First Cycle Degree programme (D. M.

270/2004)
in Language, Civilisation and the
Ca’ Foscari
University Science of Language
of Venice
Final Thesis

Tolkien’s rewritings: from

-
Ca’ Foscari
The Battle of Maldon to
Dorsoduro 3246
30123 Venice
Middle-earth

Supervisor
Ch. Prof. ssa Marina Buzzoni

Graduand
Giulia Fabbris
849291

Academic Year
2015/2016

0
CONTENTS

Abbreviations 2
Introduction 3

1. The source 6
1.1. The poem 7
1.2. Themes and characters 10
2. Themes 16
2.1. Tída’s realism 16
2.2. Ofermod in Maldon… 17
2.3. … and in Middle-earth 19
2.4. War 21
2.5. Christian faith as solution 23
3. Characters 29
3.1. The heroic code in the Germanic tradition 29
3.1.1. The Germanic lord 31
3.2. Tolkien’s heroic code 33
3.2.1. The Christian king 36
3.2.2. Tolkien’s heroes 37

Conclusion 39
The Battle of Maldon 41
Bibliography 53
Sitography 55

1
ABBREVIATIONS

Letters The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien, 2006

LOTR The Lord of the Rings, 2004
TaL Tree and Leaf, 2001
TH The Hobbit, 2013
The Silm The Silmarillion, 2001

2
INTRODUCTION

Every historical period has its values, its ideals, its heroes. In this thesis, I will focus my attention
on the Germanic values of the medieval time, leading an analysis that will compare these themes
and characters to those reinvented by one of the biggest intellectuals of the 20 th century,
Professor J. R. R. Tolkien. A devout catholic, he was very keen on philology, linguistics, history and
literature. This man showed a particular attitude towards Medieval English since his 20s, and his
life is a flourishing production of rewritings and fairy-tales that show all his competence. Like
every author, he focused his attention on certain themes. He used these topics and characters as
a starting point to create his stories. As the word “rewriting” implies, Tolkien took these elements
as sample and molded them to give birth to something adapted to his own view of the world,
both the Germanic and the modern/catholic one. Beyond some translations, essays and isolated
stories, most of his works are set in the secondary world he created, that is Middle-earth. He used
this place as background, and in and through it he translated his own concept of the world he
lived in in a way that mirrored the situation of a messy 20th century.
Middle-earth will be particularly important in this thesis. Not merely the place, but mostly those
who “lived” there. In fact, as a real Creator and Master, Tolkien wrote a breathtaking book, The
Silmarillion which works as the genesis of everything concerning Middle-earth: “There was Eru,
the One, who in Arda is called Ilúvatar; and he made first the Ainur […]. Then Ilúvatar said to them:
«Of the theme that I have declared to you, I will now that ye make in harmony together a Great
Music […]. » But when they were come into the Void, […] [Ilúvatar] showed to them a vision […];
and they saw a new World made visible before them […].” (The Silm, p. 15). What follows this
work is The book, his masterpiece, the worldwide known trilogy The Lord of the Rings. Actually,
between these two works there is another one, The Hobbit, not less important for sure, but its
contents are better developed in the mentioned trilogy. Anyway, this shorter book will be taken
in exam too for the understanding of Tolkien’s view. A main theme in these works is faith. As I
said before, Tolkien was very religious, and he never ended showing it. He really cared about his
belief and, moreover, he thought that every fairy-story should transmit a message of faith. Of

3
course, the tales based in Middle-earth are all fairy-stories – he particularly liked this genre. We
already saw how The Silmarillion resembles the creation of the world as the genesis does in the
Bible, and furthermore, in both these books there is an event called “the Exile”. Anyway, the
highest exaltation of this theme is The Lord of the Rings. The world is always the same world that
Ilúvatar created, so there is a God. Then there is Gandalf, that leads and helps the fellowship
through dark lands and perils and always gives the wisest suggestion. And there is Sauron,
Morgoth’s servant, the Devil of this world. His dark power is spreading all over Middle-earth and
he means to lay all lands in darkness. Sauron, Melkor and the other “monsters” are anyway
essential in these stories, as they allow the surfacing of the heroes. The role of the hero, the
monsters and faith brought Tolkien to another consideration: war. He lived to see both the two
World Wars, and they left a deep mark within him. The increasing use of technology and the high
level of modernization of the world frightened him. He saw in all this a “dangerous” estrangement
and indifference towards religion. It is not a case if in Middle-earth the division of the three Ages
is dictated by three great wars, battles that almost brought to the complete destruction of the
world or to its submission to the dark powers. Now I want to take into consideration a great battle
from which Tolkien took the cue many times for his rewritings. This fight is recorded in the so-
known poem The Battle of Maldon. This is the hypertext on which I will focus my attention for
this work, showing how Tolkien took it as sample to create his rewritings – hypotexts. This text is
the fragment of a poem that reports the fight that took place near Maldon (Essex, England) in the
year AD 991, when the eorl Byrhtnoth allowed the Viking enemy to pass the river Pante without
fighting, so to have a fair face-to-face battle. This choice proved fatal, as the English defeat
followed. Tolkien even wrote a hypothetical end to it, as the poem lacks of the introduction and
the conclusion. This brief play is entitled The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm’s Son, and
its lines are Tolkien’s idea of the aftermath of that battle. In this text we can also see the shift
from the pagan world to a more catholic one, and, among other ways, how he used the concept
of new to indicate what is good and what has to come in the near future, and the concept of old
to represent what has to be outdone. The conception of this play was possible thanks to the
already mentioned literary preparation of the Professor, as in that poem he shows his immense
knowledge of the Germanic texts. Very important is that we see his interpretation of the word

4
ofermod, found in the most famous lines 89-90 of the manuscript: Đa se eorl ongan for his
ofermode / alyfan lands to fela laþere ðeode1. Whenever not differently expressed, the
translations in English are taken from R. M. Liuzza. It has been matter of many studies, as its
interpretation leads to different ways in which the battle can be read. Yet from this piece, many
topics can be used as model, such as pride, doom, glory and loyalty. Tolkien even wrote a short
essay entitled Ofermod that came out with the publication of the poem The Homecoming of
Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm’s Son, where he clearly expressed his opinion concerning this concept.
Moreover, he dedicated a character of The Silmarillion to the representation of his own idea of
this word, that is Fëanor. His deeds will mold the doom of Middle-earth, as Byrhtnoth’s deeds
molded England’s doom. All these characters can be considered heroes. They followed a heroic
code of honor and strength that was a typical Germanic value. On the other hand, Tolkien clearly
showed us that his conception of heroism is different from the samples that the old texts offer
us, as we can see both in The Hobbit and in the trilogy. In these stories, the Germanic leader is
not missing, though he does not represent the perfect lord, but rather a way of acting that should
be set aside. The perfect hero for Tolkien has not the features of, say, Byrhtnoth, but rather of a
servant. He is more modest and does not retain himself a hero. The complete development of
this role is achieved in The Lord of the Rings through the character of Samwise Gamgee, a
gardener.
The three chapters of this thesis will go through these points more in detail.

1
“Then the earl in his overconfidence began / to allow too much land to that hateful people”
5
1. THE SOURCE

The Anglo-Saxon text on which this thesis will be based is The Battle of Maldon. It is a poem that
has come to us in fragmented form. The author is unknown. The original form was contained in
the ms. BL Cotton Otho A XII. It was put in the manuscript by Sir Cotton in the XVII century, already
in fragmented form – of the whole text nothing is known. In 1731, the Cotton Library was
devastated by a great fire, and many manuscripts were destroyed or anyway seriously damaged.
The remains of The Battle of Maldon are unreadable. Luckily, the Deputy Keeper of the Cotton
Library David Casley transcribed the poem some years before its destruction. The precise date is
unknown, but the man worked there from 1718 to 1754. The keeper of this copy was Thomas
Hearne, an eighteenth-century historian that printed it in prose in the appendix to John of
Glastonbury’s Chronicle in 1726. Later, in 1834, Benjamin Thorpe used Hearne’s text to print a
copy divided into verses. He inserted it in his anthology Analecta Anglo-Saxonica. The
transcriptions based on Hearne’s will be the ones used until 1935, year in which N. R. Ker
discovered Casley’s text. Today Casley’s transcription is kept in the ms. Rawlinson B. 203, pp. 7-
12, in the Bodleian Library of Oxford.
When and where the original manuscript was written is an obscure matter. Its destruction has
eliminated the chances to lead a paleographic examination and establish the date of composition.
So the only year we can rely on is the year of the battle, AD 991. Anyway, scholars generally
believe that it cannot have been composed long after the battle. The most shared opinion is that
it was written some months after the fight took place. As many scholars think, like Gneuss, Gordon
and Rosselli del Turco, this may be true because the facts of the battle are written as such vivid
memories that a longer distance of composition would not have transmitted. What is more, it is
unlikely that the poet was someone who actually fought that day. The deeds of the ealdorman
Byrhtnoth are seen as heroic and courageous, the loyalty of the warriors that remain until the
end is praised. A longer distance would have probably reported just the fact that that day England
underwent a terrible defeat that marked the beginning of the payments of tributes to the Vikings.
As Rosselli Del Turco points out (Rosselli del Turco 2009:80), these are seen as laðe gystas (hostile

6
 visitors, l. 86), hæþene (heathens, l. 55, 81) and even wælwulfas (slaughter-wolves, l. 96). This
implies that the poem cannot have been written in the period of the Danish domination (started
in 1016), but rather before it. What is more, the text is rich in details; such a richness could not
have been possible after years. Gneuss considers that the text can be regarded as “essentially
historical”, as this richness of details is derivable from eyewitness accounts of that day (Gneuss
1976:131). On the other hand, Scragg thinks that many details have to be attributed to the poet’s
imagination, as for examples the speeches (Scragg 1984:13). One more evidence that supports
the argumentation of proximity is the language. The poem does not present some typical
linguistic features that developed some decades after the period of the battle. It is written in the
late West Saxon dialect, the dialect that can be found in the largest part of the poetical Anglo-
Saxon tradition - it is very conservative. There are some hapax legomena, but much of the
vocabulary can be found in the old poetic tradition. The use of this language makes it even more
difficult to establish where the manuscript was written, even though scholars suggest that it was
written in one of the monastery of the Danelaw or of the southern-eastern England. Many of
these benefited from Byrhtnoth, but the one that took the greatest advantage was the one of Ely
– here his body lies (Liber Eliensis, II.62).
The poem is 325 lines long, and it follows the typical Germanic alliterative verse. Anyway, there
are some irregularities in the scheme, probably due to transcription mistakes or poetic needs.

1.1 The poem

The poem reports the fight that took place near Maldon in the year AD 991. Here, we find two
armed forces lined up on the two banks of the river Pante, today known as the Blackwater. The
fragment begins with the ealdorman Byrhtnoth arraying his soldiers on the field. Then he rincum
tæhte / hu hi sceoldon standan and þone stede healdan, / and bæd þæt hyra randan rihte
heoldon, / fæste mid folman, and ne forhtedon na. (ll. 18b-21)2, this proves that part of his troops
were not ordinary soldiers, but rather young men who needed to be instructed. After having

2
“… showed the soldiers / how they should stand and hold the field, / told them to hold their shields securely, /
firm in their fists, and never be afraid”
7
settled them, he dismounted from his horse among those people þær him leofost wæs, / þær he
his heorðwerod holdost wiste. (ll. 23b-24)3. From the opposite bank, a Viking messenger stood,
and he made a speech in which he informed Byrhtnoth that the Seamen wanted the earl to give
them rings as tribute to avoid a bloody battle. This speech surely provoked the proud eorl, who
spoke, yrre and anræd (angry and resolute , l. 44a), raising his shield and shaking his spear, and
sent back the Viking with a miccle laþre spell (more hostile news, l. 50b), as he did not mean to
give up battle so easily. The two armies were divided by the water, so Byrhtnoth ordered three
valiant men to defend the bridge. The Vikings perceived the danger, so they acted cunningly
asking for a chance to pass the river. This happening is possibly the most crucial moment of the
battle, as [ð]a se eorl ongan for his ofermode / alyfan landes to fela laþere ðeode. (ll. 89-90)4.
The Vikings passed the causeway, and the slaughter drew nigh. As soon as the battle began, many
dead bodies of both the armies lied on the battlefield. The ealdorman kept on encouraging his
young warriors, talking them about the fame they would have earned if the battle against the
Danes was won. Then, a wiges heard (tough warrior, l. 130a) moved towards Byrhtnoth and
wounded him. The English leader killed his attacker, and one more after him. But he was wounded
once again, and this time he was avenged by a young warrior, Wulfmær. Nevertheless, the third
stroke was the last one, as it wounded his arm, and he could not wield weapons anymore. With
his last breaths, the old leader bid the young men go forth, and then looking up to heaven he said:
Ic geþancie þe, ðeoda Waldend, / ealra þæra wynna þe ic on worulde gebad. / Nu ic ah, milde
Metod, mæste þearfe / þæt þu minum gaste godes geunne, / þæt min sawul to ðe siðian mote,
/ on þin geweald, Þeoden engla, / mid friþe ferian. Ic eom frymdi to þe / þæt hi
helsceaðan hynan ne moton. (ll. 173-180)5. Right after, the heathens killed him savagely. Close
to him lied dead two young men that before stood beside him, Ælfnoth and Wulfmær, that fell in
battle giving their lives with their lord. Byrhtnoth’s death showed immediately the stouthearted
and the cowards. Odda’s sons fled from battle on their lord’s proud steed, searching safety in the

