Mother-less Heroes

Bilbo, although an adult hobbit, had been an orphan (i.e. without father or mother) for seven years before Gandalf came to disrupt his ordered, domestic West Farthing life.

This example, you might think, is stretching it, a bit. So, are there other 'mother-less' characters portrayed in Tolkien's work to be considered? I'm glad I asked that question.

Another mother-less member of the Fellowship of the Ring was the tragically tainted hero, Boromir of Gondor. Finduilas, a noble woman of Dol Amroth, daughter of Prince Adrahil, died very young leaving both Boromir and his brother Faramir, the Last Steward of Gondor, without a mother. Faramir would become a full-fledged orphan when his father, Denethor II, succumbed to the black despair brought on him by Sauron.

Of the other six members of the Company of the Ring, the Hobbits are the only ones of whose mothers Tolkien told us something - Hobbits are very much into their genealogy, as we know. Of the maternal parents of Legolas Greenleaf and Gimli, son of Gloin, we know little except by inference. They had to have mothers, after all, but there is no record of even their names. In effect, then, by default, both Legolas and Gimli Elf-friend could be ostensibly ranked as 'Mother-less Heroes', as well. However, there are many more poignant examples to be cited.

The royal family of the Riddermark is rife with orphans in the last days of the Third Age. At the fringes of the narrative, Theoden's queen, Elfhild, dies in childbirth leaving Theodred, their only son and heir to the throne, motherless. More central to the story, the heroic siblings, Eomer and Eowyn, their father, Eomund, killed by orcs, their mother, Theodwyn, taken by sickness soon after Eowyn' birth, are left in the care of their uncle, Theoden King. This valiant pair were, in effect, orphaned a second time while Theoden was in the thrall of Grima Wormtongue.

One would be hard pressed to find a more tragic hero in Tolkien's work than Feanor. And, of course, he, too, was mother-less. The central character of "The Tales of the Silmarils", Feanor lost his mother to the great, wearying toll exacted by his own birth. His father, Finwe, lamenting that an Elf of such wondrous power should be raised mother-less, devoted most of his efforts to his first born son. (Just between you and me, I think the Noldorin King spoiled his gifted son.)

Go To Page: 1 2 3 4 5

Articles in this Topic    Discussions in this Topic