ELM (part 6) - The Boys Going West

Verdun/wikipedia.com

World War One

That Great War was 100 years ago.

I had a grandfather who fought in that war. And the last veteran of that war, Florence Green,  passed away in 2012. As I write this blog, we will pass the 98th anniversary of the end of the war on November 11, 1918.  [reference: World War I History ]

But Great Britain and its Commonwealth was one of the allies hardest hit during World War One. Over 900,000+ killed in action. More than twice as many as the 450,000+ lost in World War Two.

And this short film gives a summary of this loss:

(reference:  https://youtu.be/KjqPTLHx02Y )

The grief of such great losses gave rise to an increased interest in  Spiritism after the Great War. A desire for family to contact their lost loved ones. And many mediums took advantage of this grief. Prophets for profit.

Yet many intelligent people, like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes creator, were convinced that they could contact their departed loved ones, who had moved on to another plane of existence. Much like the modern wonder of the wireless radio could transmit messages across great distances in the real world.

At this time (1920s), Scientific American concluded Spiritism warranted a serious, scientific investigation. And one of its judges included the Great Harry Houdini. As a stage magician, Houdini knew the tricks of the flimflam artists and could reproduce the psychic phenomena that manifested in seances. (Fodder for another blog.)

There is a book written about this: The Witch of Lime Street: Séance, Seduction, and Houdini in the Spirit World by David Jaher.

In the beginning of the book, The Witch of Lime Street, a phrase jumped out at me. One used by Sir Oliver Lodge. He disliked the barbarous word death. He preferred to see death as an emigration.

The boys going west

That rang a bell.

I recalled English writer and professor J.R.R Tolkien had fought in World War One. And witnessed much of the horror as well as the loss of many of his friends. And that experience made its way into his trilogy:

Lord of the Rings

[reference: Battle of the Somme: the 'animal horror' that inspired JRR Tolkien ]

And at the end of the tale, many of the characters, the Elves, Gandalf, Bilbo, Frodo, sailed into the West, to the Undying Lands. [reference: Undying Lands ]

And during  The Return of the King (2003) the song, Into the West , was performed during the closing credits.

(reference: https://youtu.be/shdiTRxTJb4 )

Into the West ...

The Undying Lands. Life after death. Hope after the devastation of war. Whether the epic battles in fantasies, such as Lord of the Rings. Or the World Wars of reality.

The Boys Going West ...

And war leaves a mark and makes its way into literature. Such as this sixth post in...

 English, Literature, and Musings.

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Previous post on this series:

ELM (part 1) - English, Literature, and Musings (2013)

ELM (part 2) - Thug Notes does Hamlet (2013)

ELM (part 3) - St. Crispin's Day Battles in English History and Literature (2013)

ELM (part 4) - Hobbit Virtues (2014)

ELM (part 5) - Jane Austen and Blackadder (2015)

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Picture from: Verdun/wikipedia.com

ELM (part 4) - Hobbit Virtues

Wikipedia/Dublin Christ Church Cathedral

The picture above is a stained glass rose window in the Christ Church Cathedral, High Street, Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland, depicting the Fruit of the Spirit.  

And St. Paul listed these virtues -

But the fruit of the Spirit is 

love, 
joy, 
peace, 
forbearance, 

kindness, 

goodness,

faithfulness, 

gentleness 

and
self-control.

Against such things there is no law.

Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV)

In this third part of English, Literature, and Musing (ELM),  the Fruit of the Spirit are virtues cultivated in many of the protagonists in English literature.  And such classics are a rich source of material for films.

For example ...

After the successful trilogy - The Lord of the Rings (2001, 2002, 2003), a trilogy of its prequel The Hobbit is now playing on the big screen (2012, 2013, 2014). 

JRR Tolkien, who wrote The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, was a devoted Catholic.  Though he wrote fantasy, his faith that defined his worldview was reflected in his writings.  [reference:  20Ways “The Lord of the Rings” Is Both Christian and Catholic]

In this world, evil seems so strong.  

To fight against it, many look for a champion of great power - like a Superman.  Yet, the theme of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings is that it is not the great powers that hold evil in check, but the ordinary folk.

In the first part of the The Hobbit trilogy -  The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) this scene reflects that philosophy:

(reference:  http://youtu.be/VbqnBBBeWNI)

Gandalf's word are worth repeating as they contain the virtues of the Fruit of Spirit, part of Tolkien's religious faith:

Saruman believes it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found. 

I found it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. 

Small acts of kindness and love. 

Why Bilbo Baggins? I don't know. 

Perhaps because I am afraid, and he gives me courage.

[reference:  The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Movie Quotes - Rotten Tomatoes]

This scene was not in the original book, but it seems faithful to the theme of The Hobbit. And I agree with the comments of the poster of this clip on YouTube - In my opinion this is one of the greatest lines I've heard in all of cinema.

And that testifies to the power of the story as well as the power of everyday acts of kindness and love of ordinary folks!

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Previous post on this series:

ELM (part 1) - English, Literature, and Musings (2013)

ELM (part 2) - Thug Notes does Hamlet (2013)

ELM (part 3) - St. Crispin's Day Battles in English History and Literature (2013)

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Photo from:  Wikipedia/Dublin Christ Church Cathedral

Culture 101 (part 2) - Easter Eucatastrophe

Eucatastrophe?

Sounds like a made up word ... and it is.

J. R. R Tolkien - famous for his works, The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, coined it.

What does it mean?

