The Manly Men of Myth and Middle-Earth - Page 7
© Michael Martinez
The Greeks looked back to Herakles and noted that despite all his flaws, he had changed their world. Beowulf, too, changed the world. Both heroes removed monsters which had terrorized mankind. They reduced the amount of overwhelmingly powerful evil in the world a great deal. They couldn't remove the evil from men's hearts, but the normal evils we face we can deal with ourselves.
The Elvish and Edainic heroes, however, engaged in superhuman efforts which often proved fruitless, or the results of which were undone by subsequent foolish decisions. The Noldor didn't defeat Morgoth, but they did force him to concentrate his thoughht on the northwestern regions of Middle-earth. The rest of the world consequently benefitted from a relative withdrawal of evil, as Morgoth concentrated his forces in and around Angband. That made the Valar's task in overthrowing Morgoth much easier. But more than a thousand years later, the Noldor of Eregion unwittingly paved the way for Sauron's ascendancy.
Gil-galad, Elendil, and many of their allies, made the ultimate sacrifice to defeat Sauron. His forces were destroyed or scattered, his kingdom conquered, and Sauron himself was overthrown. But Isildur succumbed to the lure of the One Ring and took it. Thus, Middle-earth was given a respite which only lasted about 1,000 years. And then Sauron returned, and things started looking evil again.
Given that the greatest heroes of Middle-earth seemed to accomplish so little, it seems little wonder that men like Aragorn and Eomer seldom if ever boasted of their deeds. In the long history of wars and quests, great deeds might amount to little. Individual men, like Baldor son of Brego, might squander their valor on ridiculous quests. Or they might establish great nations. But each generation inherited the consequences of the previous generation's mistakes. That is the true difference between heroes like Beowulf and heroes like Aragorn. We don't remember Beowulf because of his boasting. We remember him because of his accomplishments and the love his people bore him. Aragorn was remembered for his accomplishments and the love his people bore him as well. But when Aragorn was challenged, he did not roll out his resume to prove his credentials. He took action, and let his valor speak for itself.
In so much, the manly men of Middle-earth were a bit humbler than the manly men of myth and folklore. We model our heroes on ourselves, and we still engage in boasting. But Tolkien's heroes were nobler and more 'Elvish' than are men today. They understood that words are free and easy, but lasting deeds are hard to come by.
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