even though Faramir’s people engage in a brief
act of reverence, Faramir attributes all to fate or doom rather than to God, or
15
the Valar, or the One.
The Old Norse concept of fate also exists as it relates to a person’s
attitude about his future. The Norsemen believed that when some men were
fated to die, this ill fate could be seen in their faces. The fated person was
designated “fey”. For instance, in Ni&l’s Saga, several chieftains comment on
the fey look in Skarphedin’s face at the Althing the summer before the
burning of his father Njal. This attitude explains Skarphedin’s willingness to
fight inside the house, although he knows that all his family will die if they
go inside.5 More generally, Margaret Schlauch notes the pervasive effect of
. this attitude: “A proud refusal to struggle against fate seems to have been
one of the most admired characteristics of Icelandic heroes in general. To l
go unflinchingly to their doom with full foreknowledge of it was the only way
of proving themselves superior to it. They defied their fate by accepting it?
Some of Tolkien’s characters share this attitude. Merry recognizes this
fated quality in I?owyn’s face: “He [Merry] caught the glint of clear grey eyes;
and then he shivered, for it came suddenly to him that it was the face of one
without hope who goes in search of death” (III, 76). At different points,
others fight without concern for their own safety: &owyn and fiomer think
that Aragom is fey when he decides to go to the Paths of the Dead, and a “fey .
mood” takes Isomer when he thinks that &owyn is dead. Denethor is fey and
dies because he thinks his foreknowledge is accurate. Aragorn and 6omer
have fey inclinations, but hard fighting keeps them from death.
The Hero’s Courage

The hero also relies on his own courage. In Beowulf, the hero
concludes his account of his swimming episode and the ensuing battle with
the sea monsters: “Fate often saves an undoomed man when his courage is
good” (Beowulf, 11). The hero intirnates a flexibility in fate -- a flexibility
responding to the hero% courage. But because of the confusion between Fate
and God in the poem, the poet also relates courage to the favor of God: **And
the man of the Geats had sure trust in his great might, the favor of the
Ruler” (Beowulf, 12). When Hrothgar commands weregild to be paid. for the
16
companion Grendel killed, the poet voices again the .value of courage: ,“as he
[Grendel] would have killed more if wise God and me man’s courage had not
forestalled that fate” (Beowulf, 19). In spite of its linkage with both fate and
the will of God, the hero’s courage .is clearly an important facet in the a&ion
of the poem.
Heroes come in many sizes, shapes, ‘and sexes in The Lord of the
FUna. In The Hobbit, Bilbo gets involved .in the adventure as an expression
of his courage and his desire not to be consgdered a little man by, the
dwarves. Frodo and Sam are courageous unto the edge of death in their
attempt to destroy the Ring. Boromir fights to his death in the midst of
twenty Ores. After some deliberation, the Ents courageously undertake
retribution on Saruman. Throughout, the characters opposed to the forces
of the Dark Lord demonstrate their individual courage in a variety of ways.
In a single scene, several prove their bravery. Theoden King of the Mark,
who had been almost entirely unmanned by Wormtongue’s underminings,
leads berserker-like fighting men through the destruction of the Southrons
before the Lord of the Nazgul slays him1 When the Nazgul attempts to
despoil the corpse, Merry crawls towards them reminding himself that he is
the King’s man and has promised to stay with the King. Eowyn, disguised as
Dernhelm, challenges the NazgiX and kills his foul mount. Just as the
Ringwraith is ready to kill her with his mace, Merry’s barrow sword stabs
him from behind. Instances of courage vary from Sam’s starting down the
edge of a cliff: “It is doubtful if he ever did anything braver in cold blood” (I,
21243) to Aragorn’s ride through the Paths of the Dead: ‘You are a stern
lord and resolute,’ she [Eowyn] said; ‘and thus do men win renown”’ (III, 57).
Such courage is expected of Aragorn, but not of Sam, Merry, and Eowyn.
The action in The Lord of the Rings contains not one hero fighting three
monsters as in Beowulf, but many heroes, each finding his own courage and
exercising it against a terrible foe. The importance of courage in individual
action is one of the great themes of The Lord of the FZin@.
The existance of those who lack the courage to face a deadly battle is
another common point between the Old English poem and The Lord of the
17
Rings. In Beowulf, the hero goes to meet the terror of the dragon without
companions: “Nor did his companions, sons of nobles, take up their stand in
a troop about him with the courage of fighting men, but they crept to the
wood, protected their lives” (Beowulf, 45). Beowulf s kinsman Wiglaf alone
remains to fight. Similarly, in the Old English poem “Battle of Maldon”, the
names of those who fled the battle are recorded: son of Odda, God&, his
brothers Godwine and Godwig. The Anglo-Saxon poet comments “more
men than was in any way right, if they remembered all the favors he had
done for their benefit.”7 Aragorn is more merciful to the faint-hearted in
The Lord of the Rin@ than the heroes of the “Battle of Maldon.” In his
wisdom, Aragorn looks at his troops with pity, for the horror of the marshes
has unmanned many. He sends them to hold Cair Andros or to retake it if
necessary. Tolkien comments on this wisdom: “Then some being shamed
by his mercy overcame their fear and went on, and the others took new
hope, hearing of a manful deed within their measure that they could turn to,
and they departed” (III, 162). Since courage was such an important
component of heroic Northern culture, the lack of it demands poetic
discourse. The pity and mercy that Gandalf extols in Bilbo also operate in
Aragom.
Tolkien has reduced the tripartite dilemma of the Aeneid and Beowulf
to two facets -- fate or doom and the hero’s courage. The role of the
Supreme Being is not an active one in The Lord of the Rin@. With this
reduction of elements, Tolkien clearly emphasizes the importance of
courage in his work. While Beowulf’s courage is a key factor in his success,
fate and god appear much more frequently in the poet’s discussion than they
do in The Lord of the FZin@. The many references to these two concepts in
Beowulf all occur within 3182 lines of poetry (about fifty pages of prose text
in translation). The relatively fewer references in Tolkien’s major work
occur in 12 15 pages of The Lord of the Rings. Yet the instances of courage
in Tolkien’s work far outnumber those in Beowulf and courage is required of
a far greater range of creatures.
18
The Meaning of the Work
Discussions of the heroic elements and the relative weight of fate, god,
and courage contribute much to understanding The Lord of the Rings. The
biggest stumbling block in interpreting the work seems to come from a ’
misunderstanding of the ending. William Dowie in “the Gospel of Middle-
earth” says “Which brings us to the happy ending. The Lord of the Rings is
a joyful book.“8 The Lord of the Rings certainly is a book which brings us joy
in the appreciation of its beauty, its wisdom, and its excitement, but the
ending is not a happy one in Time. A correct interpretation of the ending is
essential to an overall comprehension of meaning.
“Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics”

Perhaps the best approach to the ending of The Lord of the Rin@
comes through Tolkien’s essay “Beowulf: the Monsters and the Critics.” In
that essay, he addresses several issues which apply to an interpretation of
the ending. The monsters in the poem provide a background against which
the stature of the heroes may be tried. In Beowulf, the author has devoted
his poem to the theme of the paradox of defeat. The poet concerns himself
with “heroes under heaven,” “mighty men upon earth.” Whatever end comes
to these men must be their end upon this earth, not their eventual end in
some cosmic extra act to their drama (“Monsters”, 18).
The following summary of the essay may assist the reader. Tolkien
stresses Beowulfs mortality: “He is a mm, and thatfor him and many is
suJi!cient tragedy” (“Monsters”, 18). The theme “life is transitory’* is a great
one. To this view, the monsters are essential. They provide the
“fusion-point of imagination” that helps the poet produce art. At that fusion
point, the “Scandinavian bogies” mingle with “the adversaries of God” to
symbolize the powers of evil in the material world. Northern courage is one
of the potent elements in the fusion between the bogies and God’s
adversaries, Tolkien believes “the theory of courage” to be the greatest
contribution of early Northern literature. In the final battle, the Northern
gods fight extravagantly but not on the side that wins. Yet for the beaten
19
gods, defeat contains, no refutation. In the eternal battle against Chaos and
Unreason, men join with the gods: their resistance becomes more perfect
because it lacks hope (“Monsters”, 19-21). -.-,
The Beowulf-poet, like Virgil, looks back on native traditions of an
older world; already the traditions had become “more ancient and remote,
and in a sense darker.” These older traditions combine with the new faith
and new learning to produce the work of art. The poet knows clearly that
the older days were “heathen -- heathen, noble, and hopeless.” In Beowulf,
specific references both to the old gods and to the Christian ones are
suppressed partly because of their potency if invoked, but more because they
are not relevant to the theme of the work except to provide a background. *
In the old view, the monsters stand against the gods and their allies, the
captains of men, who join them in the sme fighting host. Within Time, the
monsters will triumph, “For the monsters do not depart, whether the gods
go or come.” Even Christians are within Time, mortals subject to the laws of
a hostile world. But eventually for the Christian, the tragedy of the great
temporal defeat ceases to be finally important, and the real battle joins
between the soul and its adversaries (“Monsters”, 21-22). \
However, in Beowulf, the poet concerns himself with “man on earth:
rehandling in .a new perspective an ancient theme: that man, each man and
all men and all their works shall die.” The nearness of the pagan time leaves
“the shadow of its despair.” Yet, Tolkien asserts, the Christian poet,
removed from the direct personal pressure of despair, can feel the
poignancy of heroic man’s tragedy of inevitable ruin. Grendel inhabits our
world, eating the flesh and drinking the blood of mortal men, bursting
down the feeble doors of their resistance. The dragon wields a physical fire,
and can be destroyed by iron in his belly. Beowulfs shield is fashioned by his
smiths: it is not yet the shield of faith, nor does he wear the breastplate of
righteousness. Two o+ther factors -- the debate over the souls of our heathen
ancestors and the possible influence of the Aeneid on Beow-ulf -- are set
aside (“Monsters”, 23-24).
Tolkien says that the view of pre-Christian English mythology must be
20
.
, .\ .._ . . ., .._. , L .
assumed to be essentially that of later Icelandic only par&illy’ systemized

mythology. In the southern Mediterranean myths,. the battle between the
great anthropomorphic Greek gods, and the giant Titans constitutes a
chaotic past, not a current concern or a future doom. These gods have n’ot
sought all good men as their allies in a coming battle. In the Norse myths, .
both the gods and the men are doomed to’ death within Tijme. The outer
darkness becomes the battleground for the gathered heroes and the
monsters. The gods themselves have become “in their very being the
enlarged shadows of the great men and warriors upo,n the walls of the world.”
Like the mortal men, who perhaps usurped their forms, the gods are
doomed in Time (“Monsters”, 24-25).
The southern gods (lofty, inscrutable, timeless) perhaps inspire more
profound thought that goes forward to philosophy since the monsters are
not at the middle demanding explanation. The Northern mythological
imagination acknowledges the monsters at the center and gives them
victory but not honor. Dealing with the monsters necessitates naked will
and courage in the North. While the southern myth becomes literary
ornament, the Northern persists in its power “to revive its spirit even in our
times.” Martial heroism has its own end, but as the Beowulf-poet
acknowledges “the wages of heroism is death.” The passages in the essay
concerning the giants in their war against the Christian God and the .
mentions of Cam are especially important. In the poet’s description of
Grendel, the Scriptures meet with the old traditions of Northern monsters
to ignite the poet’s imagination. Caught in the hostile world in Time, man is
assured that his ancient enemies are also the foes of the Christian God and
that his courage, with its inherent nobility, constitutes high loyalty to that
God (“Monsters”, 25-26).
Beowulf, then, is a historical poem about a pagan past, written by a
learned man looking back on heroism and sorrow.. The poet brings to his
task, first, a wide knowledge of Christian poetry and, second, a considerable
learning in lays and traditions about earlier pagan times. Emphasizing
nobility and desire for truth and using the shepherd patriarchs of the Old
21
Testament, the Beowulf poet depicts King Hrothgar as a noble chief before
Christianity. The character of Beowulf depends more on the traditional
matter in English and comes closer to the heathen warrior, who uses his gift
of strength to gain praise among men and posterity. Thus, Beowulf does not
provide a picture of historic Denmark, but an illusion of a pagan past. The
poet achieves an impression of depth through the use of allusions to older
tales, “mostly
a darker, more pagan, and desperate than the foreground.” Y’
The Latin poet Virgil shares the antiquarian temper and use of vernacular
learning for similar effect in The Aeneid. In both cases, the poet himself
makes the antiquity so appealing (“Monsters”, 26-34).
From this eloquent essay, several statements about the construction of ’
.BeowuIf and its meaning impact on interpretations of The Lord of the Rings:
1) The monsters themselves inhabit our world and must be fought

