The Theory of Courage | SL 3.4 (January 2022)
In this newsletter
- The Theory of Courage
- Work & Ministry Update
- “As I walked out one evening” by W. H. Auden
- Pray With Us
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Watercolor of The Shire by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Theory of Courage
Over Christmas break I finished rereading The Lord of the Rings for the first time in a decade (shameful, I know!). Inspired by this, I wrote one of those little “Five Books About…” articles on J. R. R. Tolkien for The Gospel Coalition. The article went live on January 3—the 130th anniversary of Tolkien’s birth.
One of the great themes of Tolkien’s work was what he called “the theory of courage.” This idea animated the early Northern literature that he dearly loved and lay behind everything he wrote. In Norse mythology the end of the world is a great battle called Ragnarök where the forces of evil—the trolls and the monsters—will defeat the gods and heroes once and for all. There is no hope at the end of all things. The gods are ultimately defeated, but, as one scholar put it, they think that defeat no refutation. Whether they should win or lose doesn’t change what is right.
In “The Monsters and the Critics,” his magisterial essay about Beowulf, Tolkien sums it up this way: Man is “engaged in a struggle which he cannot win while the world lasts. […] The wages of heroism is death. […] Let us by all means esteem the old heroes: men caught in the chains of circumstance or of their own character, torn between duties equally sacred, dying with their backs to the wall.”
This idea colors nearly every page of The Return of the King. Each one of the hobbits poignantly expresses “the theory of courage” as they face their respective ends.
Merry on the Pelennor Fields:
Merry crawled on all fours like a dazed beast, and such a horror was on him that he was blind and sick. … Then out of the blackness in his mind he thought that he heard Dernhelm speaking. … A cold voice answered: “Come not between the Nazgûl and his prey! He will bear thee away to the houses of lamentation, beyond all darkness, where thy flesh shall be devoured … No living man may hinder me!” Then Merry heard of all sounds in that hour the strangest. It seemed that Dernhelm laughed, and the clear voice was like the ring of steel. “But no living man am I! You look upon a woman. Éowyn I am, … Begone, if you be not deathless! I will smite you, if you touch him.” … The helm of her secrecy had fallen from her, and her bright hair, released from its bonds, gleamed with pale gold upon her shoulders. … Pity 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.
Pippen before the Black Gate:
The wind blew, and the trumpets sang, and arrows whined … And out of the gathering mirk the Nazgûl came with their cold voices crying words of death; and then all hope was quenched. … “I wish Merry was here,” [Pippin] heard himself saying, and quick thoughts raced through his mind … “Well, well, … We might die together, Merry and I, and since die we must, why not? Well, as he is not here, I hope he’ll find an easier end. But now I must do my best. … Well, I’ll smite some of this beastly brood before the end. I wish I could see cool sunlight and green grass again!”
Frodo and Sam on the slopes of Mt. Doom:
He shook his head, and as he worked things out, slowly a new dark thought grew in his mind. … always until now he had taken some thought for their return. But the bitter truth came home to him at last: at best their provision would take them to their goal; and when the task was done, there they would come to an end, alone, houseless, foodless in the midst of a terrible desert. There could be no return. “So that was the job I felt I had to do when I started,” thought Sam: “to help Mr. Frodo to the last step and then die with him? Well, if that is the job then I must do it. But I would dearly like to see Bywater again, and Rosie Cotton and her brothers, and the Gaffer and Marigold and all. But even as hope died in Sam, or seemed to die, it was turned to a new strength.”
Remarkable salvation comes for all four Hobbits—“eucatastrophe” as Tolkien coined it. But, and here’s the crucial thing, the possibility of their salvation was completely beyond the bounds of their vision. It could in no way be imagined from where they stood. Though as Christians we have faith in the ultimate defeat of evil, our experience of the world is one of defeat. We are finite and in the short term death takes each and every one of us. At the start of a new year I feel acutely the pull between what I want to accomplish and what I am capable of accomplishing. We are not up to the task of life, but this doesn’t change how we are called to live. As the model of faithfulness we look to Christ in Gethsemane, trusting that there will be an Easter beyond the scope of our lives and our vision. And so we die with our backs against the wall, trusting his salvation will come when all hope is lost.
Here’s a few other things you might enjoy:
If all this feels a bit grand and removed from common experience, one of the best films I have seen recently captures these ideas in a contemporary context. Our Friend (2019, directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite and available on Amazon Prime) tells how Nicole Teague (Dakota Johnson), in her mid-30s with two young daughters, dies of cancer. But the story really focuses on her husband Matthew (Casey Affleck) and their mutual best friend Dane Faucheux (Jason Segal). It is a slow and painful death on every level. But Our Friend was a true and beautiful film. It is a lovely, honest portrait of a sacrificial marriage—with challenges and joys in equal measure. The performances are excellent and the chemistry between husband and wife is deep and honest. But the heart of the film is Dane, who gives up his life (quitting jobs, losing relationships) to move in with Matt and Nicole and hold their family together during an unimaginable season. It is a staggering act of love and selflessness. A brave march into a hopeless scenario. Jason Segal’s portrayal of Dane is wonderful—filled with loyalty and humor. Highly recommended!
