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CLASSICAL EPIC in the WORKS of J.R.R. TOLKIEN by Hannah Parry

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CLASSICAL EPIC in the WORKS of J.R.R. TOLKIEN by Hannah Parry 1 CLASSICAL EPIC IN THE WORKS OF J.R.R. TOLKIEN By Hannah Parry A thesis submitted to Victoria University of Wellington in fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Arts in English Victoria University of Wellington February 2012 2 Abstract The Lord of the Rings has often been described as an 'epic', and although Tolkien drew most famously on Northern mythology in his creation of Middle-earth much of his work also bears similarities to classical epic, both with regard to particular characters and archetypes and to more general themes and motifs. This thesis examines the connections between The Lord of the Rings and the epics of Homer and Virgil, investigating the manner in which these allusions function in Tolkien and how they contribute to our understanding of Middle- earth as at least partially an epic world with epic ideals of heroism. At the same time, however, it identifies the ways in which Tolkien changes or subverts such classical ideals and archetypes as they combine with other cultural influences. Following the model established in The Hobbit , The Lord of the Rings begins with the folk-tale heroes and setting of the Shire before gradually moving into an epic world. Not only heroes such as Aragorn, but less obviously epic heroes such as Gandalf, Frodo and Sam, draw frequently on the iconography and motifs associated with specific and general classical figures, while women such as Arwen, Eowyn and Galadriel can similarly be read as part of classical tradition. Moreover, despite the purely fictional nature of Middle-earth in contrast to the historical (if mythologised) cultures of classical epic, The Lord of the Rings contains many examples of epic type-scenes that in classical epic illustrate the correct manner in which a hero should behave both in peace and in battle. The Lord of the Rings ' relationship to epic is complex, however, not only employing these heroic and epic conventions but also subverting or superseding them as Tolkien engages with the problems of classical motifs within a very different universe. The heroes and heroines of The Lord of the Rings must navigate codes of behaviour both classical and non-classical, and willingly relinquish those out of place in the new age being born around them. This tension between old and new codes of behaviour is made more explicit during the book's twin 'returns', that of Aragorn to Minas Tirith and the hobbits to the Shire. Although these continue to draw extensively on classical predecessors, most notably Aeneas' prophesised arrival in Latium and Odysseus' famous homecoming, these predecessors are also superseded as Middle-earth moves into the Fourth Age. While The Hobbit moves from folk tale to epic and back again, The Lord of the Rings moves from folk-tale to epic to somewhere “beyond the epic” (Flieger 145), and as the book draws to its elegiac conclusion pure classical values become increasingly supplanted by the book’s own heroic code, influenced by many heroic traditions and overwhelmingly by Tolkien's Catholic beliefs. In the end, The Lord of the Rings can perhaps be read as an epic about the passing of epic, and thus an epic for the modern world. 3 Acknowledgements Thanks to Geoff Miles for his supervision of this thesis. 4 Table of Contents Introduction..........................................................................................................................................................5 Chapter One: The Hobbit ................................................................................................................................... 10 Chapter Two: Heroes..........................................................................................................................................17 “Unlike They Were, Yet Also Much Akin”: Boromir, Faramir and Epic Heroism.....................................17 “Strider and Dunadan Too”: Aragorn, Odysseus and Aeneas................................................................23 “As an Old Man Hooded and Cloaked”: Gandalf, Saruman and Odysseus..........................................28 “Though I Do Not Know the Way”: Frodo, Sam and Aeneas.................................................................34 Chapter Three: Women......................................................................................................................................41 Evenstar of Her People and Morning of Pale Spring: Arwen and Eowyn..............................................41 “Few Escape Her Nets”: Galadriel and Shelob......................................................................................47 Conclusions...........................................................................................................................................52 Chapter Four: An Epic World..............................................................................................................................54 Meeting Your Match in Courtesy: Hospitality in Middle-earth................................................................54 “The Glory You Reap Shall Be Yours Forever”: Warfare……….............................................................61 Conclusions...........................................................................................................................................67 Chapter Five: Homecomings..............................................................................................................................69 Conclusions........................................................................................................................................................77 Bibliography........................................................................................................................................................79 5 INTRODUCTION In his book The Epic , Paul Merchant refers to Tolkien’s “conscious use of epic” (76), wherein his narrative “take[s] the form of a massive journey and employ[s] a host of characters, some heroic, some darker and more monstrous” (76). Merchant is not alone in equating Tolkien with epic, and many Tolkien scholars have done the same either by implication (Kocher’s essay “Middle-earth: An Imaginary World?” refers to The Lord of the Rings as an “epic” throughout, while Isaacs and others comment in passing on the book’s “epic structure” (7)) or in more detail (Jane Chance’s “ The Lord of the Rings : Tolkien’s Epic”, for example, examines the ideals of Christian and Germanic epic as a source for the moral system of Tolkien’s “epic novel” (197)). In the former cases, the application of the term to The Lord of the Rings is often symptomatic of what seems to be a common problem in assigning a genre to the book rather than a serious argument for the book as epic: a single collection of Tolkien criticism sees it referred to not only as an epic but as a romance (Lewis; Zimbardo), a fairy tale (Fuller, Reilly), a “Quest Tale” (Auden), and, perhaps most accurately but least neatly, a derivation from fairy tale, epic, and romance (Flieger). Most of those who, like Chance, have examined The Lord of the Rings ’ connection to the epic genre have naturally tended to do so in terms of the Germanic, Christian and Icelandic heroic traditions that were Tolkien’s area of scholarship. There have also been attempts to link The Lord of the Rings to individual classical epics, particularly Virgil's Aeneid . Among the most sustained of these are Morse's book Evocation of Virgil in Tolkien's Art: Geritol for the Classics , which draws parallels between the characters, themes and specific images found in both The Lord of the Rings and Virgil’s Aeneid , Obertino's “Moria and Hades: Underworld Journeys in Virgil and Tolkien”, which offers a psycho-analytical reading comparing Frodo's journey through Moria with Aeneas' through Hades, and Reckford's “Some Trees in Virgil and Tolkien”, which examines the similarities between Tolkien's and Virgil's world-views. Few, however, have examined the book explicitly in terms of the traditions and archetypes of classical epic. Although Tolkien himself did not use the term ‘epic’ to refer to any of his published works – in fact, it seems a term of which he was wary, preferring to describe Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf as an “heroic-elegiac poem” (“Beowulf” 31) – he was certainly familiar with the genre in the form of Homer and Virgil, citing Homer in particular as his first discovery of “the sensation of literary pleasure” ( Letters 172), and in many ways The Lord of the Rings can be seen as part of the epic tradition, classical and otherwise. While not always adhering to epic form in conventional ways, the book none-the-less engages with several key features of the genre, most notably in terms of subject matter; “high seriousness and elevated style” (Griffin 21); scope and episodic structure; an “awareness of historical perspective” (Merchant 2) and the use of song and poetry to “glorif[y] the deeds and destinies of great heroes” (Griffin 13) within this history. At many points, of course, the style and subject matter of The Lord of the Rings is not – even in the modern 6 sense of the word – “epic” at all. While Tolkien was specifically drawing on his background knowledge of ancient texts and mythologies, he was not drawing wholly on any one particular form but aimed to include in The Lord of the Rings a combination of “the colloquialism and vulgarity of Hobbits, poetry and the highest style of prose” ( Letters 160), and the world of the hobbits in particular bears little resemblance
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