with this world’s weapons.
2) Evil is a potent force whose destruction in the short term does not
Prevent
L its reemergence.
3) The nature of evil is complex.
4) Man’s mortality, his heritage of death, constitutes tragedy by itself.
5) The paradox of defeat makes the quality of courage greater.
6) The immortals share man’s impermanence in this world.
7) With the passing away of the old order, much that is most beautiful
and m&t valuable will also perish.
8) The author’s poise between the traditions of the old world and the
values of the new gives him a special poignancy for the tragedy of his
old heroes.
9) The author’s use of antiquity gives his work a much greater appeal
and ability to involve his reader.
‘X
These nine points relate not only to the BeowuIf and its author but also to
The Lord of the Rin@ and its author. A discussion of each adds to an
understanding of Tolkien’s three-part work, for these are the great themes
22
of The Lord of the Rin@.
Monsters
The monsters are not trivial in their evil: even the lesser ancient evil
ones in The Lord of the Rings are potent. The Balrog is a corrupted Maia of
the same order and magnitude as Gandalf, who barely has the strength to
defeat him. In the depths of Moria, nameless things, older than Sauron, too
terrible for Gandalf to report to the others, gnaw at the world. With the
weapon Glamdring, Gandalf hews the Balrog until he. falls from a high place
and breaks the mountainside in his ruin, but other balrogs and different
monsters remain there awaiting their own time.
A quintessential creature of darkness, Shelob is the last child of
Ungoliant in this world; she lurks still in the glens of the Mountains of the
Shadow. Sam wounds her with his sword, forcing her to retreat, but he
does not destroy her. These creatures are not in the employ of Sauron,
although he knows of their existence and applauds their evil intentions.
They are ancient evil creatures whose power lies at the root of the world
and whose enmity remains, despite Sauron’s fall.
Sauron, another corrupted Maia, is the greatest servant of Melkor, the
powerful rebellious Valar. Attempting to replace the worship of the One,
Sauron now would set himself up as a god-king in Middle-earth, perverting
all creatures to his dominion (Letters, 243). This attempt at suzerainty in
Middle-earth is not his first nor his last. For the moment his physical
demon self has been defeated, but not forever as Gandalf warns Frodo:
“Always after a defeat and a respite, the Shadow takes another shape and
grows again” (I, 60). In a 1972 letter to Fr. Douglas Carter, Tolkien
predicts the manner of Sauron’s return: “Then I of course discovered that
the King’s Peace would contain no tales worth recounting: and his wars
would have little interest after the overthrow of Sauron: but that almost
certainly a restlessness would appear about then, owing to the (it seems)
inevitable boredom of Men with the good: there would be secret societies
practicing dark cults, and ‘arc-cults’ among adolescents” (Letters, 419).
23
Sauron’s army contains many types of creatures who have followed his call.
The power of the nine Ringwraith servants of Sauron has been destroyed
with that of the One Ring, but other men are available to be perverted when
the Shadow rises again. The enmity of evil will return as long as meti and
other creatures live.
Saruman, another corrupted Maia, has fled from his captivity in
Orthanc to the Shire. Even after Sauron’s defeat, the hobbits return to find
their lovely, pastoral home blighted. Much will be needed to right the
wrongs of Sauron throughout Middle-earth. With a knife, Wormtongue kills
Saruman for the humiliation the wizard has brought him. The Valar deny
Saruman the right to pass to the West: he has perhaps perished indeed, but
he alone of the major monsters of the Third Age seems wholly defeated.
Like the Scandinavian bogies and adversaries of God in Beowulf, the
monsters -- corrupted angelic forms, creatures of darkness, and Dark Lords
-- remain the enemies of man, though the heroes who fought them pass
away.
Reemergence of Evil
The Shadow persists in Middle-earth: Gandalf warns that it will come
again. Even when his power is enhanced, he reminds his friends that the
power of evil is greater: “I am Gandalf, Gandalf the White, but Black is
mightier still” (II, 103). This battle against Sauron has been joined before in
Middle-earth, as “Annals of the Kings and Rulers” and “The Tale of the
Years” record. The First Age has ended when the three silrnarils, which
preserved the light of the two trees Morgoth poisoned, were lost to the
Elves. Tolkien describes the ending: “This legendarium ends with a vision
of the end of the world, its breaking and remaking, and the recovery of the
Silmarilli and the ‘light before the Sun’ -- after a final battle which owes, I
suppose, more to the Norse vision of Ragnarcak than to anything else, though
it is not much like it” [Letters, 149). The real loss of the jewels of light and
the rise of the Shadow in the ages that follow are coincident. In the Second
Age, Elros and his descendants chose the kinship of men and thus mortality:
24
they were forbidden to sail from sight of their shores to the Undying Lands.
Half way through the Second Age, the Shadow appears again; the Kings
become greedy of wealth and power. As they speak openly against the Ban,
the Shadow deepens. Ar-Pharazbn challenges Sauron for supremacy in ‘, :
Middle-earth, defeats him, and pridefully brings him captive to Numenor.
Sauron bewitches Ar-Pharazon and all of his people exceptthe Faithful.
Finally, besotted by fear of Death, Ar-Pharazon breaks the B&n of the Valar,
sails West, and sets foot on Aman the Blessed. The Valar appealed to the
One who changes the world. The sea swallows Ntimenor: Undying Lands are
removed from the circles of the world. Although Sauron’s bodily form
perished, he flees to Middle-earth, now unable to appear fair to men. He
returns to Mordor, but he strikes too soon before his own power was rebuilt.
The Last Alliance overthrows him and Isildur takes the Ring from him at the
end of the Second Age.
The Third Age also suffers from Sauron’s effects, even though his
power was reduced. The Ring betrays Isildur to an arc arrow. Strife
between the descendants of Isildur hastens the waning of the Dunedain.
The witch king Angmar rises in the North, gathering evil me>n, Ores, and
other fell creatures: he will become the chief Ringwraith. The Dunedain are
defeated; Amon Sul is burned and razed; a plague, further presses the land.
Arvedui, the last king, perishes at sea with the palantiri. Ores, wolves, and
other harmful things repeatedly harass the Northern kingdom. Meanwhile
in Gondor, the kin-strife begins when Valacar marries a Northern woman,
for his kin believe that the lineage would be shorter lived. The heir’s
kinsman Castamir usurps the throne but dies in a civil war with many of
their kin; the kin-strife is a first great evil. In a second evil, a great plague
kills the King and all his children; meanwhile the Shadow deepens in
Greenwood. The Men of Harad conquer Umbar. The third great evil was
the invasion of the Wainriders, a confederacy of eastern people stirred up by
Sauron’s emissaries. The people of eastern Gondor and southern Rhovanion
are enslaved. Eamil finally storms the camp, bums the wains, and drives
the enemy out of Ithilien; many perished in the Dead Marshes. E&nur and
I
25
Glorfindel drive the witch king Angmar away, but then he gathers the other
Ringwraiths and conquers Minas Ithil. E&nur receives the crown but wears
it only seven years before the Lord of Morgul challenges him to single
combat, from which he does not return. The reign of the Stewards begins
in Gondor while the evil of Sauron grows throughout both kingdoms. Thus,
the tale of the evil’s reemergence and growth in the Third Age parallels
that of the Second Age (III, 313-62). In the Fourth Age, there is perhaps a
space of time, a time of the King’s Peace, before the Shadow comes again.
Complexitv of Evil
Although Tolkien carefully deleted direct references to Christianity
and the worship of one God, The Lord of the Rin-s still makes a cohesive
statement about two views of evil -- the Boethian and the Manichaean, as
explained by T.A. Shippey in The Road to Middle-earth. In The Consolation
of Philosophv, Boethius asserts that evil is nothing except the absence of
good. Corollaries of this belief are that evil cannot create, that evil was not
itself created, -and that evil will eventually be eliminated by the Incarnation
and Death of Christ. Close textual readings indicates that the Dark Lord’s
servants have corrupted other creatures, such as trolls, which are
counterfeits of the Ents. Frodo asserts that “the Shadow . . . can only mock,
it cannot make: not real new things of its own” (III, 190). Evil has not
created the monsters. Saruman, the Balrog, and Sauron himself began as
Maia, holy ones of a lesser degree than the Valar. Elrond states firmly:
“nothing is evil in the beginning. Even Sauron was not so” (I, 281). The
long term remedy for the might of current evil is salvation through the
intermediary of the Christ, for Middle-earth is our world. But while this
eventual happy ending does exist for mankind, the ending is not available to
the characters of the Fourth Age. In Western thought, the alternative
tradition to that of Boethius holds that evil is real, not merely an absence of
good. Evil can be resisted. Individuals who do not resist evil because they
believe that one day Omnipotence will cure the world’s ills are derelict in
their duty. The theological danger of this point of view lies in the
26
Manichaean heresy which makes Good and Evil equal and opposite forces on
the battleground of our universe.g
Some middle ground between these two views does exist, and Tolkien
knew the middle ground from King Alfred’s translation of Boethius. Thii
philosophical duality between the two view of evil exists in the portrayal of
the nature of the One Ring. The Ring does not seem passive; it “betrayed”
Isildur to ore arrows; it “abandoned” Gollum in time to catch Bilbo; and it
tries to betray Frodo at the Prancing Ponv. Tolkien presents two consistent
views of the Ring: sentient creature and psychic amplifier. As sentient
creature, the Ring fits the heroic view of evil as an externdl entity. As
psychic amplifier, the Ring coincides with the Boethian opinion that evil is
an internal, psychological, negative corruption of good.10
It is clear that Tolkien conceived the power of the Ring early in the
construction of The Lord of the Rings, for his notes entitled “Queries and
Alterations” written during the first few chapters acknowledge the Ring’s
power. Tolkien writes “Bingo [Frodo] must NOT put on his Ring when Black
Riders go by - in view of later developments. He must think of doing so but
somehow be prevented. Each time the temptation must grow stronger”
(Shadow, 224). Clearly, the distinction which Shippey has identified was
beginning to emerge in Tolkien’s mind in the late 1930s.
In the earlier version of the story, as Frodo and the hobbits are making
their way out of the Shire, they leave the road when they hear horses
coming. The hobbit companions run down into a little hollow. Frodo’s
action is more decisive: “Bingo [Frodo] slipped on the ring and stepped
behind a tree.” (Shadow, 54). A man in a black cloak with a shadowed and
invisible face stops and sniffs, then moves off. The finished version reflects
Tolkien’s concerns in “Queries and Alterations.*’ In it, Frodo thinks of the
Ring, with the desire to put it on growing stronger and stronger. He recalls
Gandalf’s advice not to use it, but rationalizes that he is still within the Shire.
He touches the chain, but the Rider moves off before he puts on the Ring.
Timing saves him from revealing himself to the Ringwraith.
Frodo puts the Ring on six times: Tom Bombadil’s house, Prancing
27
Ponv, Weathertop, twice on Amon Hen, and once in the Sammath Naur.
Four of these instances provide crucial data about the nature of the Ring. In
the Prancing Ponv, the Ring comes on Frodo’s finger without his knowledge.
He supposes that he must have been playing with it in his pocket, but he
wonders “if the Ring itself had not played him a trick; perhaps it had tried
to reveal itself in response to some wish or command that was felt in the
room” (I, 173). Later, Strider reprimands Frodo for his lack of caution.
Tolkien carefully balances Frodo’s foolishness against an external evil f0rce.l 1
The sequence of events on Weathertop may be interpreted as a
psychic amplification of Frodo’s fear; a psychic amplification of the
Ringwraiths’ calling to the Ring: or sentient creature trying to escape from
Frodo to the Ringwraiths. Strider and the hobbits are circled around a fire
on Weather-top with the Ringwraiths advancing on them. Frodo has not
forgotten the temptations of the Barrow to escape using the Ring nor
Gandalfs injunction not to wear the Ring. Yet he can think of nothing else.
Tolkien mitigates against the reader’s thinking that Frodo lacked courage:
“he longed to yield. Not with the hope of escape, or of doing anything,
either good or bad: he simply felt that he must take the Ring and put it on
his finger” (I. 207-08). In contrast to the temptation in the Barrows, Frodo
moves not from a desire to escape but from an inability to resist. Frodo
yields and would have been lost, except for three factors. He calls on
Elbereth, he stabs at the Ringwraith, and he receives Aragorn’s assistance.
Although this call to the angelic powers for help in peril aids him, he suffers
a knife wound for his weakness against evil. Frodo’s internal weakness abets
the external force of the Ring.
In the first scene on Amon Hen, a crazed Boromir intent on taking the
Ring himself has Frodo trapped. Tolkien seems to affirm Frddo’s decision to
use the ring: “There was only one thing he could do: trembling he pulled
out the Ring upon its chain and quickly slipped it on his finger, even as
Boromir sprang at him again” (I. 415). Like a lost child, Frodo sits on the
high seat: around him he sees battles everywhere. Then he feels the Eye of
Sauron, searching for him, coming closer and closer to where he sits. He
28
throws himself from the seat covering his head with his hood:
He heard himself crying out: Never. never! Or was it: Verily

1
I come, I come to vou? He could not tell. Then as a flash from
some other point of power there came to his mind another
thought: Tak:e it off? Take it off! Fobi. take it off? Take off the
The two powers strove in him. For a moment, perfectly

balanced between their piercing points, he writhed, tormented.
Suddenly he was aware of himself again. Frodo,. neither the
Voice nor the Eye: free to choose, and with one remaining
instant in which to do so. He took the Ring off his finger. He
was kneeling in clear sunlight before the high seat (I, 417).
During this scene, Frodo would have been lost had it not been for
Gandalf. Although Gandalf appears to have been destroyed in Moria by the
Balrog, the wizard has now escaped and been rescued by Gwaihir the
Windlord. Gandalf tells Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli that he strove. with the
Dark Tower and caused the Shadow to pass. His voice commands Frodo to
take
.. off the Ring. But Frodo’s internal struggle also exists. “Never!” may be
Frodo’s conscious good will struggling while “I come to vou” consists of-as
his unconscious wickedness. Or “I come to vou” may be Sauron’s voice
.
calling to Frodo’s mind but not to his heart. Tolkien seems to suggest that
both inner temptation and external power are at work. The forces of good
may not seem as powerful as the forces of evil, but their persistent attempts
to thwart the Dark Lord do amount to a victory in the short term. In the
second scene on Amon Hen, Frodo concludes that the “evil of the Ring” has
caused Boromir’s madness, and fearing for the safety and sanity of the rest of
the Fellowship, the hobbit resolves to set out for Mordor alone. He puts on
the Ring and vanishes.
In the final scene on Sammath Naur, the reader’s judgment again must
be suspended. Following Frodo into the darkness, Sam finds that the phial
29
of Galadriel is pale and cold, offering no light against the stifling dark. Sam
and Frodo have come to “the heart of the realm of Sauron and the forges of
his ancient might, greatest in Middle-earth: all other powers were here .
subdued” (III. 222). Standing erect, tense, stone-still, Frodo makes a clearly
evil choice: “I will not do this deed. The Ring is mine” (III. 223). But under
the conditions, Frodo’s will and his virtue may be among the powers
subdued by Sauron. This interpretation tends towards Manichaean
philosophy. As such, the interpretation denies that men are responsible for
their actions and makes evil into a positive force. Yet, to blame Frodo for
succumbing to the great temptation of the Ring, which neither Galadriel nor
Gandalf could have resisted, is clearly unfair. Frodo is not wicked: an evil
person would not have suffered so much to bring the Ring so close to its
destruction. Frodo’s many acts of forgiveness to Gollum save him. By luck,
or chance, or because it was meant to be, Gollum completes the quest by
biting off Frodo’s finger with the Ring. In his wild dance of exaltation,
Gollum fdlls with the Ring, still containing Frodo’s finger, into Mount Doom.
Frodo is punished for the weakness of his will by the loss of his finger as he
was punished by the knife wound on Weathertop.
The nature of the Ring is integral to an understanding of the story. All
the characters would find their roles easier if the Ring were either a
sentient creature or a psychic amplifier. If the one Ring were a sentient
creature, then Gandalf, or a party of elven Lords, could have carried it to
Mount Doom: they could have trusted themselves with the Ring. Frodo
would not have been asked to take the burden. If the Ring were just a
psychic amplifier, it could not betray its possessors (Isildur, Gollum) and
could be put aside, guarded by those thinking only pure thoughts. Yet,
GandaIf reminds the Council of Elrond that guardianship of the Ring, even
that of Tom Bombadil who is unaffected by it, does not solve the problem (I,
279). Shippey asserts that “Tolkien saw the problem of evil in books as in
realities, and he told his story at least in part to dramatize that problem; he
did not however claim to know the answer to it.“13 Thus, the nature of the
Ring remains ambiguous. And ambiguity fulfills its traditional role in
.
f- ’ literature by providing the reader with materials to ponder again and again.
In addition, the story presents data on the nature of temptation. On
Weather-top, F’rodo has been wounded in the shoulder rather than in the
heart because he resisted as much ai possible; his heart was good. Simil&y,
Bilbo has not taken more harm from the Ring because his ownership was
filled with pity and good impulses and because he gives it up freely: In its
narrative drive towards the Ring’s destruction, The Lord of ‘the Rin@ is
neither a saint’s life, all about the temptations of evil nor is it a war game, all
about the tactics of evil.14
Tragedv of Mortality
Since the wages of heroism is death in Time, each character must in
the end render up life in Middle-earth or leave Middle-earth forever.
Boromir dies defending the young hobbits; Theoden dies in battle against
the Ringwraith; the other captains of men will also die in the chronicle of
the years. Tolkien thought that the report of Aragorn’s death in the
Appendices was critical to the story, for Aragorn’s own mortality reflects the
“real theme . Death and Immortality” (Letters, 246). In it, Axwen comes
l l
to realize at last why men have feared Death as the Gift of the One to man,
for she finds it bitter to part from Aragorn even though his life has been
three times normal length. He must admonish her not to fail now when
they have already successfully passed the tests of the Ring and of her
renunciation of immortality:
Then going to the House of the Kings in the Silent Street,

Aragom laid him down on ‘the long bed that had been prepared
for him. There he said farewell to Eldarion, and gave into his
hands the winged crown of Gondor and the sceptre of Arnor;
and then all left him save Arwen, and she stood alone by his bed.
And for all her wisdom and lineage she could not forbear to
plead with him to stay yet for a while. She was not yet weary of
her days, and thus she tasted the bitterness of the mortality that
,
31
she had taken upon her.
“Lady Undomiel,” said Aragorn, “the hour is indeed hard, yet
it was made even in that day when we met under the white
birches in the garden of Elrond where none now walk. And on
the hill of Cerin Arnroth when we forsook both the Shadow and
the Twilight this doom we accepted. Take council with yourself,
beloved, and ask whether you would indeed have me wait until I
, wither and fall from my high seat unmanned and witless. Nay,
lady, I am the last of the Numenoreans and the latest King of the
Elder Days; and to me has been given not only a span thrice that
of Men of Middle-earth, but also the grace to go at my will, and
give back the gift. Now therefore, I will sleep.
“I speak no comfort to you, for there is no comfort for such
pain within the circles of the world. The uttermost choice is
before you: to repent and go to the Havens and bear away into
the West the memory of our days together that shall there be
evergreen but never more than memory; or else to abide the
Doom of Men.”
“Nay, dear lord,” she said, “that choice is long over. There is
now no ship that would bear me hence, and I must indeed abide
the Doom of Men, whether I will or I nill: the loss and the
silence. But I say to you, King of the Numenoreans, not till now
have I understood the tale of your people and their fall. As
wicked fools I scorned them, and I pity them at last. For if this
is indeed, as the Eldar say, the gift of the One to Men, it is bitter
to receive.”
“So it seems,” he said. “But let us not be overthrown at the
final test, who of old renounced the Shadow of the Ring. In
sorrow we must -go, but not in despair. Behold! we are not
bound for ever to the circles of the world, and beyond them is
more than memory, Farewell!” (III, 343-44).
32
Still, she is not yet weary of her years even though she has lived through the
whole of the Third Age (born Third Age 241, died Fourth Age 121 (Third
Age ca. 3142), and she wanders in Middle-earth for a time yet (III, 344).
The words “twilight” and “Doom of Men,” which appear in Axwen and
Aragorn’s last conversation, recall Ragnarsk, the doom or twilight of the
gods. What Tolkien says of Beowulf applies equally to Aragom: “He is u man,
and that for him and for many is su@lcient tragedy. . . It is the. theme in its
l
deadly seriousness that begets the dignity of tone: Zgis kne: eal sczxxeth
Zeoht and lifsomod [Life is transitory: light and life together hasten away]”
(“Mans ters” , 1819). This is not a happy ending. The critics who claims
that none of the protagonists die in the struggle did not finish their reading,
for no members of the Fellowship live in Middle-earth at the end of the
third volume.
Hobbits share men’s mortality. Like Aragorn, Frodo illustrates the
Beowulfian paradox of defeat. His battle with the monsters has left him
“wounded with knife, sting, and tooth, and a long burden” (III, 268). His
much beloved home in the Shire can no longer comfort or solace him;
Frodo claims, “I have been too deeply hurt” (III, 309). He no longer has a
place in Middle-earth in the Fourth Age. He must depart. To lose one hero
in the battle against evil is to be expected, but Frodo does not go alone. Two
other greatly beloved characters, Gandalf and Bilbo, also leave. Tolkien
prepares the reader for Gandalfs departure with a poignant conversation.
Merry and Pippin’s concern over a shortage of pipe tobacco causes Merry to
remark that Gandalf will soon be able to clear up any difficulty. The wizard
declares his impermanence in Middle-earth: “My time is over: it is no
longer my task to set things to rights, nor to help folk to do so” (III. 275).
Whether their destination is the Christian Heaven, the Christian Purgatory,
or the Pagan Valhalla does not matter; they are lost to our earth and our
Time e
Paradox of Defeat
From the captains of men -- Aragorn, Theoden, I?owyn, aomer,
33
Boromir, Faramir, Prince of Do1 Amroth -- courage is expected: Denethor’s
fall into despair provides a dramatic surprise. The dwarf Gimli’s courage in
passing with Aragorn through the paths of the dead pleases. But the courage
of the hobbits: Pippin’s saving Faramir’s life: Merry’s slaying the Ringwraith;
Sam’s attacking Shelob; and Frodo’s fighting the One Ring amazes. The odds
are against success: many instances of chance are required for the
characters to win through to the end. Yet, the persistent courage
demonstrated pushes chance or luck along. The characters keep making
choices to progress toward the Ring’s destruction even though not all
choices are perfect. In the end, these choices aid their victory.15
The impossibility of their task enhances the quality of their courage.
Of the five Maia sent to combat Sauron’s evil, only one, Gandalf, remains true
to the purpose. Strider and four untried-in-combat hobbits stand against
five Ringwraiths on Weathertop. With Glorfindel’s help, they manage soon
after to escape again from all nine in the confrontation at the Ford. The
forces of Caradhras defeat their attempts to cross the mountain passes. In
Moria, bands of Ores and the Balrog almost slay them, and twenty OTC arrows
finally kill Boromir. While the six members of the Fellowship go off to
engage in many different combat experiences against stunning odds, two
take the Ring into the very center of the Dark Lord’s domain. They virtually
ring his doorbell. Yet, against all odds, because their courage holds, the
heroes triumph.
In Tolkien’s view, their courage is more worthy because they believe
their cause is hopeless. The characters express their lack of hope
repeatedly. In Book V alone, there are many such statements: Denethor:
“the doom of Gondor is drawing nigh”; Aragorn: “Do not look for mirth in
the ending”; “Many hopes will wither in this bitter spring”; “A time may
come soon . . . when none will return”: Theoden: “never will I lean on a staff
again. “; “My heart tells-me that I shall not see him [Aragorn] again”: “So we
come to it in the end . . . the great battle of our time, in which many things
shall pass away”: Eomer: “He [Aragorn] is lost. We must ride without him,
and our hope dwindles”; Pippin: “Indeed what is the good even of food and
34
‘ -
drink under this creeping shadow?“; Imrahil: “So victory is shorn of

