Louis Markos ENGL 3377/Lord of the Rings Office: UAC #100B Room: Moody Library 100 Off Phone: 281-649-3617 M 4:00-6:30pm Off Hours for FALL 2013: MW 1:30-4, TTh 12:30-2 email: [email protected] Home Phone: 713-779-8131, NO calls BEFORE NOON or after 11:00 webpage: www.Loumarkos.com Required Texts: The 50th Anniversary One-volume Edition of (Houghton Mifflin) by J. R. R. Tolkien. Students MUST purchase this edition: ISBN: 0-618-64015-0; Beowulf (any edition you’d like). I will email you a Coursepack you must print/bring to class. Students must also watch (on their own) the full LOTR movie trilogy (extended edition if possible). I will refer to it often in class. You are also encouraged (though not required) to read and The (in any edition you would like). I will lecture on both (see outlines below), and you will be tested on the material. Method of Evaluation: There will be four graded assignments: two 3-page essays, a midterm and a final each of which is worth 25% of your grade. To determine your final grade, I will simply average together the four grades and then factor in your class participation grade as a plus/ minus factor.

SCHEDULE OF READINGS (Bring Coursepack with you to all classes)

Mon, Aug 26 Lectures on Silmarillion I: In the Beginning & The Coming of the Noldor

Mon, Sept 2 LABOR DAY—NO CLASS (but be reading The Lord of the Rings)

Mon, Sept 9 Lectures on Silmarillion II: The Fall of Beleriand & The Second Age;

Mon, Sept 16 (Sept 11: last day to drop without “W”) Read LOTR: Book I, Chapters 1-12 (I.1-12)

Mon, Sept 23 II.1-6

Mon, Sept 30 II.7-10 ESSAY #1 DUE (NO LATE PAPERS/HARDCOPY ONLY)

Mon, Oct 7 III.1-7

Mon, Oct 14 III.8-11

Mon, Oct 21 MIDTERM

Mon, Oct 28 IV.1-7 (Nov 1: last day to drop with a “W”)

Mon, Nov 4 IV.8-10; Read Beowulf (any translation) and 4-pages of notes on Beowulf in Coursepack

Mon, Nov 11 V.1-6

Mon, Nov 18 V.7-10

Mon, Nov 25 VI.1-6 ESSAY #2 DUE (NO LATE PAPERS/HARDCOPY ONLY)

Mon, Dec 2 VI.1-9 and Appendix A & B

FINAL EXAM (Time TBA)—I’m guessing Monday, Dec 9

4 DON'TS FOR MY CLASS (DUE TO ALLERGIES) 1. Don't wear perfume/cologne in class 2. Don't use plastic binders for papers 3. Don't use markers/fine-line pens (ball-point only) 4. Don't use white out/highlighters

I hold a Bible Study at my house (1 CLW/week) on Thursday nights from 8:15-9:30 PM. We live less than a mile from HBU: 7614 Carew Street / Houston 77074. From HBU head down Beechnut toward 59. The first light you come to (before 59) is Brae Acres; make a left. Go to first stop sign and make a left. We’re the 4th house on the left.

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ESSAY 1 Length: 3 pages Due date: see Schedule of Readings For your first essay, I would like you to write a character analysis of Frodo as he is developed by Tolkien in Book I of The Lord of the Rings (if you know the rest of the epic well, you may bring in insights from Books II-VI; however, your analysis must be grounded in how Frodo acts and reacts in Book I). As you analyze Frodo, consider questions LIKE the following: 1) What is his psychological make-up? 2) How does he relate to the world around him (, elves, men, , etc.)? 3) What motivates him to do what he does? 4) How does his specific personality determine the way he will react to certain circumstances and characters in the epic? 5) What strategies does he employ to help him deal with difficult situations? In constructing your analysis, make sure you quote several key passages that reveal Frodo’s personality; then ANALYZE these passages to see what they reveal about his character. Don't let the passage MAKE your argument for you; rather, USE the passage as a TOOL for exploring and bringing to light Frodo’s psychological make-up. As you write your character analysis, you MUST take into account the following three questions: 1) WHY does Tolkien choose a lowly Hobbit like Frodo as his central hero? 2) WHY does Book I move so slowly!! 3) WHY does Tolkien add in the long digression with Tom Bombadil (left out of movie version)? DO NOT JUST GIVE ME PLOT SUMMARY!!! Don't just tell me what Frodo does in the story and leave it at that. GET DOWN to the root of his personality. DIG into his mind and soul; FIND OUT what makes him tick.

ESSAY 2 Length: 3 pages Due date: See Schedule of Readings Your mission in this essay is to construct a character analysis of EITHER OR as he is developed by Tolkien in Books I-V of The Lord of the Rings (you may want to finish the book before writing it, though there is enough information on Gandalf and Aragorn in Books I-V to write a very full essay!). As with your analysis of Frodo, consider questions LIKE the following: 1) What is his psychological make-up? 2) How does he relate to the world around him? 3) What motivates him to do what he does? 4) How does his specific personality determine the way he will react to certain circumstances and characters in the epic? 5) What strategies does he employ to help him deal with difficult situations? In constructing your analysis, make sure you quote several key passages that reveal Gandalf or Aragorn’s personality; then ANALYZE these passages to see what they reveal about his character. Don't let the passage MAKE your argument for you; rather, USE the passage as a TOOL for exploring and bringing to light Gandalf/Aragorn’s psychological make-up. As you write your character analysis (whether it be Gandalf or Aragorn), you MUST take into account the following three questions: 1) WHY has this character become an icon in our modern age? 2) WHAT kind of leadership skills does he display throughout the epic? 3) HOW does he interact with the other eight members of the Fellowship? DO NOT JUST GIVE ME PLOT SUMMARY!!! Don't just tell me what he does in the story and leave it at that. GET DOWN to the root of his personality. DIG into his mind and soul; FIND OUT what makes him tick. # You are NOT ALLOWED to consult ANY outside sources in composing your essays. You MAY use some ideas from class discussion, but DO NOT just give me back what I said in class. I want your own ideas unguided by other commentators. If anyone is caught plagiarizing in this class, he or she will automatically fail the class!!

Students must attend class on exam days—only acceptable excuses: 1) you're very ill (with dr's note) or have a family tragedy AND you call me on my 24-hour voice mail (281-649-3617) on or before the time of the exam, 2) you must participate in a mandatory school function and you tell me one week in advance.

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THE SILMARILLION I: IN THE BEGINNING 1 In the beginning there is the one (Eru/Ilúvatar): creation ex nihilo out of the mind of God

2 Il creates the Ainur (angelic beings): he sings a song of creation in which they join

3 But greatest Ainur (Melkor) grows proud/envious; he would dominate/shape song of Il

4 Each Ainur knows a part of the song, but only Il knows the full song and its end

5 In song, see vision of earth/children of Il (elves/men); THEN song enacted in space/time

6 Ainur who CHOOSE to, go down to earth/Arda, become bound to it; these are the Valar

7 Main Valar linked to elements: Manwë (Air); Ulmo (water); Aulë (earth); Melkor (fire)

8 Manwë’s Queen=Varda/Elbereth (lady of stars/light); Aulë’s Q=Yavanna (giver of fruit)

9 Valar served by Maiar (same kind/lesser degree); Melkor corrupts Maiar of Aulë:

10 Melkor corrupts/perverts all; he hates water & light; creates /Dragons/

11 Valar live in M-E (lit by 2 lamps), but Melkor destroys it; they move West (Valinor/Aman)

12 Yavanna sings into being Two Trees of Valinor: they give light/life & start count of time

13 Firstborn of Il: Eldar (elves)—immortal but bound to earth; if killed go to halls of Mandos

14 Men less fair/wise; given GIFT of mortality/restlessness; their final destiny beyond world

15 Aule impatient, creates dwarves out of earth (less beautiful but strong): Il adopts them

16 To protect nature, Yavanna creates (highest plants) and Eagles (highest animals)

17 Though elves created in Middle-Earth, many battles with Melkor; most move to Valinor

18 Edenic time as elves dwell with Valar; Valar live on earth in human form; Melkor bound

19 Melkor feigns repentance; PRETENDS to love Eldar; tempts them with secret wisdom

20 Finwe (Noldor ) has sons by two wives: Fëanor (Achilles-like) / Fingolfin & Finarfin

21 Fëanor creates 3 Silmarils: gems in which he incarnates light of Trees; Melkor lusts for them

22 Melkor/Ungoliant (spider) destroy Trees; LATER, Valar make Sun & Moon to light M-E Louis Markos (www.Loumarkos.com), Prof in English and Scholar in Residence at Houston Baptist U, is author of On the Shoulders of Hobbits: The Road to Virtue with Tolkien and Lewis.

