Dumbing it down

[Lalaith]

Here, out of interest, is an authentic bit of 10th century parental grief, which I thought was quite appropriate to Theoden:

But strength to cope
I could not muster,
so me seemed,
with my son's slayer:
soon will it be seen by all
how helpless
the hoary warrior.

(excerpt from the long poem Sonatorrek, or Loss of Sons, by the Viking poet Egill Skallagrimsson)