&
.‘-
J
gladness, and it is bitter bought, if both Gondor and Rohan are in one day
bereft of their lords.” gowyn: “But to hope? I do not know.“; and finally
.
GandaW “This war then is without final hope” (III, 46- 158). Defeat is no’t
refutation to these hardy warriors.
Doom of the Immortals

Tolkien’s world reflects the fate of the doomed imtnortals as well as
the doomed mortals. The Elves represent “artistic, aesthetic, and purely
scientific aspects of the Humane nature” at a higher level than that of men
(Letters, 236). Thus, the old gods in Northern mythology went through a
process of becoming more and more closely associated with humans until in
fact, they were no more than the larger than-life ancestral heroes of men.
They shrank until they no longer existed. Elves and men have long been
partners in the battle against evil. Now the time of men has come and the
Elves must depart. The power of their rings is a power to arrest change.
When the downfall of the One Ring as ‘Power’ occurs, the ability of the other
rings to preserve the past fails. Galadriel and Celeborn, EIrond and his sons,
Glorfindel and all the Elves save Arwen relinquish their place in
Middle-earth, and with it their own special contributions to the beauty and
wisdom of Middle-earth. Their passage over the Sea is not death, for they
return to their original Earthly Paradise (Letters, 236-37). Yet, like the
Norse gods, they abandon the world they have loved, guided, and preserved.
And to those who remain in Middle-earth, they are lost.
The removal of the Elves from Middle-earth further diminishes the
quality of life, even beyond its lessening at the fdll of Ntimenor. When
Numenor falls at the end of the Second Age, the last place where “the
memory of a time without evil is preserved” vanishes. The sea swallows up
the beautiful land which has been created especially for the joy and comfort
of men. The Valar themselves have failed. Manwe calls upon Iluvatar, and
“for that time the Valar laid down their government of Arda” (Silmarillion,
278). Similarly, at the end of the Third Age, the Elves lay dowri their
.
35
. 9”
c .
guardianship in Middle-earth.
Beautv Perishes
In spite of the great flowering and the plenteous harvests in the Shire
in 1420, Middle-earth now begins to fail. tirien fades; Galadriel’s power is
diminished, “the tides of Time will sweep it away” (I, 380): the Elves will
“dwindle to rustic folk”; Elrond’s belief that the Three Rings would fail
proves true, and “many fair things will fade and be forgotten” (I, 282). With
the return of the Elves to the West, much that is best, most beautiful, and of
greatest artistry passes out of the world of men. Men remain here in a
world diminished, safe from the Shadow, but only for a time.
Many other beautiful and grand things depart. Aragorn wishes
Treebeard and the Ents peace and prosperity to grow in. But Treebeard
remains sad: “Forests may grow, l lWoods may spread. But not Ents.
l
. There are no Entlings” (II, 259). In a 1972 letter to Fr. Douglas Carter,.
Tolkien confirms that there will be no reunion within ‘history’ for the Ents
and Entwives. The dwarf Gimli summarizes the departure of the Elves and
their love of beauty: “But if all the fair folk take to the Havens, it will be a
duller world for those who are doomed to stay” (III, 150). The verb
“doomed” summarizes the situation; the world will be less lovely, less
enchanting, less exciting, yet man’s fate is to remain in it.
Author Poised between Worlds

Tolkien’s awareness of being caught between the older pagan merits
and the Christian values is keen. In a letter to Robert Murray, S.J., Tolkien
stresses his conscious efforts to suppress allusions to religion: “The Lord of
the Ringss is of course a fundamentally religious and Catholic work:
unconsciously so at first, but consciously in the revision. That is why I have
not put in, or have cut-out, practically all references to anything like
‘religion’, to cults or practices, in the imaginary world. For the religious
element is absorbed into the story and the symbolism” (Letters, 172). The
Christian nature of the work lies, thus, in the background of the story,
36
especially in the understanding and presentation of issues such as the nature
of evil, temptation, and grace. The more specific kinds of symbolism have
been subdued so that the work of art may triumph.
Yet, as a sincere, practicing Christian, Tolkien finds a greater sadness
in this pre-Christian world where boundaries of Time and mortality lie
heavily upon his characters. The grace of Christian salvation is not available
to them. Tolkien calls Middle-earth a “monotheistic world of ‘natural
theology”’ (Letters, 220). In it, there is no embodiment of “the One, of God,
who indeed remains remote, outside the World, and, only directly accessible
to the Valar or Rulers” (Letters, 235). In a discussion of Gandalf’s return,
Tolkien stresses that the reader may be reminded of the Gospels, but that is
not intended. Finally, in a letter to Mr. Rang, Tolkien again comments on
his use of Christianity in The Lord of the Rings: “The use of earendel in A-S
Christian symbolism as the herald of the rise of the true Sun in Christ is
completely alien to my use. The Fall of Man is in the past and off stage; the
Redemption of Man in the far future” (Letters, 387). The emphasis in the
three-part work is on the problems and solutions of human creatures in a
world before Christianity. Thus, the artist Tolkien, who had grace available
to him as a Christian, finds the courage of his characters especially poignant.
They have true mortality: death without hope of life eternal.
Author’s Use of Antiquity

As demonstrated in Chapter 7, the traditions of the north pervade
Tolkien’s work. The chain of being of Middle-earth includes many creatures
from Mithgarth, the home of.men in Norse cosmography. But, some of the
creatures are changed and disguised with their names and most obvious
characteristics omitted. Some possible reasons for alterations might be a
desire to subordinate the sources to the story and thus to avoid allegorical
interpretations, to fulfill the necessities of the plot, and to remedy the lack
I
of adequate personages in recorded Norse mythology.
Tolkien found himself greatly lacking in the mythological materials
needed to create this work of art. He solved this problem by creating them
37
himself. In The Lord of the Rings, he manipulates materials from his
earlier works, such as The Silmarillion and The Unfinished Tales. He
deepens the appreciation for the antiquity of his sources by creating the Red
Book of Westmarch, which serves as a repository for the materials in The
Hobbit and The Lord of the Fain@. For Tolkien, language and myth were
partners; words requested events to explain them. He felt a paucity of such
stories about English words and set out to correct it with his own work.
This analysis of nine thematic comments about the poem Beowulf from *
Tolkien’s essay “Beowulfi The Monsters and the Critics” shows many
likenesses between the two works of art. The correlations between the
practices of the Beowulf-poet in the creation of his work of art and those of
Tolkien himself underscore his purpose. He had an enormous appreciation
for the art of the poem and also for its meaning. He believed in the
importance of courage in the face of inevitable defeats. In his own work, he
went beyond Beowulf in his application of this principle, for he expects
courage not only of his manly heroes but also of all other creatures.
His concern with issues of the death of heroes also ties him to
structures of Icelandic sagas. In the Volsunga Saga, the hero Sigmund,
avenger of his father King Volsung who dies in Chapter 5, meets Death on
the field of battle in Chapter 1’1. His sister Signy, his companion in revenge,
has been burned with her murderous husband in their house in Chapter 8.
Queen Borghild has already poisoned Sigmund and Signy’s son Sinfjotli in i
Chapter 10. Sigmund’s posthumous son Sigurd slays the dragon and serves
as the primary hero in the tale. He is born in Chapter 13, slays Fafnir in
Chapter 18, and falls at the hand of Guttorm in Chapter 30. The saga ends
with the deaths of Sigurd’s wife Gudrun in Chapter 42 and her sons in the
last Chapter 43. The denouement of revenge from Chapter 30 to Chapter 43
is long indeed.
The Lord of the F?.inLe has an equally long denouement from the point
38
- -----_ ---
I..
of climax. William Dowie’s elation over the happy ending refers to the joyful
coronation of Aragom as King of Arnor and Gondor. That wonderful event
occurs in the Book VI, Chapter 4. If all the characters had then settled
down to live happily ever after, then the ending would have been a happy)
one. Chapter 5 continues the illusion of happiness with the resolution of
Faramir’s love for Eowyn and the long-sought marriage of Aragom to -en.
But in Chapter 6, the theme of Death and Immortality returns. King
Theoden, slain by the Ringwraith’s hand, must be escorted to Rohan to lie in
the Barrows with his long fathers before him. At the. end of the chapter in a
moment of enormous poignance, Gandalf tells Frodo that Bilbo will soon
leave Middle-earth and that the wizard will go with him. In Chapter 7,
Frodo declares that he may be too wounded to abide in the Shire. In
Chapter 8, the evil, which the reader thought was obliterated in the war of
the Ring, has decimated the Shire and threatens the lives of the four hobbits.
Another battle ensues with seventy men and nineteen hobbits killed.
In Chapter 9, Frodo hands his version of The Downfall of The Lord of
the Rings and the Return of the King to‘ Sam to finish. On the road, they
meet Gildor, “many fair Elven folk,” Galadriel, Elrond, Bilbo, many Elves of
the High Kindred, and Gandalf. Gandalf states the epilogue: “Well, here at
last, dear friends, on the shores of the Sea comes the end of our fellowship
in Middle-earth. Go in peace! I will not say: do not weep; for not all tears
are an evil” (III, 3 10). And so beauty and merriment sail West, leaving
behind a duller world. But Death lives on in Middle-earth: the fate of mortal
beings. In Shire Reckoning 1482, Sam, the last of the Ringbearers, goes to
the Grey Havens and passes ,over the Sea. When King Eomer dies in 1484,
Meriadoc Holdwine is with him. He and Thain Peregrin spend their
remaining years in Gondor. When King Elessar dies in 1541, their beds are
set in the tombs of Kings beside his. Then Legolas builds a ship and passes
with Gimli the Dwarf across the sea. The nine walkers walk no more in
Middle-earth.’
In several letters, Tolkien comments on the ending and its meaning.
In 1961 writing about the Silmarillion to Mrs. Drijver, he noted the* dark
39
ending of that work and of C: “Those critics who
scoffed at The Lord because ‘all the good boys came home safe and everyone
was happy ever after’ (quite untrue) ought to be satisfied” (Letters, 303). He
goes on to suggest that most critics will not deign to notice the new work.
In a 1956 letter to Joanna de Bortadano who has suggested that the work
was about atomic power, he emphasizes the importance of the appendix:
“The real theme for me is about something much more permanent and
difficult: Death and Immortality: the mystery of the love of the world in the
hearts of a race ‘doomed’ to leave and seemingly lose it; the anguish in the
hearts of a race ‘doomed’ not to leave it, until its whole evil-aroused story is
*
complete” [Letters, 246-47). He reminds the reader that the end to the
man Aragorn’s story appears in the appendix because The Hobbit and The
Lord of the RinB centered on the hobbits.
In another statement on the moral of the work, Tolkien highlights the
great difference between The Lord of the Rings and Beowulf: “A moral of the
whole (after the primary symbolism of the Ring, as the will to mere power
seeking to make itself objective by physical force and mechanism, and so
also inevitably by lies) is the obvious one that without the high and noble the
simple and vulgar is utterly mean; and without the simple and ordinary the
noble and heroic is meaningless” (Letters, 160). Perhaps this statement of
the work’s meaning accounts for its great popularity. In Beowulf, the noble
and heroic does not mingle with the simple and vulgar. The work,
therefore, seems remote to many. But in The Lord of the Rine, the
,ordinary and the extraordinary mingle giving the reader access to the
glories of the older heroic days.
This concentration on the ordinary allows Tolkien to achieve more in
his work than other fantasy and mythopoeic writers do. While he began The
Lord of the Ring as a sequel to The Hobbit and continued to work on it in
that vein, that style, that character, and that level of domesticity for some
time, the work began to darken and to be drawn towards the greater doings
of the high and noble he knew so well in the poem Beowulf. His artistry in
merging the mundane concerns of hobbits with the altruistic and dramatic
40
.
ones of heroes eventually allowed him to produce The Lord of the Rings.
41
NOTES
1. T.A. Shippey, The Road to Middle Earth (Boston: Houghton Mifflin,

1983), 94-95.
2. “The Battle of Maldon”, trans. E. Talbot Donaldson, in Norton Anthology

of English Literature, Vol. 1 (New York,: W.W. Norton, 1968), 99.
3. Tom Burns Haber, A Comparitive Studv of the “Beowulf’ and the “Aeneid”
(Neti York: Phaeton Press, 1931; reprinted 1968), 46-47.
4. J.R.R. Tolkien, “Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics” in The Monsters
and the Critics and Other Essavs, ed. Christopher Tolkien (Boston: Houghton
Mifflin, 1984), 18. (All references are to this edition and are in the text as
“Monsters”.)
5. Njal’s saga, Ni5l’s Saga, trans. Carl F. Bayerschmidt and Lee M. Hollander
6. Vokunga saga, The Saga of the Volsungs, The Saga of Rangar Lodbrok
together with The La_v of Kraka, trans. Margaret Schulach (New York: The
American-Scandinavian Foundation, W.W. Norton & Company, inc., 1930),
l . . .
*xX111.
7 . “Maldon”, 97.
8. William Dowie, “The Gospel of Middle-earth According to J.R.R. Tolkien”

in cJ.R.R. Tolkien, Scholar and Storvteller: Essavs in Memorium (Ithaca:
Cornell University Press, 1979), 265-85.
9. Road to Middle-earth, 107-08.
42
10. Road to Middle-earth, 108-09.
11. Road to Middle-earth, 10940.
43
. ^... _..,,
CHAPTER TEN _
“Without the stew and the bones . . . that vision would largely have been lost”
I
(“Fairy-Stories”, 32).
Nam I HZn Htin

The Tale of the Children of Hurin
Because many readers may not be as’ familiar with the plot or the *
characters from The Unfinished Tales, a different approach will be used to
study the relationship between the tales about the children of Hurin and
Northern literature. In a letter to Milton Waldman, a potential publisher of a
combined Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rine, Tolkien discusses the
contents of the Silmarillion and names his sources for this tale: “There is
the Children of Hurin, the tragic tale of Turin Turambar and his sister Nmiel
-I of which ‘lXrin is the hero: a figure that might be said (by people who like
that sort of things, though it is not very useful) to be derived from the
elements in Sigurd the Volsung, Oedipus, and the Finnish Kullervo .
[Kalevala]” (Letters, 150). Even though Tolkien did not consider source
studies to be preeminently useful, much may be learned by examining his
techniques in employing materials from the Volsunga legends and other
sagas in the creation of the tales about Hurin and his descendants. Tolkien’s
story about the Children of Hurin exists in several versions: “The Lay of the
Children of Htirin” is an alliterative poem written in 1918 and existing in
two separate manuscripts, combined by Christopher Tolkien and published
in The Lavs of Beleriand .1 “Turambar and the Foaloke” is a prose version of
the story apparently written by the middle of 1919 while Tolkien was
working on the Oxford English Dictionary.2 The dating is derived from
Humphrey Carpenter’s discovery of a passage written on a scrap of proof for
the Dictionarv in one of Tolkien’s early alphabets (Lost Tales II, 69).
Another version of the tale appears as “Of Turin Turambar” in The
Silmarillion. “Narn I Hm Hurin” in The Unfinished Tales provides the most
1
comprehensive telling of the story. Here the plot and characters of the
Narn will be outlined with supplementary materials from other versions of
the story as needed. The headings are those appearing in The Unfinished
Tales.
The Childhood of Turin