3 THE SILMARILLION II: THE COMING OF THE NOLDOR 1 Melkor (now Morgoth) takes Silmarils to fortress (Thangorodrim) in N of M-E: Angband

2 Fëanor & his 7 sons swear foolish oath to leave Valinor; regain Silmarils no matter the cost

3 With them go Fingolfin/Fingon, Turgon, Aredhel + 5 kids of Finarfin: Finrod, , etc.

4 To reach M-E, Fëanor steals ships of Teleri elves/kills many; Valar put curse on Noldorin

5 Fëanor clan sails to M-E, then burns ships, forcing others to reach M-E through Northern ice

6 Fëanor killed in assault on Angband; his sons keep oath but power passes to Fingolfin/Fingon

7 Fingon (with help of music and Thorondor, King of Eagles) rescues Maedhros, son of Fëanor

8 Fingolfin est. camp at Hithlum; Turgon at Nevrast; Finrod at Nargothrond; all in Beleriand

9 B already houses elves; Thingol had married the Maiar Melian; center at Menegroth

10 Noldor stronger mind/bodies; love war/stone // Sindar fairer; love music/woods/rivers

11 Menegroth in Doriath, forest protected by Girdle of Melian; Galadriel chooses to live there

12 Led by Ulmo, Turgon leaves Nevrast, finds hidden city of Gondolin (bet. Angband/Doriath)

13 Aredhel leaves Gon./marries Dark Elf, Eol (son: Maeglin); return to G; Aredhel/Eol killed

14 Maeglin filled with lust for Idril, daughter of Turgon; amid bliss of Gondolin, seed of evil

15 Morgoth attacks Beleriand; kills Fingolfin in single combat; Sauron increases his power

16 Noblest Men (Edain) leave E of M-E (where LOTR set), move W to Beleriand; help fight

17 Beren’s father killed by Morgoth; he becomes lonely/wandering outlaw; swears vengeance

18 B journeys to Doriath; sees Luthien (daughter of Melian) singing/dancing; 2 fall in love

19 Thingol doesn’t want L to marry ; sets him impossible task: steal Silmaril from Morgoth

20 B/Finrod captured by Sauron, B saved by L/Huan the Hound; treachery of sons of Fëanor

21 B/L descend into Morgoth’s lair, steal Silmaril; Carcharoth bites off B’s hand; goes wild

22 Huan/Carc. kill each other; Thingol gets Silmaril; B dies but B/L reborn as mortal couple Louis Markos (www.Loumarkos.com), Prof in English and Scholar in Residence at Houston Baptist U, is author of On the Shoulders of Hobbits: The Road to Virtue with Tolkien and Lewis.

4 THE SILMARILLION III: THE FALL OF BELERIAND 1 Morgoth sows dissent bet. Elves/Men, kills Fingon; Turgon at Gondolin now High King

2 Túrin’s father (Hùrin) captured; raised by Thingol, but flees Doriath due to accidental killing

3 Like Beren, T becomes outlaw: noble but dark/sad/rash/Oedipus-like; refuses to be forgiven

4 Túrin betrayed by (Mim); saved by friend (Beleg the elf), but kills him by mistake

5 T convinces elves of Nargothrond to attack Morgoth; wins love of Princess Finduilas

6 Glaurung (Dragon) destroys Nargoth./Finduilas; shows T his infamy; T changes name

7 Glaurung also bewitches T’s sister (Nienor); she forgets her ID; ends up marrying Túrin

8 T kills Glau, but he reveals truth of marriage (fatal anagnorisis): T/sister kill themselves

9 Morg. releases Hùrin, after showing him images of despair; uses him to destroy Dor./Gon.

10 Thingol obsessed with Silmaril; gets dwarves to fashion necklace, but they too lust for it

11 Dwarves kill Thingol; Melian falls into despair; girdle of Melian collapses; she leaves M-E

12 Dwarves destroy Doriath (enmity of elf/dwarf); steal necklace; but Beren gets it back!

13 Living in SW of Beleriand in hiding, B/Luthien have son (Dior), who restores Doriath

14 L wears necklace, but its beauty too much for mortal: hastens her death; it passes to Dior

15 Sons of Fëanor attack Dior: 3 sons + Dior/wife/2 sons die (second kin-slaying of elves)

16 Dior’s daughter (Elwing) survives; flees with necklace to southern port at mouth of Sirion

17 Meanwhile, Tuor (cousin to Túrin) is led by Ulmo to hidden city, Gondolin (as prophesied)

18 Tuor warns Turgon to leave, but Maeglin speaks against it; plays on his lust/pride for Gond.

19 Maeglin hates Tuor, for he loves Idril, who (like Luthien) loves mortal Tuor; Idril/Tuor wed

20 Maeglin betrays Gon. to Morgoth, Tuor kills him, but T/I/Eärendil (son) must flee to Sirion

21 Eärendil /Elwing wed; he sails to Valinor, convinces Valar to come to M-E, defeat Morgoth

22 Eärendil sails star-boat lit by Sil; last 2 Sil stolen by sons of Fëanor, who perish in water/fire Louis Markos (www.Loumarkos.com), Prof in English and Scholar in Residence at Houston Baptist U, is author of On the Shoulders of Hobbits: The Road to Virtue with Tolkien and Lewis.

5 THE SILMARILLION IV: THE SECOND AGE 1 Defeat of Morgoth by Valar/Elves/Dunedain ends First Age; most Elves return to Valinor

2 Círdan the Shipwright, Galadriel/Celebron; Gil-Galad (son of Fingon) remain in Beleriand

3 Eärendil /Elwing have 2 sons: (who chooses to be Elf); Elros (chooses to be Man)

4 Valar reward Dunedain; give them Numenor, island bet. Bel./Valinor; Elros is their first king

5 Though mortal, D live long healthy lives; visited by Elves; but forbidden to sail to Valinor

6 In Golden Age, D sail to M-E, help teach/lead Men who remained behind; seen as gods

7 D rebel against Ban of Elros; build huge monuments like Egyptians; lust for power/gold

8 On ME, Sauron gets Elves/Dwarves/Men to make rings; he makes to control them

9 Last King (Ar-Pharazon) seeks control of M-E; he captures Sauron, brings him to Numenor

10 But Sauron corrupts Numenor with his envy/evil counsel: claims Melkor is highest God

11 D attack Valinor; Numenor/Beler. (like Atlantis) destroyed by wave, world changes shape

12 Valinor removed from Earth: only those who know Straight Road can sail back to it

13 But Faithful D, led by Elendil & sons (/Anárion) escape with 7 stones/White Tree

14 Sail to remains of M-E; Elendil sets up Kingdom in N (Arnor); his sons in S ()

15 Build , Osgiliath, Minas Ithil/Morgul (HQ of Isildur); Minas Anor/Tirith (Anárion)

16 Sauron had corrupted 9 Men with Rings (become Nazgul); they now take Minas Ithil as HQ

17 Gil-Galad/Elrond gather army at (safe haven), attack/defeat Sauron at Dagorlad

18 Siege /draw out Sauron: Gil-G/Elendil/Anárion killed; Isildur cuts off Ring of Sauron

19 Elrond/Círdan tell Isildur to destroy Ring; he refuses: loses Ring/killed by Orcs; end 2nd Age

20 Arnor falls, D become Rangers; Osgiliath in ruins, M. Tirith remains but line of Anárion ends

21 (/Gandalf) sent to ME; form White Council with Elrond/Galad./Círdan

22 Sauron driven from Dol Guldur (), returns to Mordor; Saruman betrays Council Louis Markos (www.Loumarkos.com), Prof in English and Scholar in Residence at Houston Baptist U, is author of On the Shoulders of Hobbits: The Road to Virtue with Tolkien and Lewis.