3
“… where he most wanted / to be, where he knew his retinue most loyal and brave”
4
“Then the earl in his overconfidence began / to allow too much land to that hateful people”
5
“I give thee thanks, O Lord of Nations, / for all the joys I have had in this world. / Now, gracious Maker, I have most
desperate need / that Thou grant grace to my spirit, / so that my soul might journey to Thee / into Thy keeping, King
of Angels, / and depart in peace. I implore Thee / that the fiends of Hell may not harm it”
8
woods. This betrayal had as consequence that many English warriors believed that Byrhtnoth
himself was leaving the battle, so the forces divided. However, [e]alle gesawon, / heorðgeneatas,
þæt hyra heorra læg. / Þa ðær wendon forð wlance þegenas, / unearge men efston georne: / hi
woldon þa ealle oðer twega, / lif forlætan oððe leofne gewrecan. (ll. 203b-208)6. Here it began
a series of speeches in which Byrhtnoth is praised, the oaths taken were recalled, and the warriors
urge each other to wield weapons until death. Each soldier expressed his love for the dead lord
in different ways, as we can see in Ælfwine’s words: Gemunaþ þa mæla þe we oft æt meodo
spræcon, / þonne we on bence beot ahofon, / hæleð on healle, ymbe heard gewinn: / nu mæg
cunnian hwa cene sy. (ll. 212-215)7, in Offa’s: Hwæt, þu, Ælfwine, hafast ealle gemanode, /
þegenas to þearfe. Nu ure þeoden lið, / eorl on eorðan, us is eallum þearf / þæt ure
æghwylc oþerne bylde, / wigan to wige, þa hwile þe he wæpen mæge / habban and
healdan, heardne mece, / gar and god swurd. Us Godric hæfð, / earh Oddan bearn, ealle
beswicene: / wende þæs formoni man, þa he on meare rad, / on wlancan þam wicge, þæt wære
hit ure hlaford; / forþan wearð her on felda folc totwæmed, / scyldburh tobrocen. Abreoðe his
angin, / þæt he her swa manigne man aflymde. (ll. 231-243)8, in Leofsunu’s: Ic þæt gehate, þæt
ic heonon nelle / fleon fotes trym, ac wille furðor gan, / wrecan on gewinne minne winedrihten.
/ Ne þurfon me embe Sturmere stedefæste hælæð / wordum ætwitan, nu min wine gecranc, /
þæt ic hlafordleas ham siðie, / wende fram wige; ac me sceal wæpen niman, / ord and iren. (ll.
246-253a)9, and in Dunnere’s: Ne mæg na wandian se þe wrecan þenceð / frean on folce, ne for
feore murnan. (ll. 258-259)10. In the following lines, the warriors made effective all these proud
words, fulfilling their oaths: swords were raised, arrows were shot, shields were shattered and

6
“All the house-troops / saw that their lord lay dead. / Then forward pressed the proud thanes, / uncowardly men
hastened eagerly; / they all wanted one of two things, / to give up their lives or avenge their dear lord”
7
“I remember the speeches we made over mead / when we raised our boasts on the benches, / heroes in the hall,
about hard struggle: / now he who is bold has to prove it”
8
“Lo, Ælfwine, you have reminded all the thanes at need. Now that our lord lies dead, the earl on the earth, each of
us needs to encourage every other warrior to war, as long as his weapon he can have and hold, the hard blade, the
spear and the good sword. Godric, wretched son of Odda, has betrayed us all: when he rode off on that horse, that
proud steed, too many men thought that it was our lord; and so our forces were divided on this field, the shield-wall
broken. Shame on his deed, by which he caused so many men to flee!”
9
“I hereby promise that from hence I will not flee the space of a single foot, but will go further, avenge in the battle
my beloved lord. The steadfast men of Sturmer need not mock me, now that my lord has fallen, saying I would go
home without my lord, turn away from war; instead weapons shall take me, point and iron”
10
“He must never weaken, who hopes to revenge his lord on this people, nor care for his life!”
9
 men were slain. Many of them died, Offa among them. After all these direct speeches, the poet
recounts in an indirect way how all these proud men - and not only them - showed their loyalty
towards their dead beloved lord. The last speech recorded is Byrhtwold’s: Hige sceal þe
heardra, heorte þe cenre, / mod sceal þe mare, þe ure mægen lytlað. […] / Ic eom frod
feores: fram ic ne wille, / ac ic me be healfe minum hlaforde, / be swa leofan men, licgan þence.
(ll. 312-313, 317-319)11. It seems that they were aware of the fact that the chances of success
were small indeed, but they did not mean to leave the battlefield and the revenge of Byrhtnoth.
The fight goes on, more soldiers die, and the poem ends here.

1.2 Themes and characters

The Battle of Maldon is a very rich poem. The poet was surely well informed about the old
Germanic traditions, and he praised it through this work. He presented many themes related to
the comitatus, the Germanic institution in which the comites swore total loyalty to their princeps,
and this last one should guarantee them shelter and goods, not to mention ale and mead during
the feasts in the big halls. Note how Byrhtnoth is referred to in the line 278a, sincgyfan (treasure-
giver) and in the line 290b, beahgifan (ring-giver). The soldiers of a comitatus were supposed to
fight in order to increase their lord’s fame and to defend him in battle, they were supposed to
stay on the battlefield until the end in order to fulfill their oaths and to pay him back for all the
goods received. Tacitus, in his Germania, even considered shameful to come back from a battle
in which the lord died: Cum ventum in aciem, turpe principi virtute vinci, turpe comitatui virtutem
principis non adaequare. Iam vero infame in omnem vitam ac probrosum superstitem principi suo
ex acie recessisse. Illum defendere, tueri, sua quoque fortia facta gloriae eius adsignare
praecipuum sacramentum est. Principes pro victoria pugnant, comites pro principe 12. See how all

11
“Spirits must be the harder, hearts the keener, / courage the greater, as our strength grows less. […] / I’m an old
man: I will not leave, / but by the side of my lord – by such / a beloved man – I intend to lie”
12
“In the day of battle, it is scandalous to the Prince to be surpassed in feats of bravery, scandalous to his followers
to fail in matching the bravery of the Prince. But it is infamy during life, and indelible reproach, to return alive from
a battle where their Prince was slain. To preserve their Prince, to defend him, and to ascribe to his glory all their own
10
these themes are alive in the lines of this poem. I clearly pointed out how many soldiers, in
particular those belonging to the heorðwerod, suffered for Byrhtnoth’s death anddedicated long
speeches in his memory. But then, they kept on fighting to avenge their lord, to kill the slayer of
such a great leader. On the other side, there were those who deserted, as Godric is told to have
fled on the horse of the one þe him mænigne oft mear gesealde. (l. 188)13, and here the critic
enlarges to all those who fled after Godric, betraying their lord and forgetting what he had done
for them: and manna ma þonne hit ænig mæð wære, / gyf hi þa geearnunga ealle gemundon /
þe he him to duguþe gedon hæfde. (ll. 195-197)14. As Scragg points out, in the first lines of the
text, when Byrhtnoth gave instructions, he [h]et þa hyssa hwæne hors forlætan, / feor
afysan, and forð gangan (ll. 2-3)15, but he remains on his horse. This decision is crucial, as will
allow Godric to desert and “attribute the loss of the battle to the army’s assumption that the
warrior who flees on Byrthnoth’s horse is Byrhtnoth” (Scragg 1984:37).
The deserters are condemned morally, and on the other side, it is stressed the moral virtue of
those who remain until the end, those stouthearted and loyal warriors that show their love for
their treasure-giver. They fight beyond hope, yet they repel even the only thought of escape: Þa
hi forð eodon, feores hi ne rohton. (l. 260)16. Many scholars think that the true aim of the poet
was to praise them above Byrhtnoth. The army was composed by the heorðwerod (Byrhtnoth’s
personal followers), the selected fyrd (a levy of equipped and trained warriors) and the great fyrd
(a supplemental levy of all able-bodied freemen, less well-armed and less well-trained), but all
those who remained, young, old, trained, untrained, showed a total faith towards their lord that
is surely worth praising. It can clearly be seen how they desperately fought in the second part of
the poem, after the speeches, but they kept their promise: Offa in the end lied at his lord’s side,
but he fulfilled his oath þæt hi sceoldon begen on burh ridan, / hale to hame, oððe on here

valorous deeds, is the sum and most sacred part of their oath. The Princes fight for victory; for the Prince his followers
fight.” Tacitus, Germania, ch. 14. Translation by T. Gordon 2009
13
“… who had often given him many horses”
14
“… and many more beyond any good measure, / if they would have remembered all the rewards / he had given
them for their services”
15
“Then he ordered every young soldier to send off his horse, drive them far off and go forward”
16
“Then they went forth, not fearing for their lives”
11
crincgan / on wælstowe wundum sweltan (ll. 291-293)17. Note how Ælfwine and Leofsunu made
clear that the thanes could not mock them for leaving their dead lord, as they deeply meant to
avenge their beloved eorl and die in battle if necessary: Ne sceolon me on þære þeode þegenas
ætwitan / þæt ic of ðisse fyrde feran wille, / eard gesecan, nu min ealdor ligeð / forheawen æt
hilde. (Ælfwine, ll. 220-223a)18, Ne þurfon me embe Sturmere stedefæste hælæð / wordum
ætwitan, nu min wine gecranc, / þæt ic hlafordleas ham siðie, / wende fram wige; ac me sceal
wæpen niman, / ord and iren. (Leofsunu, ll. 249-253a)19. Furthermore, the foolish actions of
Byrhtnoth can be seen in contrast with the positive and heroic values of love and loyalty for him
portrayed by the old retainer Byrhtwold (see note 11). This man showed a blind faith, even though
he had “no responsibility downwards, only loyalty upwards” (TaL, p. 144). These were the
achievement of the heroic oaths, the evidence of all those speeches in the great halls.
These proud warriors came face to face with a strong enemy, an enemy that the poet identified
as wælwulfas (slaughter-wolves, l. 96a), animals that in the Germanic epic were seen as the
“beasts of battle”, together with the ravens and the eagles, both present in this battle: Þær wearð
hream ahafen; hremmas wundon, / earn æses georn (ll. 106-107a)20. When the Seamen
perceived that the tide would have given a great advantage to the English force, they ongunnon
lytegian (began to act cunningly, l. 86a, my translation), asking to be allowed across the ford: a
perfidious request.
What is more, it can be noted that the Vikings are always seen as a mass, and even in the few
moments in which a Viking is isolated, he is never identified for his personal features, but rather
for his being a warrior. They never make proud actions or speeches: Wod þa wiges heard, wæpen
up áhof, / bord to gebeorge (ll. 130-131a)21, Ða he [Byrhtnoth] oþerne ofstlice sceat / þæt seo
byrne tobærst: he wæs on breostum wund / þurh ða hringlocan (ll. 143-145a)22, Eode þa