Htirin’s lineage, a brief characterization of him, and a definition of his
relationship to his brother begin the tale. His marriage to the proud
Morwen and the birth of their children ZXrin and Urwin, who is known
primarily by her sobriquet Lalaith, continue the story with an earZy
presentment that this child’s tenure in the tale will be short. The unlovable,
moody T&in adores his gregarious sister, who dies young3om the “Evil
Breath”. Her father Htirin makes a song of lamentation, after which he
breaks his harp and curses his adversary. The child TWin turns now to his
lame tutor Sador, whose nickname is Labadal or “HopafooK Sador teaches
TC-in skills but also lessons about fear, fate, and wisdom,- When lllrin is
eight years old, his father Htirin answers a call to fight against the forces of
darkness, but Htiin fears for his return and instructs his wi$e Morwen to go
south quickly zf things go ill. Morwen boasts of her descent from Beren and
her kinship with the king. H&in gives his son an Elf-wrought blade as a
birthday present. l%rin, recalling Sador’s command not to give others
things which were not his to give, presents his tutor with the kniJe as a g@.
Sador accepts reluctantly, and Hfirin treats him more kindly and
commissions the making of a great chair for the haZl. H&in assembles his
men, bids his w$e good bye, and marches forth with the sun grintins on the
swords of his men, his golden banner unfurled, and his horn sounding on
the wind (Unfinished Tales, 57-65).
z
Commentary
The genealogical introduction and the capsule characterizations typify
the saga format as discussed in Chapter 3. Tolkien describes Hurin: “Hurin
was by three years the elder, but he was shorter in stature than other men of
2
his kin; in this he took after his mother’s people, but in all else he was like
Hador his grandfather, fair of face and golden-haired, strong in body and
fiery of mood” (Unfinished Tales, 57). The strong kinship of Hurin with his
brother Huor mirrors that among the sons of Njal in NW’s Sa&. The proud
and moody Morwen values her descent from Beren One--hand: she may
derive some characteristics from Odin’s Valkyrie daughter Brynhild, who
loses her father’s favor when she does not slay the hero he selected from the
battlefield. Brynhild’s tale appears in a number of prose and poetic versions
as does the Narn itself. Although bits and pieces of the story of Sigurd the
Volsung are told in many sagas and lays, the two principle tellings of the tale
derive from the Old Norse poem of the Elder Edda into the Old Norse prose
Volsunga sm of the 13th century and the Old High German rhymed strophe
poem Nibeluneenlied of the same century.3 9
Turin’s childhood is reminiscent of that of several Norse heroes.
Turin shares his mother Morwen’s dour mood. Tolkien notes that he was
“not merry, spoke little, though he learned to speak early and ever seemed
older than his years” (Unfinished Tales, 58). This moody and unlikely
childhood is also characteristic of Grettir in Grettir the Strong, of Bothvar in
Hrolf saga Kraka, and of Thorstein in Vatnsdale Saa. Grettir seems
purposely to misinterpret instructions and scrapes the hide off of a horse
when he has been asked to curry it. In Vatnsdale Saga, Thorstein is a
morose and lazy eighteen year old whose father accuses him of being like
other young men who “want to become stick-in-the-muds and bake
themselves over the fire and fill their bellies with mead and beer, and
manhood and valour are all dwindled away”.* The comparison of the two
children -- the moody Turin and his gregarious sister Lalaith -- echoes that
of the gloomy Egil and his more outgoing brother Thorolf in the Egil’s Sag.
Hurin’s song of lamentation at Lalaith’s death may derive from the Egil’s Saa
also. When Egil’s son dies, he shuts himself in his bed closet to die, but his
daughter convinces him that he alone can compose a suitable dirge for his
son.5
Tolkien constructs a tutor for Turin by combining characteristics of
Regin, Sigurd’s tutor in Volsunga Saga, with the lameness of Wayland the
heroic smith of Old English mythology and of the Greek smith god
Hephaestus. Turin’s tutor Sador has smith qualities: he “worked in the
outbuildings, to make or mend things of little worth that were needed in the
I house, for he had some skill in the working of wood” (Unfinished Tales, 60).
In the Volsunga Saa, Sigurd has a foster-father Regin, whose job is to tutor
him: in “all manner of arts, the chess play, and the lore of runes, and the
talking of many tongues? When Regin tells the story of his kin, he
emphasizes his cunningness in working iron, silver and gold: his brother
Otter’s prowess as a fisher; and his brother Fafnir’s grimness. Sador tells ’
Turin that the fates of men and of Elves are different, but Turin’s
philosophical
0 questions are referred to someone wiser. About the death of
Ealaith, Sador comments “But where she has gone no man knows” in typical
Norse fashion recalling the Beowulf-poet’s incisive comment: “Men cannot
truthfully say who received that cargo, neither counsellors in the hall nor
warriors under the skies” (Beowulf, 2). At the end of this exchange, Ttirin
expresses an inappropriate yearning to become one of the Eldar.
The conversation between Hurin and Morwen about his commitment
to fight the growing darkness reveals a prescience that he may not return
from the conflict in a timely manner. The long sight of Nj&l, Unn the
Deepminded, and others is his also. Several important tokens and
implements are introduced. The blade becomes attached to the tutor
through Turin’s gift of it in the Narn. In the Volsunga Saga, the relationship
between Sigurd and his tutor grows while Regin forges the broken sword
Gram, a legacy to Sigurd from his father King Sigmund. Subsequently, Regin
seduces Sigurd into an encounter with his brother Fafnir, who has turned
into a dragon through his long hoarding of a golden treasure. The image of
the fifty swords gleaming as the House of Hador rides forward to battle
against the darkness recalls the description of Odin’s hall being lit by swords
from the Prose Edda. The banner, the horn, and the stirrup farewell are
commonplaces of Northern and other heroic literatures. The chair, which
4
\ . - . ..-._
Htirin asks Sador to make, recalls other elements from the myth of
Hephaestus. In that story from Greek myth, the smith contrives a chair of
cunning device for his mother Hera, who has cast him out of heaven for his
ugliness and has thus caused his lameness. When she sits in the chair, ‘4
invisible fetters keep her there. The jovial. Bacchus must finally drench the
smith god with wine to get him to release Hera.7 While the commissioned
chair plays no further part in this unfinished version of the story, another
chair more closely parallels the one contrived by Hephaestus.
The Words of Htirin and Morgoth

In the Battle of Unnumbered Tears, the forces of Morgoth take Wirin
alive and place him in captivity. Morgoth oglers him his freedom with power
and rank as one of his captains, but Hzlrin refuses. When Morgoth breaks
Hiirin’s sword, a splinter wounds the face of the unflinching hero. Then
Morgoth curses H&in’s offspring to abide beneath his hate forever. The two
argue about the nature of the universe; Morgoth contends that nothing exists
beyond the Circles of the World while Htirin claims that solace for those who
battle against evil will be available beyond the end. Morgoth binds Hiirin in a
chair of stone facing .over the conquered lands. Htirin is given Morgoth’s
superhuman ability to see and hear all that happens in front of him
(Unfinished Tales, 65-68).
Commentary
Morgoth’s temptation of Htirin is a standard one with a standard reply.
Morgoth, who describes himself as “Elder King: Melkor, first and mightiest
of all the Valar,” serves as a major evil force (Unfinished Tales, 67). Norse
mythology often \ depicts Odin as the oldest and mightiest of the gods of
Valhalla. Morgoth’s breaking of the sword recalls the broken sword Gram in
the Volsunga saga. In his last battle, the aging King Sigmund slays enemy
after enemy until he comes against Odin in disguise: “clad in a blue cloak,
and with a slouched hat on his head, one-eyed he was” (‘Volsunga saga, 118).
When King Sigmund strikes him with the sword, it bursts apart, for no
5
weapon can stand against Odin. The wound to Hi&n’s face suggests perhaps
the loss of Odin’s eye, but not in the direct way that might have been
expected. The motif of a chair with invisible fetters appears to be another
element from the Hephaestus story, although Loki is bound in Norse
mythology. The details of Loki’s binding, the gods’ revenge for the death of
Balder, are quite gruesome and do not appear to apply here,8 In the
Turambar version of the Narn story, Hurin is a Promethean figure who alone
among men defies the power of the dark lord Melkor. Because of his
defiance he is chained in torment upon a bitter peak (Lost Tales II, 79). As
the Turin portions of this story grew, Tolkien’s interest in his father Hurin
and his evil adversary decreased. In the Turambar version, Hurin and his ’
wife, both of whom drop out of the story in later renditions, appear to
comment, in Greek chorus fashion, on the fate of their son and daughter
(Lost Tales II, 115 16). In a finished version of the story, Tolkien would
probably have established a cogent parallel between the stone chair of
Hurin’s captivity and the carved chair wrought of his compassion for Sador.
The philosophical debate reflects Norse thinking. In a commentary on
Snorri Sturluson’s description of Ragnarsk in the Voluspa, Kevin
Crossley-Holland says “But if the Voluspa poet was a fatalist and typical of his
time in seeing only a glimmer of hope for the living, he was also a visionary.
He describes in detail, as no other surviving poet does, the emergence of a
new world, a time beyond our time, purged of all evil, new, clean, ready to
begin again. In so doing, he was doubtless transmitting received wisdom,
for the beliefs he expresses certainly existed in pre-Christian Scandinavia,
but he gives that wisdom new tongue. He faces all the terrors that there are
on earth: and having done so, he has won the position to speak with
authority of a green heaven and to express our universal longing for
rebirth. “9 As might have been expected, Hurin’s arguments parallel those of
Norse mythographers. e Of course, the Morgoth curse begins to work itself
out immediately.
The Departure of Ttirin -
Morwen, now pregnant with another child, lives on in poverty in her
own house because she acquires a reputation for being a witch and others
fear to attack her. The villainous Easterling Brodda takes Hiirin’s ’
kinswoman Aerin by force to be his we; secretly, she continues to aide
Monven and her family. Finally, the proud Morwen recalls her husband’s
words and determines to send Tirrin to be fostered by King Thingol,
although she still cannot bring herself to take his charity. Herdenial of
Hut-in’s instructions to free is labelled as “theJrst strand of the fate of Ticritz.”
Turin clings to the hope that his father will return and instructs Sador not
to bum the unfinished carved chair as&e wood. TUYn refuses to take the
profiered knifie on his trip. Morwen’s failure to respond to his cry asking
when he will see her again forms “the fust of the sorrows of TWin.”
Morwen bears a daughter named Nienor or Mourning. Beleg the Strongbow,
a great elven woodsman, rescues Turin and his companions from near
starvation and death when they become enmeshed in the Queen’s mazes.
When Beleg presents the group at King ThingoZ’s court, the King takes TILrin
upon his knee rendering him great honor. Queen Melian sends for Morwen,
who still refuses to accept elven hospitality. Morwen sends back with the
messengers the Helm of Hador. His mother’s failure to come constitutes
Thin’s second sorrow. Somewhat reluctantly King Thing02 presents TzIrin
with the treasured helm, which Twin is yet too young to l@! (Unfinished
Tales, 68-76).
Commentary
Witches abound in the sagas; for instance, one is responsible for
Grettir’s death, one almost destroys Korm&.k, and one curses Hoskuld,
making him unable to have conjugal relations with his wife Unn in the NM’s
Unreasonable
Sa4ga. pride characterizes several women in the sagas too. In
Ni&l’s Saga, Hallgerd has one of her servants steal food to save her pride;
that act causes the death of many men. When she repays her husband’s slap
with a refusal of hair for a bowstring, Gunnar’s death follows (discussed in
7
Chapter 8). Similarly, Gudrun’s stubborn pride in the Laxdale Saga brings
her lover Kjartan and two of her husbands to their deaths. Fostering was a
common practice in Northern cultures; the convention was that to foster
another man’s child was to become his inferior. It is, therefore, the greatest
honor that the Elf King Thing01 bestows when he takes over the boy’s care
and training. In the context of this action, Morwen’s refusal to accept Queen
Melian’s hospitality becomes absurd.
The idea for the Helm of Hador may have come from the Helm‘of Awe,
which Sigurd wins from the dragon in the Volsun.ga saa. No particular use is
made of this token in that story, but Tolkien apparently liked the idea and
began to play with it in the Nam. The image on the dragon-helm is to be
that of Glaurung, who was supposed to taunt Turin about the mystery
implied by wearing the helmet. Turin’s reply points out that the helmet
represented scorn rather than allegiance to the dragon. As the story exists
in the Silmarillion and the Unfinished Tales, Turin receives the helm from
King Thingol, wears it in battles until the arcs capture him, and does not
use it again in the story as it stands. Christopher Tolkien conjectures from
remaining notes that Tolkien intended for the helm to reappear during
Turin’s adventures in Nargothrond. Ttirin would not wear the Helm then
“lest it reveal him”, but he was to wear it in confrontation with Glaurung.
While the Helm serves to protect Turin from the dragon’s deadly gaze, the
worm’s taunting has its effect: “But being thus taunted, in pride and rashness
he[Ttirin] thrust up the visor and looked Glaurung in the eye” (Unfinished
Tales, 155). The Helm was also to figure in the denouement with Glaurung
when Turin would reverse the dragon’s words about mastery.
In the Nibelungenlied version of Sigfried’s (Sigurd’s) story, the hero
uses another token from the dragon hoard, a cape of invisibility, several
times. This treasure allows the hero to take the place of his friend King
Gunther (Gunnar) both in the contests of strength which win Brynhild and
in the wedding night activities. On the first night of the wedding, Gunther
(Gunnar) tells his friend that Brynhild has “bound me very tight, carried-‘me
to a nail and suspended me high on the wall.‘+10 When Sigfried (Sigurd)
9
8
consummates Gunther’s marriage for him, Bqmhild’loses her phenomenal
strength. Sigfried (Sigurd) steals from her a gold finger ring and her girdle.
Brynhild’s beautifully embroidered girdle enters the Narn not as an article
i
of clothing but as a geographical area of peace brought about by the t
enchanting powers of the elven Queen Melian, mother of Ltithien and
foremother of Elrond, To have the main tokens from’the Sigurd story --
broken sword, troublesome ring, helm of awe, cloak of invisibility, and
embroidered girdle -- all appear in the Narn in recognizable yet altered form
is a great tribute to the power of Tolkien’s imagination.
King Thingol’s reluctance to give up the Helm may place him in a long
tradition of stingy kings and chieftains. For instance, in the Egil’s Saga, Egil
has not given his father the weregild paid for his brother Thorolf because he
does not think the old man needs additional gold, but the aging chieftain
soon carries off all of his treasure and buries it where it has never been
found 11 Ttirin’s ancestor Hador has received the token from the elf leader
l
Fingon because Hador and his son Galdor alone have the strength to bear it.
Galdor suffers ill fortune when he rush& out to defend Eithel Sirion from a
sudden assault without it, for an ore arrow pierces his eye. This death is the
one recorded for King Harold Sigurdsson at the battle of Stamford Bridge on
the Bayeux tapestry; King Harold’s Saa reports that the arrow struck in the
throat.12 The repetition of comments about sorrows recalls the Kalevala, but
other parallels with the Finnish work are not apparent.
Ttirin in Doriath
An elven maiden named Nellas is theJirst of several unfortunate
women to form an affection for TG?n, who seems to be always seeking for
’ the visage of his dead sister. Saeros, one of the King’s elf counselors who
has little love for men, begrudges T&in the good opinion of the other
members of King Thingof’s court. When m&sages cease to comefiom his
mother Morwen, lllrin asks King Thing02 for weapons to battle the dark
lord. When King Thing02 suggests that one man can do little in such a battle
except to aide the Elves, Ticrin compares himself to his kinsman Beren.
9
,’
Queen Melian notes the importance of the elven maid Liithien in that
adventure. Three years later ?lirin returns unkempt from his battles and
innocently sits in Saeros’ seat. Saeros throws a gold comb on the table with
an insult. Later, in the woods, Saeros attacks X&in, who conquers but
reJirses to kill. TUin chases Saeros until the elf desperately attempts a great
leap and falls to his death. TiLrin flees jfom King Thingol’s judgment,
although Nellas has observed the beginning of the fzght and proves T&in
faultless. King Thing02 sends his pardon a#er 7Win [Unfinished Tales, 760
85) .
.
Commentary
Women who love Turin generally get little return for their efforts.
Tolkien suggests a parallel with the first great marriage of mortals with
Elves, that of Beren and Ltithien. However, Ttirin consistently proves
himself to be lacking in the nobility and good judgment required for such a
match. Saeros hates Men in general and Turin in particular; yet, Turin’s
proud reactions to Saeros’ taunts contribute to the tragic events. The
comments about the wild hair are reminiscent of the Heimskringla story of
King Harald Fair-haired who vowed never to cut nor comb his hair until he
had conquered Norway. In the Turambar version, the Saeros character
taunts Turin about his appearance by saying that his mother was so ugly that
he didn’t learn the proper use of a comb. Turin kills him on the spot by
smashing his face with a heav gold goblet [Lost Tales II, 75). As Tolkien
moved the motivation in the story away from fate and towards hubris, this
blatant killing was replaced with a fight leading to an accidental death.
Turin’s own unwillingness to explain the events to King Thing01 then leads
to the tragedies of the story. The first of several references to deer in the
Narn occurs when Turin chases Saeros,waming him to go as swiftly as a
deer pursued by hounds. The place where Saeros falls is described as “wide
for a deer leap”. The fearful mere from Beowulf , described in the chapter
on landscapes, may have been an influence, but the Volsunsa Saga also has
many references to deer. The tale provides a great beginning for the saga,
IO
and the author capitalizes on it artistically by having Gudrun dream that she
gets the world’s best golden hart, which Brynhild then shoots.13
Tiirin among the Outlaws

Believing himself an outlaw, ZQin encounters a band of lawless men
who have become known as the wolf-men because people fear them. TiLtin
takes the place of one whom he kills in self defense. Eventually, Tirrin
becomes the leader aJtet he kills the former chief who has been pursuing a
young woman. T&in gives his name as Neithan, the Wronged, and believes
that he may be able to establish a free lordship of his own. While 7Mn
pursues Ores, Beleg Jnally finds their camp, is captured by the wo&nen,
and mistreated by And&g, who covets Beleg’s bow. When T&in returns and
frees Beleg, the elf tries to convince him to return to King Thingol’s service,
but Tzlrin’s pride prevents this. Tzlrin tries unsuccess_firlly to remember who
Nellas was and why he might have kept company with her. Beleg comments
that perhaps men and elves should not meet or meddle (Unfinished Tales,
85-96) 8
Commentary
The traditions and habits of the outlaw form yet another link between
Narn and the sagas. Several sagas tell stories of famous outlaws: Grettir the
Strong, Vatnsdale Saga, and Volsunga Saga. In Volsunga Saga, the wolf motif
joins with the idea of an outlaw band. Signy, the daughter of King Volsung,
weds King Siggeir, who then invites her family to Gothland as a return for
King Volsung’s wedding feast hospitality. Signy warns her father that
Siggeir’s gathering of a force of men bodes ill. He replies that he has vowed
never to flee in fear and that fate must work its way out. When the Volsungs
land, the battle begins, and after eight passes King Volsung is slain and his
ten sons taken. Signy begs that the brothers not be killed quickly. They are
set out in stocks and a great she-wolf, believed to be the witch mother of
King Siggeir, eats one of them each night. Signy. contrives to cover the last
brother Sigmund with honey, saving him from the ravaging wolf, whose
11
tongue he pulls out while she is licking the honey. That was the wolfs death.
After Sigmund escapes from the wolf, he lives as an outlaw in the woods.
When Sinfjotli, the son of the brother sister union, has proven brave enough
to be a companion, the two men range together in the woods sometimes in
the shape of wolves.I* The band of outlaws, which Turin joins by accepting
service weregild for his slaying of one of its members, also has its wolfish
aspect. The young woman Turin rescues from the group’s leader eggs- him
on to kill his comrade Androg, who has also been pursuing her. She says
that her father would offer a rich reward for two “wolf-heads”. When Turin
finds his band tormenting Beleg, he condemns their actions and extends
that condemnation to their whole life as outlaws “Lawless and fruitless all
our deed have been, serving only ourselves, and feeding hate in our hearts”’
(Unfinished Tales, 93). Turin’s words about the value of the outlaw life
recall Jokul’s similar statement in the Vatnsdale’s saa; Jokul says that his
path has gone awry and he must now pay for his deeds with his life.15 Like
Jokul, Turin could have made a much greater contribution to the battle
against evil had he returned to society instead of living as an outlaw.
As in the Volsunxa Saga, the love stories in the Narn are also complex.
In the saga, Brynhild and Gudrun both love Sigurd, who has loved each of
them in turn. Brynhild marries Gudrun’s brother Gunnar. Two elven
maidens and one human woman love Turin. Beleg’s reply to Turin’s
enquiries about why he spent time with Nellas is that Turin might have
wished to learn what she has* to teach. Turin’s self-centered attitude disgusts
Beleg, who has long sought Turin to tell him that he is not under the
sentence of outlawry for Saeros’ death. Fortunately, Tolkien saves this
honest and kind-hearted elven woman: “But Nellas of Doriath never saw him
[Turin] again, and his shadow passed from her” (Unfinished Tales, 9596).
One woman at least escapes the trap of loving the proud and stubborn Turin.
Of Mim the Dwarf

