TOLKIEN AND THE EPIC:
As it has been said before, in the middle of the 20th century, primary epic was a thing only found in the books of history. J. R. R. Tolkien brought again the standards of the epic and created a micro-universe that refreshed the ideas about this style of writting. Although the middle earth saga is composed by four books (The hobbit and Lord of the rings), this work will center its view in the last three of them, (The fellowship of the ring, The two towers and The return of the king) because in they it is clearer the innovations that the author introducted into primary epic. Throughout the work, it will be explained the roots of epic and how Tolkien used them or decided to change from the classic authors. It will be made frecuent comparisons between our author and Homer´s Illiad and Odyseey in order to discover the things that connect them. Also, the work would make some references to Greek and Scandinavian mythology.
The main contribution of J. R. R. Tolkien to this genre was the combination of old forms and new ones. After some studies (In 1924 he was named proffessor of English language in Leeds and collaborated in some conferences about epic works), Tolkien decided to elaborate a modern epic and we must look to his personal correspondence for the reason. ãI was from early days grieved by the poverty of my own beloved country, it had no stories of itâs own, not of the quality that I sought, and found in legends of other lands. There were Greek, and Celtic, and Romance, Germanic, Scandinavian, and Finnish; but nothing English, save impoverished chapbook stuffä.
In order to produce that new legend, he rescued primary epic, centering his view in Homer, and leaving apart secondary epic but without forgetting it all. He also studied the Bible, which can be considered an epic book, and introduced some elements that reflected the education that he acquired at his aunt´s house. There are a lot of references to classical books. The same title is referring to The Ring of the Nibelungs, of an anonymus austrian author, but the legend of the 9 rings and the ãonly oneä is more near to the Legend of King Arthur because there only one object (Excalibur/Ring) that can defeat the most deadly foes and restore peace.
Through the novel, it is easy to discover the pillars of the narration. They are some elements that are connected with Homer´s Illiad and Odyssey: The hero needs to find a powerful weapon in order to destroy the evil that is taking control of the world. In his journey he will find comrades that will help him, but without forgetting that he is the main character. Some characters can be compared with others from the Illiad and Odyssey. Aragorn would be Aquiles, Boromir would be Patroclo, Saruman would play the role of Hector, Gandalf has the apparence of Zeus, Theodern is the same as Agamenon and, at last, Frodo would be Ulysses. In relation with this, C. S. Lewis (Time and tide, 1954) affirmed: ãThe same story of the novel - a story that go back to the Odyssey and before it - Lord of the Rings is not a return, but to an advancement or an evolution: the conquest of a new territoryä.
It is possible to talk about 6 main resources that are repeated in all epic works: The hero/ weapon/ comrades/ supernatural beings/ battles/ love affairs. But Tolkien introduced new characteristics that will be explained in depth while describing the old forms. As W. H. Auden said in one of the editions: ãThere is no author of the genre that has reflected better the characteristics of the mission, the heroic journey, the cursed object... Tolkien has triumphed where Milton failedä.The hero. The traditional hero for this sort of narration was a powerful man, handsome, very cultivated, intelligent, a natural leader, with a great sense of honor and friendship, descendant of a family of great warriors and quick-minded. He was everything that a person can wish to be. He had the strenght necessary to erradicate evil from the world and he knew it. It was a good representation of goodness and a person in which everyone could rely in. The hero of the Odyssey, Ulysses, is described as ã...the son of Laertes, the resourceful Ulysses. So skillful in creating traps for his enemies as clever. A man that, after destroying the sacred city of Troya, travelled around the Ponto during a great period of time, knew the folklore of many people and faced many dangers in order to save his life and that of his friendsä. But Tolkien decided to give this characteristics to other characters, as it will be seen later, and he presents a main character that is all the contrary.