6 KEY THEMES AND QUOTES FROM THE HOBBIT

By choosing Bilbo (and later Frodo) as the unlikely hero of his there-and-back-again adventure story, Tolkien makes it clear that there can be great strength in weakness and great wisdom in humility. Bilbo is like the younger sons in Genesis or like David or like Israel itself. The petit bourgeois Bilbo, with his love of simple creature comforts and his risk-aversive approach to life, seems wholly lacking in the qualities necessary for a hero (he is a grocer from a nation of shopkeepers). Yet he steps out of his comfort zone and shows more courage than the dwarves.

Though timid, there is a longing within Bilbo for adventure: “As they sang the hobbit felt the love of beautiful things made by hands and by cunning and by magic moving through him, a fierce and jealous love, the desire of the hearts of the dwarves. Then something Tookish woke up inside him, and he wished to go and see the great mountains, and hear the pine-trees and the waterfalls, and explore the caves, and wear a sword instead of a walking-stick.”

Along the journey, there are several places of rest (as in Pilgrim’s Progress). Rivendell offers refreshment to weary travelers; there, at least, evil is held at bay. When company strays off Road and follows will o’ the wisp (see quest for Holy Grail), they are almost killed by spiders. Hobbit follows the same basic route as LOTR: from Shire to Rivendell; try to go over Misty Mountains, but stopped so they go through Caves of ; on to a place of desolation (desolation of Smaug or Mordor); after victory retrace steps through Rivendell back to Shire—so all comes back to the beginning (full circle), but our hero (Bilbo, Frodo) has changed (though Frodo changes more).

Goblins (called Orcs in LOTR) are presented as modern villains: “It is not unlikely that they invented some of the machines that have since troubled the world, especially the ingenious devices for killing large numbers of people at once, for wheels and engines and explosions always delighted them, and also not working with their own hands.” JRRT was not a fan of the modern world and its industrialization that kills the country and simple pleasures.

Bilbo is given a chance to kill treacherous but pity stops him: “He must stab the foul thing, put its eyes out, kill it. It meant to kill him. No, not a fair fight. He was invisible now. Gollum had no sword. Gollum had not actually threatened to kill him, or tried to yet. And he was miserable, alone, lost. A sudden understanding, a pity mixed with horror, welled up in Bilbo's heart: a glimpse of endless unmarked days without light or hope of betterment, hard stone, cold fish, sneaking and whispering. All these thoughts passed in a flash of a second. He trembled. And then quite suddenly in another flash, as if lifted by a new strength and resolve, he leaped.”

Gandalf leaves company to help White Council (led by Saruman) drive Necromancer (Sauron) out of Dol Guldur in south Mirkwood. Throughout book, we get glimpses like this of the greater tale that JRRT weaves in LOTR and Silmarillion. For example, we’re told that the Wood elves that capture company had not left for Faerie (Valinor) like the other elves. We are also told that the hatred between dwarf and elf goes back to elder days: “In ancient days [the Wood-elves] had had wars with some of the dwarves, whom they accused of stealing their treasure [necklace with silmarils]. It is only fair to say that the dwarves gave a different account, and said that they only took what was their due, for the elf-king had bargained with them to shape his raw gold and silver, and had afterwards refused to give them their pay. If the elf-king had a weakness it was

7 for treasure, especially for silver and white gems; and though his hoard was rich, he was ever eager for more, since he had not yet as great a treasure as other elf-lords of old. His people neither mined nor worked metals or jewels, nor did they bother much with trade or with tilling the earth. All this was well known to every dwarf, though Thorin's family had had nothing to do with the old quarrel I have spoken of. Consequently Thorin was angry at their treatment of him, when they took their spell of him and he came to the senses; and also he was determined that no word of gold or jewels should be dragged out of him.” Old rivalries and curses pass down.

Greed is major temptation in book. Smaug takes no pleasure in the gold he hoards but will kill anyone who steals it. Dwarves (and even Elves) lust for gold. At one point, even Bilbo feels the power of cupidity (love of money is root of all evil): “Bilbo had heard tell and sing of dragon- hoards before, but the splendour, the lust, the glory of such treasure had never yet come home to him. His heart was filled and pierced with enchantment and with the desire of dwarves; and he gazed motionless, almost forgetting the frightful guardian, at the gold beyond price and count.” Still, Bilbo does not give in to it and tries to be a mediator between rivals for the gold.

Though Hobbit is a light book, it shows its darker side in the battle of the 5 armies: Men of Dale, Dwarves, Elves, Goblins, Wolves. The expedition seemed so simple at the beginning but gets complex as all claim right to gold (especially the Arkenstone, that Thorin lusts for as the elves of old did for the silmarils or for the Ring). We see JRRT’s understanding of political and military history when the warring men/dwarves/elves are forced to unite against goblins/wolves.

As soon as battle of 5 armies begins, the diction/rhetoric rises to the level of LOTR: “Ever since the fall of the Great Goblin of the Misty Mountains, the hatred of their race for the dwarves had been rekindled to fury. Messengers had passed to and fro between all their cities, colonies, and strongholds; for they resolved now to win the dominion of the North. Tidings they had gathered in secret ways; and in all the mountains there was a forging and an arming. Then they marched and gathered by hill and valley, going ever by tunnel or under dark, until around and beneath the great mountain Gundabad of the North, where was their capital, a vast host was assembled ready to sweep down in time of storm unawares upon the South.”

When Thorin first appears in Dale he is greeted with the same kind of messianic excitement that greets Aragorn’s kingly return in LOTR: “The streams shall run in gladness, / The lakes shall shine and burn, / All sorrow fail and sadness / At the Mountain-king's return!”

Though Thorin’s greed leads to disaster, he dies heroically in battle as will Boromir. His last words to Bilbo show wisdom: “There is more in you of good than you know, child of the kindly West. Some courage and some wisdom, blended in measure. If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world. But sad or merry, I must leave it now.

Gandalf to Bilbo: “Surely you don’t disbelieve the prophecies, because you had a hand in bringing them about yourself? You don’t really suppose, do you, that all your adventures and escapes were managed by mere luck, just for your sole benefit? You are a very fine person, Mr. Baggins, and I am very fond of you; but you are only quite a little fellow in a wide world after all!” “Thank goodness!” responds Bilbo! He has seen wider story of which he is a part (as Sam will explain to Frodo), but he is still a provincial grocer at heart!

8 On the Shoulders of Hobbits: The Road to Virtue with J. R. R. Tolkien

Classical and Theological Virtues in Tolkien Courage is not about self-glorification but self-emptying: being willing to be the bridge over which others may cross to safety. Like Christ, Frodo and Aragorn gain a firm sense of the higher mission that has been bequeathed them; it empowers them with the strength to endure.

Temperance avoids extremes: Gandalf, though he can be as serious and grave as a desert monk, is filled with a life and a joy that is infectious. , unlike his brother, knows that “there are some perils from which a man must flee.” He would not take Ring if it were lying on the road.

Wisdom discerns: Gandalf to Saruman: “he that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom.” To see without wisdom is perilous: Saruman/ corrupted by palantiri.

Justice does not mean the collapsing of all distinctions but each performing his proper role. Jesus did not abolish hierarchy, but commend stewardship/humility. Messianic return of Aragorn brings redemption, order, and consummation: not envy-driven fairness or “day in court.”

Faith sees kairos. At Council of Elrond, parts of riddle come together (broken sword, Isildur’s bane, Halfling). As in Esther, God invisible but guides. We must make use of time given to us.

Hope empowers us to look forward to the happy ending: the eucatastrophe (felix culpa). The eucatastrophe of the Fall/Crucifixion are the Incarnation/Resurrection. All stories are hallowed by this. When Gollum bites ring off Frodo’s finger, victory rises miraculously out of defeat.

Love pities and forgives. Bilbo, then Frodo, then Sam show pity (born out of empathy) to Gollum, thus enabling the happy ending. Even the very wise cannot see all ends.

The Nature of Evil in The Lord of the Rings Byronic hero tastes of forbidden fruit or breaks a taboo, an act that cuts him off from God and human fellowship (Satan, Prometheus, Adam, Cain, Faust, Frankenstein, Dracula, Dorian Gray). Many Byronic heroes in LOTR: Sauron, Saruman, Gollum, Black Riders, Boromir.

As in Dante, evil is a privation/perversion of good. Ents/Elves corrupted into Trolls/Orcs. Palace of Valar aped by Thangorodrim, Barad-dur, Orthanc. Mordor recalls Somme of WWI.