Things go ill for the outlaws until they shoot at three hooded grey-cZad ,
shapes and capture one, a dwarf. 7bit-t claims shelter as the dwarfs
.
ransom, and against his will the dwarf is bound for the night because he will
not leave his sackas surety for his return. When the’ outlaw band enters the
dwarf stronghold, theyftnd that Mim*s son has died because he could not
aide him. Andrbg’s deadly bow and arrows are broken and laid at the de&
dwarfs feet. llirin’s o_flfer of a heavy gold weregild succors Mii, who
nonetheless curses Andr6g to die by his bdul. Andr@, in turn, curses M&Cn
to die with a dart in his throat. The sack’s contents, which prevented Mirn
from Zeaving it as surety, are not revealed fUnfinished ,Tales, 96-104).
Commentary
Ml^m is a prototypical dwarf from the traditions of Northern literature;
his characteristics as a dwarf are discussed in Chapter 4, “Creatures”. In
alternative versions of the Narn story, the curse is “May he lack a bow at
need ere his end” (Unfinished Tales, 148). The placement of weapons at
the dead warrior’s feet follows the heroic traditions as described in Chapter
7 on Customs. Ml^m’s reluctance to leave his sack recalls the dwarf Andvari
who is connected with the treasure in the Volsunga Sac. In the story,
Hreidmar has three sons - Regin, Otter, and Fafnir. Regin tells Sigurd that
his brother shifted into the shape of an otter. Gile the otter was eating fish
from the river near the dwarf Andvari’s gold, the god Loki, in company with
Odin and Honir, kills Otter with a stone. The gods carry off the otter skin to
Hreidmar’s house, where Hreidmar recognizes his son’s skin and demands
weregild for his death. Loki returns to Andvari’s force, casts a net, and
catches the dwarf Andvari in the shape of a pike. Loki requires a ransom.
When Loki demands a final gold ring as part of the ransom, the sagawriter
says “then the dwarf went into a hollow of the rocks and cried out, that the
gold-ring, yea and all the gold withal should be the bane of every man who
should own it thereafter.“16 When the gold is spread over the otter’s hide,
Hreidmar notices that one whisker is uncovered. Odin draws the ring
Andvari’s loom from his finger and covers the whisker. Tolkien found this
detail of the story fascinating and mentions it twice in his 1962 letters about
the publication of The Adventures of Tom Bombadil. A reference in that
13
poem involves identification by a whisker:“Your mother if she saw you,/she’d
never know her son, unless ‘twas by a whisker.“‘7 Tolkien says “I am afraid
it [a second poem about Tom Bombadil] largely tickles my pedantic fancy,
because of its echo of the Norse Nibelung matter (the otter’s whisker)”
(Letters, 315) and “the otter’s whisker sticking out of the gold, from the
Norse Nibelung legends” (Letters, 319). Tolkien’s fascination with the story
appears here as Mim’s abode in the rock, his love of gold, and his inclination
to curse.
Ttirin in Nargothrond
Belegjoins Ticrin to become the Bow and the HeZm in new attacks
against the enemy. Under the name Gorthol, Dread Helm, Tirrin reveals his
location to Morgoth. Ores capture Mtm, who reveals the hideout where
Tiirin is subsequently captured. Beleg and Mirn fight over the sword
Anglachel. Searching for lllrin, Beleg finds and heals his fellow elf Gwindor,
who has been a captive in the arc mines. When they find the captive lllrin,
Beleg accidentally pricks him with the blade. Titrin seizes the fated s’word
and kills Beleg without recognizing him. Ticrin now takes the name
Agarwaen, sun of Amatth (Bloodstained, son of Ill-fate). The sword is forged
anew and Ticrin wears a dwarf mask in battle. Unknown to llirin, Morwen
and her daughter NienorjZee at last to King Thingol’s court. As the battles
against Morgoth continue, E&in saves Gwindor, whose wounds are mortal
and whose beloved Finduilas turns her affection to Tlirin. In the sack of
Nargothrond, the dragon bedazzles Tzlrin and convinces him that he must
rescue Morwen rather than saving Finduilas as Gwindor has instructed
(Silmarillion, 204-15).
Commentary
The hero’s killing his best friend happens with frequency in literature
because of its dramatic appeal. Notably in the sagas, Bolli kills his blood
brother Kjartan and the sons of Nj81 kill their foster brother Hoskuld, in the
NiZil’s Sa@. In the Orknevinga saga, the hero accidentally kills his best
14
companion. In the saga, Svein AsIeifarson and Svein Breast-Rope are both at
Earl Paul’s court in Orkney. With Svein Breast-Rope is his friend and
kinsman Jon. The two Sveins begin to fall out over favoritism in the filling of
their cups, although there has been little love lost between them for a long
time. Svein Breast-Rope gets into a temper and murmurs that Svein will kill
Svein, but people hush them up. Eyvind, who has overheard the threat,
warns Svein Asleifarson and advises him to get in the first blow with the axe
he has just given him. Eyvind suggests that he stand in the shadow of the
stone slab and strike Svein from the front if he walks ahead and from the
back if he walks behind his friend Jon. Accordingly, Svein Asleifarson
strikes Svein Breast-Rope on the forehead. After he stumbles, Svein
Breast-Rope sees a figure standing in the doorway. He assumes that it must
be his attacker and splits his head open, but it is his kinsman Jon and they
both fall down dead together. 18 In the Narn, Ttirin’s proclivity for falling
into trances and trying to escape his actions by changing his name renders
this accidental killing of his friend much less dramatic than it might have
been otherwise.
The unlucky sword used in the killing is a key implement in the Narn.
Beleg has received the sword as a gift from King Thing01 for his delivery of
the King’s pardon to T&in. Beleg wants a sword of worth against increasing
Ore attacks. Beleg chooses the sword Anglachel, which was made by the
smith E61 the Dark Elfr the sword has been given unwillingly as bride
payment for the elf’s wife. As Thing01 starts to give the sword to Beleg,
Queen Melian remarks that the sword still has the malice of its smith’s dark
heart in it (Silmarillion, 202). After Beleg is buried, they notice that the
blade of the sword has turned black, dull, and blunt, as if it mourns for Beleg.
Just as the broken sword Gram is reforged for Sigurd’s use in Volsun8a sac,
the sword Anglachel takes on a new identity: “The sword Anglachel was
forged anew for him by cunning smiths of Nargothrond, and though ever
black its edges shone with pale fire; and he [Ttirin] named it Gurthang, Iron
of Death” (Silmarillion, 2 10). Tolkien begins to make interesting use of the
concept of an ill-fated sword here. Queen Melian presciently sees the evil in
the sword, the traitorous Mirn dies by it, and its slipping causes its owner
Beleg’s death. The sword partakes of the characteristics of heroic literature
swords which cannot be sheathed without first drinking blood.
Ttirin’s hubristic wearing of the dragon helm alerts Morgoth to his
presence. This enormous pride owes more to Oedipus than to Sigurd.
Again like Oedipus, Ttirin’s grief at having killed his friend causes him to I
wander speechless for a year with Gwindor as his guide. Only when he
drinks from a blessed spring is he healed of his madness. In typical
Northern tradition, then, Ttirin composes “the Song of the Great Bow” as a
lament for his fallen comrade Beleg.
The Return of Ttirin to Dor-16min

During his wanderings us a dragon-bewitched outlaw, 7Wn returns to
his home searching for his mother and sister. His old tutor Sador tells him
that they have jled from the persecutions of 2he evil Easterner Brodda.
Despite T&in’s disguise, Sador recognizes the voice characteristic of Htirin’s
family. When Tiirin questions his kinswoman the Lady Aerin about his
mother’s departure, he finally comes free of the dragon Glaurung’s evil spell.
In the fii.i.ht that follows, Brodda is Jung against his comrades. The faZ2
breaks his neck and kills three of his companions; Sador dies uneventfiUy
in the fight. Brodda’s companions do not respond because they are
weaponless in the hall. As lYu$njZees to the hills, Aerin bums herself in the
hall (Unfinished Tales, 104-Q):
Commentary
The death of Brodda echoes a similar hall attack in the Orknem
Saga. There, Thorkel makes an equally precipitous entry into the
treacherous Earl Einar’s great hall. Like Ttirin, Thorkel strides right up to
the high board where he speaks with Earl Einar briefly then strikes him so
that he falls into the fire on the floor. Thorkel’s companion Hallvard
suggests that Thorkel pull Einar out of the fire. Thorkel pauses to hook his
axe around the Earl’s neck and heave him up onto the wood platform before
16
._ _- - ._-__-_- _-.-.-_--_- --*-..n--
. . . . ..< -
he leaves the hall. In both instances, the hero makes. a verbal assault on his
enemy who is seated at a high table with his troops around him, the hero
then kills his adversary who ends up on the floor, and the hero escapes from
the enemy-filled banquet. The saga writer inthe Orknevinga sa= notes ’
several reasons for the lack of immediate revenge: the murder happened
quickly, the act was unexpected, the retainers in the ‘hall were unarmed,
and it was Thorkel’s destiny to accomplish the murderP Tolkien also notes
the weaponless state of the retainers in Narn, but Tolkien has other pieces
of his story to carry forward in this scene. Thus, many of Brodda’s supposed
retainers now take up table implements to fight as TCirin’s allies. The
ensuing short battle allows Turin to talk with his old servant Sador and
unsuccessfully to, entreat his aunt Aerin to leave with him (Unfinished T&les,
108409).
Had Tolkien written this scene later in his career or had he given it
the careful revision that is the consistent standard for The Lord of the
Rings, the small blade Turin gave Sador many years before would have
played some part in the ending of this portion of the story. In the earlier
Turambar version, Turin escapes because his aunt takes charge of the feast
and declares that her husband’s killing was wrongful, but that Ttirin’s wrath
was justifiable because his mother and sister had been badly treated (Lost
Tales II, 90-9 1). This resolution lacks the dramatic power of the later one
Tolkien devised.
The characters of Lady Aerin in Narn and of Signy, Sigmund’s sister
and Sigurd’s aunt in the Volsunga saga, provide another parallel between the
tales. Although Turin urges Aerin to accompany him as he goes in search of
his mother and sister, she refuses in characteristic Norse fashion. She
chooses the fate of burning in the house with her husband as Signy does the
saga. In Volsunga Sam, after Sigmund her brother and Sinfjotli her son
begin to bum her husband’s hall, they beg Signy to come out. She reminds
them of her sacrifices to bring about the revenge on her husband for having
killed her father and her brothers. She has killed her weakling sons, made
herself into a witch woman to seduce her brother, and thus bred a son
17
worthy to be Sigmund’s partner in revenge. But she is loyal to her husband,
too, and chooses not to live long after his death but to die in the burning
house with her husband King Siggeir. In Narn, Ttirin looks back in his flight
from his old home, sees the hall ablaze, and learns from his companions
that Lady Aerin has courageously burned herself in the house with her
husband. The companion makes this epitaph for Aerin: “She did much good
among us at much cost. Her heart was not faint, and patience will break at
the last” (Unfinished Tales, 109). Aerin shares her nobility and the dual call
on her loyalties with Signy and other Norse heroines from the sagas.
.
The Coming of Turin into Brethil
Free from the dragon’s alteration of priorities, Tirrin comes into
Brethil seeking for the eZf maiden Finduilas. When he saves a band of men
from an arc attack, they tell him that the arcs have killed FXnduifas. He
swoons. Brandir, the lame and gentle lord of Brethil, sees him being borne
in on a bier and knows that doom has willed it so. Ticrin who has been
calling himself wildman of the woods, awakens after months in the swoon,
resolves to stay in peace, and now calls himself Turambar, Master of Doom
(Unfinished Tales, 1090 112).
Commentary
Although the elf maiden Nellas has put love of Turin behind her,
Finduilas is not so lucky. Turin is young, dark-haired, pale-skinned, grey
eyed, and more beautiful to behold than other mortal men. Finduilas
abandons her love of Gwindor and gives all her affection to Turin. Perhaps
it is the recollection of the love potion in Volsunm Saga that causes Tolkien
to comment: “Then the heart of Finduilas was turned from Gwindor and
against her will her love was given to Turin: but Turin did not perceive what
had befallen” (Silmarillion, 2 10). Finduilas’ forsaking her love for Gwindor
and turning to Turin is an inversion of Sigurd’s relationships with Brynhild.
It is interesting to have the woman cast as the unfaithful lover rather than
the man.
18
In the Volsunga version of the story, after Sigurd slays the dragon, he
comes to a mountain ringed with fire. An armed person lies there in an
unnatural sleep. When Sigurd pulls the helm off, he sees that the sleeper is
a woman, who awakens when he rends open the chain mail shirt. She tells
him that Odin has pierced her with a sleep thorn because she has killed the
god’s designated winner in a battle. Her punishment for disobedience is to
be given away in marriage, but she has vowed never to wed a man who
knows the name of fear. Brynhild instructs Sigurd in eddic wisdom, and
they plight their troth.20 In the Nibelungenlied version of the story, Sigfried
(Sigurd) goes with his friend King Gunther and competes in a contest of
strength for her hand. Using the Tarnkappe, a cloak of invisibility, Sigfried
(Sigurd) not only beats Brynhild in athletic contests while everyone believes
that Gunther is the winner but Sigfried (Sigurd) also subdues Brynhild on
her wedding night, taking away tokens of a gold ring and an embroidered
girdle. In this version, Sigfried is already married to Kriemhild (Gudrun)?
Sigurd of the Volsun@ version of the story comes to Brynhild’s foster
father’s home and again declares his love for her. She protests that she is a
shield maiden who still loves battle; and she prophesies that he will wed
Gudrun. Sigurd replies “What king’s daughter lives to beguile me? neither
am I double-hearted herein: and now I swear by the Gods that thee shall I
have for mine own, or no woman else” wolsunga, 163). Brynhild pledges
herself to him and receives a gold ring as a token. All might have gone well,
except that during a visit to King Guiki, Queen Grimhild fancies him as a
son-in-law and gives him a drink to make him forget Brynhild. Sigurd
marries Gudrun and swears brotherhood with her brother Gunnar. Queen
Grimhild next dictates that Gunnar should court Brynhild. Brynhild again
requires her suitor to ride through the ring of fire to reach her. Since
Gunnar’s horse will not go through the fire, Gunnar requests Sigurd’s Grani,
but the horse will not carry him. Gunnar and Sigurd then change
semblances and Sigurd rides again to Brynhild. In Gunnar’s guise, he plights
troth with her and lies by her for three nights with his sword Gram between
them. The ring Andvari’s loom which he had given her previously, he now
19
exchanges for another ring from Fafnir’s hoard. Brynhild and her king ride
to the Guiking’s palace where she (weds Gunnar. When the wedding is
accomplished, Sigurd remembers his former troth with Brynhild, but he
does not act on his recollection.
Turin’s swoon on the hillock where ,Finduilas died may symbolize his
indecisive character; it is not a feature of saga literature in general.
However, his trance-like state and his lying in state on a bier recall
Brynhild’s. In the Turambar telling, Turin’s sister seeks to lie with her
beloved: “I would seek my lord and lay me in death beside him . . . ” (Lost
Tales II, 108). This action would be a close parallel to Brynhild’s lying
beside Sigurd as his funeral pyre is lit at the end of the second part of the *
Volsunga Saga. In spite of its possible origins in the materials of the
Volsunga Saga, this trance-like state is not very believable nor does it serve
much dramatic purpose in the story. It seems to have been conceived as a
device to allow Turin to fall in love with his own sister, but that could have
happened without this melodramatic operation.
Gwindor has warned Finduilas of Turin’s identity and the dark doom
that Morgoth’s curse has laid upon the House of Hurin. Gwindor’s deathbed
advice is that if Ttirin can save Finduilas, he may escape the evil doom
planned for him; otherwise, his fate will find and destroy him. Turin’s
rescue of Finduilas would allow a happy alliance between the two with a
concomitantly happy ending. This same outcome could have occurred in the
Volsunga Saga had Sigurd not been given the potion to make him forget
Brynhild.
Unfortunately, Turin encounters Glaurung, who binds him with his
dragon eye. The dragon taunts him: ‘*Evil have been all thy ways, son of
Hurin. Thankless fosterling, outlaw, slayer of thy friend, thief of love,
usurper of Nargothrond, captain foolhardy, and deserter of thy kin. As Wall
thy mother and thy sister live in Dor-lomin, in misery and want”’
(Silmarillion, 213- 14). Turin falls into despair and perceives himself as
Glaurung portrays him. The dual interpretations of fate and character
operate in this choice as they do in the play OediDus. It is fate that the
20
dragon happens along at this particular juncture, bui it is Turin’s lack of
character that allows him to believe the dragon’s cant. While Turin stands
like a stone on the bridge, Finduilas crosses over and cries out to him. This
.
scene is well handled and similar to the crafting Tolkien uses throughout in
The Lord of the Rings. The errand to rescue mother and sister is an empty
one, for Morwen and Nienor have already fled into the forest safety created
by Turin’s outlaw band. The operations of fate or doom and’ the hero’s
courage are not as well defined in this work as they are in The Lord of the
F?in@.
Brandir has the potential to be an interesting character, but the origin
of and need for his lameness are not evident. While the attendant slowness
serves a plot function later in the story, the obvious associations with the
smith god Haephaestus work more productively with the character of Sador
than they do with Brandir. To have two lame characters in the same story
confuses the reader. Had Tolkien worked on this story more, he would have
resolved this plot difficulty. Turin’s proliferation of names and identities
also becomes tedious and in the end laughable. While it is somewhat
effective in symbolizing his own difficulties with accepting himself and his
actions for what they are, the reader has difficulty in remembering his
current appellation.
The Journev of Morwen and Nienor to Nargothrond

