Themedievalist andfantasy authorJ. R. R. Tolkien derived the characters, stories, places, and languages ofMiddle-earth frommany sources. Among these areNorse mythology, which depicts a reckless bravery that Tolkien namedNorthern courage. For Tolkien, this was exemplified by the way the gods of Norse mythology knew they would die in the last battle,Ragnarök, but they went to fight anyway. He was influenced, too, by the Old English poemsBeowulf andThe Battle of Maldon, which both praise heroic courage. He hoped to constructa mythology for England, as little had survived from its pre-Christian mythology. Arguing that there had been a "fundamentally similar heroic temper"[T 1] in England and Scandinavia, he fused elements from other northern European regions, both Norse andCeltic, with what he could find from England itself.
Northern courage features in Tolkien's world of Middle-earth as a central virtue, closely connected toluck and fate. The protagonists ofThe Hobbit andThe Lord of the Rings are advised by the Wizard,Gandalf, to keep up their spirits, as fate is always uncertain. Tolkien had mixed feelings about heroic courage, as seen in his 1953The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm's Son, where he bitterly criticises the English leaderByrhtnoth for overconfidently giving ground to the enemy: the disastrous mistake led to defeat and Byrhtnoth's death.
Scholars have commented that Tolkien was not completely comfortable with Northern courage as a virtue, however much he admired it, as it could become foolish pride, like Beorhtnoth's. The medievalistTom Shippey has described how it could be combined with a Christian view to suit Tolkien's outlook better. Austin Freeman has added that the resulting Tolkienian virtue,estel, hope that results in action, may alsoembody the classical virtue ofpietas, loyal duty.
J. R. R. Tolkien was a scholar of English literature, aphilologist andmedievalist interested in language and poetry from theMiddle Ages, especially that ofAnglo-Saxon England and Northern Europe.[1] His professional knowledge ofBeowulf, telling of a pagan world but with a Christian narrator,[2]helped to shape his fictional world of Middle-earth. His intention to create what has been called "a mythology for England"[T 2] led him to construct not only stories but a fully-formed world,Middle-earth, withlanguages,peoples, cultures, andhistory. Amonghis many influences were medieval languages and literature,including Norse mythology.[1] He is best known as the author of thehigh fantasy worksThe Hobbit andThe Lord of the Rings, both set in Middle-earth.[3]
The medievalistMarjorie Burns writes that "J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth is conspicuously and intricately northern in both ancient and modern ways."[4] She cites a letter to the classics scholar Rhona Beare, where Tolkien wrote that he had not invented the name "Middle-earth", as it had come from "inhabitants of Northwestern Europe, Scandinavia, and England".[T 3] She states that Tolkien certainly "saw England as rightfully part of this North".[4] She cites his statement in "Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics" thatBeowulf, which she describes as "northern to the hilt", was written in England and "moves in our northern world beneath our northern sky."[4][T 4] That does not mean thatNorse mythology is the sole source of Tolkien's fantasy; Burns writes that there is "another northernnessin his Middle-earth literature, a Celtic northernness."[4]Douglass Parker wrote that Tolkien "has made his world a reflection, or 'pre-reflection' of England before the triumph of Christianity, of the action and reaction between Celt and Teuton... he has ransacked the available mythologies."[5][6] Middle-earth has been described by scholars includingJane Chance and Tom Shippey as "a mythology for England".[7][8] In reply to the journalists Charlotte and Denis Plimmer ofThe Daily Telegraph, who had proposed in a draft article that "Middle-earth .... corresponds spiritually to Nordic Europe", Tolkien wrote[T 5]
NotNordic, please! A word I personally dislike; it is associated, though of French origin, with racialist theories. GeographicallyNorthern is usually better. But examination will show that even this is inapplicable (geographically or spiritually) to 'Middle-earth'.