Evil is blind: cannot defeat or understand goodness/light (John 1:5); Sauron is fooled by Frodo’s taking Ring to Mordor, for he cannot conceive that someone who had Ring would not use it.

For evil, ends justifies the means. Evil makes Egyptian Alliances and believes that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. The Ring is the weapon that cannot be used, for it corrupts user.

Louis Markos (www.Loumarkos.com), Prof. in English and Scholar in Residence at Houston Baptist Univ, holds the Robert H. Ray Chair in Humanities; his books include From Achilles to Christ, Apologetics for the 21st c., Restoring Beauty, and Literature: A Student’s Guide. This speech is adapted from On the Shoulders of Hobbits: The Road to Virtue with Tolkien & Lewis.

9 What Price Knowledge: On the Trail of the Byronic Hero Profile of the Byronic Hero

1. He has sought after and tasted of forbidden knowledge and found it sour

2. He has committed an unforgivable sin that has put him outside circle of humanity

3. He’s a lonely wanderer and outcast; he has power but no companionship

4. He often destroys those whom he loves; his kiss or touch is deadly

5. He’s a young old man: young in years; old in experience and suffering

6. He defies to the end (like Satan, he will not serve); he’s a heroic rebel

7. He communes with spirits as equals, but he defies and scorns them as well

8. He is overly-self-conscious; thinking is a torment to him; he seeks oblivion

9. He knows how to bear and suffer; he refuses help of human or divine mediators

10. He brings upon himself his own torment; he is his own executioner

11. Though he often aids humanity, he is cut off from it; he’s of a different order

12. He struggles with his status as “fiery dust”: midway between the angel and beast

13. The Byronic Hero is generally male; the female version is a vamp or a femme fatale

Examples of the Byronic Hero in Literature, Myth, Legend, and History

1. Sinners: Satan, Mephistopheles, Cain, Wandering Jew, Faust, Don Juan (Giovanni)

2. Tortured Souls: Orestes, Hamlet, Macbeth, Ancient Mariner, Manfred, Heathcliff

3. Would-Be Saviors: Oedipus, Prometheus, Capt. Nemo, Dr. Jekyll, Dr. Frankenstein

4. The Un-Dead (Nosferatu), Frankenstein, Dracula, Mummy, Wolfman, Poe villains

5. Literary: Ahab, Raskolnikov, Dorian Gray, Fisher King, Phantom, Wagner heroes

6. Popular: Highlander, Vader, Khan, Spiderman/Batman/Xmen, Kane, film noir

7. Historical: Samson, Saul, Sade, Napoleon, Byron, Shelley, Rasputin, Timothy Leary

8. Tolkien & Lewis: Gollum, Saruman & the Black Riders; Uncle Andrew & Queen Jadis

10 Notes on Beowulf and The Lord of the Rings

1. Because Beowulf was either little known or lost for a thousand years, it has had virtually no impact on the main current of British literature since Chaucer. Still, it has had a profound influence on the great epic of the 20th century: The Lord of the Rings. Indeed, JRRT, a scholar of Anglo-Saxon, wrote (in 1936) what is generally considered the first major essay on Beowulf (“Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics”). Whereas scholars before JRRT were primarily concerned with Beowulf as a linguistic and/or historical artifact, JRRT forced scholars to consider it as a poem, as a work of art, genius, and inspiration. Indeed, the art is so good, JRRT argued, that most who read it could not help but interpret it as a historical work—leading them to treat it as artifact rather than art.

2. JRRT explains that although the poet of Beowulf was a Christian, he set his epic in a pre- Christian world. Because of this, we as readers catch glimpses of the greater biblical revelation that is not perceived by the characters. The hero, writes JRRT, “moves in a northern heroic age imagined by a Christian, and therefore has a noble and gentle quality, though conceived to be a pagan.” Whereas Hrothgar is characterized as a monotheist (somewhat like a biblical patriarch), Beowulf is a fully pagan hero whose consolation is not found in a Christian heaven (the author, in fact, shows great artistic restraint in not offering this to him) but in a heroic pagan end: “His funeral is not Christian, and his reward is the recognized virtue of his kingship and the hopeless sorrow of his people.” The author presents his hero “as living in a noble but heathen past.”

3. Boethius’s Consolation of Philosophy was likewise written by a Christian but in a pre- Christian mode. By doing so, Boethius not only collected together the best of pagan wisdom, but discovered what solace can be found in philosophy based on general (rather than special) revelation. Chaucer followed suit in The Knight’s Tale, as did C. S. Lewis (Till We Have Faces) and Tolkien. LOTR, though fully informed and undergirded by JRRT’s Catholic faith takes place in a world that is not only pre-Christian but pre-Jewish (that is, it takes place long before God revealed himself to Abraham).

4. Both Beowulf and LOTR share a similar elegiac, melancholy mood, partly because the Christian heaven has not yet been revealed. This mood is felt particularly strongly in the elves. Unlike the heroes of Greek mythology, those in Beowulf and LOTR live under an ever-present doom: the monsters are at the center and, in many ways, cannot be resisted. Only a pagan/stoic kind of heroism/courage can resist them, even though the resistance is partly doomed, if not ultimately futile. Beowulf is old, but it captures an even older time; this makes it layered in the same way that LOTR is. Beowulf, writes JRRT in words that also describe LOTR, “is now to us itself ancient; and yet its maker was telling of things already old and weighted with regret, and he expended his art in making keen that touch upon the heart which sorrows have that are both poignant and remote. If the funeral of Beowulf moved once like the echo of an ancient dirge, far-off and hopeless, it is to us as a memory brought over the hills, an echo of an echo. There is not much poetry in the world like this; and though Beowulf may not be among the very greatest poems of our western world and its tradition, it has its own individual character, and peculiar solemnity; it would still have power had it been written in some time or place unknown and without

11 posterity, if it contained no name that could now be recognized or identified by research. Yet it is in fact written in a language that after many centuries has still essential kinship with our own; it was made in this land, and moves in our northern world beneath our northern sky, and for those who are native to that tongue and land, it must ever call with a profound appeal—until the dragon comes.” This hopelessness before the monsters, this fighting of a doomed cause, this mood of sorrow and regret is more pagan (Norse pagan rather than Greco-Roman), and it gives resonance to Beowulf and LOTR.

5. B sees himself as having the mission to be the guard of all that is good and civilized. He hates the killing of kin and all treachery. When he kills Grendel, Grendel’s Mom, and the dragon, he is killing something that is pure evil. Indeed, the poet makes it CLEAR that Grendel IS pure evil. He is really a demon in humanoid form, a descendant of Cain (the evil fratricide). He dwells on the margins of society and brings death and darkness wherever he goes. As in LOTR, fight against Grendel (Sauron) is truly one of good against evil. Grendel (like Sauron or White Witch or Satan) is anti-life and anti-joy; he is a devourer who wishes only to destroy (in that sense, like Orcs or Ungoliant/). This poem understands devouring nature of evil as does Dante or JRRT/CSL; the fiend is one who ONLY destroys and takes no pleasure or joy in what he corrupts and poisons. A kind of gratuitous destruction (like or like the terrorists of 9/11); Grendel feels no remorse at all. Very interesting that Grendel CANNOT approach throne of Hrothgar; just as Vampire can’t stand light or Cross (as Gollum is hurt by good elf magic). Because of utter evil of Grendel and utter goodness of B, there is a powerful moral clarity in the poem. And yet (as also in LOTR), despite the good v. evil/darkness v. light at the center of the poem, we also have moral ambiguity, where decisions are not clear. (As when King’s son accidentally kills his brother, and it is unclear what the blood price should be.)

6. Reading Beowulf must have strengthened JRRT’s belief (that he passed on to CSL) that pagan tales pointed ahead to Christ and the gospel. Poem oddly mixes a sense of God’s mercy and absolute sovereignty with a somewhat more pagan Teutonic sense of the unavoidability of fate and destiny. Fate is ever there, and no one can escape it. This fatalism is reinforced by the frequent use of the flash forward technique (used also in that other dark, Teutonic epic: the Nibelungenlied). All is fated before hand: sometimes the recurring assertion of this seems Christian; at other times it seems more pagan (as Hektor believes he has his own death day that he cannot avoid). Still, clear that God is ever in control of all that happens, and B is a good warrior in giving praise and credit to God. More an OT sense of God than a NT; more personal God of Christ cannot yet be known. Amazing moment early in the poem, when Christian poet says that Danes turn to their heathenish pagan idols for help against Grendel; poet does not slander pagans, but actually pities them in their blindness; for the high God is unknown to them (cf. Paul’s speech to Areopagus in Acts 17 on the unknown God); they know only the power of hell and not the rich mercy of God (although, in many ways, B is presented as something of a messianic figure who gives his life as ransom to kill dragon—who IS serpent/Satan).

