A recent visit to Aachen to pursue mediaeval interests has provided an excuse to relay two favourite Tolkien excerpts; one from The Children of Húrin and another from The Lord of the Rings.

From The Children of Húrin I return to one of my favourite characters, Túrin Turambar as well as another favourite, Beleg “Strongbow” Cúthalion. Here is the tragic (of course it’s “tragic”, it’s Túrin!) episode where Túrin after being rescued by Beleg, mistakes Beleg for an Orc and slays him using Anglachel, the sword created by yet another favourite, Eöl:

“Then Beleg and Gwindor cut the bonds from the tree, and bore Túrin out of the camp. But he was too heavy to carry far, and they could go no further than to a thicket of thorn trees high on the slopes above the camp. There they laid him down; and now the storm drew nearer, and lightning flashed on Thangorodrim. Beleg drew his sword Anglachel, and with it he cut the fetters that bound Túrin; but fate was that day more strong, for the blade of Eöl the Dark Elf slipped in his hand, and pricked Túrin’s foot.

Then Túrin was roused into a sudden wakefulness of rage and fear, and seeing a form bending over him in the gloom with a naked blade in hand he leapt up with a great cry, believing that Orcs were come again to torment him; and grappling with him in the darkness he seized Anglachel, and slew Beleg Cúthalion thinking him a foe.

But as he stood, finding himself free, and ready to sell his life dearly against imagined foes, there came a great flash of lightning above them, and in its light he looked down on Beleg’s face. Then Túrin stood stonestill and silent, staring on that dreadful death, knowing what he had done; and so terrible was his face, lit by the lightning that flickered all about them, that Gwindor cowered down upon the ground and dared not raise his eyes.”

“The Children of Húrin”, Tolkien p.

And from The Lord of the Rings, Boromir’s death scene. Short, and poignant in the book and a firm fan favourite in the Peter Jackson films (and a part of Sean Bean’s litany of on-screen deaths):

“Even as he gazed his [Aragorn’s] quick ears caught sounds in the woodlands below, on the west side of the River. He stiffened. There were cries, and among them, to his horror, he could distinguish the harsh voices of Orcs. Then suddenly with a deep-throated call a great horn blew, and the blasts of it smote the hills and echoed in the hollows, rising in a mighty shout above the roaring of the falls.

‘The horn of Boromir!’ he cried. ‘He is in need!’ He sprang down the steps and away, leaping down the path. […]

Drawing his bright sword and crying Elendil! Elendil! he crashed through the trees.

A mile, maybe, from Parth Galen in a little glade not far from the lake he found Boromir. He was sitting with his back to a great tree, as if he was resting. But Aragorn saw that he was pierced with many black-feathered arrows; his sword was still in his hand, but it was broken near the hilt; his horn cloven in two was at his side. Many Orcs lay slain, piled all about him and at his feet.

Aragorn knelt beside him. Boromir opened his eyes and strove to speak. At last slow words came. ‘I tried to take the Ring from Frodo,’ he said. ‘I am sorry. I have paid.’ His glance strayed to his fallen enemies; twenty at least lay there. ‘They have gone: the Halflings: the Orcs have taken them. I think they are not dead. Orcs bound them.’ He paused and his eyes closed wearily. After a moment he spoke again.

‘Farewell, Aragorn! Go to Minas Tirith and save my people! I have failed.’

‘No!’ said Aragorn, taking his hand and kissing his brow. ‘You have conquered. Few have gained such a victory. Be at peace! Minas Tirith shall not fall!’

Boromir smiled.

‘Which way did they go? Was Frodo there?’ said Aragorn.

But Boromir did not speak again.”

“The Lord of the Rings”, Tolkien p.

What do these two great scenes have to do with Aachen, a Horn and a French Epic?

Well, in the Aachen Domschatzkammer (Aachen Cathedral Treasury) there is, amongst a great, glittering goldhord, a comparatively plain horn:

I say comparatively plain; it is till gilded with silver and set with precious stones, fitting for its purpose as the Hunting Horn of Charlemagne, King of the Franks, Holy Roman Emperor and son of Pepin the Short (Pippin the Hobbit anyone?).

The horn itself is known as an olifant (Old French), or olifaunt (Middle English) and provides us with oliphant from both Anglo-Norman and again, Old French. All together meaning ivory, elephant and a musical horn of ivory.