First, let's look at the familiar word at its root, which has quite the opposite meaning - Catastrophe

According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, a catastrophe is -

1:  the final event of the dramatic action especially of a tragedy
2:  a momentous tragic event ranging from extreme misfortune to utter overthrow or ruin
3 a:  a violent and sudden change in a feature of the earth
   b:  a violent usually destructive natural event (as a supernova)
4:  utter failure : fiasco


We see catastrophes reported in the news every day -

* the natural disasters:  earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, hurricanes, tornadoes, volcanic eruptions, out of control wild fires, drought,  famine, pandemics, ...
* the man made disasters:  nuclear meltdowns, serious security breeches, stock market crashes, wars, genocide, economic collapse, toxic pollution, ...

Then we have its opposite - Eucatastrophe

Eucastrophe is Tolkien's  neologism  from

Eu - from the Greek for good
Catastrophe - as defined above, simply put - destruction

According to Tolkien Gateway -

"I coined the word 'eucatastrophe': the sudden happy turn in a story which pierces you with a joy that brings tears ..." 

The climax of Lord of the Rings is a eucatastrope.

At Middle Earth's darkest hours  ... as Frodo had succumbed to the evil power of the ring and turned back from the quest to destroy it ... as Gollum wrested the ring from Frodo ... as the evil forces of Sauron seemed certain to be victorious ...

Then there was a sudden turn of events for the good ... the eucatastrophe ... which destroyed the ring and broke the power of Sauron.

Below are images of the highlights of the trilogy - over ten hours into four minutes - ending in the eucastrophe:

Likewise, there is another epic story - it would be no exaggeration to call it the greatest story ever told -

* The Easter Story *

The promised Messiah was betrayed by one of His own ... rejected by His own people ... handed over the Romans to be cruelly abused ... ridiculed by the elite religious leaders ... crucified as the lowest of the criminals.  He died and was buried.  His followers' were disillusioned - their hopes totally crushed.

Yet, at this dark time in history when all the forces of hell seemed to have prevailed came the eucatrastrophe ... the resurrection.

Out of death came life.  Defeat became victory.  Despair turned to Joy. Good triumphed over evil.

The Psalmist wrote of eucatastrophe in the following verses :

... weeping may stay for the night,
but rejoicing comes in the morning
...

You turned my wailing into dancing;
you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
 
 that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent.
LORD my God, I will praise you forever. 

Psalm 30:5, 11, 12 (NIV)

Handel's Messiah captured the Easter Eucatastrophe setting Holy Scripture to music in these verses:

Lyrics above were taken from I Corinthians 15 (KJV):

²¹For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
²²For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
 ...
⁵⁴   ...then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

⁵⁵O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
⁵⁶The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
⁵⁷But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 

As Professor Tolkien wrote in Letter 89:

"The Resurrection was the greatest "eucatastrophe" possible ..."


Death - Resurrection of the dead

In Adam all die - in Christ all shall be made alive

*  *  *  *

This Easter Season presents a wonderful lesson in Culture 101 - 

Christianity and the literary contributions of Professor Tolkein are part of Western Civilization and the American culture

which is to be continued ...


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Previous post on Culture 101:

Culture 101 (part 1) - Reagan's Challenge  (2012)

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Previous posts of subject:

Eucatastrophe for 2010?  (2010)

Earth Shaking Easter - a wake up call (2010)

Easter - The Sign of the Prophet Jonah (2011)

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Photo from everystockphoto.com:  My precious

Eucatastrophe for 2010?

Since I got the DVD set of the JRR Tolkien trilogy, The Lord of the Rings, with the extended scenes, I have made it a habit to watch them all (almost eleven hours of movies) at least once a year. And I did just that over the Christmas/New Year's holidays.

The Peter Jackson version of The Fellowship of the Rings first came to the big screen a couple months after September 11, 2001. After such a catastrophe, Tolkien's trilogy seemed to resonate with the angst for the new millennium.

According to Merriam-Webster, catastrophe is:
1 : the final event of the dramatic action especially of a tragedy
2 : a momentous tragic event ranging from extreme misfortune to utter overthrow or ruin

But JRR Tolkien coined the word - Eucatastrophe. As the prefix "eu" means good, eucatastrophe is quite the opposite of a catastrophe. When disaster seems certain and all hope seems lost, there is "the sudden happy turn in a story which pierces you with a joy that brings tears."

In the trilogy, the mad Steward of Gondor ruled with a bent on self-destruction. Misinformation prevailed. The overwhelming forces of evil marched to devour Middle Earth and destroy all that was free and good in life. It looked like the evil ring of power would never be destroyed.

Then came the sudden turn of events - the eucatstrophe. The ring was destroyed in an unexpected way. The forces of evil were vanquished. Good ultimately triumphed.

Such are the times as 2010 on planet Earth when madness reigns in the world. Leaders do not seem to have the good of the people, which they serve, in mind. With terrorist threats from without and the enemy within, the forces of evil march on to devour all that is free and good in this world.

In this season between Christmas and Easter, consider Him:

"The Birth of Christ is the eucatastrophe of Man's history. The Resurrection is the eucatastrophe of the story of the Incarnation. This story begins and ends in joy."

from the Epilogue of ON FAIRY-STORIES by J.R.R. Tolkien

The power of the resurrection is that when all seems lost, there is the eucatastrophe.

And there is hope for 2010.
photo from:
everystockphoto: Map of Middle Earth

dictionary:
"catastrophe." Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2010.
Merriam-Webster Online. 5 January 2010