Stefani Muñoz
Fitchburg State University
Throughout the development of new war tactics during the 1900’s, many authors began to experience and express sufficiently reimagined literature, exposing both the tragic wins and losses personally seen during not only in World War I but World War II as well. Essentially, the idea of the “heroic” character began to morph into a less idealized image as modern authors at the time presented characters more realized, deconstructing the “ideal” and transforming it into the “real.” Author J.R.R. Tolkien was one of many others who began to pave the way for the more realized heroic character, but unlike some authors at the time Tolkien held an advantage in the area of heroic ideals. Having had extensive experience with epic texts such as Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Sir Gawain), Tolkien’s knowledge of the “heroic” ideal of Anglo-Saxon culture was exceptional. And during this period of war-time struggle, the idea of the heroic ideal of modern times compared to that of Anglo-Saxon culture held distinct similarities. By Christopher Garcia’s definition, a hero within Anglo-Saxon was “a warrior,” and this warrior had to be “strong, intelligent, and courageous […] willing to face any odds, fight to the death for their glory and people” and was able to do so while also being “humble and kind” (Garcia para. 1). With this in mind, I argue that during the time of the First World War, the figure of the ideal soldier held many of the same characteristics with the Anglo-Saxon warrior: courageous, self-sacrificing, and gracious.
But having had experienced his own trials and tribulations in a “quest” of his own during the First World War as a soldier, we may begin to wonder how the medieval and the modern matched up for Tolkien, especially within his fantasy creation The Lord of the Rings. With that being said, is it possible to infer that Tolkien himself might have interpreted his experiences during the First World War through medieval texts such as Beowulf and Sir Gawain and then within his creation The Lord of the Rings? Some argue that Tolkien’s experiences with medieval texts is the sole influence behind The Lord of the Rings, but within this article I will be exploring a more complex relationship between the two. In this case, I will argue for the idea that Tolkien’s experiences combined with his extensive knowledge of medieval literature allowed him to entwine the two within an epic fantasy that, ultimately, helped reimagine the “heroic” ideal for decades to come.
The “Heroic” Ideal
Within his article titled “Frodo and the Great War,” John Garth makes a claim that “[i]n their writing, predominantly, soldiers are passive sufferers” (41). This assertion, most notably, speaks homage to the literary figures of the First World War. From poets to philologists and everything in between, common men were thrust into the terrible horrors that battle wrought upon their country. Tolkien was one of them. Close to achie