17
“… that they would ride together into the city, / get home safely, or fall in the slaughter, / die of wounds on the
field of war”
18
“Thanes will not mock me among my people, / that I would go away from this army, / seek my homeland, now that
my lord lies / cut down in battle”
19
“The steadfast men of Sturmer need not / mock me, now that my lord has fallen, / saying I would go home without
my lord, / turn away from war; instead weapons shall take me, / point and iron”
20
“The cry was raised; ravens circled, / the eagle longed for prey”
21
“Then came a tough warrior, weapon raised, / his shield for protection”
22
“Then without waiting he [Byrhtnoth] stabbed another / until his armor burst: he was wounded in the breast /
through his ring-mail”
12
gesyrwed secg to þam eorle (l. 159)23, Ða hine heowon hæðene scealcas (l. 181)24. In no way
can they equal Byrhtnoth’s soldiers. On the other hand, the English army is clearly identified as a
harmonic union of valiant warriors (save those who fled). A lot of space is dedicated to single
soldiers, to singular speeches and deeds. Among these, the main and noblest is undoubtedly
Byrhtnoth. He embodies the Germanic hero of the old epic. His actions and the allusions to him
depict him as the princeps of a comitatus, though he is “nothing more” than Æthelred’s thegn. He
was highly praised among his soldiers, but the critic has often and deeply focused its attention on
the lines 89-90, where the word ofermod appears. It is of doubtful interpretation, and such
interpretation may lead to different conclusions. Some scholars believe that it is a word of
condemnation, see how Tolkien defines this action “a defect of character, no doubt” (TaL, p. 146)
that not even death can redeem. Others see it under a more “heroic” view, as his sense of honor
had the upper hand on his duties, his rashness would be a heroic sin, and his death is glorious
because he followed the heroic code of the tradition preferring death to an inglorious success.
Some others even move their attention to the verb lytegian at the line 86a, of doubtful
interpretation as well as it is a hapax, thinking that he had not the wisdom to recognize that the
Vikings were acting viciously in asking for a safe passage. And some others believe that the defeat
was not dictated by this decision but rather by the desertion of many, action that slimmed the
English army.
It is also important to note that after this first critic to the eorl’s decision, his character was
immediately reasserted through his great skills in battle and as a leader, not to mention the loyalty
that he managed to inspire in his soldiers. He remained the central topic of the poem even after
his death.
However, the majority of scholars agree on thinking that this “overmastering pride” is one if not
the main feature that led to this defeat. He treated a battle as a sporting match, he gave up a
tactical advantage and risked the lives of those he was supposed to lead and defend. Byrhtnoth
sought the glory that the old Germanic lords reached following a heroic code in the ancient times,
and saw in the Seamen’s request his chance of being remembered among them. The great power

23
“Then an armored man went to the earl”
24
“Then the heathen savages hacked him up”
13
he wielded misled him. Supposed to be the defender of the land and of his own army, Byrhtnoth,
in his self-confidence, misused the power that was given to him to protect his land and found
instead death, not only his own, but his soldiers’ as well and the English defeat. This excessive
pride can be considered far from being heroic, as it leads to chivalry, going beyond and even
interfering with need and duty (Tal, p. 144). He let the enemy pass the causeway unfought and
undisturbed, when probably he should have let the three bricgweardas (bridge-wardens, l. 85a)
do their work. Here the ambiguity arises. A heroic action? Selfishness? Since the term ofermod
occurs only four times as a noun in Old English texts (Gneuss 1976:126), it is rather difficult to
make an assertion about its real meaning. Gneuss in his essay goes through an accurate analysis
of this word, and what comes out is that it is mainly found in religious contexts. Except in our
poem, the term corresponds to the Latin superbia, generally translated into “pride”. What has to
be pointed out is that in the Christian tradition “pride” is a negative characteristic, often linked to
Lucifer, but in the Germanic sense it had a positive connotation. Another similar dichotomy is the
one concerning the heroic oath and the glory in battle, both seen as essential in the heroic code,
but as vanity and arrogance in the religious view. Nevertheless, it cannot be ignored Byrhtnoth’s
last action. Foreseeing his death, the eorl does not praise himself for his deeds, rather he puts his
soul into God’s hands and prays (ll. 173-180). And he is not the only one who prays, as it can be
seen in the lines 262b-264: and God bædon / þæt hi moston gewrecan hyra winedrihten / and
on hyra feondum fyl gewyrcan25. That is why we can refer to the poem as a Christian– but not a
religious – one (Gneuss 1976:130). This is a glimpse of the shift from the Germanic tradition to
the Christian world, so as the fact that many monastery benefited from Byrhtnoth. The idea of
change is given also through the generational shift, that is to say the references to the fathers of
some of the warriors in the poem. Byrhtnoth’s father is mentioned, Byrhthelm, Wulfmære is
firstly referred to as Wulfstanes bearn (Wulfstan’s son, l. 155a), Godric, Godwine and Godweg are
Oddan bearn (Odda’s sons, l. 186a), Ælfwine is bearn Ælfrices (Ælfric’s son, l. 209b) and he even
named his ancestor Ealhelm (l. 218b), and Wistan is Þurstanes suna (Thorstinn’s son, l. 298a).
Another interesting aspect is that the Vikings were heathen, and I have already mentioned how
badly they were represented – or better, not represented – in contrast with the mighty English

25
“… and asked God that they might avenge their dear lord and bring about the downfall of their foe”
14
warriors. It is enough to think about the typical Germanic enemy, the first example being Grendel,
the monster against which Beowulf fought. Anyhow, “there is little evidence that the poet
intended any form of [Catholic] allegory or moral teaching in the narrow sense” (Scragg 1984:35),
he makes no further comment on the matter. What is more, at the lines 138-146 we see
Byrhtnoth killing many warriors, and then [s]e eorl wæs þe bliþra: / hloh þa modi man, sæde
Metode þanc / ðæs dægweorces þe him Drihten forgeaf (ll. 146b-148)26. No sooner had he
finished exulting than another Viking wounded him fatally: Byrhtnoth was struck down in his pride
(Scragg 1984:39).
What is sure, anyway, is that despite the controversial meaning of the lines 89-90, the author
meant to praise the greatness and loyalty of this army and to create a sense of English victory
despite the defeat.

26
“The earl was happier; / he laughed, brave man, and thanked his Maker / for the day’s work the Lord had allowed
him”
15
2. THEMES

In this section I mean to go through the different themes I tried to expose in the previous chapter
in relation with Tolkien’s ideas about the same themes. I will not only present the parallelisms
and the oppositions between the Germanic and the Tolkienian epic, but I will also introduce his
own point of view whenever the Professor developed it. The division into subchapters is mostly
to facilitate the reading, as the themes are quiet overlapping.

2.1 Tída’s realism

The first fact that has to be clear before moving on is that he created a second world, an imaginary
world in which most of his stories take place, Middle-earth. All these are of course fairy-stories,
as he was particularly fond of this genre. But there is a story that is not set in this place, and it is
particularly important to us. It is entitled The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm’s Son, and
it is the sequel to the anonymous poem of Maldon. An invented sequel, of course. The Professor
developed his own idea of the aftermath of the battle, inserting obviously his thoughts about the
poem itself. In this brief play, two people are appointed by the abbot of Ely to rescue the dead
body of the beloved eorl. So we see Torhthelm (colloquially Totta), a young boy son of a minstrel
(many scholars think that he is a character of social pessimism and believe that Tolkien meant to
discredit him), and Tídwald (Tída), a ceorl, an old farmer that had seen many fights, on the
battlefield the day after the battle. The first aspect that can be noted is Totta’s devotion to
Byrhtnoth. As “his head is full of old lays concerning the heroes of the northern antiquity” (TaL,
p. 123), he behaves like a thane and praises those who died close to him. As soon as they recognize
the bodies of two of Byrhtnoth’s soldiers, Totta says “[…] In work or play / they were fast fellows,
and faithful to their lord, / as close to him as kin.” (TaL, p. 127), and some lines below “[…] As lays
remind us: / ‘What at the mead man vows, when morning comes / let him with deeds answer, or
his drink vomit / and a sot be shown.’ […] I loved him no less than any lord with him; / and a poor
freeman may prove in the end / more tough when tested than titled earls / who count back their
16
 kin to kings ere Woden” (TaL, p. 128). He is clearly referring to the comitatus, as keen as he was
on these old matters. But, promptly, Tída speaks as the wise of the situation, as he is older and
has seen many battles and knows what happens on the battlefield: “Bitter taste has iron, and the
bite of swords / is cruel and cold, when you come to it. / Then God guard you, if your glees falter!
/ When your shield is shivered, between shame and death / is hard choosing” (TaL, p. 129). He is
not to blame if he is skeptical and cannot share his partner’s romanticized heroic vision
(Grybauskas 2011). Many scholars believe that his voice reflects Tolkien’s thoughts27, but other
do not agree, as he was deeply fond of the old Germanic traditions of which Totta chants. I also
believe that the fact that he introduces the word “shame” highlights a change: the choice that
the warriors made during the battle was between loyalty and death, a higher purpose. Tolkien,
on his side, presents the escape as shameful. That is, it is not that they stayed because they loved
so deeply their lord, but they did not flee because they would be ashamed of what people could
think if they did so. Tolkien points out that probably Leofsunu as well would have fled if there had
been no witnesses (TaL, p. 144). The loyalty linked with fear of reproach is no heroic. This does
not concern everybody for sure, but it can be a way to see the fact. See how Ælfwine made clear
that he would never dare flee as his master lied dead (ll. 222-223).

2.2 Ofermod in Maldon…

A few pages further, we can hear – and this time clearly – Tolkien’s voice. Once the two men
arrive at the causeway, they note that there are not as many dead bodies as they expected. Totta
wonders how they came across the causeway without fierce battle. And so the wise man answers:
“Alas, my friend, our lord was at fault, / or so in Maldon this morning men were saying. / Too
proud, too princely! But his pride’s cheated, / and his princedom has passed, so we’ll praise his
valour. / He let them cross the causeway, so keen was he / to give minstrels matter for mighty
songs. Needlessly noble. […] Well, doom he dared, and died for it.” (TaL, p. 137, my emphasis).
This passage is perfectly linked to Tolkien’s short essay Ofermod, where he criticizes Byrhtnoth’s

27
Chance believes that in this parody “Tolkien focuses primarily on the failure of Germanic values”. (Chance
2001:119)
17
action, considering it a defect of character molded “by ‘aristocratic tradition’, enshrined in tales
and verses of poets now lost save for echoes” (TaL, p. 146), and that we hear through Totta’s
words. He put his warriors in a heroic situation that could have taken them only to death.
Undoubtedly a foolish decision, too much to be heroic, even if to him he could have seemed
magnificent. And in his folly, he could not have been wholly redeemed by death. On the other
side, we have those who suffer because of such a wrong action, the army. As clearly explained
before, they remained true to their lord and died beside him, holding their ground. They were
aware of the risks of battle, and many probably were seeking glory as well. Very deep are
Byrthwold’s words Hige sceal þe heardra, heorte þe cenre, / mod sceal þe mare, þe ure mægen
lytlað.(ll. 312-313)28, as Tolkien says, “The words of Beorhtwold have been held to be the first
expression of the northern heroic spirit, Norse or English; the clearest statement of the doctrine
of uttermost endurance in the service of indomitable will.” (TaL, p. 143). Tolkien also puts these
words in Totta’s mouth, adding two lines “Mind shall not falter nor mood waver, / though doom
shall come and dark conquer” (TaL, p. 141), and that is why some scholars believe that he did not
mean to consider the young minstrel just a “babbler”. He reports some of the most famous lines
of the Anglo-Saxon epic and also gives his own contribute to them – he would never put these
words into the mouth of a character depicted merely as a fool. Note also how Totta shows an
attitude of subordinate courage, the most heroic and moving heroism that Tolkien praised (TaL,
p. 148). Some scholars even advanced the hypothesis that this young character could be the
anonymous Maldon poet (Grybauskas 2011), as the clues are many. Tolkien presents him to us as
“son of a minstrel; his head is full of old lays concerning the heroes of the northern antiquity”
(TaL, p. 123), he is not present in the battle but arrives on the battlefield soon after the end of it
(see p. 6) and in his dream he reports the two lines 312-313 of the real poem.

