1068 Tolkien, J. R. R.
event that occurs in the novel is as attributable to
choices and actions freely selected as it is to fate.
Indeed, the novel suggests that attempts to avoid
fate can serve as the agents to bring it about, as
Galadriel points out to Sam when he wants to dash
home after the vision he sees in her mirror. The
centrality of choice is rendered clear in a key scene.
When he puts on the ring to escape Boromir, Frodo
feels the pressure of Sauron’s Eye looking for him.
He feels its call, but he also hears a voice urging him
to remove the ring. However, neither the voice nor
the eye determines his actions; he comes to himself,
realizes he is “free to choose” (Fellowship of the Ring),
and makes his own decision. Characters always have
this option in the novel. Indeed, if there is one ines-
capable fate in the novel, it is this necessity of choice.
Choice can be a terrible thing. When Aragorn
fears Frodo has been lost and Merry and Pippin
taken by Orcs, he blames himself, repeating that
his choices have gone amiss. He is confronted with
two equally impossible decisions: He must abandon
either Frodo and Sam or Merry and Pippin in an
effort to save one pair. He has a choice, a point the
text drills home, but each choice has its cost, and as
Gimli notes, “maybe there is no right choice” (Two
Towers). But the choice must be made, and most of
the characters are called upon repeatedly to make
such difficult choices. It would almost be easier
to believe in fate and surrender choice, the novel
suggests, but its thesis is that fate is determined by
choice. Choice based on the urgings of the heart and
with the best intentions inevitably leads the heroes
to success. Choice based on rationalizations or on
self-interest, by contrast, inevitably leads to destruc-
tion. The major villains of the novel are ultimately
destroyed not by the heroes but by their own choices.
Saruman is the best example of this point. Given
the opportunity to help the heroes and turn against
Sauron, Saruman is clearly free to choose and torn
between conflicting impulses, like Frodo facing the
urgings of the voice and the eye. His choice is to
withhold his assistance, a choice that lays out his
path for him, one that leads him to his death.
The Lord of the Rings explores the tension
between the apparently conflicting concepts of
fate and free will. Its conclusion is that fate is real
but that, paradoxically, it is the product of free will.
Tolkien, a devout Catholic, answers the question of
fate consistently with his religious faith but without
explicit religious references.
Dominick GraceHeroISm in The Lord of the Rings
High fantasy deals in epic conflicts between good
and evil, so heroism is a defining element in such
fiction. The Lord of the Rings offers a complex
exploration of heroism by providing models that
can be compared and contrasted. The novel includes
numerous heroic figures, notably warriors such as
Aragorn and Boromir, though many others (the elf
Legolas, the dwarf Gimli, and several other charac-
ters) demonstrate courage, strength, endurance, and
prowess in battle. However, the novel also makes
clear that such conventional heroics are not only
secondary to the main action but also in themselves
inadequate to defeat the evil of Sauron.
Aragorn is the model of the conventional war-
rior hero. He is not only heir to the throne but also
descended from the men of Numenor, a literally
superior breed of human. He is an unbeatable war-
rior and an excellent tactician and strategist. He is
wise. He is noble and proud, but he has a keen sense
of his limitations. He defends the weak and power-
less. Women fall in love with him. In one sense, he
would seem to be the novel’s protagonist, since he
is the king who returns in the final volume. Cer-
tainly, he is the figure against whom the other war-
rior heroes are measured. Figures such as Boromir,
Faramir, and Éomer are comparable to Aragorn to
some extent but fail to live up to his model. Boromir
is ruled by pride and a desire for power for its own
sake, Faramir escapes Boromir’s pride but allows a
desire to win his father’s love to overrule his sense,
and Éomer is a great fighter but not the leader or
tactician Aragorn is. Even Aragorn’s tenacious hope
contrasts his heroism with that of others. Figures
such as Denethor, Théoden, and Éowyn either fall
or are threatened with destruction, even when they
do accomplish heroic tasks (as does Éowyn espe-
cially) because they are motivated more by fatalism
or despair than by hope.
However, even Aragorn, despite being almost the
ideal combination of heroic figures from Achilles
and Hector to Arthur and Roland, is not the pro-