7. It is clear that what JRRT and CSL most loved from Beowulf is the image of Heorot, the wonderful Mead-Hall of Hrothgar, King of the Danes. Poet lovingly describes the fellowship that occurs at Heorot, and we see that Heorot stands for the very opposite of

12 the dark, destructive power of Grendel. Mead Hall is as close as we get to a kind of heaven on earth (Valhalla). It is B equivalent of Camelot/Round Table. We see civilization at its most splendid in generosity of Hrothgar, and the way he praises and rewards B so lavishly; he even adopts him as a son of his heart. These are men who are brave and strong and yet feel and love deeply. Their true desire is for peace and fellowship, but they will fight when they must. When B and Hrothgar make their pact of friendship, it is a strong and lasting one (Like Eorl the Young of and Cirion the Steward of Gondor in LOTR). A pact of loyalty in the midst of much kin slaying. Though JRRT avoids allegory, Meduseld (Edoras) IS Heorot and the Rohirrim ARE the Anglo-Saxons; their poetry is even written in the alliterative verse of Beowulf!

8. In some ways, the killing of Grendel and Mom takes second place to all that surrounds it; battles are not that extended (as in LOTR!), tough fight with Dragon is told at greater length. B is an older, purer kind of warrior who prefers NOT to use any weapons but his own bare hands (like Hercules using his club). He essentially arm wrestles Grendel and grapples with Mom. He trusts only to his own strength and not to weapons. He prefers to fight hand-to-hand, one-on-one; these are not just battles but ordeals, trials by combat to see which God will favor! He is also like Hercules (and Theseus) in a greater way: he is the ultimate beast slayer who cleans up roads, allows for civilization (in one flashback, we even hear how he cleaned out the sea of great beasts). It is only appropriate that in the end, B, having killed the last of the beasts (the dragon), should be killed BY the beast (as Hercules is killed by blood of Nessus and Hydra; indeed, it is ultimately the poison in the blood of the dragon that kills B)! When Aragorn becomes king at end of LOTR, it is promised that he will clean up the roads and bring back civilization. Frodo played his part in this, but he is so wounded from Nazgul blade that he must leave Middle-earth.

9. As in LOTR, ever a sense of great age and past glory; layers of generations and kings behind the main story. Strong sense of loss and nostalgia. Poet comes across more as an editor, as one who is culling together the tales, as JRRT claimed to be doing for Middle- earth. Poet/JRRT trying to piece together something long past. Joy and fellowship are so fleeting. Ever the darkness is encroaching trying to break through. In despair that Hrothgar feels over the destruction of his hall by Grendel, we see both Theoden and Denethor, who seem to have given up: overpowered by fate and forces of evil they cannot control. Near end of poem, in one of the digressions, we hear of an old man weeping at the execution of his son and wishing to give up in despair: this could be Theoden or Denethor weeping over Theodred or Boromir!! B helps to revive and restore Hrothgar as Gandalf (and Aragorn) does Theoden. Hrothgar is stunned, stricken, and helpless in face of onslaught of Grendel. Theoden feels impotence of Hrothgar until coming of true King!

10. Curse passes down from Cain to Grendel. We see too the evil of cursed treasure and gold (cf. JRRT’s poem “The Hoard” in The Adventures of Tom Bombadil). Just as curse of Ring and of Silmarils infects all of LOTR and the Silmarillion, so the dragon’s hoard of treasure (and man’s general lust for gold) can corrupt and pervert all. Not so easy to escape from this. For JRRT, when Elves mine out and make jewels, it more often leads to lust and greed; mining for awakens the Balrog. Tale of dragon reminds us of Smaug of Hobbit; thief who steals goblet and rouses up dragon makes us think of Bilbo

13 the robber. Dragon is force unleashed! Note: in his essay on Beowulf, JRRT says that there are only two great dragons in western literature: the one that kills Beowulf and Fafnir in the Nibelungenlied (that also appears in Wagner’s Ring cycle).

11. When B faces 3 beasts (esp. Grendel and Mom), he must not only overcome fear of death, but fear of the numinous: the dread of the dark and of the unknown. These monsters are like the Nazgul: not only dangerous but bring with them a dread and a kind of “spiritual” fear that unsettles the nerves. B must face what he most dreads. Yet B goes forth unafraid (he only feels sense of ominous doom when fights dragon at end). Haunted mere where Mom lives is like of LOTR: a place of dread that is infested with water monsters (like monster outside of doors of Moria). When Aragorn, , and face take the Paths of the Dead, they face the same numinous fear.

Excerpt from JRRT’s “On Fairy Stories,” on the making of fantasy (whether Beowulf or LOTR): I once wrote to a man [C. S. Lewis] who described myth and fairy-stories as “lies”; though to do him justice he was kind enough and confused enough to call fair-story-making “Breathing a lie through Silver.”

“Dear Sir,” I said—“Although now long estranged, Man is not wholly lost nor wholly changed. Dis-graced he may be, yet is not dethroned, and keeps the rags of lordship once he owned: Man, Sub-creator, the refracted light through whom is splintered from a single White to many hues, and endlessly combined in living shapes that move from mind to mind. Though all the crannies of the world we filled with Elves and Goblins, though we dared to build Gods and their houses out of dark and light, and sowed the seed of dragons, 'twas our right (used or misused). The right has not decayed. We make still by the law in which we're made.”

Fantasy is a natural human activity. It certainly does not destroy or even insult Reason; and it does not either blunt the appetite for, nor obscure the perception of, scientific verity. On the contrary. The keener and the clearer is the reason, the better fantasy will it make. . . .

Fantasy can, of course, be carried to excess. It can be ill done. It can be put to evil uses. It may even delude the minds out of which it came. But of what human thing in this fallen world is that not true? Men have conceived not only of elves, but they have imagined gods, and worshipped them, even worshipped those most deformed by their authors' own evil. But they have made false gods out of other materials: their notions, their banners, their monies; even their sciences and their social and economic theories have demanded human sacrifice. Abusus non tollit usum [“abuse does not take away use”]. Fantasy remains a human right: we make in our measure and in our derivative mode, because we are made: and not only made, but made in the image and likeness of a Maker.

14 THE LETTERS OF J. R. R. TOLKIEN (edited by Humphrey Carpenter with assistance of Christopher Tolkien) (Allen & Unwin, 1981; Houghton Mifflin Paperback, 2000)

17—hates Disney (as does CSL; hates their depiction of dwarves, fairies, etc.) 37—anti-Nazi but Pro-Jewish (also 410; his name not Jewish but he wishes it were!) 48f—Letter to his son Michael on sex and marriage; JT shows great insight into the differences between men and women and into the distinction between love and being in love (a la CSL) 53—JT’s deep love for the Blessed Sacrament (Communion) 55—active view of heaven 64—men not fit to boos others; Nazis as Orcs 65—JT is English but not British (he often insists on this); Hates Americo-Cosmopolitanism 68—CSL was NOT an ascetic! 75—good sermons need both art and virtue (throughout letters, JT gives remarkably sound and practical advice to Michael and Christopher about various of life, love, and work); God works through our critical faculties (inspiration is not just closing our eyes and writing or speaking) 75—war as stupid waste (though JT NOT pacifist, he sees and hates horrors of war) 78—JT fears he is overshadowing his son, Christopher (who DID go on to edit all JT’s work) 78-9—Orcs on BOTH sides of the WWII who would use Ring (both JT and CT are hobbits) 79—Faramir enters story unplanned; JT did not make him up (on 77, we see that Faramir does not appear where he should, and then suddenly pops up in letter on 79) 82—JT loathes Lord Peter Wimsey, though he likes Dorothy Sayers 87-8—machinery as bad; evils of technology 90—JT has an epic temperament in a distracted age with no patience 92—booming voice of CSL; 93—CSL did translation of Aeneid; 95-6—there is still much Ulster prejudice in CSL (anti-RCC) 93—war propaganda changes the meaning of freedom 94—can’t fight enemy with his own Ring (JT writes most of LOTR during war; describes it chapter by chapter in letters to CT—definitely influence—often uses Orcs and Mordor as words to describe horror of the war and the brutality it provokes on both sides) 95-6—JT on Guardian Angel—GA binds God and Man as Spirit does Father/Son in Trinity 100-1—much thinking out loud on miracles and the eucatastrophe (throughout letters, JT is ever referencing his “On Fairy-Stories” as embodying his deepest thoughts on fairy/eucatastrophe) 103—only Barfield can tackle CSL and make him define his terms 104—LOTR writes itself (again and again, JT is not writer but recorder) 105—Sam more interesting than Frodo 107—democracy as mob rule; JT is NOT a democrat 109-10—JT clearly believes there was an Eden, though Genesis not as historical as NT 110—we long for Eden; feel we are in exile; JT believes firmly Millennium will be on earth! 113—Leaf by Niggle as both an apologia and confession 116—wars are always lost 119—Gandalf as an Odinic wanderer 120—best comedy rises up out of despair 121—“allegory” of Ring (if there is one) is simply that you can’t fight power with power 128—Christ as best literary critic for he knows/loves the gifts he put in us