28
“Spirits must be the harder, hearts the keener, / courage the greater, as our strength grows less”
18
2.3 … and in Middle-earth

This theme of overmastering pride is present in many other Tolkienian books – he saw the regimes
of the 20th century, and so the idea of a single man raising upon a whole country was quite
pressing in his mind: ofermod was still at work in his days. Let us follow the chronological order.
As I said before, the biggest part of his stories are set in Middle-earth, and of the creation of this
place is told in The Silmarillion. After the Ainur created the world, Arda, following the themes
decided by Ilúvatar, the Firstborn came into the world. These were the Elves, very similar to the
Holy Ones, yet not so magnificent. They were wise, strong and immortal, and Eru and the Valar
dearly loved them. The day came when one of them, Fëanor, the Spirit of Fire, came into life. Such
was his strength that his mother was consumed in spirit and body in his bearing. He “grew swiftly,
as if a secret fire were kindled within him. […] He became of all the Noldor, then or after, the most
subtle in mind and the most skilled in hand” (The Silm, p. 64). In fact, thanks to his abilities he
created the Silmarils, three great jewels – the most marvelous and strong ever seen – that shaped
the fate of Arda and all its living creatures. And everyone was so delighted by them that Varda,
one of the Valar, “hallowed the Silmarils, so that thereafter no mortal flesh, nor hands unclean,
nor anything of evil will might touch them, but it was scorched and withered; and Mandos
foretold that the fates of Arda, earth, sea, and air, lay locked within them. The heart of Fëanor
was fast bound to these things that he himself had made” (The Silm, p. 67). In fact, he loved them
with a greedy love. But these stones raised the desire in the heart of Melkor, the Vala that brought
discord during the creation of the world and was therefore pushed away; lust grew great in him,
and in the end he stole the Silmarils. No sooner had Fëanor heard about the theft than he cried
and was grieved, and cursed Melkor. Driven by wrath and pride, he swore a terrible oath, by the
name even of Ilúvatar; his seven sons swore with him. It could not have been broken and would
have pursued oathkeeper and oathbreaker to the world’s end. They vowed “to pursue with
vengeance and hatred to the ends of the World Vala, Demon, Elf or Man as yet unborn, or any
creature, great or small, good or evil, that time should bring forth unto the end of days, whoso
should hold or take or keep a Silmaril from their possession” (The Silm, p. 83). But in vain they
had sworn, as Melkor was a Vala himself, and no Elf could have overcome him. And soon a second
19
event took place, the so-called Kinslaying of Alqualondë, consequence of Fëanor’s wrath. And
Mandos spoke, declaring the prophecy of the Doom of the Noldor. Nothing good came from these
words, and the path that they followed was nothing but plain. The vow spoken by Fëanor pursued
indeed all of his sons, and the sons of his sons, and Fëanor himself died in the first attempt of
recollecting the holy jewels. And the lands of Middle-earth were wet with the blood shed in the
name of the Silmarils.
Another character that “suffered” from ofermod was Beren, a mortal man that fell in love with
the daughter of one of the biggest lord of the Elves, Thingol of Doriath. Beren wished to wed her,
so Thingol swore an oath. He asked the man to go into the very land of Morgoth (the name that
Fëanor gave to Melkor after the theft, meaning Dark Foe) and bring him a Silmaril. And here we
see how the power of the Doom of the Noldor was still at work, as Thingol was not one of that
kin, and this rescue would have moved the sons of Fëanor against his kingdom. But the Queen of
Doriath knew that this quest was impossible and would have taken Beren’s life, but the proud
man left anyway, keeping to his code of honor but dragging the inevitable failure in trying to
obtain the corrupted power of the Silmarils, since they were made through the ofermod of Fëanor
(Rorabeck 2008:87). He managed to bring the king a Silmaril, and this drawn Doriath within the
fate of a mightier realm. In fact, the sons of Fëanor, constrained by their oath, summoned him to
yield the stone, but Thingol refused. In the end, both Thingol and later Beren’s son died because
of the jewel, and the realm of Doriath fell.
And at last, Tolkien probably meant to show us how someone driven by an indomitable will can
redeem through Aulë’s and Thorin’s affair. Aulë was one of the Valar, the most able at creating
things. Impatient for the coming of the Children (the Elves), he made the Dwarves in secret. But
Ilúvatar knew everything and spoke to him, admonishing him for his presumption, as these
creature were not in the mind of Eru. Then Aulë was sad and sorry, and answered “[…] in my
impatience I have fallen into folly. […] But what shall I do now, so that thou be not angry with me
for ever? As a child to his father, I offer to thee these things, the work of the hands which thou
hast made. Do with them what thou wilt. But should I not rather destroy the work of my
presumption?” (The Silm, p. 43), and he took a hammer and was on the verge of smiting the

20
 creatures, and wept. But Aulë’s humility moved Ilúvatar, and he had compassion upon him and
accepted his offer and forgave him, letting the Dwarves dwell in Middle-earth.
Thorin is the Dwarf lord found in The Hobbit. He left with his twelve companions and Bilbo, the
Hobbit, to regain his homeland, the Lonely Mountain, the kingdom of his grandfather that was
seized by the terrible dragon Smaug. It was a place full of gold and precious gems, but the most
important to Thorin was the Arkenstone, the king jewel, “ ‘For the Arkenstone of my father,’ he
said, ‘is worth more than a river of gold in itself, and to me it is beyond price’ ” (TH, p. 309). The
wish to find that stone drove him mad, when he once was loyal and honorable. Bilbo found it, but
he did not give it to Thorin and hatched a plan to avoid the imminent war. When Thorin found
out what the little fellow had done, he was stricken dumb with amazement and confusion, and
was full of wrath. He started shouting and grasped Bilbo with both hands: “You miserable hobbit!
You undersized – burglar! […] What have you to say, you descendant of rats? […] Get down now
to your friends! […] or I will throw you down [the stone Gate].” (TH, p. 318). He talked in that way
to a friend that had proved his loyalty and bravery and that, aware of the risk, helped his dear
mad friend. But after the battle, when Thorin was about to die, he wanted to see the poor Bilbo
and part from him in friendship, as he understood that in his greed for gold he forgot what really
matters: “I would take back my words and deeds at the Gate. […] There is more in you of good
than you know, child of the kindly West. Some courage and some wisdom, blended in measure.
If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.”
(TH, p. 333).
So Tolkien offers his idea of redemption through repentance and humility, that is the Christian
ethic.

2.4 War

It is then clear that, in a bigger scenario than Maldon, Tolkien succeeds in showing us how the
decisions of one single man in power can shape the doom of many. Often these wrong and foolish
decisions led to disasters or wars, as it is obvious in The Battle of Maldon. The theme of war was
very present in Tolkien’s mind, as he lived to see both the World Wars. He fought in the first and
21
saw his son leave for the second. He represented many battles in his stories; as I already said, the
three ages of Middle-earth are dictated by three great wars. In particular, the war that brought
to the fourth and last age was the one that mostly threatened the destruction of all civilization.
The regimes of the 20th century showed the ofermod of the modern leaders, but this time they
had the contribution of technology and machines (Rorabeck 2008:32). The threat of the social
damage was therefore spread on a global scale. It is interesting to see how Tolkien represented
this idea of a mechanic world in war against a more natural one. He was fond of all things that
grow in nature, botany was one of his interests. In his major book The Lord of the Rings, Saruman,
the White Wizard, decided to turn to the side of the enemy29 and the once green Isengard turns
into a furnace made of stone, iron and dead wood that produced orcs ready for slaughter. Later,
the tree shepherd Treebeard will say that Saruman had a mind of wheels and gears. And then
there is the Shire, green hills and silver streams, where the Hobbits dwelt peacefully and led quiet
and healthy lives. These people will have a special place in Tolkien’s legendarium, as we will see
later, as they will shape – this time in a positive way – the fate of Middle-earth.
In the battles that took place in the ages of Arda, it can be noted how once again those who fought
for freedom are clearly identified: there are heroes, thanes, loyal warriors, people with a name
that have important roles in the stories of which is told in the books, soldiers that perform great
deeds, renown weapons and armors30. While on the other side there is the foe, masses of orcs
and other strange creatures that are never seen clearly. Just like the Seamen that arrived in
Maldon. They never have space for single speeches or great actions. They are small, dirty,
aggressive, savage and their language is composed of terse sounds. And they are those who
created this mechanized world. So Tolkien meant to create a sharp contrast between the dark
land of Mordor and the Shire in order to emphasize the “respect for the natural world and a life
in pastoral tranquility near but not within the wilds of nature” (Rorabeck 2008:35), to show that
a society in harmony with nature should not fear it, but a society that spoils and destroys it will

29
This enemy, the Dark Lord Sauron, is represented as a single lidless eye upon a high tower, always watching
everything and desiring the destruction of all, conceiving no vision but his own. A plain reference to the dictators of
that time, no doubt. And the image of these dictators can be seen also as “the monsters” of the Germanic tradition
but in the present days, like Grendel or those Vikings that won over Maldon.
30
In The Battle of Maldon this characteristic is not present, but in many other Germanic texts it is. See for example
Beowulf.
22
 be set upon by monsters personifying a chaotic nature31. This was his vision of the world: if society
respects nature, nature will respect society and the world will live a peaceful and quiet existence.

2.5 Christian faith as solution

To link all of this together there is still one thing missing, mentioned more than once above: faith.
The theme of religion was very dear to him, and he believed that every fairy-story should “reflect
and contain in solution elements of moral and religious truth” (Letters, p. 144). So he worked with
the Christian allegory, conjoining the happenings of the primary and secondary world. The
Professor deeply believed that the social code of the 20th century was one of the main causes of
the messy situation in which the world was lying: this mechanized world was setting religion aside,
and this was the point. Greedy people were threatening the freedom of entire countries,
devastating lands and destroying lives. The absence of faith could bring to nothing but this ill
society. The highest evidence of how faith can save is found in The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien never
talked about it directly; there are no gods or prays, but through his characters it is well
represented. Do not misunderstand my words, this book is not merely a Catholic propaganda!
But for the analysis that I need to lead in this section, I will now take into consideration the aspects
representing religion. Let me first go back a little to The Silmarillion. It is an allegory of the genesis,
and further it continues to resemble the Bible: Melkor, the mightiest among the Ainur, wanted to
raise himself above all (Chance 2003:208), and is therefore banished; the Elves move from the
Blessed Realm into Middle-earth, a sort of exile (Chance 2003:140); when the Valar saw how these
people were devastating each other, they decided to restart again and give new shape to the
world. Beside setting the story in a Catholic scenario, he introduced many other ways to represent
his beliefs. In The Lord of the Rings the theme of hope is often cited; hope can be seen in contrast
with the Germanic doom32, and in The Silmarillion there is still a harmony between these two, as
characters like Beren or Fëanor accomplish their deeds because “such was their doom”. Their

31
Rorabeck offers as examples the Dwarves set upon by Smaug in The Hobbit and by a Balrog in The Lord of the Rings,
and Saruman set upon by the Ents. (Rorabeck 2008:22)
32
In The Battle of Maldon, there are references to some men as “doomed” or “fated” (l. 105 fæge, l. 119 fotum, l.
125 fægean, l. 297 fæges)
23
destinies seem driven by a force independent from divinity (Whitt 2010). In The Lord of the Rings,
however, the Divine Providence plays a more prominent role, for example when Aragorn decides
to move to the Black Gate of Mordor in order to give Frodo and Sam one last chance to destroy
the ring. Aragorn knows that they are facing an army too strong for them, but he hopes, and the
battle is won as the two Hobbits do manage to destroy theRring.
Tolkien also represented how Catholic religion is opposed to ofermod: it is the rejection of valor
and selfishness, seen as pride and greed, in favor of faith, hope and charity. Aragorn, the future
(Christian) king, is a wandering man very able at healing. He puts himself at the service of people,
he is glad to help and would not want to be the heir of Isildur. And when he has to take decisions,
he thinks about what is good for his friends and the soldiers that trust him. But about this kind of
character I will talk in the following chapter.
There are some passages in The Battle of Maldon that let see the shift towards Catholicism under
which England was undergoing. The Vikings are referred to as heathens, Byrhtnoth with his last
breath asks God to grant grace to his spirit, the soldiers and God bædon / þæt hi moston
gewrecan hyra winedrihten / and on hyra feondum fyl gewyrcan. (ll. 262b-264)33, and the proud
eorl in the speech to the Viking messenger says God ana wat / hwa þære wælstowe wealdan
mote (ll. 94b-95)34. Not to forget that Byrhtnoth gave many benefits to many monasteries and
that the one of Ely has his body35. However, Tolkien put the emphasis on this religious shift, not
only in the stories of his secondary world, but also in, for example, The Homecoming of
Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm’s Son. Many times the two rescuers refer to the Vikings as “heathens”, so
as the warriors of Maldon did. And more than once they name God: “Their ghosts are under
ground, or else God has them” (TaL, p. 126), “He has gone to God glory seeking” (TaL, p. 130),
“God guide our road to a good ending!” (TaL, p. 139) and a last very significant one, after Totta
declares that he “loved him no less than any lord with him”, the wise Tída remembers him that
war is cruel and adds “Then God guard you, if your glees falter!” (TaL, p. 129). That means that if
courage leaves you, you have to rely upon something more stable. At a certain point, Totta begins
to praise Byrhtnoth: “Build high the barrow his bones to keep! / For here shall be hid both helm

