Where is the Horse and the Rider?

After an exhausting night of studying for the Medieval Exam on Tuesday, I decided to wind down and relax with a little Lord of the Rings. While watching Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, I couldn’t help but notice that Peter Jackson (and presumably Tolkien) made use of two Anglo-Saxon literary aspects in a particular scene. King Théoden is delivering some kind of aside/poem/speech in the scene; it is an obvious lament for his Kingdom that is facing war – and likely defeat – with an army of uruk-hai. Watch the following scene and try to determine what the two aspects are:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tzx6d5h-5Mg

Could it be more obvious? The two aspects of Anglo-Saxon literature I noticed were Ubi Sunt and the Epic Catalog. It almost feels as if Jackson purposefully put these two Anglo-Saxon techniques in this scene to emphasize the impact that Old English had on Tolkien’s stories. If you are aware of these two techniques, it is almost impossible not to know that Jackson is referencing them!

Théoden’s Ubi Sunt speech is suspiciously reminiscent of the Wanderer’s Ubi Sunt in The Wanderer. Let’s compare:

·      “Where did the steed go? Where the young warrior? Where the treasure-giver? Where the seats of fellowship? Where the hall’s festivity?” (The Wanderer 92-93)

·      “Where now are the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing? Where is the helm and the hauberk, and the bright hair flowing? Where is the harp on the harpstring, and the red fire glowing? Where is the spring and the harvest and the tall corn growing?” (Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers)

Tolkien was very clever to use the Ubi Sunt form in Théoden’s speech here. Théoden is different from the Wanderer in that he is a King and still has his Kingdom. But, by referencing the Wanderer’s Ubi Sunt passage, Tolkien/Jackson is suggesting to the reader/viewer what might become of Théoden if the war is lost and Rohan is taken.

But, Jackson chooses to depict Théoden participating in an Epic Catalog in the scene. Reminiscent of the Epic Catalog in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in lines 566-665, Théoden is dramatically fitted with his armor for the battle, slowly and piece by piece. Although he is delivering an Ubi Sunt speech that seems to foreshadow doom for his Kingdom, Théoden’s Epic Catalog deems him a hero of sorts and combats the doom with foreshadowing of victory.

DANG! I have so much more appreciation for this scene and the Lord of the Rings series as a whole now. You go, Peter Jackson. Way to stay true to the literary masterpieces of Tolkien. Major props.