15 144—JT’s desire/vision is to create an Anglo-Saxon mythology for England; JT always felt that Arthur was too Norman and that it led away from true English legend 144-5—JT’s full vision is to build an epic Tree for England, one that purges out all the dross and celebrates what is truly English/Anglo-Saxon (like Wordsworth building his Cathedral of poetry) 146—Elf-magic is about art (sub-creation) vs. Sauron magic which is about power/machinery 146—elves as Men freed from limitations (throughout, elves are tempted to pervert sub-creation by stopping all change and being overly-nostalgic for the past—if they could, they would make Middle Earth into another Valinor—they would stop the cycle). JT also makes it clear throughout letters that deeper theme of LOTR and Silmarillion is Death vs. immortality 147—Doom of Elves (immortality) vs. Gift of Men (mortality) 148—In Silmarillion, sun is NOT symbol of divine; it is second best to light of two trees 149—True art and poetry of Men goes back to mixed blood of Men/Elves 151—here and throughout, the Fall of Numenor IS JT’s version of Atlantis Myth; he also makes clear throughout that it has nothing to do with the word numinous (CSL misspelled it Numinor because he HEARD the word read aloud by JT rather than reading it—CSL like to be read to) 153—to gain power, Sauron had to let much of himself pass INTO Ring (an inanimate object); thus when Ring is destroyed, Sauron basically ceases to be—evil of giving self to object 154—Homeric/patriarchal life on Numenor (cf. Hrossa in OSP); JT does NOT tell about the first fall of man as told in Genesis 3; Silmarillion is told from point of view of Elves (elvish version) 155—4 Ages of Man (Hesiod/Ovid); 156—Fall of Numenor; 160—Ring as Will to Power 172—LOTR as a religious and RC work; all JT knows of true Beauty come from Virgin Mary 172—love for his Mom and for RCC (he ever believed his Mom death caused by persecution she got from her family for converting to RC) 173—JT’s first love was NOT English Literature but Homer 174—Tom Bombadil is intentionally an enigma; 178—TB renounces power and takes simple delight in all—and yet it would be bad for him if Sauron won (JT NOT pacifist; there are times when we need to fight—TB is wrong to think he can be neutral) 176—Elves = Men with greater Beauty, Creativity, Nobility 177—Elves make rings to preserve ME as it is (nostalgia) 184—CSL inspires much animosity amongst academics; CSL warned JT that if he wrote positive critique of LOTR, it might backfire because of this animosity; JT glad CSL wrote it anyway; throughout Letters he ever praises CSL for being the main encourager of LOTR; for a long time CSL was the only audience (along with CT) 185—JT blames Shakespeare for demeaning Elves (also does not like Macbeth; he was glad that he could actually make the Woods move and come to the palace) 186—ME = the Greek oikomenos—“the inhabited world of Men”—nothing “mysterious” here 190—Lust for science/technology/machinery corrupts elves 193—elves and Sam call on Elbereth as an RC might call on a Saint 194—Marriage of Elves/Men is part of Divine Plan to ennoble Men 195—Free will is derivative but it is also real 195—Morgoth misused Free Will and gift of Sub-Creation; like CSL (and orthodox Christianity), JT believed that there is no Pure Evil; God allows Men to be dehumanized 197—Boromir as mixture of Good/Evil (critics try to say LOTR is just simple good/evil) 197—Saruman as Reformer (JT does not like reformer who would systematize/collectivize) 199—Frodo will not come back from the West; Arthur will not come from Avalon 200—Worst motivation is desire to dominate others

16 202—Gandalf sent back from death by Iluvatar (NOT Valar); before he came back as Gandalf the White he did not have power to exorcise Theoden (cf LWW, Aslan breathing on statues) 204—Numenoreans like the Jews who worship at Temple 204—Eru = the One; Iluvatar = Father of All 205—Blessed Realm of Valinor does NOT give immortality; must have it as part of your nature 207—After Sauron falls, no more incarnate Evil; myth gives way to history 209—CSL/JT must write books that they want to read! 212—JT does not invent but report; Ents were revealed to him—not planned; once he found his Ents he knew he could make his Woods move!! (no Ents in Silmarillion--written before LOTR) 213—JT’s Atlantean Dream of the Wave; exorcised by writing Fall of Numenor (cf. J. Cameron) 214—Language first; story second 219— from Finnish; Sindarin from Welsh 220—ME is Earth! 221---JT most moved in LOTR by 1) Horns of Rohan at Cockcrow as they ride to save Minas Tirith; 2) when Gollum almost repents but Sam spoils it 223—Gondor as Venice; link restored Kingdom to Holy Roman Empire (Minas Tirith as Rome?) 229—compares Dwarves to Jews; resident aliens 231—mystery of sub-creation; he loves the aesthetics of language 231—JT knows all about LOTR, but does NOT know colors or names of other two Istari (Wizards) nor about the cats of Queen Beruthiel) (also seems not to know if Ents find Wives) 232—ennoblement of hobbits ever in JT’s mind 232—JT is more like Faramir than he is like Gandalf! 234—Frodo saved by his previous pity to Gollum; we can become damnable but we still must not judge others (similar to CSL here) 236-7—Elves love earth for its own sake; want to preserve it (nostalgic); give in to Sauron and make in hopes of preserving past 237—Sauron impatient to do good after Fall of Morgoth 237—LOTR is hobbit-centric 239—ME = our earth set in an imaginary historical period (on 244, JT says ME NOT an imaginary world (it’s earth), but takes place in imaginary historical moment0 242-3—There IS right and wrong, good and evil; Tao exists for JT. WE can have moral clarity but that does not mean we have pure good/evil people. There CAN be a good SIDE in a war, even if individual men on that side do evil things (all of us are mix of good/evil). Again, there is no absolute evil (evil is corrupted good). LOTR about God’s sole right to rule! 246—False modern belief that if a thing can be done it should be done 246—JT not a democrat; it leads to tyranny in end (as Plato knew) 249—JT does NOT like to read books twice (opposite of CSL!) 252—We CAN be placed (like Frodo) in situation beyond our control: can’t resist; need grace 253—logic of plot DEMANDS that Frodo must fail (JT could write no other ending); the hero falls but the cause does not; Frodo deserves honor for making it so far! 253—True writer of Tale is not JT but God 255—As RC, JT expects history to be a long defeat 256—CSL takes refuge in literary talk 257—When JT wrote Leaf by Niggle, he feared he would not finish LOTR (his Tree)