33
“…and asked God / that they might avenge their dear lord / and bring about the downfall of their foe”
34
“God alone knows / who will hold this place of slaughter”
35
The Liber Eliensis records that the abbot himself went on the battlefield to rescue the dead body.
24
and sword; / and to the ground be given golden corslet, / and rich raiment and rings gleaming, /
wealth unbegrudged for the well-beloved[.]” (TaL, p. 132). Tída’s answer is very meaningful, as
he clearly states “These are Christian days, though the cross is heavy; / Beorhtnoth we bear not
Béowulf here: / no pyres for him, nor piling mounds; / and the gold will be given to the good
abbot. / Let the monks mourn him and mass be chanted! / With learned Latin they’ll lead him
home[.]” (ibid.). This is what he deserves, as the time is changing. But Totta’s attitude and love
for old times allows us to have the contrast between the old days being surpassed and the new
Christian days that are to come. Even more important is the Latin chanting that concludes the
play: “Dirige, Domine, in conspectu tuo viam meam. Introibo in domum tuam: adorabo ad
templum Sanctum tuum in timore tuo. Domine, deduc me in iustitia tua: propter inimicos meos
dirige in conspectu tuo viam meam. Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto: sicut erat in principio
et nunc et semper et in saecula saeculorum. Dirige, Domine, in conspectu tuo viam meam.” (TaL,
p. 142). This was introduced by sleepy Totta’s words: “There are candles in the dark and cold
voices. / I hear mass chanted for master’s soul / in Ely isle” (TaL, p.140), linked to the previous
part. It has to be noted the change in the sound: the four-stressed alliterative verse typical of the
Germanic epic tradition disappears in these last lines, so the shift is further developed. The
candlelight that Totta sees in the dark are the sign of a bright way, of a guidance for those
journeying home (Chance 2001:138). And now the title of the play can be better understood: this
“homecoming” refers to the return of the body to Ely for sure, but more important is the return
of the soul to the ðeoda Waldend (Lord of Nations, l. 173). Another point is Tída’s reflection – or
critic – about Byrhtnoth’s proud action “Alas, my friend, our lord was at fault, / or so in Maldon
this morning men were saying. / Too proud, too princely! But his pride’s cheated, / and his
princedom has passed, so we’ll praise his valour. / He let them cross the causeway, so keen was
he / to give minstrels matter for mighty songs. / Needlessly noble. It should never have been: /
bidding bows be still, and the bridge opening, / matching more with few in mad handstrokes. /
Well, doom he dared, and died for it” (TaL, p. 137). This sentence goes beyond the heroic code of
the Anglo-Saxon tradition, and reflects a more modern code, or, at any rate, the Tolkienian code.
Not idly are these words spoken by the old farmer, probably Tolkien’s voice, as this was his
opinion clearly expressed in his essay Ofermod. This matter of the temporal shift has another

25
connotation: the shift from what is old to what is new, seen under a generational view. I already
mentioned in the previous chapter how many soldiers are identified as “sons of”, and this aspect
is present all along Tolkien’s “mythology”. So there will be many relations between the
kings/knights, representative of a dying culture, and their sons/nephews/heirs, trying to revitalize
the culture (Chance 2001:116). The first example that has to be presented is Aragorn son of
Arathorn, Isildur’s heir, being one of the most representative. We come to know about this
Ranger, called Strider, in the first book of The Lord of the Rings, but of his ancestors much is said
in the pages of The Silmarillion. Isildur, his most-known ancestor, is the king that did not manage
to destroy the One Ring when he had the chance, being right in the fire mountain from whence it
came; but the Ring’s power won over the fragility of Men. Because of him, the Ring and its evil
endured in Middle-earth for years and years. Aragorn is the last of that bloodline, and he has the
task to fix that old mistake. He is afraid of what he is though, as he fears that the same weakness
may run in his blood – and does indeed. But he reveals to be much more, as the poem dedicated
to him recites:

All that is gold does not glitter,

Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.
(LOTR, p. 170)

Strider experiences a journey through evil and peril and in the end he realizes that he has to do
more and better than his forefathers did. He accomplishes his quest and the reigns of Gondor and
Arnor are reborn again.

26
Another example of this kind are the steward of Gondor Denethor and his two sons, Boromir and
Faramir. Denethor loves much the first, being the older and stronger, while he never appreciates
Faramir’s decisions and actions in battle. He is the kind of lord that would sacrifice his sons while
he would remain seated in his hall. And so he actually does. Boromir soon dies because he did not
manage to tame the evil of the Ring, as Gandalf recalls: “In no case would Boromir have brought
it to you [Denethor]. […] He would have stretched out his hand to this thing, and taking it he
would have fallen. He would have kept it for his own, and when he returned you would not have
known your son” (LOTR, p. 813) (we can see here the weakness entrenched in the hearts of Men),
and Denethor, in his grief, sends Faramir to the impossible defense of the city of Osgiliath (LOTR,
p. 816). But the young boy does not die, even if he is seriously wounded. His valor goes beyond
his old father’s folly, as one of the soldiers of the citadel says: “He is bold, more bold than many
deem; for in these days men are slow to believe that a captain can be wise and learned in the
scrolls of lore and song, as he is, and yet a man of hardihood and swift judgment in the field. But
such is Faramir. Less reckless and eager than Boromir, but not less resolute” (LOTR, p. 766).
Denethor dies burnt in a pyre and Faramir remains alive, receiving from the new king Aragorn the
princedom of Ithilien, and he lives to see the new days of the fourth age of Middle-earth.
I think that this shift can be seen also under a slightly different point of view, that is not a
generational but rather a personal one. And once again, Aragorn is an example. We can see how
at first he kind of rejects his origins, his “appointed” duties. But at last, through this tough journey,
he acknowledges that that is what he is doomed to be and accepts it. And also Frodo, the Ring-
bearer, the small Halfling that destroys the Ring goes through a difficult – the most difficult I
would say – path that allows him to grow and become a “new man”. Frodo – as well as Bilbo – is
also a Took, and “once in a while members of the Took-clan would go and have adventures. They
discreetly disappeared, and the family hushed it up” (TH, p. 5), and that was not very Hobbit-like,
as Hobbits prefer to lead quiet lives. Frodo, alongside with his faithful Sam, experiences a perilous
journey, and when he comes back he is certainly not the same Hobbit that left the Shire thirteen
months before.
There is one last point that I want to expose, and that is pity. This word is not contemplated in
the Germanic tradition, while it is often considered in the Catholic religion. See how the heroic

27
Totta wants to “thrash the villain” when they hear low voices in the dark during the rescue (TaL,
p. 133), but Tída reproaches him saying that “[t]heir life’s wretched, / but why kill the creatures,
or crow about it? / There are dead enough around” (TaL, p. 134). And this perfectly links to
Gandalf’s words to Frodo, when the Hobbit says that it was “a pity that Bilbo did not stab the vile
creature [Gollum] when he had the chance” (LOTR, p. 59) as he says that “[i]t was pity that stayed
his [Bilbo’s] hand. Pity, and Mercy: not to strike without need” (ibid.). And some lines below, when
Frodo says that Gollum even deserves death, the Wizard replies “Deserves it! I daresay he does.
Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do
not be too eager to deal out death in judgments. For even the very wise cannot see all ends”
(ibid.). That is to say, the decision of death is put in the hands of Someone bigger than the biggest
on earth, and this concept was quite new at the times of the great Germanic lords that had power
over everything.

28
3. CHARACTERS

As we have seen in the previous chapters, the Germanic works presents many kinds of characters.
Once again, Tolkien drew from this epic tradition what interested him most and what he needed
to mold in order to show his thoughts, by adding a modern spin on some characters of his, using
reconfigured contexts and situations. Here, these characters played their part serving Tolkien’s
aim but at the same time they kept on being recognizable in the medieval contexts from which
they derived (Chance 2003:95).
Here follows the contrast between the Germanic conception of heroism and the ideal Germanic
lord opposed to the heroic code that Tolkien developed and his ideal lord, that is the Christian
king, alongside with the conception of the hero.

3.1 The heroic code in the Germanic tradition

As it is clearly expressed in Tacitus’ Germania (see p. 10), the Germanic soldiers had to follow a
strict code of honor and loyalty, they were to serve their lord until death. On his side, the lord had
to assure them protection, shelter and material goods like food, ale and gold. The abandonment
and the fulfillment of this bound is the central tension in The Battle of Maldon.
The exaltation of heroism was given through acts of valor that could have been remembered by
the minstrels in songs for long years, like Tolkien’s critic over Byrhtnoth expresses “He let them
cross the causeway, so keen was he / to give minstrels matter for mighty songs” (TaL, p. 137), but
Tída’s view is already set in a pre-Christian ideology. But as the poem of the battle shows, this
was a problem (yet not seen as such) that was entrenched in the Anglo-Saxon society. And this is
clear because of that day of August 991 what is mostly remembered is the glorious death of the
ealdorman of Essex, not the English defeat. Death – and defeat – dictated by the own selfish and
hasty choice of Byrhtnoth to allow the Vikings through the river. He put his army and the whole
society in danger, because he could, because the social code of that time placed the lord at the

29
center and his decisions were unquestionable. He saw his loyal men as a means to achieve that
ambitious glory, and this is a defect that leads to chivalry – not truly indicative of heroism.
On the other side, the followers swore total loyalty and devotion to their lord and served him well
in battle, such was the price to be paid for the benefits received. The soldiers that remained on
the battlefield of Maldon after that Godric fled on Byrhtnoth’s horse completely fulfilled their
oath, dying side by side their lord, defending him until the end. They were too soaked with the
Germanic tradition to recognize that their lord “was at fault”, that he was putting their lives in
danger for his selfish aspirations, that this decision was “needlessly noble”, as Tída would say. The
warriors were supposed to endure and die, and not to question (TaL, p, 147). Also Totta failed in
recognizing the folly of the dead master, even if he could directly see the consequence of his
ofermod (Grybauskas 2011). But we already know that the young man was fond of the old lays of
the northern antiquity. The same death reached Thorin’s nephews. We already saw how the
Dwarf king suffered from ofermod, and he paid with his life as well as the eorl of Essex. And his
lust for the Arkenstone led not only to his own death, as “Fili and Kili had fallen defending him
with shield and body” (TH, p. 336). Their loyalty was similar to that of the Germanic warriors of
Byrhtnoth, as the speech of Byrhtwold demonstrates (ll. 312-313). These are words spoken by a
subordinate, “a man for whom the object of his will was decided by another, who had no
responsibility downwards, only loyalty upwards. Personal pride was therefore in him at its lowest,
and love and loyalty at their highest” (TaL, p. 144).
Among the army there are old, young, noble and common people that shared the same loyalty
towards Byrhtnoth. When he died, they began to urge and support morally each other, and the
most stouthearted proved their beot (oath) fulfilled36. It is interesting to note that Byrhtnoth was
under the service of his king Æthelred (þæt her stynt unforcuð eorl mid his werode, / þe wile
gealgean eþel þysne, / Æþelredes eard, ealdres mines / folc and foldan ll. 51-54a37), but the men
that fought that day in Maldon fought for the eorl, not for the king or the land, such is the
admiration and the trust that Byrhtnoth moved within them. They never mentioned Æthelred.

36
beot he [Eadric] gelæste /þa he ætforan his frean feohtan sceolde (ll. 15b-16) “he fulfilled his [oath, my translation]
/ when he had to fight before his lord”
37
“here stands an earl of untainted reputation with his army, / who will defend this homeland, / the land of Æthelred,
my own lord’s / folk and fields” (my translation)
30
 Many scholars believe that the poem is a praise to them, that they are the real heroes: “In their
situation heroism was superb. Their duty was unimpaired by the error of their master, and (more
poignantly) neither in the hearts of those near to the old man was loved lessened” (TaL, p. 148),
and continues some lines below “It was not for his heorðwerod to blame him; probably many
would not have felt him blameworthy, being themselves noble and chivalrous” (ibid.).
Another Tolkien’s character that can be see under the Germanic view is Peregrin Took, called
Pippin. He is one of the Hobbits that leaves the Shire when the Ring is found. His life was saved
by Boromir sacrifice38, and when he rode with Gandalf to Minas Tirith, he met his father, the
steward of Gondor Denethor. Seeing the old man in his grief, the young Hobbit, moved by pride,
felt the duty to offer his “little service” in payment of his debt. This is an act legalized by a
contractual vow, as Pippin recites after the steward: “Here do I swear fealty and service to
Gondor, and to the Lord and Steward of the realm, to speak and to be silent, to do and not to let
be, […] until my lord release me, or death take me, or the world end” (LOTR, p. 756). And as the
procedure of the comitatus implies, Denethor “will not forget it, nor fail to reward that which is
given: fealty with love, valour with honour, oathbreaking with vengeance” (ibid.).