And of course, we’re all very familiar with Tolkien’s use of the word “oliphaunt” (Middle English as in olifaunt meaning elephant) when Sam proudly describes them to Gollum in the fireside nonsense rhyme:

“Grey as a mouse,

Big as a house,

Nose like a snake,

I make the earth shake,

As I tramp through the grass;

Trees crack as I pass.

With horns in my mouth

I walk in the South,

Flapping big ears.

Beyond count of years

I stump round and round,

Never lie on the ground,

Not even to die.

Oliphaunt am I,

Biggest of all,

Huge, old, and tall.

If ever you’d met me

You wouldn’t forget me.

If you never do,

You won’t think I’m true;

But old Oliphaunt am I,

And I never lie.”

“The Lord of the Rings”, Tolkien p.

This rhyme is from The Black Gate is Closed chapter in Book Four of The Lord of the Rings. In the whole of the book, “oliphaunt” is mentioned 18 times. This is one less than the mention of “olifant” in The Song of Roland, France’s national epic written in Old French by the famous author Anon. sometime in the late 11th to early 12th Century.

Known as Le Chanson de Roland, it is an epic song that celebrates the legendary deeds of Roland, Charlemagne’s military leader, at the Battle of Roncevaux Pass in AD 778. The oldest surviving major work of French literature, a single extant manuscript written in Anglo Norman between 1129 and 1165 can be found in the Bodleian Library, Oxford where it no doubts rubs shoulders with a lot of Tolkien’s own works.

I’m writing this whilst on holiday in Germany and therefore have no access to my library. That being said, I feel quite confident in saying that Tolkien must have read, if not studied, this manuscript, not least when we consider the similarities with the above quotations.

Using Dorothy L. Sayers’s translation (I’ll come back to Dorothy’s own connection to Tolkien later), The Song of Roland, here are the verses I’ve found of note for their similarities:

“Roland has set Olifant to his lips,

Firmly he holds it and blows it with a will.

High are the mountains, the blast is long and shrill,

Thirty great leagues the sound went echoing.

King Carlon heard it and all who rode with him.”

“The Song of Roland”, trans. Sayers

Here, replace Roland with Boromir, and King Carlon with Aragorn and you have a very similar description to that seen in Boromir’s death above, even down to how his blast “smote the hills and echoed in the hollows, rising in a mighty shout above the roaring of the falls”.

Prior to this episode in The Song of Roland, we are presented with Roland’s pride, his ofermōd (see verse below). I have briefly touched upon this concept before in an earlier post, Lönnrot and The Kalevala – Tolkien’s Inspiration. Tolkien discusses the concept of ofermōd in great detail in his book The Battle of Maldon together with The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth. Not having access to my library whilst away here in Germany (and only with access to the internet), all I can do to sum up ofermōd is that it is an over-mastering pride. This can be seen in abundance with Túrin, but also presents itself in Boromir too, as we see in his death scene above in which he refers to his earlier attempt to take the ring from Frodo, his own pride being his reasoning factor.

But in Tolkien’s works ofermōd is always paid for with a life (think of Beorhtnoth, Fëanor, Túrin, Denethor), which Boromir confirms.

““Companion Roland, your Olifant now blow;

Charles in the passes will hear it as he goes,

Trust me, the French will all return right so.”

“Now God forbid”, Roland makes answer wroth,

“That living man should say he saw me go

Blowing of horns for any Paynim foe!

Ne’er shall my kindred be put to such reproach.

When I shall stand in this great clash of hosts

I’ll strike a thousand and then sev’n hundred strokes,

Blood-red the steel of Durendal shall flow.

Stout are the French, they will do battle bold,

These men of Spain shall die and have no hope.”

[…]

Roland is fierce and Oliver is wise

And both for valour may bear away the prize.

Once horsed and armed the quarrel to decide,

For dread of death the field they’ll never fly.

The counts are brave, their words are stern and high.

Now the false Paynims with wondrous fury ride.

Quoth Oliver: “Look, Roland, they’re in sight.

Charles is far off, and these are very nigh;

You would not sound your Olifant for pride;

Had we the Emperor we should have been all right.

To Gate of Spain turn now and lift your eyes,

See for yourself the rear-guard’s woeful plight.

Who fights this day will never more see fight.”

Roland replies: “Speak no such foul despite!