Frodo is not a warrior, he lives pacefully in an idillic place and does not even think in taking a sword with him. He is cultivated but there is a vast variety of languages and places that he does not know that exist. Tolkien never says if he is handsome or not but the book is plenty of characters that say that Frodo is ãstrangely, a man not affected with the timeä (page 65, book 1), that can be understood as that no one relies on him at fist sight, because they think that he hides a secret. He is not aware of the evil that he carries and, when he is tempted by the ring, he fights against it with so strengh that he remembers to the reader the idea of Homer´s heroes. He is not even the son of a powerful family and is only the nephew of Bilbo, the hero of The Hobbit, and this is clearer in the meetings with other charcters that have several famous predecessors. He does not represent the anti-hero but it is in a middle way between the hero and the anti-hero. He, as gandalf says, is ãsomeone who Sauron would never pay attention inä.The weapon. In Homer´s works, the weapon that would change the course of the battles is something that is given by the gods or acquired through a long journey. This weapon, normally a sword, was capable of erasing evil, breaking the most powerful curses. Tolkien changed this retaking something that happened in the previous chapter of the story (The Hobbit). In it, Bilbo finds a ring that allows him to become invisible and with it he kills the big dragon Smaug. It is a story that follows the paths of primary epic. But in Lord of the rings the hero does not need to travel and fight in order to find that powerful weapon, he starts the adventure with it. The only problem is that the ring is cursed and can help the owner of the ring but, after sometime, this person would become a creature much more evil that Sauron, the entity that Frodo wants to combat. After discovering that the ring is a weapon from the shadows, he receives the order of destroying it. This is a real innovation because the hero does not begin his journey with the idea of finding a marvellous weapon but with the aim of destroying it in the lava of a volcano. Only with the disappearence of the ring could peace return to the Middleearth.
The comrades. In the Odyssey, Ulysses is followed by some warriors that help him. In the middle ages, this figure of the comrade was used by the authors to explain the reality thriugh other eyes, different from the ones of the hero, and to give counsels and explain the feelings of the lower classes, normally followed by wise words that reflect the popular knowledge and folklore. In Lord of the rings, this role is played by Sam Gamyi, faithful servant and main friend of Frodo. Elrond, in page 370, told Sam that he had only one mission: protect and serve the carrier of the ring. Through the book, Sam acts in a way that is similar to Sancho Panza, Don Quijote´s comrade, because he knews that his master has a higher mission in life and he has to protect him. Trough the second book of The fellowship of the ring, Sam says wise words, as happens in chapters 3 ãThe ring goes Southä, 4 ãA travel in the darkä, 6 ãLothlorienä, 7 ãGaladriel´s mirrorä, 10 ãThe disollution of the fellowshipä. In the other two books, there are other characters that substitute Sam (he is with Frodo and does not know the whereabouts of the rest of their comrades). In book 3, Sam is also the carrier of the cursed ring but he knows that it is not his and returns it to Frodo. It seems that, after the first two books, Tolkien decided to give Sam more popularity. Sam is the only person in which Frodo trusts. They are not separated even when, at the end of the story, Sam marries a beautiful female hobbit. As in the novel of Cervantes, the hero disappears because of an illness and the friend remains till the story ends.
The other main comrade, although he appears and disappears, is Gandalf. Gandalf is a character related with the celtic tales and can be compared with Odin. He is an old man with a great power that, through the journey, acquires new powers defeating a Balrog (a mythological monster that had its hair on fire and carried an enormous whip on his left hand and a sword on the right). He talks with Saruman of things that only can be understood while reading The Silmarillon, because they two belong to the same race. He has many names, one according to each place, he is called ãthe Greyä (later the White), Mithrandir ('Grey Pilgrim'), and even Gandalf means ãElf of the wandä. He is the wisest man in all the trilogy, combines magic with sword but he is not able of killing Sauron by his own hands. He says Frodo what he has to do but, after the fight with the balrog, he only fights by the side of the rest of the Company. In some epic stories, appears a white wizard that helps the hero when he has lost his way. Here, Gandalf is implied in the course of the story although it was not his pourpose (As it can be seen in the part dedicated to supernatural beings).