3.1.1 The Germanic lord

So far we have mainly seen the subordinate character, the blind loyalty of a faithful soldier. But
now I mean to introduce the two types of Germanic lord that can be distinguished: the good and
the bad. Both of them are powerful and chivalrous, but the good lord cares for his soldiers and is
not as selfish as the bad lord is. This is a point of view that has obviously been developed not in
the old Anglo-Saxon centuries, but much time later.
Let us start with Byrhtnoth. He is of course a bad lord, as he put the safety of his army aside in
favor of his untamable – and, let me say, unnecessary – necessity of glory. Tolkien even deepened
this fault through the development of the character of Denethor. He was old (remember that

38
Boromir’s lust for the Ring led him to threaten the Ring-bearer, the one that he swore to protect instead, and even
if in the end he repented, his greed brought the bold man to his death: “I tried to take the Ring from Frodo, […] I am
sorry. I have paid” (LOTR 2004:414) and died. See ch. 2.3.
31
Byrhtnoth too was pretty old for that time: Þa gyt þæt word gecwæð / har hilderinc, ll. 168b-
169a39, he was approximately 60 years old) and attached to a code of honor and fealty. When he
came to know that his beloved bold Boromir was dead, he even preferred that it would have been
his younger son to die. He felt like Faramir had betrayed him: “[H]ave I not seen your eye fixed
on Mithrandir, seeking whether you said well or too much? He has long had your heart in his
keeping” (LOTR, p. 812) and in the following page: “ ‘Do you wish then,’ said Faramir, ‘that our
places had been exchanged?’ ‘Yes, I wish that indeed,’ said Denethor. ‘For Boromir was loyal to
me and no wizard’s pupil.’ ” (LOTR, p. 813). Not only did he fail as a father, but as a master as well,
as he assumed that Pippin could have been of little service just because of his size and his race
(Chance 2011:175). In fact, he is asked to “wait on [him], talk to [him], if war and council leave
[him] any leisure. Can you sing?” (LOTR, p. 806). And at last, he failed even as a steward, for he
stayed in the higher level of the city while his soldiers died in the siege of Gondor. He esteemed
the Dark Lord’s decision: “He uses others as his weapons. So do all great lords, if they are wise,
Master Halfling. Or why should I sit here in my tower and think, and watch, and wait, spending
even my own sons?” (LOTR, p. 818). This is the highest demonstration, I think, of how a man
wielding a great power over a land and over people can be misguided by that very power,
misusing it to the detriment of those that rely upon him for guidance, council and safety.
The ideal of good Germanic lord is Théoden, king of the reign of Rohan. When Merry, Pippin’s
kinsman, offered his service to him, his recognition was very different. First, it was the king himself
that told him to ride together and asked him to be his esquire. Full of delight and surprise, he
climbed from his seat and said “ ‘I have a sword,’ […] Filled suddenly with love for this old man,
he knelt on one knee, and took his hand and kissed it. ‘May I lay the sword of Meriadoc of the
Shire on your lap, Théoden King?’ he cried. ‘Receive my service, if you will!’ ‘Gladly will I take it,’
said the king[.] ‘As a father you shall be to me,’ said Merry.” (LOTR, p. 777). And when the king
was ready to go on war and had to left the Halfling behind, he released him from his service, “but
not from [his] friendship” (LOTR, p. 801). It is clear how the vow that Merry made was different
from Pippin’s, as Merry referred to his lord as a father, it is a voluntary love for him rather than
an involuntary duty to him. And on his side, Théoden truly loved him, and did not use his men for

39
“But still the old warrior / said what he could”. The literal meaning of har is hoary, grey-haired.
32
 his purposes (Chance 2001:173). That is why he rode at the head of his warriors to war, he fought
alongside them and died among them. When they were before the orc hoard at the gate of Minas
Tirith, he made a noble speech to inspire them and urge them to hold their ground: “Tall and
proud he seemed again; and rising in his stirrups he cried in a loud voice, more clean than any
there had ever heard a mortal man achieve before:

Arise, arise, Riders of Théoden!

Fell deeds awake: fire and slaughter!
spear shall be shaken, shield be splintered,
a sword-day, a red day, ere the sun rises!
Ride now, ride now! Ride to Gondor!”
(LOTR, p. 838)

Here we can clearly hear the alliterative lines of The Battle of Maldon similar in form and content:
[Byrhtnoth] hyssas bylde, / bæd gangan forð gode geferan (ll. 169b-170)40, Ða wearð borda
gebræc (l. 195a)41, Wæl feol on eorþan (l. 303b)42.

3.2 Tolkien’s heroic code

Tolkien developed an idea of heroism starting from the heroic code of the Germanic tradition,
eliminating the features that he did not see as appropriate and adding his own (generally Catholic)
elements. I already introduced in the previous subchapter how the bond between Denethor and
Pippin, and Théoden and Merry were different, as both the lords and the subordinates saw the
situation in different ways. Pippin, as soon as Denethor released him from his service, went for
his own way. But when Théoden released Merry, the young Hobbit was stunned: “ ‘But, but, lord,’
Merry stammered, ‘I offered you my sword, I do not want to be parted from you like this, Théoden

40
“[Byrhtnoth] encouraged the young men / and bid them go forth as good companions”
41
“Then shields were shattered”
42
“Slaughter fell on earth”
33
King. […] Then tie me on to the back of [a horse], or let me hang on a stirrup, or something,’ said
Merry. ‘It is a long way to run, but run I shall, if I cannot ride, even if I wear my feet off and arrive
weeks too late’ ” (LOTR, p. 801). Despite his leave, the Halfling did not mean to be divided from
his king, and neither did so Éowyn, Théoden’s nephew, who he appointed to stay in the golden
hall of Meduseld in Edoras and govern the Rohan folk during the war. In fact, before leaving for
the gate of Gondor, a Rider spoke to Merry: “You wish to go whither the Lord of the Mark goes: I
see it in your face. […] Then you shall go with me. […] I will bear you before me, under my cloak
until we are far afield, and this darkness is yet darker. Such good will should not be denied” (LOTR,
p. 804). So they rode to war. This soldier was no less than the fair maiden of Rohan Éowyn.
Therefore, they betrayed the orders of their lord, but their presence in the battle proved
essential. When Théoden was felled by the Nazgûl lord, they avenged him. After the king fell,
Éowyn took off her helm and Merry understood who that soldier really was. The Nazgûl attacked
her, and “[p]ity filled [Merry’s] heart and great wonder, and suddenly the slow-kindled courage
of his race awoke. He clenched his hand. She should not die, so fair, so desperate! At least she
should not die alone, unaided” (LOTR, p. 814). And at this point, his sword pierced the black lord’s
knee, so that the young woman could stab his face, and the cries of that horrible creature were
heard in Middle-earth no more. “Simple love” for another gave Merry the strength to fight an
enemy of extreme power, and the two young heroes rendered a service directed not only to their
king only, not even to Gondor, but to all Middle-earth (Chance 2001:174).
Another story that can help us see that Tolkien did not totally agree with the Germanic heroic
ideal is his play The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm’s Son. In the play, the two characters
are two subordinates, not great warriors. The “hero” of Maldon is silenced in death, and Tída
even proposed Totta to use his dead body for bolster, as we already know that the old ceorl was
aware that Byrhtnoth acted wrongfully. He talked about him in a way that no true Anglo-Saxon
servant would dare: “Beorhtnoth we bear not Béowulf here: / no pyres for him, nor piling
mounds; / and the gold will be given to the good abbot” (TaL, p. 132): Anglo-Saxon heroism is
dead in this play. The world is left in the subordinates’ hands, and they are alone in greater part
because of the ofermod of these glorious leaders. But while Totta chants and weeps for his
beloved lord, Tída is more realistic and resolute, and knows that this mood is just a social

34
imposition that can pass with social change: “Aye, a bump on the bone is bad for dreams, / and
it’s cold waking. […] When morning comes, it’ll be much like others: / more labour and loss till the
land’s ruined; / ever work and war till the world passes” (TaL, p. 141).
A good example of fair master would be Bard of Lake Town. As he appears in The Hobbit, he can
be seen as providing a solution to Thorin’s ofermod. In fact, he does not die because he is not
guilty of it. He is a just ruler and cares for his people and would avoid war if possible. At the end
of the fight, he distributed wealth and power: “Bard sent much gold to the Master of Lake-town;
and he rewarded his followers and friends freely. To the Elvenking he gave the emeralds of Girion,
such jewels as he most loved, which Dain had restored to him. To Bilbo he said: ‘This treasure is
as much yours as it is mine. […] I would reward you most richly of all’ ” (TH, p. 337).
Another interesting character is – of course – Gandalf. This wizard provides a continuous example
and source of inspiration for the companions of the Fellowship of the Ring and not only. Through
him, Tolkien introduces a missing figure in the Anglo-Saxon tradition, that is a spiritual guide. He
is a fair leader sent by the Valar to help the inhabitants of Arda until the destruction of Morgoth.
And his duty he does accomplish. As fair as he is, he is absolutely free from ofermod. He always
acts for the good of the others, and is never selfish. A good example is the scene in the Mines of
Moria, when the Fellowship had to pass through the bridge of Khazad-Dûm. It was “a slender
bridge of stone, without kerb or rail, that spanned the chasm with one curving spring of fifty feet.
[…] They could only pass across it in single file” (LOTR, p. 329). This passage resembles very much
the causeway through which went through the Vikings in Maldon. But the difference stands in
the leaders’ attitude. Byrhtnoth let the enemy cross it, and his ofermod proved lethal. While
Gandalf acted as a savior, as when the Balrog came out from the darkness, Gandalf alone fought
against it giving to his friends a chance of escape. He even smote the bridge and, falling into the
abyss, he cried “Fly, you fools!”, and was gone, along with the monster. He gave his life to help
his followers (some of which were warriors, but some others had never seen a fight, like the
heorðwerod and the great fyrd). Tolkien offered us this example in clear contrast with Byrhtnoth.
He represented so the heroic responsibilities that a leader should accomplish: Gandalf had
“responsibilities downward” to the Fellowship, and he did not see such death as a defeat. It is

35
 courage, resolution and strength of spirit that drove him and many other characters in The Lord
of the Rings, such as we have seen previously in Merry and Éowyn (Bruce).

3.2.1 The Christian king

In The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien presented us his model of lord through the character of Aragorn.
He can be considered the Christian king. Unlike Théoden ad Denethor, he was not sitting in a huge
hall looking for glory. He abandoned the road that would lead to kingship, it was not his ambition.
Wandering through the wild lands of Middle-earth, he came to know about the Hobbits’ quest,
and joined them because he understood that in this quest laid the fate of Middle-earth. He
presented a strong will as he could master the Ring’s power, unlike Boromir. The rejection of
ofermod is therefore essential in this character, as it is essential in the figure of the hero that we
will see later. Aragorn was not looking for absolute power. He differs from Théoden (not guilty of
ofermod but a Germanic lord for sure) “because of his moral heroism as a healer rather than his
valor as a destroyer” (Chance 2001:176). In fact, there is an old woman in The Lord of the Rings
that clarified: “The hands of the king are the hands of a healer” (LOTR, p. 860). After the battle at
the gate of Minas Tirith, Aragorn went to the houses of healing, and asked to the old woman
serving there for athelas, the kingsfoil. When he received it, he went first to Faramir, who seemed
hardly to breathe. As soon as the leaves of the herb released their fragrance, all hearts were
lightened, and Faramir awoke. And everyone knew he was the king. Then he went to Éowyn’s
room, and then to Merry’s. Their wound was of a different kind, as they had faced a “foe beyond
the strength of [their] mind or body. And those who will take a weapon to such an enemy must
be sterner than steel, if the very shock shall not destroy them” (LOTR, p. 866). But the king awoke
both of them. When Faramir awoke, something else awoke inside him, the knowledge and love
for the new king: “My lord, you called me. I come. What does the king command?” (ibid.). He
spoke to Aragorn like if he were a Christian disciple. Another valuable action that help us to
recognize Aragorn as a Christian king is the sacrifice that he was ready to make. After the battle
of Gondor, he decided to give Frodo and Sam one last chance to reach Mount Doom unseen, as
he set with the warriors of Gondor and Rohan to the Black Gate of Mordor hoping to distract the
36
 watchful eye of Sauron43. This was a sacrifice made out of love not only for his friends, but for the
whole world, like Éowyn and Merry’s. And Aragorn, like Gandalf in Moria, expected death, but
not defeat, as he knew that if the two Hobbit destroyed the Ring, the world would be safe. It is
clear here how the Tolkien recalled the idea of a single man having the power to decide for others,
even though Aragorn is not a king yet. He did not order anything: “I do not yet claim to command
any man. Let others choose as they will” (LOTR, p. 880). They follow him because they love him
and have seen his real valor as a master and as a healer not only of body but of soul as well. Unlike
Byrhtnoth, Aragorn did not risk the lives of those who trusted him for his own selfish purposes,
but for the safety and the liberation of the world from the Dark Power.