Fearing that Ririn is in peril, his mother Morwen, who has been the
guest of King Thing01 and Queen Melian, now insists on leaving the shelter
of the Girdle of Melian to fznd him. Thing02 rues her going but send
Mablung and thirty elves to help her. When they cross a river, they discover
an additional member of their party -- Nienor disguised. Still Morwen’s
pride keeps her from returning to King Thingol. When an attempt is made
to cross the river Narog, the dragon Glaurung issues forth creating an
enormous fog through his entry into the water. Morwen disappears. Nienor
regains the top of the hill only to come eye to eye with Glaurung, who
identij?es her when she boasts of the courage of Hiirin’s kin. Her will
21
swouns. When Mablung and the surviving elves tr?/ to take her back, she
<r-.
t
$
JI’ ’
escapes during an ore attack (Unfinished Tales, 112421).
Commentary
The concept of a peaceful zone created by the power of an elven queen is
an interesting one which Tolkien works out much more successfully in The
Lord of the Rin@. There, Galadriel has created the beautiful realm of Lo;
by the power of her ring; however, she warns that when the One Ring is
destroyed, L6rien will also fail. In Narn, Tolkien tries, not very successfully,
to arrange some dramatic tension from concepts of entering and exiting
from this zone. Turin and Morwen both complain to King Thing01 that they .
were reluctant to enter into the Girdle of Melian because they did not want
to have to remain there forever. Queen Melian explains twice that the
Girdle is open and the relatives of Hurin may leave or stay at their will.
While some intimations of this concept also appear in The Lord of the Rina,
Tolkien does not spend two conversations on it. The idea of calling this
zone the Girdle may have been suggested by Brynhild’s embroidered girdle
in the Nibelungenlied. However, the more famous girdle in works that
Tolkien knew well is the green girdle in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
There, the hero Gawain is given the girdle to protect him against an axe
blow from a green giant. 22 The idea of protection is clearer from the Sir
Gawain story than from the Nibelungenlied.
In this segment of the story, Tolkien tells the reader that Morwen is
fey. Being fey in Northern literature means that a person seeks death
actively, although sometimes characters are fey but in the end do not die.
Morwen’s excessive pride and her attendant lack of gratitude to King
Thing01 are tedious in this story, but to have her vanish in the fog never to
be accounted for again is not typical of Tolkien’s finished style.
Nienor’s disguise as a warrior places her in a long tradition of
Northern warrior women. In this part of her story, Nienor functions as an
apprenticeship work for the character of I?owyn. Both disguise themselves
in order to ride forth on a seemingly hopeless expedition against the enemy.
22
The presence of the hobbits in The Lord of the Rina gives Tolkien a great
advantage because &owyn disguised as Demhelm lets Merry ride with her.
Their combined adventures against the Ringwraith make for a really
well-conceived and crafted incident in that story. In this story, Nienor’s’
encounter with Glaurung has similar power. The image of Nienor on the
hillock coming unaware into view of the dragon is a compelling one and
seems to recall a silent film version of the Nibelungenlied.23
Each of these sets of stories also employs a dragon. In Volsunga Saga,
Fafnir, the brother of the smith Regin, has become a dragon because he has
brooded too long over the gold treasure Odin, Honir, and Loki paid as
weregild for the wrongful death of their brother Otter, The most ominous
part of the treasure is the cursed ring Andvari’s loom which Odin took from
his finger to cover the Otter’s last whisker. In Narn, the dragon’s genesis is
less interesting: he is the first of the fire drakes of Morgoth (Silmarillion,
116). Fafnir warns Sigurd that the treasure will be his downfall, but Sigurd
replies that he would lose all his wealth if that meant he would never die,
but all men must die. The dragon Glaurung’s power to put humans into
trances reduces their retorts to his conversations. Tolkien uses this device
several times in the Narn. Ttirin is in a trance while the dragon redirects
his energies from the rescue of Finduilas to a vain solicitude for his mother’s
safety. Glaurung then creates the mist that Morwen disappears into; at the
same time casting a spell of forgetfulness on Nienor. Fafnir also reminds
Sigurd that many times each will be the other’s bane. While Sigurd escapes
Fafnir himself, the ring Andvari’s loom is his undoing and that of many
others. Glaurung plays withTtirin in a like manner. When Tfirin rouses
himself from his trance on the bridge, he lunges at the dragon. The worm
could slay him outright but instead goads him into seeking after his mother.
That action then brings Finduilas and many of her kin to death.
Nienor in Brethil
When Ririnfinds Nienor in a swoon on the grave of F’induilas, he
natnes her Niniel, Maid of Tears. Brandir nurses her to health,, but she loves
23
him as a brother, although she encourages Tlirin to hold ofl their wedding at
his urging. At last, llirin says that he must begin a ufar against the arc or
they must wed. The brother and sister marry (Unfinished Tales, 121425).
Commentary
The incidence of sister-brother love in the Narn echoes that in the
VolsunfZa Saga. Sigmund lives in the woods as an outlaw, receiving Signy’s
sons as they reach an age to have their courage tested. Signy, disgusted with
their weakness, kills them when they fail Sigmund’s test of kneading
serpents into bags of meal. Finally, she goes to Sigmund in the guise of a
witch and bears a child who is both the daughter’s son and the son’s son of
King Volsung. This son, Sinfjotli, joins Sigmund in the outlaw life and
effects revenge on King Siggeir. 24 This occurrence of incest is not unique in
the sagas but is generally unusual in all forms of heroic literature.
The lovers in Narn and in the Volsunga Sam are almost as confused as
the quintessentially mixed up lovers in Shakespeare’s Midsummer NiEht’s
Dream. There the four lovers go through every possible permutation of who
loves whom with or without reciprocal feelings. In the Narn, the curse on
Ttirin’s family reaps death and destruction. Had TCrin listened to Gwindor
and saved Finduilas, rather than going on the fruitless errand after his
mother and sister, then his sister Nienor might have loved and married the
faithful Brandir. While part of this disaster must be credited to the evil
emanating from Morgoth in the form of the dragon, part must be assigned to
the hero’s character. Ttirin is prideful and stiff necked. He rushes from
justice even though he is innocent of the murder of Saeros. He refuses to
return to King Thingol’s court even though a great deal has been sacrificed
to bring him news of his pardon. He ignores his commitment to Finduilas
and Gwindor even though he has been warned of its negative consequences.
Repeatedly, he attempts to start over by putting everything behind him and
taking a new name. Successively, he is called Ttirin, Neithan, Agarwaen,
Thurin, Mormegil, Wildman of the Woods, and Turambar. Had he
acknowledged his unlucky fate and attempted to cope with it, he would not
24
have brought so much woe to so many. As in the sagas, T’iirin’s character is
described when he is a child: he never grows beyond it. Several tixnes
Tolkien mentions his fatal pride and that of his mother, who would not
humble herself to be an alms-guest even of the King. In pronouncing .!?
judgment in the death of Saeros, King Thing01 says that .Turin is too proud _
for his state (Unfinished ,Tales, 83). Pride as a motivating force has one of its
greatest expressions in the Greek play Oedipus, which Tolkien
acknowledges as an inspiration for this work (Letters, 150).
In Volsunga Saa, Brynhild and Gudrun fall into, a discussion of who
has the mightier husband. Gudrun tells her that in fact Sigurd came to her
through the fire, not her husband Gunnar. In a moment of hubris, Sigurd
has given Gudrun the ring Andvari’s loom, which before he had given to
Brynhild. Even though Sigurd now forbids Gudrun to talk of his deeds with
Brynhild, it is too late. Although Brynhild knows that Grimhild made Sigurd
forget her, she cannot abide being married to the lesser man. She arranges
to have Sigurd killed.25 In both tales, a sister and brother are involved
(Gunnar and Gudrun; Turin and Nienor); a highborn maiden (Brynhild is a
Valkyrie daughter of Odin: Finduilas, an elf) loves a mortal hero; a .,
compromise solution (Brynhild’s marriage to Gunnar; Nienor’s possible
marriage to Brandir) fails because the hero demonstrates hubris.
l
The Coming of Glaurung

Glaurung now rules as a dragon king, drawing arcs to him and
attacking all pockets of free men. 2liri.n acknowledges his promise not to
seek arcs until they attack his homeland but fznally he drives them back. He
resolves to end the incursions by attacking the dragon. Two companions,
Dorlas and Hunthor, volunteer, and Tirrin selects a fearful part of a canyon,
which he believes Glaurung will leap over. Brandir tries to console N&nor,
but when she and a company of others follow 7Wit-z he breaks his staff and
forfeits his office (Unfinished Tales, 125-32).
25
\ Commentary
Glaurung is much more anthropomorphic -than either Beowulf s dragon
or even Fafnir, who is, of course, a man whose greed has turned him into a
dragon. Glaurung’s commanding ability to collect arcs to him and to direct
them in battle makes the dragon seem more a part of an organized pattern
of evil. In The Hobbit, Smaug is an entrepreneur for evil; he is independent
from the evils of Sauron. Smaug is content is guarding his treasure hoard
and has not been regularly ravaging the countryside until Bilbo steals his cup.
While Glaurung is more clearly tied into the evils emanating from Morgoth,
Smaug operates more like the Balrog and Shelob, who are entirely or mainly
independent from Sauron. In a letter to Naomi Mitchison, who had written
in praise of “Farmer Giles of Ham”, Tolkien acknowledges the relationships
among the dragons of Northern literature: “I find ‘dragons’ a fascinating
product of imagination. But I don’t think the Beowulf one is frightfully good.
But the whole problem of the intrusion of the ‘dragon’ into Northern
imagination and its transformation there is one I do not know enough about.
Fafnir in the late Norse versions of the Sigurd-story is better; and Smaug and
his conversation obviously is in debt there.” (Letters, 134). Glaurung seems
to have been a good start for Tolkien’s quest for a greater dragon. Glaurung
carries on better conversations than Fafnir but his range of emotions is
limited. Glaurung’s persecution of the Children of Hurin derives from his
kinship with the evil being Morgoth, who despises Hurin’s courage in the
face of his overwhelming evil power. Glaurung’s powers ‘are limited to
casting spells on Hurin’s children, making Turin’s natural hubris more
effective, and threatening to kill them outright. ,’ The urbanity and emotional
range of the worldy but wicked Smaug are yet to be realized.
The plans for the dragon’s demise are similar in the Narn and the
Vfl. In the saga, Regin has suggested that Sigurd should dig a pit
and stab the dragon in his soft underbelly as he passes over. Regin plans for
Sigurd to kill the dragon whose venomous blood will at the same time
destroy Sigurd, leaving the treasure for Regin’s use. Fortunately, Odin in the
disguise of an old man advises Sigurd to dig several connected pits and thus
26
escape drowning in dragon blood. 26 Turin. chooses a narrow ravine for his
attack upon the dragon. After he crosses the perilous river, he can shove
his sword into the dragon’s soft underside.
It is clear that both the hero and his nemesis the dragon are
apprenticeship works for Tolkien. Many motifs worked on in the Narn are
not repeated. Motivations in the work are diverse: the curse on the family
of Hurin; the curse on the sword: the evil of Morgoth and his creatures
Glaurung and the arcs. These externals and Turin’s own pride provide some
complexity of motivation in the story. In the “Turambar and the Foaloke”
version Melkor tells Turin’s father that his sons career will bring both Elves
and Men to grief as a punishment for Hurin’s steadfastness against evil.
Tolkien apparently abandoned this statement in order to balance fate with
pride (Lost Tales II, 71). Ttirin is consistently unwilling to face up to his
fate and to turn and fight against it. The reader keeps waiting for him to
grow up, but he never does: He gets into a bad situation, makes a mistake
like chasing Saeros to the brink of a cliff and is too proud to explain the
circumstances of his actions. Turin repeatedly throws off his old name and
identity and uses his prowess at arms to establish a new one. Compared
with Smaug, the dragon is just as boring in his relentless pursuit of the
children of Hurin.
These same criticisms can be leveled at the Volsunga Saga. Sigurd is
equally unwilling to face up to his problems. He remembers finally that he
had plighted troth to Brynhild, but instead of making some provisions for
the eventually unmasking of that secret, he goes ahead with his regimen of
hunting and combat,, His pride leads him to give that same ring to his wife
Gudrun. When he knows that Brynhild has discovered that he disguised
himself as Gunnar, he merely suggests that Gudrun not taunt her about it.
Thus, Sigurd dies at the hands of his brother-in-law Gutthorm, but not
before the hero can cast his sword Gram. into his slayer.27 Like Turin,
Brynhild kills herself with her own sword and is laid on Sigurd’s funeral
pyre with him.
27
The Death of Glaurung
As the three companions climb through the ravine, Dorlas fails at the
crossing. In the moment .of Glaurung’s passing, Tlbin is almost overcome by
the heat and stench, but Hunthor steadies his sword hand. IXrin manages
to shove his sword into the dragon’s belly. In his death throes, GZaurung
heaves himself to the other side. Turin’s sword Gurthang has been wrested
from his grasp, and in his pride&l desire to reclaim it and to look upon his
conquered foe, TiLrin once again crosses the river and puts himself within
range of the dragon’s fear&Z evil eye. He falls into another trance. WhiZe .
TIM-I lies “dead” in a scene reminiscent of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, *
the dragon rouses ji-om his fatal wound to madden ,her with his words:
Wail, Nienor, daughter of H&-in. We meet again ere the end. I give thee joy
that thou hast found thy brother at last. And now thou shalt know him= a
stabber in the dark, treacherous to foes, faithless to friends, and a curse
unto his kin, Titrin son of H&t-in! But the worst of a21 his deeds thou shalt
feeZ in thysezj”’ (Silmarillion, 223). As the loving Brandir looks on, she cries
“FareweZZ, 0 twice beloved! A Ttirin Turambar turun ambartanen: master of
doom by doom mastered! 0 happy to be dead!” (Silrnariflion. 223). Then
she throws herself into the wild water of the abyss below her. ‘When Dorlas
and Brandir argue afterwards, Brandir accuses Dsrlas of having also forfeited
Niniel’s ZiJe because he did not observe the dragon’s death and report it to
the others. Dorlas strikes at Brandir, who slays him with his sword
Commentary
Tolkien uses a number of aspects of Beowulfs dragon slaying in

constructing Glaurung’s death. First, like Beowulf, Ttirin asks for
companions. While Beowulf accepts eleven volunteers, T&in stops the
volunteer process after two have come forward. Artistically, Tolkien only
requires two -- one to die in pursuit of the dragon and one to illustrate the
28
l-l.I* ._ .,_.*. ^ . . . - .,. .- ,._. _ ._ _.. -_, .
.- t
; fate of the coward. The Beowulf-poet has eleven to work with, but ten, prove
cowardly and endure a single fate -- ostracism. One companion Wiglaf
proves true and becomes the commentator and Beowulfs defacto heir.
Wiglaf deprives the cowards of their right to receive treasures; to give an$
receive swords, to enjoy a pleasant home, and to hold land-right [Beowulf,
50). In Narn, Dorlas meets with Brandir who shames him for his cowardice.
When Brandir discovers that Nienor has died because Dorlab did not bring
tidings, he says that he hates him. Dorlas strikes at Brandir with his fist;
Brandir hews him his death-blow. Tolkien handies this situation of dealing
with cowardly men more compassionately in The Lord of the Rine. There,
Aragorn talks with them and encourages them to fmd courage for other
tasks, which many do. Since Tolkien had already established Mablung in the
role of commentator, he did not need a surviving quest assistant. Second, in
both Beowulf and Narn, the successful dragon-slaying technique is to stab
the underside. With traditional understatement, the Beowulf-poet describes
Wiglafs stroke as “a little lower down”. Then Beowulf and Wiglaf cut the
worm in half. In Volsunga Saga, Sigurd thrusts under the left shoulder.28
Third, both heroes have boasted to kill the dragon or die. Turin says
“The die is cast. Now comes the test, in which my boast shall be made good,
or fail utterly. I will flee no more. Turarnbar indeed I will be, and my own
will and prowess I will surmount my doom - or fall. But falling or riding,
Glaurung at least I will slay” (Unfinished Tales, 126). Beowulfs boast is more
complex as is becoming of a warrior of greater 4.power and renown:
In my youth I engaged in many wars. Old guardian of the

people, I shall still seek battle, perform a deed of fame, if the
evil-doer will come to me out of the earth-hall I will not flee l l l
a foot-step from the barrow-ward,. but it shall be with us at the

wall as fate allots, the ruler of every man. I am confident in
heart, so I forgo help against the war-flier. Wait on the barrow,
safe in your mail-shirts, men in armor -- which of us two may
better bear wounds after our bloody meeting. This is not your
1
29
- -_._-_ --_--- _---.---. ---- -- -