At last, the Company. Elrond created a team that would help Frodo in his journey. They would be nine, as the dark riders There were representants of all races as in all the Anglo-saxon fables. Besides Frodo, Sam and gandalf there were: Boromir, a strong but stupid character, Aragorn, prince of a kingdom lost in the past, with all the traits of the traditional hero, Merry and Pippin, hobbits that would serve as contrast between them and Frodo, Gimli, an skillful dwarf, and Legolas, an elf that had all the characteristics of these beings: intelligence, goodness, ability with bows and a close relation with nature. They follow the way of the Odyssey and help Frodo through the first book but, in the other two, they change the tendency of the book and become the main characters. Their adventures are narrated before of the ones of Frodo, so we can know things that are reflected in the adventure of Frodo and Sam. This sort of narration is reminiscest of the Odyssey, where the adventures of Ulysses were followed by the adventures of his wife and son.Supernatural beings. The whole book is plenty of them. They are divided in good and evil characters. The good beings help the heroes but the evil are against them for many reasons. There are also changes between The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. In the first book, they are quite similar in characteristics with those half-gods (bastard sons of gods) of the universal mythology. For instance, Tom Bombardil is related with Orpheous. The only difference is that he used a flaute to control the animals and plants and Tom uses his voice. They share the love of a beautiful woman that is everything for them and they travel trough danger in order to save his friends. The Wizards were Maiar (spiritual beings) sent to Middle-earth by the Valar in human form as Messengers to help in the struggle against Sauron: the term "incarnate angel" is approximately correct. Being incarnated limited their power, and intentionally so, because their mission was to organise the resistance and to inspire the peoples of Middle- earth to help themselves, not to do the job for them. Their main temptation, then, was to try to speed up the process by dominating other free wills. A principle reason for their mission was to prevent such actions by Sauron. Only three came into the story:
Saruman (that means ãMan of Skillä), who is called ãthe Whiteä and Curunír (that also means ãMan of Skillä), Radagast the Brown, and Gandalf. Gandalf was the only one who remained true to his mission, and in the end succeeded in bringing about Sauron's defeat. Saruman is a dark reflection of Gandalf and with the traits of Loki, the mythological god of lie. He can use his voice to change the ideas of the people and, in battles, he uses his magic to destroy, not to help. Sauron is the traditional evil being with the traits of Satan. He can make birds (chapter 3, book 1 second part), huargos (savage wolves) (chapter 4, book 1 second part), Orcs (chapter 5 and more, book 1 second part), the nine dark riders (chapter 4, book 1 first part and more) and many others. But there are also supernatural beings related with nature. In the book appear: The mountain Caradhras that is alive and controls the snow (chapter 3, book 1 first part), the tentacles (that appear in chapter 3, book 1 second part), the Ents, which are trees that are alive (chapter 4, book 2 first part), and She-spider (chapter 9, book 2 second part). There are ghosts that, because they were killed after escaping from a battle and need to fight in order to rest in peace, help the heroes. Traditionally, as even the Coran says, the fighter who escaped from a battle was a coward and his soul would not reach eternal peace. Gollum is the same as Polifemo. After a series of battles, Polifemo dies because of a burning stake. Gollum perishes because he falls in a volcano. The two of them are thinking that they have reached victory but an action of the hero makes them die.
As it had been said before, there are different names for the same race of creatures. The most astonishing change is the distinction between ãOrcä and ãgoblinä. Of the two, "Orc" is the correct one. This has been a matter of widespread debate and misunderstanding, mostly resulting from the usage in The Hobbit (Tolkien had changed his mind about it by Lord of the Rings but the confusion in the earlier book was made worse by inconsistent backwards modifications). In the Hobbit, which originally was unconnected with the Silmarillon, he used the familiar term "goblin" for the benefit of modern readers. By the time of Lord of the Rings, however, he had decided that "goblin" would not fit because Orcs were not the traditional goblins. (No doubt he also felt that "goblin", being Romance-derived, had no place in a work which language is based so much on Anglo-Saxon and Northern languages) Thus, in LotR, the proper name of the race is "Orcs", (always with capital ãOä) and that name is found in the index along with Ents, Men, etc., while "goblin" is not in the index at all. There are a handful of examples of "goblin" being used (always with a small "g") but it seems in these cases to be a kind of slang for Orcs. The actual source of the word "orc" is Beowulf: "orc-nass", translated as "death-corpses".The battles. Surprisingly, Frodo is not involved in any battle of the book. The traditional hero was always in the head of the battle, because he was a natural leader, killing enemies as if they were crops. Frodo is not a man of action, his destiny is another. The persons involved in battles are the Company. The battles follow the lead of Homer very faithfully. The enemies clash with the heroes and fight during hours and days but the appearence of a person unexpected is the key for the win of the heroes. There are two main battles in the story. In the first one, Gandalf and, later, Barbol, change the course of the fight. In the second, the person is Aragorn and his army of ghosts. In the first book, there are not battles because the enemies are more related with magic. The sword is not a way of killing them. But, after the disappearence of Gandalf, the Company has not a wizard with them and the monsters are orcs, that can be destroyed by weapons. In the last two books, the battles follow the Illiad with little innovations. There are several characters that are very skillful with weapons and they form an army toghether. Gimli, a dwarf, carries an axe and is part of the first division of infantry. Merry and Pippin, hobbits, fight with swords and are part of the second division of infrantry. Legolas, an elf, has a bow and is part of the archers. And, finally, Aragorn, a human, carries an enchanted sword and is a knight. In those battles, only Merry is wounded seriously as happens in the traditional epic, where the heroes do not receive many wounds because they are protected by their skill and, sometimes, by a supernatural being.
