Regarding Tolkien’s Wholesome Formulation of Masculinity
A literary opinion piece by Legonimis
If you know much about Tolkien, his male heroes reflect his own complex sense of “masculinity”, especially as seen in the character Aragorn. War hero, poet, orphan, close to his mother, devoted for years to a woman beyond his rank/status, loving father and friend. That was Tolkien and he made sure the men he wrote about, which he felt were the archetypes for ancient Anglo-Saxon men as well as modern men, were as wholesome and loving as they were fierce and brave.
Without that tenderness, Theoden would not have had Eowyn and Eomer to lead Rohan as his heirs.
Without that kindliness, the hobbits of the Shire would not have been protected by the Rangers, who wished nothing more than to see the earthiness and cheerfulness of the hobbits, blissful in their ignorance, exist unspoiled.
Without that honest and unfettered spirit of friendship, the various bands of men would likely not have banded together to defeat Sauron.
Aragorn loved and admired the Rohirrim before he ever stepped out to call upon the horselords. He respected Eomer and Theoden for being fierce warriors but also for being keen to protect rather than to conquer.
That modesty spoke to the wild men, who knew that the Rohirrim would let them alone rather than seek to rule them.
Faramir’s love of the romantic notions of Gondor, its history, and the greatness of men led him to seem princely to and to be beloved by his soldiers, even though his father favored the warrior spirit of Boromir.
Even Denethor, in accepting Pippin’s oath of fealty, showed a tenderness of spirit that led to the preservation of his line despite his own madness. Sauron could warp his tragic soul but not remove from it a sense of moral goodness.
Though shield and sword saved the day, it was through song that the history of Middle-Earth was “preserved”. It is a comment by Tolkien on the nature of the lost history and traditions of the Anglo-Saxons: war destroys and diminishes humanity by robbing it of its past. It is only through peace and friendship that knowledge lingers through transmission, that wisdom flourishes for the benefit of all, and that beauty transcends time.