If
0..
venture, nor is it right for any man except me alone that he
should spend his strength against the monster, do this man’s
deed. By my courage I shall get gold, or war will take your king,
dire life-evil (Beowulf, 44).
Both heroes boast that they will kill the dragon or die, and both succeed
with the dragon. Fate has decreed that Beowulf will find his own death
there, too.
The understatement of Beowulf is present in the Narn, too. For
instance, in Beowulf, the poet notes that Beowulf’s shield “protected the life
and body of the famous prince, for a shorter while than his wish was” and ’
that the battle with the dragon “was no pleasant journey, not one on which
the famous son of Ecgtheow would wish to leave his land: against his will he
must take up a dwelling-place elsewhere -- as everyman must give up the
days that are lent him.” (Beowulf, 45). Tolkien’s epitaph for TWin’s
companion Hunthor is equivalent: “not the least valiant of the House of
Haleth” (Unfinished Tales, 134).
Deer imagery is a notable characteristic in Beowulf, Volsunga saga, and
Narn. Tolkien uses it to describe Nienor’s flight from attacking Ores: “But a
strange change came upon Nienor and now she outran them all, flying like a
deer among the trees with her hair streaming in the wind of her speed”
(Unfinished Tales, 120). The intimation of shape shifting is here, not into a
wolf as in the Volsun$a sac but into a deer. When Turin plans his strategy
to kill the dragon, he names the abyss as one where “a deer once leaped
from the huntsmen of Haleth.” Combined with the use of the imagery to
describe Nienor, this remark becomes a grim forecast of Nienor’s fatal
jump. Dorlas begins to lose his nerve as he recalls the place, and the
description provided is reminiscent of Grendel’s mere, as discussed in
Chapter 6. Nienor’s death takes place at the Deer Leap, and when Ttirin
recounts his sister’s tale to Mablung, he notes that she fled “like a wild deer” .
from the horror of the dragon to the horror of her incestuous relationship
with him. Nienor’s words “0 happy death” begin a series of verbal echoes
.
30
from Romeo and Juliet. Juliet’s own words are “0 happy dagger. This is thy
sheath; there rest and let me die.“29
The imagery surrounding the dragon’s encounter and death reflects
that used to describe the anthropomorphic monster brothers the Fenris
i Wolf and Jormungand, the Mithgarth Serpent. The description of Ragnarsk, *
the last battle between the gods and the monsters, reports: “Fenrir’s
slavering mouth will gape wide open, so wide that his lower jaw scrapes
against the ground and his upper jaw presses against the sky; it would gape
still wider if there were more room. Flames will dance in Fenrir’s eyes and
leap from his nostrils. With each breath, meanwhile, Jormungand will spew
venom; all the earth and the sky will be splashed and stained with his
poison.‘t3o Tolkien’s description of Glaurung’s crossing the ravine is
indebted to this imagery: “his jaws gaped, and he had seven tongues of fire.
Then he sent forth a blast, so that all the ravine was filled with a red light,
and black shadows flying among the rocks; but the trees before him
withered and went up in smoke and stones crashed down into the river”
(Unfinished Tales, 134). The gaping jaws and the fiery eyes of the Fenris
wolf have become the gaping jaws and fiery tongue of Glaurung. The heat,
stench, and poison of Jormungand have been incorporated, too, for Ttirin
has almost fainted from them. The blasted landscape imagery may owe
something to Surt’s firing of the world: “Asgard and Midgard and Jotunheim
and Niflheim will become furnaces -- places of raging flame, swirling smoke,
ashes, only ashes. The nine worlds will burn and the gods will die . . . “31
Tolkien has effectively combined two monsters from Northern mythology
into one fairly interesting dragon in the Narn.
Dragon’s blood plays an interesting role in both the Volsungam and
the Narn. In the Nibelunsenlied movie version, Sigmund baths in the blood
and gains immunity to weapons except for a place on his back covered by a
leaf 32 In the Volsunga version, eating the blood from the dragon’s heart
l
allows him to understand the language of the birds. He learns that Regin
plans to kill him and forestalls his fate by killing Regin.33 In Narn, when
Turin pulls forth his sword a spout of black blood falls upon his hand,
31
burning him with its venom. His outcry awakens Glaurung whose baleful
eyes smite Ttirin. The anguish of his hand causes Turin to fall into a
death-like swoon with his sword beneath him. Sigurd goes on to possess
the treasures of the dragon’s hoard.34
The Death of Turin

As the dragon dies, TWin rouses from his trance. Leaning on his
sword, he stumbles back meeting Brandir and others. When Brand& tells
him of Nienor’s identity and death, they fight and Ticrin kills Brand&
Mablung and the Elves arrive and ver&fiy the fates of Morwen and the lost
Nienor. TLirin flees to the ravine, asks his black sword to drink his blood,
and dies. Mablung offers finals words and constructs a suitable mound
Commentary
At the end of his tale, Turin realizes that he has hated Brandir, who
loved Turin’s sister-wife Nienor, unjustly. Tiirin addresses the sword and
asks if it will slay him swiftly? The sword replies: “Yea, I will drink thy
blood gladly, that so I may forget the blood of Beleg my master, and the
blood of Brandir slain unjustly. I will slay thee swiftly’* [Silmarillion, 225).
The evil, perceived in the sword by good Queen Melian, has indeed played a
pervasive role in the Tales of the Children of Hurin. Although the dragon
has perished from the sword, many others have also been lost: Mim, Beleg,
and Brandir were slain by the sword: Nienor and Finduilas have died because
Turin was involved in matters relating to the sword, and Ttirin himself dies
on its dark edge. Talking swords are not common in Northern literature,
and fortunately, Tolkien did not repeat this transparent, didactic device.
Regin, the smith-tutor whose machinations set in motion the multiple
curses and misadventures of the Volsunga SaQ, certainly has a worthy
counterpart in the elf smith Eiil, who crafted this sword.
When the hero and his dragon meet for the last time, Ttirin does
manage to invert the dragon’s original taunt “Hail, son of Hurin. Well met!”
32
. . . . s A‘. ,. . - _ ._ ,. c.. . . . _. I _ .t . . I,
, .
with “Hail, Worm of Morgoth! Well met again! Die now and the-darkness
. have thee! Thus is Turin son of HCirin avenged” (Sjlmarillion, 222).
Glaurung’s slaying of Turin is roundabout. As in Shakespeare’s Romeo and
Juliet, TCrin’s apparent death causes Nienor’s suicide.. Nienor’s suicide ‘I
then pushes Turin into killing himself. In the Volsunga Saga, Brynhild’s
urgings cause Sigurd’s death, but as he lies on his fwreral pyre, she thrusts a
sword into her armpit, instructs her companions. about those who should
join the two in death, and is laid beside Sigurd on the pyre.35
When Mablung and the other elves arrive, Turin recounts his woes.
His description of Nienor as “brown as a berry” with dark hair and small as
an elf-child indicates that he has gone mad at last, for Mablung reminds him
that she was tall,with
? blue eyes and fine gold hair -- the features common to
Hurin’s children. Turin now comments on his blindness: “But why no! For
see, I am blind! Did you not know? Blind, blind, groping since childhood in
a dark mist of Morgoth!” (Unfinished Tales, 144). This reference to
blindness ties ‘I3rin again to Oedipus who blinds himself after he discovers
that he has slain his father and begotten children on his mother.
Turin shares his character problems with Shakespeare’s hero Romeo,
too. Both do seem to be somewhat plagued by an evil fate, but both also
contribute to their fate by their precipitous actions: Romeo’s hotheaded
killing of Tybalt, his hasty marriage to Juliet although he has recently loved
Rosalind, and his quick suicide in the tomb are products of flawed character.
Shakespeare’s play seems to have been more clearly in Tolkien’s mind than
he thought when he named his sources as Sigurd, Oedipus, and Kullervo, for
in addition to the plot and character similarities, at least three more verbal
echoes exist. When Ttirin argues with and kills Brandir, he says “Seek
Niniel! [Nienor] . . . Nay, Glaurung you shall find, and breed lies together. You
shall sleep with the Worm, your soul‘s mate and rot in one darkness!”
(Unfinished Tales, 143). Turin is sending Brandir to accompany the
villainous dragon in death. Although the meaning is quite different, .
Romeo’s speech as he stands by the comatose Juliet is a clear analogue:
33
Why art thou [Juliet] so fair? shall I believe
That unsubstantial death is amorous,
And that the lean abhorred monster keeps
Thee here in dark to be his paramour?
For fear of that, I still will stay with thee:
And never from this palace of dim night
Depart again: here, here will I remain
With worms that are thy chamber-maids . . 36l
The monster in Tolkien’s Narn is also the worm, and the person instructed a
to lie with him is Turin’s adversary rather than his beloved. Yet, either
consciously or unconsciously, Tolkien’s knowledge of the play shaped his
descriptions in the Narn. 1
One page later, Mablung comments that he and the other elves should
discover the rest of Turin’s woes: “Some strange and dreadful thing has
chanced that we know not. Let us follow him and aid him if we may”
(Unfinished Tales, 144). In Romeo and Juliet, after the alarm has been
sounded, the Prince says to Montague:
Seal up the mouth of outrage for a while

Till we can clear these ambiguities,
And know their spring, their head, their true descent! 37
In both cases the chorus character suggests that a confusing situation must
be straightened out. Next, Mablung offers commentary over the dead body
of Turin saying : “I also have been meshed in the doom of the Children of
Hurin, and thus with words have slain one that I loved” (Unfinished Tales,
145). His words recall the Prince’s words over the bier containing Romeo
and Juliet:
34
Where are these enemies? Capulet! Montague!
See, what a scourge is laid upon your hate,
That heaven finds means to kill your joys with love.
And I for winking at your discords too
Have lost a brace of kinsmen: all are punish’d. 38
Both commentators regret that their lack of a more decisive intervention

has contributed to the tragedy. Mablung acknowledges that his explanation
about Nienor being Turin’s sister has finally undone the hero. The Prince
notes that his lack of a more decisive action has caused the deaths of
Mercutio and Paris. Again Tolkien molds the verbal echo to his own needs.
Comparisons between the stories of Sigurd the Volsung, other sagas,
and one or two other literary works, and the story of Turin son of Hurin do
seem to have some value. Seeing themes, motifs, and ideas in their original
settings shows the basic materials that went into Tolkien’s cauldron of story.
Little went through that cauldron unchanged. At every opportunity,
Tolkien’s own imagination and creativity molded, shaped, and sculpted
elements from earlier stories to fit the needs of his own tales. In the
instance of an early and never-finished work, such as the Narn, the pieces
borrowed are much more recognizable than those found in the later,
polished master work, The Lord of the Rings. In a comparison of Narn with
Sigurd the Volsung, the reader has an unusual
. opportunity to observe the
process of Tolkien’s creativity.
35
NOTES
1. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lays of Beleriand, ed. Christopher Tolkien (Boston:

Houghton Mifflin, 1985), 3-130. (All references are to this edition and are in
the text as Lavs of Beleriand.) 7
2. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Book of Lost Tales Part II, ed. Christopher Tolkien
(Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1984), 69-143. (All references are to this edition
and are in the text as Lost Tales II.)
3. One work, Volsunca Sac, shares with Beowulf the status of being a long,
mythic Northern work. Volsunga Saa shares Beowulfs national purpose,
but not its poetic style. Written by an unknown Icelandic author in the 13th
century, the saga recreates in prose the stories from the poetic Elder’ Edda
in order to glorify the heroic past of the Norse people in their golden age on
the Rhine 3s and Nib-, . trans.
William Morris (New York: Collier Books, 1971), 18). The author makes
heavy use of his copy of the Elder Edda in the same way that Tolkien handily
employed the materials he had written already about Middle-earth.
Tolkien’s interest in creating a mythology for England paralleled the
Volsunga Saga author’s purpose.
l
However, the Volsunga Saga lacks the craft that m&es Beowulf notable.
Vo,lsungafs author does not bring to his task the level of genius in the
molding of scenes, the construction of story, the portraying of details, or the
creation of character that the Beowulf poet does. Volsunga SaB does not
catch and hold our interest or suspend our disbelief with the power of the
most exalted pieces of literature.
Nevertheless, it is worthwhile to survey the common features. Part of
the Volsunga Sa@ author’s lack of craft appears in the omission of
transposition of narrative material. The story moves straightforwardly
without significant embellishment with interesting anecdotes from the past.
The character’s dreams do foretell the future similar to those of characters ’
36
in the other works, but not in an imaginative manner. Prophecy is not
artistically applied. For example,
* at the death of Fafnir in Volsunga Sam,
Fafnir tells Sigmund that the gold- hoard will be his deatlxand advises the
t
killing of Regin. Yet, the dragon’s prophecy is not accurate, for Sigmund’s
love strife causes his death.
The heroic element exists but in a less satisfactory form. In the first
part of the story, the adventures of brother and sister Sigmund. and Signy
and their son Sinfjotli suffice. They strive to revenge the wrongful death of
their father King Volsung. In Sigurd’s part of the story, his superiority
hardly allows for a fair fight. Yet a spirit of hardihood pervades the Volsunrra
Saga. Sigurd himself provides action; Brynhild’s constant complaint against
her husband Gunnar is that he is not the dragon slayer, nor has he slain five
kings, nor did he ride through the flames to awaken her. She will have only
the most outstanding warrior of her time r, 181-82).
After Sigmund’s victory over his father’s slayer King Siggeir, Sinfjotli
gets his death from a poisoned cup and Sigmund dies in battle. Sigmund’s
second son Sigurd conquers the dragon with so little motive and so early in
the story that he becomes a hero without a cause. Since he does not strive
to achieve anything, the reader has little reason to identify with him.
Although he shares the traditional hero’s good looks, he is singularly lacking
in interesting companions or in a people to protect.
Fate works throughout the work but .not in tension with God or the
gods. The author underlines the overriding importance of courage when
Signy applauds Sigmund’s killing of her two cowardly sons. The sentiment
that courage must increase as might decreases prevails when Sigmund fdlls
before the sword of Odin: “for good-hap of King Sigmund had departed from
him, and his men fell fast about him; naught did the king spare himself, but
he rather cheered on his men: but even as the saw says, No might ‘gainst
many, so was it now proven“ (Volsunga Saga, 11849). Yet, the relationship
between a man’s courage and ‘fate’s finality remain unclear.
l
37
^--_x_-- - -ss-- - - ------- -.--.-- -

I
f’ 4. Vatnsdoela saga, The Vatnsdw, trans. Gwyn Jones (Princeton:
5. Egil’s saga, Egil’s Saga, trans. Hermann Palsson and Paul Edwards
(Harmondsworth, Eng.: Penguin, 1982), 204.
6. Volsunga Saga, 125.
7. Charles Mills Gayley, The Classic Mvths in English Literature and in Art
(Boston: Ginn, 1939), 91,
8. Kevin Crossley-Holland, The Norse Mvths, (New York: Pantheon, 1980),

169-72.
9.. The Norse Mvths, 236.
10. Nibelungenlied, trans. A.T. Halto (Harmondsworth, Eng.: Penguin,

1985), 89. Written at about the same time as the Volsunga Sm, the
Nibelungenlied is a long German poem composed in a complicated rhymed
strophe. The poem was apparently designed to be performed by a bard in a
princely court. The medieval manuscript had been forgotten until it was
rediscovered in the 18th century, in the same way that the Kalevala and the
Elder Edda were (The Nibelungenlied, trans. Margaret Armour (New York:
Heritage Press, 196 1), xi-xiii).
The contrast between the German poem and the Norse saga is stark.
Like The Lord of the Rings, the Volsunga Saga is filled with action while the
c dwells at length on descriptions of costumes, arrns, and
feasts. So pronounced is the interest in clothing that the reader might
imagine that author to be a cloth merchants wife. The hardihood, individual
. strength, and fearlessness of the Volsunga Saga are replaced with
courtliness, vast armies, and treacheries.
38
The earlier tales of the Volsunga kin, the revenge for King Volsung,
.
and the winning of the gold are foregone in favor of expanded telling of the
revenge for Sigfried (Sigurd). The love story, which provides an
uncomfortable motivation in the Volsurza Saga, is refined and magnified in
Nibelungenlied. When Brynhild tries to make Kriemgild act like her vassal,
Kriemgild calls her a wanton. The villainous Hagen takes Brynhild’s cause,
tricks Kriemgild into telling him where Sigfried’s vulnerable spot is, and
kills the hero with a spear. Unlike Guttorm in Volsunga Saga, Sigfried does
not kill him. Kriemgild devotes the last half of the work to accomplishing
his death in one of the bloodiest battle scenes ever written. In the tradition
of the Hollywood monster movie, barrage after barrage of knights attack
Hagen and Gunther in the hall, but they fight on, Kriemgild ha&the hall
burned over them, but they fight on. Finally, Sir Dietrich captures Gunther
and Hagen, whom Kriemgild herself beheads. The story has been greatly
diminished in the Nibelungenlied. The mentality of the cloth merchant’s
wife has obliterated the cosmic actions. The Ring -- symbolizing the curse
on the gold, prized ai a love token but yielding only death -- is lost in the
bourgeois tale of the wife’s revenge. But Tolkien has found it again in his
own works and lifted it beyond its original place. Noting the elements of
Sigurd the Volsung, Oedipus, and the Finnish Kullervo on the creation of
Turin and others, he acknowledges their place in the cosmic cauldron.
Perhaps the Volsunga matter would have stood as a germ to a finished saga
of Ttirin in the same way that Kalevala is the germ of the Silmarillion and
Beowulf is the germ of The Lord of the Rin@.
11. Egil’s Saga, 149-150.
12, Magnuss Magnusson, Vikings (New York: E.P. Dutton, 1980), 30-l 1.
13. Volsunga Saga, 167-68.
39
14. VolsunrZa Saga, 97-109.
15. Vatnsdale saga, 25.
17 . J.R.R. Tolkien, Adventures of Tom Bombadil, in Tolkien Reader (New

York: Ballentine, 1966), 14.
18. Orkneyinga saga, Orknevinga Saga: The Historv of the Earls of Orknev,-
trans. Hermann P&son and Paul Edward (Harmondsworth, Eng.: Penguin,
1984), 1 1 4 - 1 5 .
19 . Orknevinga Saga, 44.
20 . Volsunga Saga, 149-56.
2 1 . Nibelungenlied, 60-69.
22 Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, trans J.R.R. Tolkien and E.V. Gordon,
2nd ed. (Oxford: ‘Clarendon, 1967), passim.
23 . Die Nibelungen, directed by Fritz Lang, Decla-Bioscop, 1924

