Heroism Redifined: Lord of the Rings
Heroism redefined
Lord of the Rings
J. R. R. Tolkien
Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, offers the reader a truly compelling picture of the world of Middle-earth. The author, in great detail, depicts a complex reality which abounds in a whole variety of creatures, cultures, languages and histories. If we take a closer look on Tolkien’s masterpiece we will easily notice a complexity of themes, motifs, symbols which add to the semantic richness of the text.
It is necessary to mention that Tolkien was considerably influenced by the literary tradition. Fascinated by literary genres such as a heroic epic, a chivalric romance or a fairy tale Tolkien skillfully weaved many characteristic conventions of these genres in Lord of the Rings. Among many other features drawn from the literary tradition the theme of heroism occupies a prominent position in Tolkien’s trilogy. On the one hand Tolkien follows a well known model of a courageous epic hero, but on the other hand he operates with the theme in an innovative way. Apart from a careful depiction of a well known image of noble heroism typical of great figures of historical significance such as Aragorn, the novel surprisingly offers a completely new image of heroism which is represented by small hobbits. Providing at the same time two parallel faces of the concept, Tolkien significantly changes and challenges the traditional meaning of heroism and, as a consequence, significantly enriches the literary tradition.
A significant part of the trilogy is devoted to the deeds of great Men such as Aragorn. Drawing extensively on the tradition of heroic epic and chivalric romance Tolkien presents a powerful image of a knightly hero full of noble virtues. Aragorn is a “born hero” - a true heir to the throne of Gondor, “born to achieve great deeds in his time” (Zimmer Bradley 83). He is a courageous man of action, endowed with physical strength, who combats evil, brings order and
Lord of the Rings
J. R. R. Tolkien
Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, offers the reader a truly compelling picture of the world of Middle-earth. The author, in great detail, depicts a complex reality which abounds in a whole variety of creatures, cultures, languages and histories. If we take a closer look on Tolkien’s masterpiece we will easily notice a complexity of themes, motifs, symbols which add to the semantic richness of the text.
It is necessary to mention that Tolkien was considerably influenced by the literary tradition. Fascinated by literary genres such as a heroic epic, a chivalric romance or a fairy tale Tolkien skillfully weaved many characteristic conventions of these genres in Lord of the Rings. Among many other features drawn from the literary tradition the theme of heroism occupies a prominent position in Tolkien’s trilogy. On the one hand Tolkien follows a well known model of a courageous epic hero, but on the other hand he operates with the theme in an innovative way. Apart from a careful depiction of a well known image of noble heroism typical of great figures of historical significance such as Aragorn, the novel surprisingly offers a completely new image of heroism which is represented by small hobbits. Providing at the same time two parallel faces of the concept, Tolkien significantly changes and challenges the traditional meaning of heroism and, as a consequence, significantly enriches the literary tradition.
A significant part of the trilogy is devoted to the deeds of great Men such as Aragorn. Drawing extensively on the tradition of heroic epic and chivalric romance Tolkien presents a powerful image of a knightly hero full of noble virtues. Aragorn is a “born hero” - a true heir to the throne of Gondor, “born to achieve great deeds in his time” (Zimmer Bradley 83). He is a courageous man of action, endowed with physical strength, who combats evil, brings order and