Curst be the breast whose heart knows cowardise!

Here in our place we’ll stand and here abide:

Buffets and blows be ours to take and strike!””

Ibid.

Prior to Roland’s death, and as a result of his over-mastering pride, Roland loses his life after thousands of others fall to the weapons of the Paynims.

The OED gives us this for paynim:

paynim /ˈpeɪnɪm /

▸ noun archaic a non-Christian, especially a Muslim.

– ORIGIN Middle English: from Old French paienime, from ecclesiastical Latin paganismus ‘heathenism’, from paganus ‘heathen’ (see pagan).

Our first introduction to Boromir in The Lord of the Rings, pride is very apparent characteristic when he is described as “a tall man with a fair and noble face, dark-haired and grey-eyed, proud and stern of glance.”

Prior to Boromir’s death scene, his pride can be seen in its fullest when he attempts to convince Frodo to give him the ring. Boromir’s pride, as with Roland’s, is one in which he believes in his own ability above all, an overmastering pride:

“‘We of Minas Tirith have been staunch through long years of trial. We do not desire the power of wizard-lords, only strength to defend ourselves, strength in a just cause. And behold! in our need chance brings to light the Ring of Power. It is a gift, I say; a gift to the foes of Mordor. It is mad not to use it, to use the power of the Enemy against him. The fearless, the ruthless, these alone will achieve victory. What could not a warrior do in this hour, a great leader? What could not Aragorn do? Or if he refuses, why not Boromir? The Ring would give me power of Command. How I would drive the hosts of Mordor, and all men would flock to my banner!’

Boromir strode up and down, speaking ever more loudly. Almost he seemed to have forgotten Frodo, while his talk dwelt on walls and weapons, and the mustering of men; and he drew plans for great alliances and glorious victories to be; and he cast down Mordor, and became himself a mighty king, benevolent and wise.”

“The Lord of the Rings”, Tolkien p.

In both instances, Roland and Boromir pay for their ofermōd with their lives, just as Beorhtnoth did.

Whilst looking at horns, we must also consider Théoden:

“Tall and proud he seemed again; and rising in his stirrups he cried in a loud voice, more clear than any there had ever heard a mortal man achieve before:

Arise, arise, Riders of Théoden!

Fell deeds awake: fire and slaughter!

spear shall be shaken, shield be splintered,

a sword-day, a red day, ere the sun rises!

Ride now, ride now! Ride to Gondor!

With that he seized a great horn from Guthláf his banner-bearer, and he blew such a blast upon it that it burst asunder. And straightway all the horns in the host were lifted up in music, and the blowing of the horns of Rohan in that hour was like a storm upon the plain and a thunder in the mountains.

Ride now, ride now! Ride to Gondor!

Suddenly the king cried to Snowmane and the horse sprang away. Behind him his banner blew in the wind, white horse upon a field of green, but he outpaced it. After him thundered the knights of his house, but he was ever before them. Éomer rode there, the white horsetail on his helm floating in his speed, and the front of the first éored roared like a breaker foaming to the shore, but Théoden could not be overtaken. Fey he seemed, or the battle-fury of his fathers ran like new fire in his veins, and he was borne up on Snowmane like a god of old, even as Oromë the Great in the battle of the Valar when the world was young.”

Ibid.

Théoden too is here described as proud and his horn does break (as does Roland’s, which we’ll see later).

However, Théoden’s pride is bound up in Northern Courage (another Tolkien concept very much worth looking into!). Here, honour is above all, even life, another type of ofermōd, especially as shortly after Théoden’s rallying cry above, he too loses his life in the pursuit of prideful courage.

Also, I do believe that either Verlyn Flieger or Tom Shippey make a comparison between Charlemagne and Théoden but again, I will need to get back to my library.

What of Túrin and Beleg Strongbow? The earlier quotation focused on proud Túrin mistaking his close friend Beleg as an orc and slaying him. The Song of Roland has its proud hero also involved with the killing of someone who looms over him.

“High are the hills and very high the trees are;

Four stones there are set there, of marble gleaming.

The County Roland lies senseless on the greensward.

A Saracen is there, watching him keenly;

He has feigned death, and lies among his people,

And has smeared blood upon his breast and features.

Now he gets up and runs towards him fleetly;

Strong was he, comely and of valour exceeding.