— J. R. R. Tolkien, Letter 294, 8 February 1967[T 5]
Tolkien goes on to deny the poetW. H. Auden's assertion that for him "the North is a sacred direction", saying that instead "The North-west of Europe ... has my affection, but it is not 'sacred', nor does it exhaust my affections."[T 5]
Among the elements that Tolkien fused to create Middle-earth isRagnarök; Parker calls the "final cataclysm" ofThe Lord of the Rings "aRagnarök, but not one guaranteed to come out all right."[6]Ragnarök is an apocalyptic series of events in Norse mythology, where the gods (Æsir) includingOdin,Thor, andTýr fight to their deaths at the hands of thejötnar (giants) and monsters, and with fire and flood the world is drowned. The gods know they will die in the battle, but they go and fight anyway.[10][11][12] Burns likens the fight on thebridge of Khazad-dûm to the "flaming rainbow bridge" ofBifröst atRagnarök; in both cases the adversaries are equally powerful, and both bridges are broken.[9] Tolkien wrote in his 1936 lecture "The Monsters and the Critics" that he was inspired by that final but doomed battle. He stated directly that in his view Northern courage was the most important literary idea from the medieval North:[13]
One of the most potent elements in that fusion [of Heroic and Christian] is the Northern courage: the theory of courage, which is the great contribution of early Northern literature. This is not a military judgement... I refer rather to the central position the creed of unyielding will holds in the North.
Tolkien was writing about the poetic quality and meaning ofBeowulf, an Old English poem, suggesting a close connection of English and Scandinavian mythology:[T 1]
Of English pre-Christian mythology we know practically nothing. But the fundamentally similar heroic temper of ancient England and Scandinavia cannot have been founded on (or perhaps rather, cannot have generated) mythologies divergent on this essential point.
— J. R. R. Tolkien, "The Monsters and the Critics"[T 1]
Tolkien states that whereas "the older southern imagination" (Greek and Roman mythology) has become mere "literary ornament", the Northern vision of courage "has power, as it were, to revive its spirit even in our own times."[T 6] The Tolkien scholarTom Shippey comments that Tolkien saw the danger in this, as it could be used for good or ill, and not long after the lecture, the Nazis revived the myth.[14]
Burns writes that the theme of courageous action in the face of inevitable loss inThe Lord of the Rings is borrowed from the Old Norse world view which emphasises "imminent or threatening destruction".[17] Even the home-loving HobbitsFrodo andSam share this courage, knowing they have little prospect of returning home fromtheir desperate quest toMount Doom.[13] Similarly,Janet Brennan Croft writes that the HobbitPippin may feel his part in the war to be "far from glorious" but he, like his friendMerry, is courageous, carrying on without hope.[18]
Shippey states that Tolkien announces the arrival of theRiders of Rohan at theBattle of the Pelennor Fields with the phrase "Great horns of the North wildly blowing",[T 7] meaning bravado and recklessness",[19] and exemplifying the "heroic Northern world".[16] The scholar of film Gwendolyn Morgan comments thatPeter Jackson's films "successfully preserve the theory of Northern courage."[20] She writes that this is "most obvious" in the culture of the Riders of Rohan, both in Tolkien's book and Jackson's films, as the heroes echoRagnarök in their "courage to face horror and determination to do what is right that lies at the heart of Northern courage".[20] Morgan sees this "most completely" in Jackson's two major battles,Helm's Deep and the Pelennor, citing the words of Rohan's KingThéoden as he rides out to fight at Helm's Deep, expecting death:[20]
Aragorn: "Ride out. Ride out and meet them."
Théoden: "For death and glory!"
Aragorn: "For Rohan."
Théoden: "Yes! The horn of Helm Hammerhand will sound in the Deep one last time... Fell deeds await. Now for wrath, now for ruin, and the red dawn!"[20]
Morgan further quotes Théoden's words before the Pelennor, stating that the battle "again exhibits the Rohirrim's Northern courage:[20]
A captain: "Too few have come. We cannot defeat the armies of Mordor."
