Courage
Courage in the face of certain defeat is a recurring theme in Tolkien's literature. As he wrote in The Monsters and the Critics, Tolkien was inspired by the apocalyptical Norse legend of Ragnarök where the gods are doomed in their final battle for the world but they and their allies do not mind their death. This "northern courage" as he called it is seen in the fate of Frodo and Samwise who have little prospect of returning home from their mission to Mount Doom and in Aragorn's decision to march to the Black Gate to divert Sauron's forces from the two Hobbits.
Another kind of courage was defined by Tolkien in the difference between humility and the arrogant desire for glory. While Sam follows Frodo out of loyalty and would die for him, a trait that Tolkien has praised in an essay on The Battle of Maldon, characters like Boromir are driven by pride and would risk the lives of others for their personal glory. Likewise the rejecting of the ring by Sam, Faramir, and Galadriel can be seen as a courageous rejection of power and glory and of the personal renown that defeating Sauron would have brought about.
Read more about this topic: Themes Of The Lord Of The Rings
Famous quotes containing the word courage:
“With their ever breaking newness
And their courage to be new.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“I have perceived much beauty
In the hoarse oaths that kept our courage straight;
Heard music in the silentness of duty;
Found peace where shell-storms spouted reddest spate.”
—Wilfred Owen (1893–1918)
“[Rutherford B. Hayes] was a patriotic citizen, a lover of the flag and of our free institutions, an industrious and conscientious civil officer, a soldier of dauntless courage, a loyal comrade and friend, a sympathetic and helpful neighbor, and the honored head of a happy Christian home. He has steadily grown in the public esteem, and the impartial historian will not fail to recognize the conscientiousness, the manliness, and the courage that so strongly characterized his whole public career.”
—Benjamin Harrison (1833–1901)