@ Amarie : You're right, I remember Tolkien writing exactly about this in one of his letters!
@ Evisse: Uff, it's difficult to tell shortly what Prof.Shippey wrote in that chapter of his excellent book.. [img]smilies/frown.gif[/img]
Quote:
"The theory of courage" said Tolkien in his BEOWULF lecture of 1936, was the "great contribution " to humanity of the old literature of the North. The Old Norse mythology ended in a Day of Doom. The difference to Christianity was that the forces of evil won over the gods (Ragnarök). If the gods and their human allies were going to lose, what would make anyone want to join their side? The truly courageous answer (Tolkien called it "a potent but terrible solution") is to say that victory or defeat have nothing to do with right and wrong, and that even if the universe is controlled beyond redemtion by hostile and evil forces, that is not enough to make a hero change sides. In a sense this Northern mythology asks more of people than Christianity does, for it offers them no heaven, no reward for virtue except the sombre satisfaction of having done right.
Nevertheless Tolkien was himself a Christian, and he lived in a world in which this "theory of courage" had vanished almost beyond revival or even understanding. (...) In his creative work he needed a new image for ultimate bravery, one which would have some meaning and some hope for emulation for the modern and anti-heroic world.
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Quote:
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Sam is in a way presenting a modern version of th "theory of courage", which did not have to be offered the bribe of assured victory at Ragnarök to do its duty. Perhaps the argument may be that only those who need hope to keep going will fall prey to despair when their hope is withdrawn. Those who, like Sam and Pippin, felt from the start that the whole thing was going to be a disaster remain immune, even cheerful, when their expectations are confirmed. Tolkien knew that in the Norse mythology Vön, Hope, is not a cardinal virtue, he also knew that"cheerfulness" is in its origin at least a virtue of the face alone ((chair= Old French for face)
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(hope that was not too long [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img] )
btw, on the extended edition of the FotR DVD , on the first Appendix-DVD , in "Tolkien, Creator of Middle earth" People like Prof.Shippey, Humphrey Carpenter, John Howe and Viggo Mortensen are talking just about this topic of hope and courage. It's really worth watching!