Théoden: "No, we cannot; but we will meet them nonetheless."[20]
At the battle, Théoden orders his men to charge the enemy. Jackson adapts Tolkien's words:[20]
and the Riders respond, shouting "Death!" as they charge.[20]
The medievalistElizabeth Solopova contrasts the steady Northern courage ofthe hero and future kingAragorn with the oldSteward of Gondor,Denethor, who completely lacks this quality.[13] Shippey observes thatDenethor's other opposite, King Théoden of Rohan, lives by Northern courage, and dies through Denethor's despair.[23]
| Character | Behaviour | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Aragorn | consistently courageous | becomes King |
| Denethor | seeks knowledge, despairs | commits suicide, drawing the WizardGandalf away from battle |
| Théoden | lives by Northern courage | dies in battle, partly through Denethor's diversion of Gandalf |
Richard Gallant, in theJournal of Tolkien Research, discusses how Northern courage is expressed by theElves of theFirst Age of Middle-earth. He contrasts the actions ofFëanor andGaladriel, which he sees as exemplifying the "vices and virtues [respectively] of the Germanic ethos", the heroic framework in which both their families (Fëanorians and Fingolfins) operate. Fëanor unwisely chooses to rebel against the Valar, and fate accordingly follows him and his sons as they swear to do anything to regain theSilmarils. Gallant sees Galadriel as a rebel like Fëanor, but unlike him is able to turn "the fatalistic and heroic Elvish narrative toeucatastrophe through [her own] free will".[24] Specifically, she refuses to take theOne Ring when Frodo offers it.[24] In Gallant's view, Galadriel is living out the Fingolfins' ethos as stated byFinrod Felagund to Andreth of theEdain: "To overthrowthe Shadow, or if that may not be, to keep it from spreading once more over all Middle-earth – to defend the Children of Eru, Andreth, all the Children and not the proud Eldar only!"[24][T 8] Gallant characterises this "ideology" as the Elves' heroic acceptance of "the long defeat". This is the process ofdecline and fall that Tolkien built into his legendarium, its only optimistic note being "the possibility of heroism".[24] Both the Fëanorians' and the Fingolfins' ideologies fit within the "Northern courage framework", Gallant states, the one choosing its possessiveness, the other its endurance.[24] He notes thatChristina Scull andWayne G. Hammond define Northern courage as the "ethic of endurance and resistance" of the Northern warrior.[25]
Tolkien made multiple uses of the Old English poemBeowulf in his Middle-earth writings; its Northern courage appears as a central virtue inThe Lord of the Rings. One example isBeorn inThe Hobbit; he exudes heroic courage, being ferocious, rude, and cheerful, characteristics that reflect his huge inner self-confidence.[26] The theory of courage is closely related to theOld English view ofluck and fate that Tolkien adopted for Middle-earth.[T 9][27]Beowulf defines its view of thisin a proverb (lines 572b–573):[28]
Shippey remarks that this might seem to make no sense – how can fate spare a doomed man, and "aren't fate and doom much the same thing?"[27] He answers his own question by stating that theBeowulf proverb is "an excellent guide for future conduct. Keep your spirits up, as no one can be sure what is fated".[27] He notes further that inThe Lord of the Rings the WizardGandalf repeatedly gives just this advice.[27] InThe Two Towers, Tolkien has the DwarfGimli say a version of the Old English proverb to the young Hobbits Merry and Pippin, on meeting up with them after a series of dangerous adventures at the ruined walls ofIsengard:[28]
Burns states that Tolkien admireda certain Englishness, "the courage and tenacity ... in his fellow countrymenduring the First World War ... to recognize duty and carry resolutely through."[29] She adds that "It is the same with the hobbits, who return andrebuild the Shire. Though it is their complacent and comfort-seeking qualities that stand out most consistently, a warrior's courage or an Elf's sensitivity can arise in hobbits as well."[29]
Writing inTolkien Studies, Mary R. Bowman notes "the indomitability that Tolkien saw as the defining quality of Northern courage".[30] She comments that Gandalf's courageous blocking of the monstrousBalrog on theBridge of Khazad-Dûm was a "pointed response" to the Old English poemThe Battle of Maldon, where the English leaderByrhtnoth wrongly and disastrously gives way to the invaders, allowing them to land from their ships and form up for battle. She writes that in the 1936 talkThe Monsters and the Critics, Tolkien praises the Northern courage that the poem describes, admiring its "'indomitability', the ability to persevere with the knowledge that sooner or later defeat will come."[30] She notes that around the same time, inThe Hobbit, Tolkien hasBilbo Baggins voice "a more critical view of the brand of heroism articulated inMaldon". Watching the Battle of Five Armies, he accepts he may be in "a last desperate stand", and thinks "I have heard songs of many battles, and I have always understood that defeat may be glorious. It seems very uncomfortable, not to say distressing. I wish I was well out of it."[30]