17 259—bodies of Valar are like clothes to us, yet clothes that speak of personality (still, Valar not full incarnation in way that Christ is); Valar must stay in world until story is finished. 267—Death is NOT the enemy 274f—JT gives some good advice on planned animated version of LOTR: don’t overuse eagles! 277—Saruman’s voice is NOT hypnotic but persuasive 280—JT can’t answer why Eru did not kill Sauron (that is Problem of Pain) 282—ME between Northern Ice and Southern Fire 283—we live 6000 years after LOTR (end of 5th Age; though Ages may be getting shorter) 284—EA = IT IS; when Eru made song into “flesh” 284—Valar interpret Song of Iluvatar but Morgoth alters it! 285—essential differences between masculine/feminine as in Perelandra (souls are M/F) 286—Counterfeit immortality is offered by Sauron (like Evil Emperor in Star Wars 3) 286—As unnatural for Numenoreans to seek immortality as it was for Mom of Feanor to seek death; both are violations of the true nature and essence of Men/Elves as made by Iluvatar. 286-7—JT accepts bodily assumption of Mary and sees it as necessary 287—no one knows the ultimate fate of the dwarves 288—personal heresy; only God and our Guardian Angle know link between author/his work 289—JT is a hobbit 299—JT would be anti-AR (accelerate reading that says what books kids can/can’t read) 300—Siamese cats as evil! 302—criticizes CSL’s Studies in Words 303—landscapes of Dead Marshes DO reflect his memory of Somme (WWI) 303—CSL’s encouragement helped JT to finish LOTR 310—Beauty of words; JT resists the flattening of language 317—No modern scholars or poets know how to write poetry in exacting meters 321—JT as friend of Trees (LOTR as his internal tree) 324—LOTR not set in period of courtly love—more primitive/noble; less corrupt! 326-7—ONLY a moral failure if our endurance falls short of our limits; this is not case with Frodo who was past endurance; yet God gives sufficient grace to Frodo 329—Sam transformed by his loyalty to Frodo, but he can be a bit smug with his simple virtues and his proverbial wisdom (partly thanks to his Gaffer) 330—if Gollum had repented, Ring still would have tempted him, but he might have voluntarily thrown himself from cliff to destroy the Ring 332-3—Gandalf as Ring Lord would be worse than Sauron; would have become self-righteous 334—Ents not in Silmarillion because only came to JT while writing LOTR 337-9—more worldly wisdom to his son—there are flaws in both university and Church, but both are necessary and fulfill a vital roll —Faith = Act of will inspired by love —JT would ONLY leave church if he ceased to believe (he expects scandals and will not leave church because of them); —F or JT, Communion is center of Mass and JT is fully devoted to it (he doesn’t mind when Mass is messy with loud or obnoxious people, because that is what Feeding of 5000 must have been like!) —RCC as sun; other denominations as moon—need Sun for light —JT version of Liar, Lunatic, Lord (Gospel true or a fraud) —Reformers really hated Mass; Faith/works controversy just a cover

18 341—Death of CSL like axe blow to the roots, yet they have not been intimate friends for the last 10 years or so; 342—CSL “spoiled” by influence of Charles Williams; 349—his break of friendship with CSL because of influence of CW and CSL’s “strange” marriage to Joy **Interesting that JT is much more negative toward CW in these late letters that follow death of CSL, as if he wanted to blame someone for the sad rupture of their friendship—still, it is true that JT and CW never really saw eye to eye. On 362, JT says that he and CW were social friends, but they did not communicate on a deeper level; he saw CW’s work as often ridiculous, alien, and distasteful; on 361, he laments that CSL was MOVING toward a full and rich mythology in his Space Trilogy, but that this was stunted by Arthurian influence of CW. Earlier, on 342, JT laments that there is too much of CW’s influence in THS 343—JT hates Rock music 347—again, dream of Atlantis wave 350-1—CSL did NOT envy TSE; CSL generous but still Ulsterman at heart; CSL NOT crushed by not getting Professorship at Oxford and did NOT jump at Cambridge offer at first 352—Narnia is outside of JT’s sympathy; he also dislikes Letters to Malcolm 353—JT meet Robert Graves and Ava Gardner; fan letter from Iris Murdoch 353—Shadowfax sailed West with Gandalf 359—American Tolkien society as real lunatics!! 361—CSL liked to be read to; 362—CSL more generous and impressionable than JT 363—forced conformity of the USA 365—LOTR NOT about overcoming bourgeois smugness of the hobbits, but about special grace given to Bilbo and Frodo 370—Negative attempt in university to make humanities more scientific; too much focus on research, esp. at undergraduate level—need to learn to read, love literature first! 394—apologia for RCC; Early Church too had its problems, but it grew and matured. The early seed grew into the Tree of the RCC. There is no point to try to go back to the seed (as Protestants try to do); you can’t do so anyway. Must attend to the TREE!! 396—Modern poetry as only self-expression 399-400—When ask WHY questions (what is the purpose of man), you call up a divine mind (if no God, question is meaningless). Our true purpose is to grow in knowledge of God and to give him Glory (AND to call even on nature to join us in this praise) 405—definition of hobbits; they ARE a small form of human race 407-431—two views of Galadriel as penitent and as unstained; he waffles on this issue. 411—Straight Road vs. Bent Road 412—horror of American LOTR cult; 418—JT does not like being a cult figure 413—chosen instruments of God always imperfect; light of truth in LOTR comes THROUGH JT, not from him; ultimately, JT did not write it alone (as a strange man tells him, who recalls faceless man in autobiography of Frank Capra) 414—LOTR not a novel but a heroic romance 417/420—Edith as his true Luthien—this was NOT his pet name for her, yet she WAS his Luthien; after her death he feels one-handed like Beren, but cannot go to Mandos and beg to be sent with her to Green Isle; we live in a Fallen Arda! 428—he always pronounced his name Tol-KEEN.

19 THE LORD OF THE RINGS: CHANGES IN FILM

1. Frodo does not meet Gandalf first in opening scene 2. Only in film do Merry and Pippin set off dragon firework 3. Gandalf does not set off flash to disguise Bilbo’s disappearance by Ring 4. Film speeds up the 17 year gap 5. In novel, F/P/Sam set out together and then meet Merry at farmer Maggot 6. In novel, it is Frodo who dances on table, trips, goes invisible, rather than Pippin be stupid 7. (not ) comes to rescue in novel 8. In novel, Tom Bombadil sends them to Prancing Pony 9. Film skips Frodo and others falling in with the elves early on 10. Film has more action in general (with Black Riders, flight to Ford, Knife in Dark, etc) 11. Film really tightens up and condenses the Council of Elrond 12. Film ADDS Boromir holding up Ring at Mt. Caradhras (gives some foreshadowing) 13. Film makes LESS of how hard choice is (esp. for Aragorn) after Anduin 14. In Book, after Theoden is exorcised, he is noble, listens to Gandalf/Aragorn; in film, still weak 15. In Book, relationship between Rohan/Gondor is strong; in film there is much tension 16. There is no inter-cutting in Books III/IV and V/VI, though there is overlap; at times we get story from 2 different points of view, like the flooding of Isengard (there is some cross-cutting within Books III and esp. V, but not with Frodo/Sam/Gollum) 17. In film, Edoras is evacuated and all go to Helm’s Deep; in book, Eowyn stays behind in Edoras while army goes to HD. In book, elves don’t come to rescue of HD, but the Ents play a much bigger role. Stages of battle a bit different in book/film. 18. HD longest action/dramatic sequence in book (though still short compared to film!) 19. Book/film both have Gimli/Legolas contest, though more humor in film 20. In book, we DO see Legolas retrieving arrows, unlike in film (film adds Legolas taking down Oliphant) 21. Film adds not only Aragorn/Arwen romance, but extra scenes with elves (as when Galadriel and Elrond are talking/communicating. In book, elves left behind (film increases Arwen, but decreases Eowyn a bit) 22. In book, Wormtongue throws Palantir to Pippin in Two Towers. Film moves this scene to beginning of Return of King—as it moves Shelob from TT to ROK. The Film of TT climaxes with battle of HD, rather than with Palantir and Shelob as in book. 23. BASIC movements of characters in TT is kept from novel to film, but with inter-cuts 24. Film ADDS absurd and unnecessary scene where Aragorn falls off cliff and is thought dead; then returns 25. (NOTE: BBC Radio Play also inter-cuts, but it stays closer to book; in many ways, LOTR reads like an old serialized novel like Dickens, but frequent space breaks help to move along action. In some ways, the III/IV and V/VI in book is like Odyssey 1-4/5-8) 26. Boromir gets a better death scene in the film; in some ways film version more exciting, for in it we see Aragorn re-unite himself with the Men of Gondor 27. Aragorn reveals himself more often and earlier in the book (novel paces this a bit better) 28. Pippin is less dumb in the book than he is in the film (as Gimli more comic relief in film)