3.2.2 Tolkien’s heroes

I have already presented how Tolkien gave great importance to the image of the subordinate
rather than to the great warrior. Starting from his brief play, we can see that the two characters
are not noble people, and that the glorious German hero Byrhtnoth has not a great place in this
tale as he has in the original poem. Tolkien, together with other scholars, believed that the true
heroes of Maldon are the loyal warriors, as we have seen above. From this point, the Professor
started to develop his own idea of “hero”, and he came out with The Hobbit. The main feature of
his hero is the refusal of ofermod, as Bilbo managed to do when he was in possession of the
Arkenstone. He gave it to Bard and the Elvenking because, in his simplicity and directness of
purpose, he knew that it was a powerful gem that could have avoided war, so he give it up for a
greater social good. The fact that the war took place anyway did not depend on him. His heroes
act always on the outskirt of his tales. Bilbo was not esteemed much until the end, because he
was not a great warrior but rather a lazy Hobbit. Like every other Hobbit, he liked smoking his

43
In the cinematographic adaptation of the trilogy, the directors decided to add a speech in this scene, performed
by Aragorn: “Sons of Gondor! Of Rohan! My brothers! I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of
me! A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship.
But it is not this day. An hour of wolves and shattered shields when the age of Men comes crashing down! But it is
not this day! This day we fight! By all that you hold dear on this good Earth, I bid you stand! Men of the West!”. I
think these words resembles very much the speeches heard in Maldon, but once again Strider is presented to us as
a Christian king.
37
pipe, eating many times a day and relaxing on his comfortable sofa. Frodo and Sam went through
their journey alone, unseen, unconsidered. They never had a place in the great battles like their
friends. All these Hobbits were in blind service to someone they totally trusted, to people who
were totally lacking of ofermod. In fact, their main guidance was Gandalf. So they followed their
lords not only faithfully, but morally as well.
Tolkien presented also a sort of spiritual heroism, that is the heroism needed to fight evil from
the inside. The Ring tempted Frodo many times, but he managed to understand what is good and
what is evil. Surely not alone – and not always –, for Samwise Gamgee was always alongside. And
here we have the true hero of the trilogy. Sam is the subordinate of a subordinate. He is Frodo’s
gardener. Note how it comes out Tolkien’s passion for “things that grow”. It is not a chance that
our hero loved plants, as Tolkien was concerned with the growing mechanized world of his
century and the elimination of nature. When Frodo and Sam were approaching Mount Doom,
Frodo is exhausted and could not walk anymore. Sam’s heart started to weep, and he carried him
on his back. When they arrive at the Crack of Doom, Frodo failed to fight the evil, and spoke with
such a clear and powerful voice that Sam had never heard him use: “ ‘I do not choose to do now
what I came to do. I will not do this deed. The Ring is mine!’ And suddenly, as he set it on his
finger, he vanished from Sam’s sight” (LOTR, p. 945). It was Gollum in the end, that vicious
creature, that made possible the achievement of the quest. He bit Frodo’s finger, and dancing like
a mad for happiness he stepped too far and fell into the chasm, and was gone, the Ring with him.
Therefore, Bilbo’s pity proved to be Middle-earth’s safety. Here Gandalf spoke very wisely to
Frodo: “My heart tells me that he has some part to play yet, for good or ill, before the end; and
when that comes, the pity of Bilbo may rule the fate of many – yours not least” (LOTR, p. 59).
In one of the last chapters of the trilogy, we can note another similarity with the poem of Maldon.
It should be clear at this point how Tolkien esteemed love and loyalty translated into an absolute
dedication to a greater cause. The best representation of these values in the anonymous poem
are Byrhtwold’s words (ll.312-313). These lines echo in The Lord of the Rings, in the chapter that
shows the two Hobbits on the dead plain of Gorgoroth before Mount Doom: “[…] bending their
weariness and failing wills only to the one task of going on” (LOTR, p. 938) and “And yet their wills
did not yield, and they struggled on” (LOTR, p. 940).

38
CONCLUSION

Through this work, I tried to present the immense knowledge of Professor Tolkien in the old
Anglo-Saxon tradition. I examined how he studied the themes and the characters of this world
starting from the analysis of the anonymous poem The Battle of Maldon. Tolkien deeply loved
these traditions, but he could not totally agree on all its features. He was a very devout Catholic,
and the Anglo-Saxon were not, at least in the period that we used here as temporal reference.
The fact that he wrote a brief play that worked as a hypothetical aftermath of the battle is due to
the fact that he saw the two World Wars and realized that the Germanic ofermod was not just an
epic “chivalrous value” that belonged to the gone centuries. There were some men in power in
his present days that claimed to have the right to decide of the fate of many, many lives. Surely
more that the soldiers in Maldon in AD 991.
Tolkien represented in his secondary world how people driven by such a value were poisoned,
and inevitably died. He gave his solution to the problem, under his Catholic view. Some of his
characters rued their selfish actions. Their ofermod led anyway to death, but at least with their
repentance their sin was forgiven.
Tolkien represented the system of the comitatus in his books. He saw the loyal warriors of Maldon
as the true heroes of the battle, and not Byrhtnoth that with his actions called his own death and
does not deserves redemption. The faithful followers are always present in his stories, and he
created many kinds of subservience according to the different leaders. A bad Germanic king
deserves a servant that follows him just because he made an oath, a beot. The desertion would
be shameful and would lead to death. The good Germanic lord has a faithful servant that loves
him and would die for him not because he vowed, but because he wish to. And in the end, the
new figure of the Catholic king, Tolkien’s king, is a lord that uses his lordship for the good of his
subordinates, that is ready to die for them and for what is right for the world. Through this
character we get close to the perfect hero for Tolkien. Refusal of ofermod, simplicity, total
devotion and loyalty to someone greater than him not only for his power but especially for his
moral value. Tolkien’s characters should be able to transcend social moralism, the imposition of

39
the social ideology and be ready for change. As when the society is sick because of static leaders
greedy for power, the consequences are disastrous. There is the need of someone able to go
beyond the ill and imposed value system in favor of a higher morality. And Tolkien started doing
this with his fairy stories, as the Fairy world is a place that allowed him to present the mistakes of
the primary world and to offer some solutions, as these stories have always a good ending. His
heroes – that followed his own heroic code – all came back home safe and sound. Sam came
home, married the girl he loved and became the master of the Shire – a just ruler. The last lines
of The Lord of the Rings are his own: “He drew a deep breath. ‘Well, I’m back,’ he said” (LOTR, p.
1031). Bilbo in his tale came back home after a terrible journey with some gold and lived the rest
of his life happily. Tolkien still gave hope to this ruined world: the mistakes of the past and the
present could be mended, and further mistakes could be avoided.

40
THE BATTLE OF MALDON

… brocen wurde.
Het þa hyssa hwæne hors forlætan,
feor afysan and forð gangan,
hicgan to handum and to hige godum.
Þa þæt Offan mæg ærest onfunde, 5
þæt se eorl nolde yrhðo geþolian,
he let him þa of handon leofne fleogan,
hafoc wið þæs holtes, and to þære hilde stop.
Be þam man mihte oncnawan þæt se cniht nolde
wacian æt þam wige, þa he to wæpnum feng. 10
Eac him wolde Eadric his ealdre gelæstan,
frean to gefeohte; ongan þa forð beran
gar to guþe. He hæfde god geþanc
þa hwile þe he mid handum healdan mihte
bord and brad swurd; beot he gelæste 15
þa he ætforan his frean feohtan sceolde.
Ða þær Byrhtnoð ongan beornas trymian,
rad and rædde, rincum tæhte
hu hi sceoldon standan and þone stede healdan,
and bæd þæt hyra randan rihte heoldon, 20
fæste mid folman, and ne forhtedon na.
Þa he hæfde þæt folc fægere getrymmed,
he lihte þa mid leodon þær him leofost wæs,
þær he his heorðwerod holdost wiste.
Þa stod on stæðe, stiðlice clypode 25

41
wicinga ar, wordum mælde,
se on beot abead brimliþendra
ærænde to þam eorle þær he on ofre stod:
“Me sendon to þe sæmen snelle,
heton ðe secgan þæt þu most sendan raðe 30
beagas wið gebeorge; and eow betere is
þæt ge þisne garræs mid gafole forgyldon,
þonne we swa hearde hilde dælon.
Ne þurfe we us spillan gif ge spedaþ to þam;
we willað wið þam golde grið fæstnian. 35
Gyf þu þæt gerædest þe her ricost eart,
þæt þu þine leoda lysan wille,
syllan sæmannum on hyra sylfra dom
feoh wið freode and niman frið æt us,
we willaþ mid þam sceattum us to scype gangan, 40
on flot feran, and eow friþes healdan.”
Byrhtnoð maþelode, bord hafenode,
wand wacne æsc, wordum mælde,
yrre and anræd ageaf him andsware:
“Gehyrst þu, sælida, hwæt þis folc segeð? 45
Hi willað eow to gafole garas syllan,
ættrynne ord and ealde swurd,
þa heregeatu þe eow æt hilde ne deah.
Brimmanna boda, abeod eft ongean,
sege þinum leodum miccle laþre spell, 50
þæt her stynt unforcuð eorl mid his werode,
þe wile gealgean eþel þysne,
Æþelredes eard, ealdres mines
folc and foldan. Feallan sceolon

42
hæþene æt hilde. To heanlic me þinceð 55
þæt ge mid urum sceattum to scype gangon
unbefohtene, nu ge þus feor hider
on urne eard in becomon.
Ne sceole ge swa softe sinc gegangan;
us sceal ord and ecg ær geseman, 60
grim guðplega, ær we gofol syllon.”
Het þa bord beran, beornas gangan,
þæt hi on þam easteðe ealle stodon.
Ne mihte þær for wætere werod to þam oðrum;
þær com flowende flod æfter ebban, 65
lucon lagustreamas. To lang hit him þuhte
hwænne hi togædere garas beron.
Hi þær Pantan stream mid prasse bestodon,
Eastseaxena ord and se æschere;
ne mihte hyra ænig oþrum derian 70
buton hwa þurh flanes flyht fyl gename.
Se flod ut gewat. Þa flotan stodon gearowe,
wicinga fela, wiges georne.
Het þa hæleða hleo healdan þa bricge
wigan wigheardne se wæs haten Wulfstan, 75
cafne mid his cynne þæt wæs Ceolan sunu,
þe ðone forman man mid his francan ofsceat
þe þær baldlicost on þa bricge stop.
þær stodon mid Wulfstane wigan unforhte,
Ælfere and Maccus, modige twegen, 80
þa noldon æt þam forda fleam gewyrcan,
ac hi fæstlice wið ða fynd weredon

43
þa hwile þe hi wæpna wealdan moston.
Þa hi þæt ongeaton and georne gesawon,
þæt hi þær bricgweardas bitere fundon, 85
ongunnon lytegian þa laðe gystas:
bædon þæt hi upgangan agan moston,
ofer þone ford faran, feþan lædan.
Ða se eorl ongan for his ofermode
alyfan landes to fela laþere ðeode; 90
ongan ceallian þa ofer cald wæter
Byrhtelmes bearn (beornas gehlyston):
“Nu eow is gerymed, gað ricene to us,
guman to guþe. God ana wat
hwa þære wælstowe wealdan mote.” 95
Wodon þa wælwulfas for wætere ne murnon,
wicinga werod, west ofer Pantan,
ofer scir wæter, scyldas wegon,
lidmen to lande linde bæron.
Þær ongean gramum gearowe stodon 100
Byrhtnoð mid beornum. He mid bordum het
wyrcan þone wihagan and þæt werod healdan
fæste wið feondum. Þa wæs feohte neh,
tir æt getohte: wæs seo tid cumen
þæt þær fæge men feallan sceoldon. 105
Þær wearð hream ahafen: hremmas wundon,
earn æses georn; wæs on eorþan cyrm
Hi leton þa of folman feolhearde speru,
grimme gegrundene garas fleogan.
Bogan wæron bysige, bord ord onfeng. 110
Biter wæs se beaduræs; beornas feollon

44
on gehwæðere hand, hyssas lagon.
Wund wearð Wulfmær, wælræste geceas,
Byrhtnoðes mæg: he mid billum wearð,
his swustersunu, swiðe forheawen. 115
Þær wearð wicingum wiþerlean agyfen:
gehyrde ic þæt Eadweard anne sloge
swiðe mid his swurde, swenges ne wyrnde;
þæt him æt fotum feoll fæge cempa;
þæs him his ðeoden þanc gesæde, 120
þam burþene, þa he byre hæfde.
Swa stemnetton stiðhicgende
hysas æt hilde, hogodon georne
hwa þær mid orde ærost mihte
on fægean men feorh gewinnan, 125
wigan mid wæpnum. Wæl feol on eorðan.
Stodon stædefæste, stihte hi Byrhtnoð,
bæd þæt hyssa gehwylc hogode to wige
þe on Denon wolde dom gefeohtan.
Wod þa wiges heard, wæpen up áhof, 130
bord to gebeorge, and wið þæs beornes stop.
Eode swa anræd eorl to þam ceorle:
ægþer hyra oðrum yfeles hogode.
Sende ða se særinc suþerne gar
þæt gewundod wearð wigena hlaford. 135
He sceaf þa mid ðam scylde þæt se sceaft tobærst,
and þæt spere sprengde þæt hit sprang ongean.
Gegremod wearð se guðrinc: he mid gare stang
wlancne wicing þe him þa wunde forgeaf.

