Courage is the virtue of which Tolkien most markedly juxtaposed the ancient (pagan) world understanding with the Christian. By courage, most people understand the habit of not being afraid to face danger and do heroic deeds. The pre-Christian world (at least in literature) valued most the warriors who did not mind any physical harm or even the loss of life in a battle with some terrible enemy, like Beowulf. However, often they did it not just from mere goodwill to help their people, but they sought it as an opportunity to increase their fame and wealth, because a man’s worth was defined by his reputation (Clark, 2008, p. 45). But in Christian understanding, if one’s motivation for doing good deeds is motivated by self-gain, it ceases to be virtuous. Hence the so-much-appraised warrior courage was closely linked to the vice of greed and pride, or precisely ofermod, that is “overmastering pride” as Tolkien explained in a commentary on the translation of the poem The Battle of Maldon accompanying his story (as if a post script on the battle) The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm’s son (2001, p. 143). Tolkien called this kind of courage chivalric and his application of it in The Lord of the Rings was explored by George Clark (2008) and Jane Forrest-Hill (2008), developing on his research.
Clark contrasted Bilbo’s and Sam’s courage with Beowulf’s, arriving at the conclusion that theirs is humbler and more moral, more Christian-like. Forrest-Hill, along with other scholars such as Dickerson, identified that the character who exercises the chivalric courage the most is Boromir, and she showed how he was transformed from a sinful warrior into a Christian knight through his repentance. As Zimbardo (1968) said, courage is the most prominent virtue of the race of Men, but out of all their tribes, one is even more associated with chivalric courage than Gondorians — the Rohirrim. Tolkien meant them to represent ancient Anglo-Saxons (1) and that may be the reason why he attributed them this trait even though he viewed it rather negatively.
The Rohirrim’s, and particularly Éowyn’s, courage was discussed by Dickerson, Milbank, and Walsh. Éowyn the Rohirric princess calls herself a shieldmaiden (Tolkien, 2011b, p. 784) and is eager for battle, but her valiance comes from her misunderstanding of her life’s purpose and consequential “reckless desire for death” (Milbank, 2009, p. 104). According to all philosophies derived from Aristotle, virtue is the mean between two extremes: an excess and a deficiency of due merit of the habit. Éowyn goes to the extreme of being excessively bold, not taking the possible danger seriously enough and lacking a reasonable amount of fear, so she slips to the vice of daring. She only learns the true meaning of courage from Faramir whose valour is indeed virtuous. He, Frodo, and Sam represent what Manni (2009, p. 31) believes Tolkien wanted to teach us about courage — that “desperate courage is a moral value only if uncorrupted by a desire for glory, or for personal recognition, but is motivated only by the loyalty of a subordinate to his superiors.” Virtuous courage is not boastful and daring, but humble. Faramir is no less valiant than his brother Boromir, but unlike him, he does not wish for fame, only for his father’s recognition. And really valiant are not those who feel no fear, but those who act bravely in spite of it, when the situation requires it, for the sake of their friends and loved ones, like Sam defending Frodo from Shelob. Even Éowyn’s death-seeking courage for a moment turned into this kind when she stood up to the Nazgûl so that he would not get her uncle, King Théoden’s, body.
However, in Christianity, courage has an even more spiritual character. Rather than as the warrior valour, it is understood as fortitude. Markos (2012, p. 65) provides the dictionary definition of fortitude: strength of mind that allows one to endure pain or adversity with courage.” For him, courage equals endurance in the pursuit of the right, objectively morally good things despite any perils that may befall one while doing so. Such understanding is in accord with Aquinas’s (1999, p. 3886) definition of fortitude as a virtue which conforms man to the right reason by overcoming obstacles that remove one from it. Markos further explains that the essence of the real courage is in sticking to one’s road even if one cannot see its end, but believes in its success with the help of God’s providence. He praises the courage of the Fellowship who carried on their quest and did not abandon it when things became tough even though they had many chances to leave. Such courage is not in the lack of fear and confidence in one’s own power, but in not wavering in spirit when doing the ultimately good thing.
Resources
Clark, G., J.R.R. Tolkien and the True Hero. In Bloom, H., J.R.R. Tolkien, 2008, Blooms Literary Criticism, 2008. 180 pp. ISBN 1-60413-146-2
Forest-Hill, L., 2008. Boromir, Byrhtnoth, and Bayard: Finding a Language for Grief in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. In Tolkien Studies. [online]. Vol. 5, July 2008. Online available at: http://complete.jrrtolkien.ru/download/Tolkien_Studies-Vol5-2008.pdf
Manni, F., Real and imaginary history in The Lord of the Rings. In Mallorn. 2009. Spring 2009. No. 47. ISSN 0306-6674. pp. 28-33
Markos, L., On the Shoulders of Hobbits: The Road to Virtue with Tolkien and Lewis, 2012, Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2012. 240 s. ISBN 978-0-8024-4319-9
Milbank, A., Chesterton and Tolkien as Theologians, 2009, Edinburgh: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2009. 202 s. ISBN 0-567-39041-1
St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, [online], 1999, Raleigh: Hayes Barton Press, 1999. 5507 pp. ISBN 1-59377-495-8, online available at books.google.com
Tolkien, J.R.R., The Hobbit, 2011a, London: HarperCollins, 1937. 336 pp. ISBN 978-0-261-10334-4
Tolkien, J.R.R., The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, 2011b, London: HarperCollins, 1954. 424 pp. ISBN 978-0-261-10357-3
Tolkien, J.R.R., The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 2011b, London: HarperCollins, 1954. 464 pp. ISBN 978-0-261-10359-7
Tolkien, J.R.R., The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, 2011b, London: HarperCollins, 1956. 352 pp. ISBN 978-0-261-10358-0
Zimbardo, R. A., 1968. Moral Visions in The Lord of the Rings. In: Zimbardo, R. A.; Isaacs, N. D. (ed.), Understanding ‘The Lord of the Rings”: The Best of Tolkien Criticism, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2004. pp. 294, ISBN 978-0-618-42253-1
(1) See Tolkien, 2011b, p. 1136.