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**lindil** · 08-29-2003, 03:04 AM

The LotR is unique in that it expresses the hero role through numerous characters and in many levels, as Brishtog has pointed out [welcome to the downs!].

At different moments virtually all of the members of the fellowship are heroic, and at moments central. Gimli and Legolas being the least reperesentative of this. But for their races they nonetheless undoubtedly returned to the mountains and the wood to a hero's welcome. Acually I will upon a sudden thought revise what I said, Legolas and Gimili are hero's in that they manage to transcend their ethnic biases against each other and to a degree open themselves to seeing the world through each others eyes. No small thing.

Anyway, back to the original point.

As has often been pointed out, Aragorn, Frodo, Sam and Gandalf all claim a peice of centrality, but all in different ways and on different levels.

Gandalf the angelic: he passed the test of maintaing spiritual purity and purpose in a fallen and divided world over some two thousand years.

Aragorn: the quintessential 'Elf-man', he in his person [and with his wife] bridges the 1st three ages and the new age to come. He brings as much elven culture into the life of men as is possible, he also is the discple of Gandalf, though this only became crystal clear to me upon a few reads and more life experience. He is the human warrior polymath par excellence: healer, warrior, loremaster, Elf-friend, captain-general, ranger, spy, diplomat, etc... He is human potential and ideal incarnate, and he gets the girl!

Frodo: the sacrificial hero. He loses the most and has to go beyond the edge of endurance and must push his soul into the realm of Sauron even as his body journeys there. He had no hope of resisting the ring at Sammath Naur, but faith and persistence brought him through, along of course with ...

Sam: the mundane hero. Earthy, practical, dogged to the end. Devoted to Frodo as virtually no one in this day and age could be without falling either into homosexuality or pathology. Sam is perhaps the most important hero for us, as his sacrifice is much closer to what many of us will be called tomake in our real lives. Putting family/duty before personal consideration. Trusting in our teachers/elders ( if we are fortunate enough to have real ones) to make the big choices and plot the big picture for us, and then seeing the tasks through to the end, even when our authority figures drop away, fail momentarily [or otherwise] due to weakness or circumstance. He is the humble bumpkin and while we may not have his earthy psychological type, we will all need his steadfastness and practicality.

As for the other members, they become hero's in their own minor way. Pippin through saving the Shire and Faramir, and truly learning from the Palantir fiasco. Merry through the witch-King battle and the Shire-rousing and finally Boromir, through seeing into his own [and of course his father's] weakness and repenting and atoning for it.

Also of note is galadriel's heroic rejection of the temptation to have her cake and eat it too. Had she had the ring, she could possibly have rallied the Elves of M-E [and the Men ] defeated Sauron and then pulled back to Lothlorien and weilding her time stopping pseudo-valinor creating ring. The ultimate embalmment, all with out the Valar.

So imo Tolkien triumphs by altogether disregarding the generic hero sterotypes and presents a heroic tale that occurs on all levels from the world of nature through the various elemental types of 'man' [Elf=air/wood , hobbit=earth, dwarf=metal, man as water,
wizards = fire] to the angelic.

The true hero is he who finds his path in life, and in the LotR many do.

[ August 29, 2003: Message edited by: lindil ]

08-29-2003, 03:04 AM	#7
lindil Seeker of the Straight Path Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: a hidden fastness in Big Valley nor cal Posts: 1,680	The LotR is unique in that it expresses the hero role through numerous characters and in many levels, as Brishtog has pointed out [welcome to the downs!]. At different moments virtually all of the members of the fellowship are heroic, and at moments central. Gimli and Legolas being the least reperesentative of this. But for their races they nonetheless undoubtedly returned to the mountains and the wood to a hero's welcome. Acually I will upon a sudden thought revise what I said, Legolas and Gimili are hero's in that they manage to transcend their ethnic biases against each other and to a degree open themselves to seeing the world through each others eyes. No small thing. Anyway, back to the original point. As has often been pointed out, Aragorn, Frodo, Sam and Gandalf all claim a peice of centrality, but all in different ways and on different levels. Gandalf the angelic: he passed the test of maintaing spiritual purity and purpose in a fallen and divided world over some two thousand years. Aragorn: the quintessential 'Elf-man', he in his person [and with his wife] bridges the 1st three ages and the new age to come. He brings as much elven culture into the life of men as is possible, he also is the discple of Gandalf, though this only became crystal clear to me upon a few reads and more life experience. He is the human warrior polymath par excellence: healer, warrior, loremaster, Elf-friend, captain-general, ranger, spy, diplomat, etc... He is human potential and ideal incarnate, and he gets the girl! Frodo: the sacrificial hero. He loses the most and has to go beyond the edge of endurance and must push his soul into the realm of Sauron even as his body journeys there. He had no hope of resisting the ring at Sammath Naur, but faith and persistence brought him through, along of course with ... Sam: the mundane hero. Earthy, practical, dogged to the end. Devoted to Frodo as virtually no one in this day and age could be without falling either into homosexuality or pathology. Sam is perhaps the most important hero for us, as his sacrifice is much closer to what many of us will be called tomake in our real lives. Putting family/duty before personal consideration. Trusting in our teachers/elders ( if we are fortunate enough to have real ones) to make the big choices and plot the big picture for us, and then seeing the tasks through to the end, even when our authority figures drop away, fail momentarily [or otherwise] due to weakness or circumstance. He is the humble bumpkin and while we may not have his earthy psychological type, we will all need his steadfastness and practicality. As for the other members, they become hero's in their own minor way. Pippin through saving the Shire and Faramir, and truly learning from the Palantir fiasco. Merry through the witch-King battle and the Shire-rousing and finally Boromir, through seeing into his own [and of course his father's] weakness and repenting and atoning for it. Also of note is galadriel's heroic rejection of the temptation to have her cake and eat it too. Had she had the ring, she could possibly have rallied the Elves of M-E [and the Men ] defeated Sauron and then pulled back to Lothlorien and weilding her time stopping pseudo-valinor creating ring. The ultimate embalmment, all with out the Valar. So imo Tolkien triumphs by altogether disregarding the generic hero sterotypes and presents a heroic tale that occurs on all levels from the world of nature through the various elemental types of 'man' [Elf=air/wood , hobbit=earth, dwarf=metal, man as water, wizards = fire] to the angelic. The true hero is he who finds his path in life, and in the LotR many do. [ August 29, 2003: Message edited by: lindil ] __________________ The dwindling Men of the West would often sit up late into the night exchanging lore & wisdom such as they still possessed that they should not fall back into the mean estate of those who never knew or indeed rebelled against the Light.