Now in his rage and in his overweening

He falls on Roland, his arms and body seizing;

He saith one word: “Now Carlon’s nephew’s beaten.

I’ll take his sword, to Araby I’ll reive it.”

But as he draws it Roland comes to, and feels him.

Roland has felt his good sword being stol’n;

Opens his eyes and speaks this word alone:

“Thou’rt none of ours, in so far as I know.”

He takes his horn, of which he kept fast hold,

And smites the helm, which was all gemmed with gold;

He breaks the steel and the scalp and the bone,

And from his head batters his eyes out both,

And dead on ground he lays the villain low;

Then saith: “False Paynim, and how wast thou so bold,

Foully or fairly, to seize upon me so?

A fool he’ll think thee who hears this story told.

Lo, now! the mouth of my Olifant’s broke;

Fallen is all the crystal and the gold.”

“The Song of Roland”, Sayers p.

Now, Roland does not kill a close friend, but does believe his assailant to be an enemy: “”Thou’rt none of ours, in so far as I know””. Also, Roland’s own sword, Durendal, is the catalyst to the scene as it is the theft of Durendal that wakes and alerts Roland, betraying the movements of his assailant. Roland uses Durendal to kill his assailant.

With Túrin and Beleg, the sword Anglachel, wrought by Eöl the Dark Elf, alerts Túrin when it pricks his foot as Beleg attempts to cut Túrin’s bonds. Túrin uses Anglachel to kill Beleg.

Whereas in the Roland/Boromir comparison I used the horn as the catalyst, with the Roland/Túrin comparison, we are using the sword as the comparison. It is the sword that both alerts each protagonist and is used in the killing.

There appear to be many etymologies for Durendal although the one I will favour purely for this purpose is that cited by the German linguist Gerhard Rholfs who suggests dur+end’art: “strong flame”.

Anglachel’s etymology can be summarised as “Iron of the Flaming Star”, again another “flame” element.

Whilst speaking of swords, the first example I gave suggested that we replace Charlemagne with Aragorn. Obviously, it was a fitting exercise to demonstrate the similarity in the prose, and it is also fitting that a king is replacing another. Aragorn’s sword is Andúril, phonetically similar to Durendal and Andúril means “Flame of the West” in Quenya.

(Maybe there’s more to look into here between Charlemagne and Aragorn, but I’m on holiday at the moment.)

Here, we have been able to mention Tolkien’s fictional characters Aragorn, Boromir, Théoden, Túrin, Beleg and Eöl, and some of the greater passages within which they are mentioned or connected to, all in connection to Le Chanson de Roland (which I would recommend reading if you haven’t already) and The Hunting Horn of Charlemagne.

Now, I did mention that I would come back to Dorothy L. Sayers.

Dorothy L. Sayers, author and poet, was born on 13th June 1893 and studied Modern Languages at Oxford. Apparently, she was the first women to receive a degree. I say apparently because unfortunately I am currently only able to use broad internet searches.

Her age and education makes her a contemporary of Tolkien.

I can find only one reference by Tolkien about Sayers and that is his dislike of her book Gaudy Night:

“I could not stand Gaudy Night. I followed P. Wimsey from his attractive beginnings so far, by which time I conceived a loathing for him (and his creatrix) not surpassed by any other character in literature know to me, unless by his Harriet.”

“The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien”, Tolkien p

“I could not stand Gaudy Night. I followed P. Wimsey from his attractive beginnings so far, by which time I conceived a loathing for him (and his creatrix) not surpassed by any other character in literature know to me, unless by his Harriet.”

Okay, so not a great mention and I suppose you could easily assume that that summarised Tolkien’s view of Sayers. However, we can see that Sayers was a contemporary of Tolkien and that Tolkien read her work. Did he mention the above out of disappointment based on her other work, or that maybe Tolkien was a fan of Wimsey and Gaudy Night was the book that culminated his fictional career?

It also appears that Sayers was a friend of C. S. Lewis. She was an author, a poet, a student of language and she also had faith. The latter was a regular discussion she had with Lewis.

The Song of Roland, by Dorothy L. Sayers was published in 1957.

Had Sayers and Tolkien had conversations about Charlemagne, Roland and Old French?

Maybe…

Let me know if you have any thoughts yourself, or if there’s anything you’d like to add or any amendments you may want to suggest to any of the above.