”
40
27. VolsunAa Saga, 189. After Gunnar eggs Gutthorm on to kill Sigurd, the
dead hero, his three year old son, and his killer Gutthorm are laid upon a
blazing pyre. In a missed dramatic moment, the author narrates: “thereto
was Brynhild borne out, when she had spoken with her bower-maidens, and
bid them take the gold that she would give; and then died Brynhild, and was
burned there by the side of Sigurd, and thus their life days ended” (Volsunga
Saga, 201). Compared with the death of Denethor, this scene lacks
narrative building, descriptive adornment, and dramatic power.
29. The ComtAete Works of ShakesDeare, ed. Hardin Craig (Glenville, Ill.:
Scott Foresman, 1961), Romeo and Juliet, V. iii, 169-70.
30. Norse Mvths, 174.
31. Norse Mvths, 175.
‘32. Die Nibelungen.
36. Romeo and Juliet, V. iii.102-09.
37. Romeo and Juliet, V. iii. 2 16-18.
38. Romeo and Juliet, V. iii. 291-95.
41
CHAPTER ELEVEN
.
;” I
,
t
“There are many things in the Cauldron, but the Cooks do not dip in the
t
ladle quite blindly” (“Fairy-Stoees”, 3 l-32).
Final Thoughts
Shakespeare borrowed lavishly for plots, characterizations, and

descriptions from North’s translation of Plutarch’s Lives of the Noble
Grecians and Romans, from Holinshed’s Chronicles, from Belleforest’s
Histoires Tragiaues, and from many other texts. Scholars familiar with
Shakespeare’s habits may be disappointed that no such satisfying story
analogs can be found for Tolkien’s major works.1 Yet clearly, Northern
literature and mythology have made great contributions to the construction
of The Lord of the Ring. Tolkien’s biography, his Letters, and the examples
presented here show conclusively that he did use a thorough knowledge of
the Old Norse sagas’” .’
Of the many generic labels assigned to The Lord of the Rinm the saga
is the most suitable. No other genre fits both the structure and the
orientation as well. The fairy-story, as a form, is too short for the three part
work; fairy-stories require a sense of timelessness while The Lord of the
Rings is extremely conscious of time. And ,the ending of The Lord of the
Rings is not Eucatastrophe and thus not suitable for a fairy-story. The
traditional epic and the saga share many characteristics. Epic definitions
that stress a blend of folklore, fiction, and “saga” (historical background) suit
both Homeric epics and Tolkien’s three-part work, but the epic has other
characteristics which do not appear in Tolkien’s work. No muse is invoked;
the narrative does not begin in medias res; and the catalogue is a prominent
feature only in the appendices. The epic requires an elevated style of poetry.
However, the .traditional romance is a potentially appropriate genre, for
Frye’s phases of romance are all present in The Lord of the Rin@. These
phases of romance are also a part of several sagas, not only the foreign-
1
influenced lying sagas but also the native sagas of olden times and the family
sagas. While the romance reflects Mediterranean influences and employs
poetry, the saga reflects the North sea culture and employs prose. ’
The saga is, therefore, more appropriate for The Lord of the Rine.
Further, the varied definitions of the novel present a problem in themselves:
the three-part work meets the requirements of some of them. But even
when comparisons can be made with characteristics of the novel, these
analogues do not foster an understanding of Tolkien’s work. The saga, as
defined in this treatise, illuminates both the structure and the content of
The Lord of the Rine. Like the typical sagas, Tolkien’s three-part work is
an extended, prose, chronological narrative. The conventions of the saga, a
concrete impression of location, a protracted interest in genealogy, capsule
characterizations, and some pretensions to a historic; basis all contribute to
the success of Tolkien’s masterpiece. Most of all, the saga displays an
affinity with the North Atlantic peoples as does The Lord of thm.
The creatures of Middle-earth are one of its most memorable aspects.
Although the comparison is an unusual one, hobbits share several
personality traits with those of vikings. Bilbo’s first scene with the dwarves
of The Hobbit has much in common with some scenes between Bothvar and
Hott. Nothing about Tolkien’s elves contradicts the Norse conception of
elves, and Tolkien may have taken his idea for arcs from Snorri’s mention of
black elves. Similarly, the dwarves of Middle-earth are quintessentially +
those of Mithgarth; they could be transported into Northern literature
without alteration. Even their names are from Northern mythology -- the
catalog of dwarves in the eddas. The wizards seem more than casually
related to the Norse gods: Gandalf to Odin, Saruman to Lo&, and perhaps
Radagast to Frey. Trees are livelier both in the sagas and in Tolkien’s work: .
the Old Willow, the Ents, and the trolls all have analogs in Norse materials.
The speaking thrush md ravens are like Odin’s pets Huginn and Muninn,
and the eagles seem to function as an objectification of the Norse gods’
ability to change shapes. Smaug is not only in the tradition of Fafnir and
Beowulf’s worm, but may also be related to legends like that of the greedy
2
Viking Bui Akason, whose brooding over money turns him into a dragon. The
wargs draw on the Northern people’s natural fear of Wolves, a fear that
shows itself in the creation of Odin’s bane, the Fenris wolf, and in a variety of
werewolves and shape-shifters in the sagas. Four ancient creatures inhabit
Middle-earth -- Tom Bombadil, Goldberry, the Balrog and Shelob. The visit
to Tom Bombadil parallels a number of instances in the sagas in which the
protagonist stumbles into the house of a large, hostile man with a variety of
results. The evil ancients seem to derive from Loki’s monstrous children in
Norse mythology. However, the most persuasive image for evil in The Lord
of the Rina is the evil eye. Glam’s eyes seem to have made an impression
not only on Grettir in Grettir the Strong but also on Tolkien. Tokien’s
depiction of Gollum seems to be related to that of Glam. The belief in the
evil eye was common in the North, and the imagery of the evil eye
culminates in The Eye of Sauron.
Unlike many of the creatures, the implements of Middle-earth are not
particularly Nordic. They could probably be inserted into almost any piece
of medieval literature without being anachronistic or out-of-place. The Ring,
as Tolkien has developed it in The Lord of the Rin@, has no apparent
antecedents in Northern literature although a rich tradition of lesser rings
with diverse symbolic values did contribute to its creation, Literature will be
much advanced before another token with such powerful symbolism and
cunning appears. The weapons of Middle-earth parallel those of the sagas
and the Old English poem Beowulf. The giving of gifts generally follows the
constructions of world-wide heroic cultures, in which rulers reward their
retainers with elaborate gifts.
The typical landscapes of Middle-earth are not those of the volcanoes,
fjords, and farms of the saga writer’s native Iceland. Some geographical
features -- the secret valley, the marshes, and the forest Mirkwood -- may
derive from Northern literature. Others, such as the underground lake at
which Bilbo meets Gollum and magical entrance-ways, show an indebtedness
to specific incidents in sagas. Still others, such as Theoden’s hall and the
pool before Moria, echo the great descriptions of Beowulf. Tolkien admits
3
.r
two major influences on The Lord of the Rinm -- rurzil England and the
2
.\
I
Northern myths. Clearly, most of the landscapes come from the former?
The creatures of Middle-earth and the men of the sagas share a
number of customs. The riddle game, runes and spells, appearances,
patronymic names, courtesy, governance practices, burial customs, man
matching, hard bargains, compassion and story-telling techniques appear in
both cultures. The ethical system of both realms is concerned with pagan
virtues, such as comitatus, kinship, and revenge, rather than with Christian
virtues, such as piety.
The personalities of Middle-earth have both general and specific
parallels in the sagas. Several characters -- Boromir, Faramir, Aragorn, and
EOWp -- derive from prototypical Northern heroic traits for heroes, kings,
and shield-maidens. The complex character of Denethor shows a closer

relationship to that of Njal, the protagonist of Nigl’s sa=, while Theoden
may have been suggested by King Hrothgar in Beowulf. The Elf woman
Galadriel seems to have characteristics of two very different women from
the sagas -- the noble and virtuous Unn the Deep-minded from the Laxdale
w and the strikingly beautiful but wicked Hallgerd from NWs saa.
In addition to providing a number of analogs for specific creatures,
implements, landscapes, customs, and personalities, the poem Beowulf has a
larger relationship with The Lord of the Rina. The two works share a
tradition of heroic elements -- fights, a spirit of hardihood, and heroes. Yet,
Tolkien’s heroes are profoundly different from those of the Beowulf poet. In
the Old English poem, heroic conduct is the provence of a single, larger-
than-life hero Beowulf with some assistance against the dragon from his
kinsman Wiglaf. In The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien expects heroic behavior
from a panoply of creatures, large and small, brave and cowardly. All must
contribute their courage to the defeat of Sauron. The two works also share a
complex vision of the relationship among three elements--fate, a supreme
being, and courage -- in the battle against cosmic evil. Tolkien has
intentionallv minimized the influence of the supreme being by setting the
story in a time when the One God is known but not approachable (Letters,
4
387). Tolkien understood the themes and meanings of Beowulf thoroughly.
i’.* I’.
These great themes -- the monsters as a symbol of the persistance of evil,
the tragedy of mortality, and the death of beauty -- are those that Tolkien
adapted into The Lord of the Rins. .In this, the reader sees the truth off
Tolkien’s statement “I have tried to modernize the [Northern] myths and
make them credible. “3
In addition to the relationships between The Lord of the Rin@ and
Northern literature, Tolkien also acknowledges a debt to the Volsunga Sam
in the creation of Narn I Hfn Hurin, which appears in The Unfinished Tales
and The Silmarillion. Characters, implements, creatures, customs,
personalities, and themes from the Narn are derived from the sagas. Since
these materials were never entirely finished, the level of craftsma,n&ip
differs from that found in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rins. Generally,
relationships are clearer, and fewer alterations have been made to make
borrowed elements more a part of a cohesive whole.
As the summary reveals, Tolkien fused many elements of Northern
literature together into his creation of Middle-earth and the stories told
about it. With Tolkien’s work, the term “influence” is perhaps more
descriptive than the term “borrowing”. Little evidence exists that Tolkien
borrowed from Northern literature in the sense that he had Ni&l’s Sam or
Beowulf on his desk while he was writing The Lord of the Rn@. In .
contrast, Shakespeare is thought to have had the text of Holinshed on his
desk while he wrote the defense of Katherine in Henrv VIII, and Pandosto
before him when he composed Bellaria’s defense in The Winter’s Tale.4
Perhaps the cases of closestparallels, such as the descriptions deriving from
the mere and the golden hall in Beowulf, reflect Tolkien’s intimate
knowledge of the poem. He studied it, wrote criticism about it, taught it,
and translated’it. While the text was undoubtedly in the room, it was
probably not open on the desk. Other close parallels are with the NJ&l’s
Saga, a work that he probably knew very well. He would not have needed to
refer directly to the text of Nifil’s Sam in order to have employed materials
from it.
.
Qll___s____l- ____-______- - . -I.-_-------1__ _--------lll_--_____-~
Most of Tolkien’s borrowings and fusions were probably unconscious.
He had read the body of Northern literature as an Oxford undergraduate.
He reread certain parts of it during his association with various Old Norse
reading clubs. However, his commitments -- a large body of criticism, a life
of teaching and raising a family, and the extensive revisions he did to create
The Silmarillion, The Lord of the Rine, The Hobbit, and The Unfinished
Tales -- did not leave much time for additional reading. His theories about
the subcreator provide a guide to his own methodology. He had filled his
cauldron of story with bits and pieces from the public school education of
his day. However, in his particular case, an enormous complement of
Northern literature was also placed in the cauldron. His interest in, and.
love for, the stories and myths of the North found unique expression in his
literary output as compared to that of his peers and contemporaries.
The value of knowing the raw materials used to create a work of art
continues to be debateable, not only for the works of J.R.R. Tolkien but also
for those of other authors. Tolkien’s own statement that studies of the
relationship between Ttirin, the hero of the Narn, and his antecedents,
Sigurd the Volsung, Oedipus, and the Finnish Kullervo are “not very useful” .
must be given credence (Letters, 150). However, in “On Fairy-Stories,” his
deliniation of elements -- stock and bones -- that got into the Soup argues
that his own interest in antecedents was greater than this offhand comment
might suggest. Much has been observed through this study about Tolkien’s
craftsmanship: the reader sees him practicing the theories he described in
the essay. He absorbs materials from his sources, places them in his own
cauldron of story, and brings forth a soup far more complex and fascinating
than the sum of the individual ingredients.
Knowledge of the source will frequently aid the reader in the
interpretation of a character or an incident. For instance, the character of
Denethor is elucidated by a knowledge of Nj&l and his stature. Questions
~ about the genre of The Lord of the Rine become clearer with an explanation
of the variety of the saga genre. The tension among fate, a supreme being,
and courage can be understood more clearly in the context of Beowulf. The
6
interpretation of the entire three-part work is also influenced. The reader
who understands the themes of Northern mythology and literature and who
recalls Tolkien’s stated purpose to modernize them cannot easily intebret
I
the work as a Christian text or the ending asa happy one. These facile
explanations of the power of The Lord of the Rin@ must be left behind.
Yet the power of The Lord of the Rin.s does exist. As a work of art, it
has spoken to millions of readers and will speak to other millions as the
centuries pass. This study of Tolkien’s sources is a useful adjunct to
criticism of his work. Among Twentieth Century writers, Tolkien’s genius is
unexpected and unusual. This study provides partial answers for the
resulting two puzzles posed to Tolkien scholars by their colleagues: why did
Tolkien write these works rather than others, and why has The Lord of the
Rings been so popular. First Tolkien wrote about Middle-earth because he
had read, studied, and loved Northern mythology and literature. Further
studies need to be conducted to assess the impact of other mythology and
literature on his work. However, an analysis of all influences will probably
show that the Northern one was the strongest and most pervasive. Second,
one of many reasons why The Lord of the Rins has been so popular is the
quality of the work. Tolkien’s craftsmanship, his practice of revision and
redaction of all materials contributing to the telling of the story, will
continue to set him above other fantasy writers. When his enormous
popularity has been forgotten, then he will achieve his rightful place among
great writers.
NOTES
1. Narrative and Dramatic Sources of Shakespeare, ed. Geoffrey Bullough

(London: Routledge and Kegal Paul; New York: Columbia UniversityPress,
1957). Kenneth Muir, Shakespeare’s Sources: Comedies and Tragedies
. (London: Methuen, 1957), 253.
2. Henry Resnik, “The Hobbit-forming World of J.R.R. Tolkien,” Saturdav

Evening Post, July 2, 1966, 94.
3. “Hobbit-Forming World”, 94.
4. Shakespeare’s Sources, 253.

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conditions Tolkien set down in a letter to Peter Szabo Szentmihalyi: "When

myths and make them credible?

2. The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, selected and edited by Humphrey

3. Henry Resnik, “The Hobbit-Forming World of J.R.R. Tolkien,” in The

1. Francis Huxley, “The Endless Worm”, New Statesman and Nation,

2. Elizabeth Leigh Pemberton, Spectator CXCV (November 25, 1955), 704.

3. Times Literary Supplement, XIV (November 25, 1955), 704

6. L. Sprague de Camp, The Incomplete Enchanter (New York: Pyramid

10. C. S. Lewis, “The Dethronement of Power,” in Tolkien and the Critics,

Old English and Old Norse Language

Old English Literature

Tolkien’s Knowledge of Old Norse Literature

Old Norse Literature

-,- --. -- _.--- -,-.-

Grettir the Strong

In the opinion of Craigie and other Icelandic scholars, Ni&l’s Sam is .

Sagas of Olden Times

Other ‘I’vDes of Sagas

1. J.R.R. Tolkien, “On Fairy-Stories” in Tree and Leaf (London, Unwin,

2. Humphrey Carpenter, Tolkien: A Biography (Boston: Houghton Mifflin,

8. Biography, 46, 49.

10. Biography, 77.

11. W. A. Craigie, The Icelandic Sagas (Cambridge: Cambridge University

13. Biography, 119-20.

14. Biographv, 137.

15. Biographv, 149.

16. Stefan Einarsson, A History of Icelandic Literature (New York: The

18 . Icelandic Sagas, 2-9.

19 . Icelandic Sagas, 9-18.

2 0 . Icelandic Sagas, 24-25.

21 . Icelandic Sagas, 26-27.

2 2 . Icelandic Sagas, 33-34.

23 . Icelandic Sagas, 37-59.

2 4 . Hermann Palsson and Paul Edwards, trans., mbyg@a Saga (Toronto:

26. A. Margaret Arent, trans., The Laxdoela Saga (Seattle: University of

28. Biography, 120.

29. Magnus Magnusson and Hermann Palsson Harmondsworth, trans.,

30. Icelandic Sagas, 94-104.

However, Reilly’s discussion of Fantasy employs only half of Tolkien’s

Romance Elements of Lying Sagas

Birth of a Romance Hero

Romance Hero’s Youth

Other Phases of Romance

The novel is a fictitious narrative in prose which seeks to

Novel Qualities of Sagas

Heroic Fantasy Novel

Edwardian Adventure Novel

Just as the variety of possible forms complicates the definition of$he

imprecise geography. His niggling over details of geography, names, &nd

In spite of his copious use of maps, Tolkien occasionally slipped on the

The .4family sagas present us with a wealth of sharply etched and

extent and viabiliw of the original Icelanders’ belief in the supernatural --

.x1_--. - - - - - - - - -_l^-l-________- - - - --__x^__-

2. Mark Roberts, “Adventures

3. Dorothy K. Barber, “The Meaning of The Lord of the Ring&’ in Tolkien

4. Michael Straight, ” The Fantastic World of Professor Tolkien,”

5. Ruth M. Noel, The Mchology of Middle-Earth (Boston: Houghton Mifflin,

7. Henry Resnik, “The Hobbit-Forming World of J.R.R. ToIkien,” Saturdav

.x1_--. - - - - - - - - -_l^-l-____- - - - --x^-

-----_l- --.-- _---_-~- . . ^ -_ .--_ - - -. .