The film is a true story based on a beautiful essay that Matt wrote for Esquire: “The Friend: Love Is Not a Big Enough Word”. The essay is, believe it or not, far grittier in terms of medical detail than the film which ends up feeling a little sanitized by comparison. Both are challenging to watch/read, but in my opinion well worth it.
The Rest is History with Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook has quickly become my new favorite podcast. The hosts are notable English historians whose vast knowledge and self-deprecating banter are endlessly engaging. Their 12 Days of Christmas series has been excellent, and they rightly dedicated the Jan 3 episode to discussing Tolkien’s birth.
Finally, I leave you with The Choral Scholars of the University of Dublin:
If this doesn’t make you want to die noble on the nearest battlefield (metaphorically speaking, of course), then I don’t know what will.
They also have a beautiful rendition of Auld Lang Syne.
Watercolor of Bilbo with the Eagles by J.R.R. Tolkien
You are Training Pastors to be Faithful to Scripture & Strengthening the Global Church
- All the year before me. Much is yet to be planned and there are many unknowns.
- Just yesterday I sent an email to the powers that be at TLI to ask about assignments for the year. I’ll certainly be leading a team in the Fall to inaugurate the partnership between TLI and Tennent. War allowing, we’re planning at the moment to travel to Ethiopia and teach the first course at a new site TLI is helping to launch there. Before that I’ll travel somewhere in the late Spring/early Summer and my old colleague from Haiti, Pastor Jean Garry Auguste, is now in the Dominican Republic training pastors and supporting Haitian churches there. I may have the opportunity to travel there and support their work in the late Summer/early Fall. Lots of possibilities. Pray for wisdom and the right opportunities.
- The main thing remains the dissertation for yet a little longer… I’m coming on to the last leg. I rewrote my chapter 1 in December and now I have to finish chapters 5 and 6, each partially written. By the end of March, my goal is to have a very rough draft of the whole thing and then I’ll work with my advisors until they say it is ready to submit. Sometime this Summer I’ll be done!
Thank you. Your prayers and support empower everything we do.
Elvish Calligraphy by J.R.R. Tolkien
“As I walked out one evening”
by W. H. Auden
I love this poem and, for bonus points, Auden was a huge Tolkien fan. He used to go listen to Tolkien lecture when he was an undergrad at Oxford. From the collection Another Time (1940), published by Faber & Faber.
As I walked out one evening,
Walking down Bristol Street,
The crowds upon the pavement
Were fields of harvest wheat.And down by the brimming river
I heard a lover sing
Under an arch of the railway:
‘Love has no ending.‘I’ll love you, dear, I’ll love you
Till China and Africa meet,
And the river jumps over the mountain
And the salmon sing in the street,‘I’ll love you till the ocean
Is folded and hung up to dry
And the seven stars go squawking
Like geese about the sky.‘The years shall run like rabbits,
For in my arms I hold
The Flower of the Ages,
And the first love of the world.’But all the clocks in the city
Began to whirr and chime:
‘O let not Time deceive you,
You cannot conquer Time.‘In the burrows of the Nightmare
Where Justice naked is,
Time watches from the shadow
And coughs when you would kiss.‘In headaches and in worry
Vaguely life leaks away,
And Time will have his fancy
To-morrow or to-day.‘Into many a green valley
Drifts the appalling snow;
Time breaks the threaded dances
And the diver’s brilliant bow.‘O plunge your hands in water,
Plunge them in up to the wrist;
Stare, stare in the basin
And wonder what you’ve missed.‘The glacier knocks in the cupboard,
The desert sighs in the bed,
And the crack in the tea-cup opens
A lane to the land of the dead.‘Where the beggars raffle the banknotes
And the Giant is enchanting to Jack,
And the Lily-white Boy is a Roarer,
And Jill goes down on her back.‘O look, look in the mirror,
O look in your distress:
Life remains a blessing
Although you cannot bless.‘O stand, stand at the window
As the tears scald and start;
You shall love your crooked neighbour
With your crooked heart.’It was late, late in the evening,
The lovers they were gone;
The clocks had ceased their chiming,
And the deep river ran on.
Watercolor of The Lonely Mountain by J.R.R. Tolkien
LORD, help us to be faithful in doing good and to trust in you despite everything. May we look for faithfulness over success and relationship with you over expediency. Give us wisdom, guide us onward, lead us home.
At Tolkien’s grave in Oxford back in October
Pray With Us
- Pray for faithfulness and wisdom in 2022. As I finish the dissertation we will have lots of options opening up for work and ministry. May we be wise and discerning in where we focus and how we work.
- Pray for the dissertation itself. The next six months are crucial and then—by the grace of God—I’ll be done. It’s a simple prayer, but pray that the chapters come together quickly and that I have the focus and energy to accomplish it well.