Patriotism and the Lord of the Rings

[Morthoron]

Originally Posted by Groin Redbeard

(by the way it is interesting to note that almost all the kings in Tolkien's books show more patriotism than the ordinary individual)

I would add a caveat to that statement, Groin, because we know relatively little about what ordinary individuals felt about their countries. This is because, save for the Hobbits, we know virtually nothing about 'commoners', as Tolkien does not touch on their lives at all. But if one extrapolates Tolkien's view of the world into real-world history, we find much the same absence of how common folks felt at any given time. The great unwashed masses have, until only very recently, been avoided like the plague by historians (who were usually under the patronage of a noble in any case).

Most commoners lived short, squalid lives, were dragged off to war by press gangs, and were slaughtered brutally on the battlefield without any comprehension about what they were actually fighting for. Whether they cared about which tyrant they fought for mattered little anyway. Those legless, armless or blinded individuals who escaped death were trundled off back home, given a tin cup and spent their remaining wretched lives begging for alms in front of their local cathedral. Was Gondor or Rohan any different? Perhaps. With Tolkien's rather Platonic view of enlightened kings (as opposed to the callousness and savagery of the actual monarchy), we would hope the commoners' lot was better. It is, after all, a fantasy.