Love affairs. Although the fights are the main interest in epic novels, there are also the love affairs that the hero has during his journey. Ulysses has the love of his wife, Penelope, but he encounters many women in his quest. In Lord of the rings, there are only four women but it is necessary to leave apart Rose, Sam´s woman, becuse it is not important in the course of the story. As in the traditional epic, the first characteristic of the female characters is the beauty. Homer adds to Penelope the attibute of fidelity, to Nausicaa the intelligence and to Helen the extreme beauty. Undoriel (that appears in chapter1, book 1 second part), has the beauty but any other attribute. Galadriel (chapter 7, book 1 second part) sums to the beauty the intelligence and caution of a wizard. And, finally, Eowyn (chapter 6, book 2 first part) is a character that changes. At the beggining is a pure and beautiful woman that only thinks in love but, at the end of the story, she takes a sword and becomes a fighting amazon. This three women are linked to the three ways of love affairs that can appear in an epic poem or novel. Undoriel is the representant primary epic woman, she does nothing beyond her resources, she is under the cover of men and is easy to think if she is only a mere statue. Galadriel is bounded with the idea of the fairy. She helps the heroes but she does not participate in the action. She is wise and very intelligent and Gimli falls in love with her. She has the ability to read human hearts and discovers it but, although his love is impossible because of racism, she gives to him part of her hair as a signal. Eowyn is a secondary epic character. During the war of the Ring, she met and fell in love with Aragorn; when he rode the Paths of the Dead she depaired greatly, thinking him lost. Till here, the character is the same as Undoriel but, after this moment, becomes a truly secondary epic character. Being of a martial spirit, in her depiration she diguised herself as a man and, calling herself Dernhelm, rode to Gondor. In the battle of Pelennor Feilds, with the aid of Merry she won a great renown by slaying the Lord of the Nazgûl and his steed. The evil coming from contact with the Nazgûl-lord, caused in her a severe case of the Black Breath. Aragorn released her from the illness with athelas, and while recovering she realised her true heart. Giving up her desire to be a free, independant shield-maiden, she married Faramir and became Lady of Ithilien. She is the newest creation of Tokien to the epic: he gives protagonism to a woman and a relevant paper in the action. Eowyn is the representation of the woman of the twentieth century.
Another trait of traditional epic was name changing. In all the stories, the characters receive a nickname or a new name according to their acts. The best examples of this are Aragorn and Gandalf. The case of Gandalf has been said before. Aragorn was called Elessar and Elfstone by Galadriel and the people of Gondor during the WR because of the emerald brooch he wore; he took this name, which was foretold for him, as was his royal name. He was called Strider in Bree befor the WR, and he took the Quenya equivalent of this name, Telcontar, as the name of his family. Also called Isildur's Heir, the Renewer, Longshanks and Wingfoot; the last name was given him by Éomer after the journey of the Three Hunters.In order to conclude, it has been reflected on this work that Tolkien studied the primary epic books and collected all possible the resources in order to create Lord of The Rings, leaving apart many of the aspects of secondary epic, but not all. He created a book with all the fantasy of the Homer´s works but connected with the anglo-saxon tradition which was a complete success. He paid attention to the classic characteristics of the hero, his comrades, the weapon, the supernatural beings, the battles and the love affairs, sometimes changing roles between his characters, sometimes paying attention in aspects that could be considered related with secondary epic. The dream of Tolkien was totally accomplished and he wrote one legend that would remain as important as Greek and Latin myths.
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