20 29. Merry/Pippin play a bigger role in riling up the Ents in film; in book, they are just catalyst and do not actually talk the Ents into marching on Isengard 30. More focus on providence in the book (on Kairos); film increases “free will” of Merry and Pippin in big speech they give to the Ents (somehow a more American scene with the little guy supplying the energy; youth spurs on age—Capra kind of speech; do it for Gipper) 31. Great thing about film, is that it manages to bring book to the film WITHOUT using a narrator (except for opening sequence in Fellowship); novel relies on a great deal of narrative; it often tells instead of shows, and thus cuts down a bit on dramatic action 32. In book, Frodo does NOT fall into dead marshes and get saved by Gollum (added for film) 33. In book, Sam overhears debate of Smeagol/Gollum hears him mention SHE (Shelob) 34. Frodo’s big threat to Gollum to use Ring on him (p. 626) is not in film (???) 35. In Book, Isildur cuts off FINGER of Sauron, not his hand (in film, it SEEMS he has cut off whole hand—this is vital, since Frodo too loses a finger (both Frodo/Sauron lose finger, as both Luke and Darth Vader lose their hand)—Sauron is still the Black Hand 36. Black Gate scene is much longer in the film and adds Frodo/Sam sliding down and then using their cloaks to hide from Orcs (a la Harry Potter) 37. Film leaves out Boromir seeking after sword that was broken, and thus film must also leave out Frodo’s explaining all of this to Faramir 38. In film, see battle BEFORE Sam and Frodo are captured by Faramir; in book, capture before the big fight with the Oliphants. 39. Faramir in book is NOT tempted at all by the Ring; he is much more different than Boromir. Character of Faramir is much fuller and richer in novel; his love of peace and old ways. This is worst change of film—the lessening of Faramir (whom JRRT most identified with) 40. Rohan/Gondor are clear allies in the book (tension in film); indeed, in the book, it is Denethor himself who lights the signal fires for help (in film, Gandalf/Pippin must do this secretly!) 41. In book, Deagol/Smeagol are friends; in film they are brothers (Cain/Abel, Romulus/Remus) 42. Film does better job showing inner wrestling of Gollum/Smeagol, though, alas, it leaves out the vital scene (one of JRRT’s favorites) when Gollum almost repents near cave of Shelob but then is rejected by Sam. However, film captures this sad loss of Smeagol by showing us how Frodo’s “betrayal” of Gollum at the Forbidden Pool is what turns Gollum bad again. 43. Book explains better how Gollum is Shelob’s “sneak” and brings her fresh meat 44. Orcs more nasty in film than in book; in book, they are ugly too but more like hoodlums 45. In book, Aragorn uses Palantir to draw Sauron to Minas Tirith; in film, he uses it later to draw Sauron to the Black Gate to give Frodo one last chance 46. Film reveals Eowyn to us as Dernhelm right away; novel does NOT tell us this; it is surprise 47. In film, only Aragorn/Gimli/Legolas take Path of Dead (novel adds Grey Company to group) 48. In book, ONLY use dead army to defeat Corsairs and get their boats (AND dead do this fully by numinous fear—ghosts DO not have ability to actually kill corsairs); once dead

21 secure corsair ships, they are released by Aragorn from their vow and disappear. Film cannot resist bringing dead to battle at Minas Tirith and letting them actually kill 49. In book, Merry does not go to Black Gate for last battle (he is too ill) 50. In film, it is not as clear that Denethor resents Gandalf for his influence over Faramir 51. In film, Pippin jumps into pyre to rescue Faramir (Gandalf does so in book) 52. Big Change in film is when Gollum “frames” Sam for stealing lembas to try and break up friendship of Sam and Frodo. This does not happen in book, nor does what follows: Frodo telling Sam to leave before Frodo enters cave of Shelob. Thus, in film Sam REALLY comes to rescue of Frodo, whereas in book, he is with Frodo in cave. 53. In book, Gollum ONLY attacks Sam directly (he has sworn oath to Frodo—THAT is why he wants to let Shelob kill Frodo for him) 54. NOT made clear in film that Denethor has his own Palantir and has been corrupted by it. In general film makes much less use of Palantir (though a bit more in extended edition) 55. In book, Sam PUTS ON RING; he does not do so in film (in fact, in film, we do not even know that Sam HAS the Ring). This makes more sense plot wise. 56. Film leaves out Two Watchers (that Sam defeats with phial), but film shows Orcs killing each other in Tower of Cirith Ungol (and this scene IS very close to book) 57. Film leaves out Scouring of Shire, though keep most of extended ending 58. Film combines crowning of Aragorn/marriage; book separates two; does not describe wedding 59. Film exactly captures destruction of Mordor as it is described in book 60. Exact same in book/film when two Orcs kill each other so Sam can rescue Frodo; in both, Sam and Frodo fall in with army and then escape (but film lets Sam be MORE clever).

22 John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (1892-1973) JRRT (T) born in South Africa to English parents; his brother, Hilary, born 1894. Baby T bitten by tarantula! At age 3 returns to England with mom (Mabel)/brother for health; when he is 5, his father dies in South Africa. In England, they move to cottage in , in English countryside near a mill; memories of it stay with T (also dreams of Atlantis wave). In 1900, Mabel and her sister (May) convert to RCC; May’s husband forces her to leave/cuts off support to Mabel. Rest of family reject her, and she is forced to move to suburbs of Birmingham (T hates it). Mabel dies in 1904 of diabetes: boys put under guardianship of Father Francis Morgan. T joins RCC.

T has early love of languages: Latin/Greek, but loves more Welsh/Anglo-Saxon/Norse/Finnish (all downhill after 1066, esp. after Chaucer; T not fan of Shakespeare/Arthuriana: wants to write myth for England). He loves Norse sagas/dragons. Begins to invent languages early on; stories come later to give background to languages (first story is Eärendil and star boat). Has penchant for starting clubs like TCBS (Tea Club/Barrovian Society): male friendship/pipes/conversation.

While living in boardinghouse, T (16) falls in love with Edith Bratt (19; also an orphan). When Father Francis finds out, he forces T to break up with her; T is caught two more times, but after that he promises not to speak/write to her until he is 21. He follows promise, but when 21, he goes to her and proposes; though engaged, she breaks it and marries T (first converting to RCC). T wins scholarship to Oxford (after failing once), attends Exeter where he studies (pre-Chaucer) Language & Literature. Sent to France in 1916; fights in battle of Somme. Though survives (trench fever gets him home), 2 of 4 members of TCBS die. While convalescing, he writes most of stories pub. posthumously as Silmarillion (Beren/Luthien based on T/Edith; names on graves). He has 3 boys/1 girl and is a loving father who invents Father Christmas Letters for his children. He lives the bourgeois life of a hobbit, having simply tastes in food and clothes; he travels little.

After WWI, T works on OED and is appointed Reader in English Lang, Leeds University. With E. V. Gordon, T works on translation/notes of Sir Gawain and Green Knight. At age 33, made Prof of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford; 20 years later elected Merton Prof of Lang & Lit: gives famous lecture on Beowulf and does much linguistic work but his perfectionism prevents him from publishing much. He helps bring Lang and Lit together and is a beloved lecturer. He starts (and abandons) many children stories, publishing Hobbit in 1937 to great success. Publisher wants a sequel; T pushes for Silmarillion, but no one wants it. He spends 12 years writing LOTR (fusion of Hobbit/Silmarillion), then another 5 fighting with publishers. LOTR finally published as 3 books in 1954-5 (paper expensive). Silmarillion, etc pub. posthumously by his son Christopher.

He meets C. S. Lewis in 1926; gets him to join Coalbiters (to read Icelandic sagas): shared love of all things Norse. T helps lead L to Christianity (arguing Christ is myth made fact), though sad he does not become RCC; L encourages T to finish/pub. Hobbit/LOTR. 2 decide they must write books they want to read: challenge each other to write book on space (Out of Silent Planet) and time (T doesn’t finish). They start Inklings where friends read aloud works in progress. Though L supports LOTR, T scorns L’s apologetics (too popular)/Narnia books (too allegorical/hasty).

Louis Markos (www.Loumarkos.com), Professor in English & Scholar in Residence at Houston Baptist University, holds the Robert H. Ray Chair in Humanities; his books include From Achilles to Christ and On the Shoulders of Hobbits: The Road to Virtue with Tolkien & Lewis.

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