Thomas Honegger argues that in his 1953alliterative verse playThe Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm's Son,[T 11] Tolkien bitterly criticises Byrhtnoth's overconfident pride, casting it in a wholly negative light.[31] George Clark writes that Tolkien's reworking of the Old English poem specifically "chastises" Beorhtnoth for his pride, as well as criticising the Anglo-Saxon heroic ideals of the pursuit of fame and wealth.[32] Shippey calls Tolkien's condemnation of Byrhtnoth "an act ofparricide" against his Old English literary forebears, in which he "sacrifice[d]" what he had earlier described as "the northern heroic spirit".[33] Amber Dunai notes Shippey's criticism of Tolkien's linking of Northern courage and "chivalry" as anachronistic, since in Shippey's words "[chivalry is] an attitude for which there is no evidence in England for perhaps another 150 years [afterThe Battle of Maldon]."[34] She states that Northern courage "after all, is recognizable as such because exploits like Beorhtnoth’s were consistently represented in early medieval poetry as courageous and appealing."[34] Bowman comments that Tolkien struggles with the poem's heroism, but in his essay after the poem "hints at the possibility of rehabilitating that spirit".[30]
| The Battle of Maldon, lines 312–313 | FromThe Homecoming of Beorhtnoth |
|---|---|
Torhthelm: It's dark! It's dark, and doom coming! | |
Hige sceal þe heardra, heorte þe cenre, | (He chants) "Heart shall be bolder, harder be purpose, |
Lynn Forest-Hill, inTolkien Studies, writes that Tolkien's response toMaldon "asserts unequivocally the connection between arrogance in military strategy and its horrifying aftermath".[35] She compares Tolkien's attitude to Byrhtnoth'sofermod, "overmastering pride", with the flawed characterBoromir. Where Byrhtnoth is simply guilty of "flawed leadership", Boromir is dangerously proud and overconfident, butultimately redeems himself by "repent[ing] his evil act" and fighting to the death to save the young Hobbits.[35]
And in that very moment, away behind in some courtyard of the city, a cock crowed. Shrill and clear he crowed, recking nothing of war nor of wizardry, welcoming only the morning that in the sky far above the shadows of death was coming with the dawn.And as if in answer there came from far away another note. Horns, horns, horns, in dark Mindolluin's sides they dimly echoed. Great horns of the north wildly blowing. Rohan had come at last.
The arrival of the riders of Rohan at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields is heralded, Shippey writes, by two calls: a cockerel crowing as the morning comes, and "as if in answer ... great horns of the North wildly blowing".[19] The cock-crow recalls multiple accounts in Western literature that speak, Shippey writes, of renewed hope and life after death; of the call which toldSimon Peter that he haddenied Christ three times, and that there would, despite him, be aresurrection; of the cock-crow inMilton'sComus that would "be some solace yet"; of the cockerel in the NorseÓdáinsakr, killed and thrown over a wall by the witch, but crowing to King Hadding a moment later.[19] As for the horns of Rohan, in Shippey's view "their meaning is bravado and recklessness", and in combination with the cock-crow, the message is that "he who fears for his life shall lose it,[b] but that dying undaunted is no defeat; furthermore that this was true before the Christian myth that came to explain why".[19] InThe Monsters and the Critics, Tolkien quotedW. P. Ker'sThe Dark Ages:[T 1]
The Northern Gods have an exultant extravagance in their warfare which makes them more likeTitans thanOlympians;only they are on the right side, though it is not the side that wins. The winning side is Chaos and Unreason [Tolkien's italics] – mythologically, the monsters –but the gods, who are defeated, think that defeat no refutation.
Shippey adds that warhorns exemplify the "heroic Northern world", echoing the moment inBeowulf whenOngentheow'sGeats, trapped all night, hear the horns ofHygelac's men coming to rescue them.[16]
Austin Freeman, writing inTolkien and the Classical World, argues that "Tolkien blends [Virgilian]pietas, the indomitable will, and Christianpistis ('faith/trust') into a distinctive and heady mix: thus, theform of Northern bravery is filled with thecontent of Classicalpietas and driven by a final end ofpistis."[37] This creates, Freeman writes, the Tolkienian virtue ofestel, a form of hope that embodies "active trust and loyalty".[37] Freeman notes that Tolkien describes the Elf-lord Ecthelion's resistance, fighting the Balrog Gothmog and his Orcs to the death during the fall ofGondolin, as "the most stubborn-valiant"[T 12] of the tales of the Noldor, commenting that the "hyphenated word might in fact be a direct authorial gloss on the idea of Northern courage."[37]
Although they are fully aware of the prophecies, Odin and the gods will gathers arms and head for Vígríðr.