45
Frod wæs se fyrdrinc ; he let his francan wadan 140
þurh ðæs hysses hals : hand wisode
þæt he on þam færsceaðan feorh geræhte.
Ða he oþerne ofstlice sceat
þæt seo byrne tobærst: he wæs on breostum wund
þurh ða hringlocan: him æt heortan stod 145
ætterne ord. Se eorl wæs þe bliþra:
hloh þa modi man, sæde Metode þanc
ðæs dægweorces þe him Drihten forgeaf.
Forlet þa drenga sum daroð of handa,
fleogan of folman , þæt se to forð gewat 150
þurh ðone æþelan Æþelredes þegen.
Him be healfe stod hyse únweaxen,
cniht on gecampe, se full caflice
bræd of þam beorne blodigne gar,
Wulfstanes bearn, Wulfmær se geonga; 155
forlet forheardne faran eft ongean:
ord in gewod þæt se on eorþan læg
þe his þeoden ær þearle geræhte.
Eode þa gesyrwed secg to þam eorle;
he wolde þæs beornes beagas gefecgan, 160
reaf and hringas, and gerenod swurd.
Þa Byrhtnoð bræd bill of sceðe
brad and bruneccg, and on þa byrnan sloh.
To raþe hine gelette lidmanna sum,
þa he þæs eorles earm amyrde 165
Feoll þa to foldan fealohilte swurd:
ne mihte he gehealdan heardne mece,

46
wæpnes wealdan. Þa gyt þæt word gecwæð
har hilderinc, hyssas bylde,
bæd gangan forð gode geferan 170
Ne mihte þa on fotum leng fæste gestandan;
he to heofenum wlat:
“Ic geþancie þe, ðeoda Waldend,
ealra þæra wynna þe ic on worulde gebad.
Nu ic ah, milde Metod, mæste þearfe 175
þæt þu minum gaste godes geunne,
þæt min sawul to ðe siðian mote,
on þin geweald, Þeoden engla,
mid friþe ferian. Ic eom frymdi to þe
þæt hi helsceaðan hynan ne moton.” 180
Ða hine heowon hæðene scealcas,
and begen þa beornas þe him big stodon,
Ælfnoð and Wulmær, begen lagon,
ða onemn hyra frean feorh gesealdon.
Hi bugon þa fram beaduwe þe þær beon noldon: 185
þær wurdon Oddan bearn ærest on fleame,
Godric fram guþe, and þone godan forlet
þe him mænigne oft mear gesealde;
he gehleop þone eoh þe ahte his hlaford,
on þam gerædum þe hit riht ne wæs, 190
and his broðru mid him begen ærndon,
Godwine and Godwig, guþe ne gymdon,
ac wendon fram þam wige and þone wudu sohton,
flugon on þæt fæsten and hyra feore burgon,
and manna ma þonne hit ænig mæð wære, 195
gyf hi þa geearnunga ealle gemundon

47
þe he him to duguþe gedon hæfde.
Swa him Offa on dæg ær asæde
on þam meþelstede, þa he gemot hæfde,
þæt þær modelice manega spræcon 200
þe eft æt þearfe þolian noldon.
Þa wearð afeallen þæs folces ealdor,
Æþelredes eorl. Ealle gesawon,
heorðgeneatas, þæt hyra heorra læg.
Þa ðær wendon forð wlance þegenas, 205
unearge men efston georne:
hi woldon þa ealle oðer twega,
lif forlætan oððe leofne gewrecan.
Swa hi bylde forð bearn Ælfrices,
wiga wintrum geong, wordum mælde, 210
Ælfwine þa cwæð (he on ellen spræc):
“Gemunaþ þa mæla þe we oft æt meodo spræcon,
þonne we on bence beot ahofon,
hæleð on healle, ymbe heard gewinn:
nu mæg cunnian hwa cene sy. 215
Ic wylle mine æþelo eallum gecyþan,
þæt ic wæs on Myrcon miccles cynnes;
wæs min ealda fæder Ealhelm haten,
wis ealdorman woruldgesælig.
Ne sceolon me on þære þeode þegenas ætwitan 220
þæt ic of ðisse fyrde feran wille,
eard gesecan, nu min ealdor ligeð
forheawen æt hilde. Me is þæt hearma mæst:
he wæs ægðer min mæg and min hlaford.”

48
Þa he forð eode, fæhðe gemunde, 225
þæt he mid orde anne geræhte,
flotan on þam folce, þæt se on foldan læg
forwegen mid his wæpne. Ongan þa winas manian,
frynd and geferan, þæt hi forð eodon.
Offa gemælde, æscholt asceoc: 230
“Hwæt, þu, Ælfwine, hafast ealle gemanode,
þegenas to þearfe. Nu ure þeoden lið,
eorl on eorðan, us is eallum þearf
þæt ure æghwylc oþerne bylde,
wigan to wige, þa hwile þe he wæpen mæge 235
habban and healdan, heardne mece,
gar and god swurd. Us Godric hæfð,
earh Oddan bearn, ealle beswicene:
wende þæs formoni man, þa he on meare rad,
on wlancan þam wicge, þæt wære hit ure hlaford; 240
forþan wearð her on felda folc totwæmed,
scyldburh tobrocen. Abreoðe his angin,
þæt he her swa manigne man aflymde.”
Leofsunu gemælde and his linde ahof,
bord to gebeorge; he þam beorne oncwæð : 245
“Ic þæt gehate, þæt ic heonon nelle
fleon fotes trym, ac wille furðor gan,
wrecan on gewinne minne winedrihten.
Ne þurfon me embe Sturmere stedefæste hælæð
wordum ætwitan, nu min wine gecranc, 250
þæt ic hlafordleas ham siðie,
wende fram wige; ac me sceal wæpen niman,

49
ord and iren.” He ful yrre wod,
feaht fæstlice, fleam he forhogode.
Dunnere þa cwæð, daroð acwehte, 255
unorne ceorl, ofer eall clypode,
bæd þæt beorna gehwylc Byrhtnoð wræce:
“Ne mæg na wandian se þe wrecan þenceð
frean on folce, ne for feore murnan.”
Þa hi forð eodon, feores hi ne rohton; 260
ongunnon þa hiredmen heardlice feohtan,
grame garberend, and God bædon
þæt hi moston gewrecan hyra winedrihten
and on hyra feondum fyl gewyrcan.
Him se gysel ongan geornlice fylstan; 265
he wæs on Norðhymbron heardes cynnes,
Ecglafes bearn, him wæs Æscferð nama.
He ne wandode na æt þam wigplegan,
ac he fysde forð flan genehe;
hwilon he on bord sceat, hwilon beorn tæsde; 270
æfre embe stunde he sealde sume wunde
þa hwile ðe he wæpna wealdan moste.
Þa gyt on orde stod Eadweard se langa
gearo and geornful; gylpwordum spræc,
þæt he nolde fleogan fotmæl landes, 275
ofer bæc bugan, þa his betera leg.
He bræc þone bordweall and wið þa beornas feaht,
oðþæt he his sincgyfan on þam sæmannum
wurðlice wrec, ær he on wæle læge.
Swa dyde Æþeric, æþele gefera, 280
fus and forðgeorn, feaht eornoste,

50
Sibyrhtes broðor, and swiðe mænig oþer
clufon cellod bord, cene hi weredon.
Bærst bordes lærig, and seo byrne sang
gryreleoða sum. Þa æt guðe sloh 285
Offa þone sælidan, þæt he on eorðan feoll,
and ðær Gaddes mæg grund gesohte.
Raðe wearð æt hilde Offa forheawen;
he hæfde ðeah geforþod þæt he his frean gehet,
swa he beotode ǽr wið his beahgifan 290
þæt hi sceoldon begen on burh ridan,
hale to hame, oððe on here crincgan,
on wælstowe wundum sweltan.
He læg ðegenlice ðeodne gehende.
Ða wearð borda gebræc. Brimmen wodon 295
guðe gegremode. Gar oft þurhwod
fæges feorhhus. Forð ða eode Wistan,
Þurstanes sunu, wið þas secgas feaht.
He wæs on geþrang hyra þreora bana,
ær him Wigelmes bearn on þam wæle læge. 300
Þær wæs stið gemot. Stodon fæste
wigan on gewinne. Wigend cruncon
wundum werige. Wæl feol on eorþan.
Oswold and Eadwold ealle hwile,
begen þa gebroþru, beornas trymedon, 305
hyra winemagas wordon bædon
þæt hi þær æt ðearfe þolian sceoldon,
unwaclice wæpna neotan.
Byrhtwold maþelode, bord hafenode,

51
se wæs eald geneat, æsc acwehte; 310
he ful baldlice beornas lærde:
“Hige sceal þe heardra, heorte þe cenre,
mod sceal þe mare, þe ure mægen lytlað.
Her lið ure ealdor eall forheawen,
gód on greote. A mæg gnornian 315
se ðe nu fram þis wigplegan wendan þenceð.
Ic eom frod feores: fram ic ne wille,
ac ic me be healfe minum hlaforde,
be swa leofan men, licgan þence.”
Swa hi Æþelgares bearn ealle bylde, 320
Godric to guþe. Oft he gar forlet,
wælspere windan on þa wicingas;
swa he on þam folce fyrmest eode,
heow and hynde, oðþæt he on hilde gecranc.
Næs þæt na se Godric þe ða guðe forbeah. 325

52
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Blake (1962)
E. O. BLAKE (ed.), Liber Eliensis, London, Royal Historical Society, 1962

Brunetti (1998)
G. BRUNETTI, La Battaglia di Maldon. Eroi e Traditori nell’Inghilterra Vichinga, Milano, Luni
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Chance (2003)
J. CHANCE (ed.), Tolkien the Medievalist, New York, Routledge, 2003

Chance (2001)
J. CHANCE, Tolkien’s art. A Mythology for England, The University Press of Kentucky, 2001

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H. GNEUSS, “The Battle of Maldon” 89: Byrhtnoð’s “Ofermod” Once Again, «Studies in
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R. RORABECK, Tolkien’s Heroic Quest, Kent, Crescent Moon Publishing, 2008

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R. ROSSELLI DEL TURCO, La Battaglia di Maldon, Alessandria, Edizioni dell’Orso, 2009

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V. SANTORO, La Ricezione Moderna della Battaglia di Maldon. Tolkien, Borges e gli altri, Roma,
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Tolkien (2013)
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SITOGRAPHY
Bruce (2007)
A. M. BRUCE, Maldon and Moria: on Byrhtnoth, Gandalf, and heroism in The Lord of the Rings,
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P. GRYBAUSKAS, Dialogic War: from the Battle of Maldon to The War of the Ring, available at
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Tompkins (2002)
J. C. TOMPKINS, “The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm’s Son”: Tolkien as a Modern Anglo-
Saxon, available at Mythlore
<http://www.thefreelibrary.com/%22The+Homecoming+of+Beorhtnoth+Beorhthelm's+Son
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Whitt (2010)
R. J. WHITT, Germanic Fate and Doom in Tolkien’s The Silmarillion, available at Mythlore
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