Alma 48:11 Humility and Courage in the Face of War

I read this today and had to post:

Tolkien and Lewis’ recourse was to draw us back to the heroic tradition: a mode of thought tempered by the realities of combat and fortified by belief in a God of justice and mercy.

Perhaps the character of Faramir, the Captain of Gondor in The Lord of the Rings expresses it best. He possesses humility as well as great courage – a warrior with a “grave tenderness in his eyes” – who takes no delight in the prospect of battle. As such, he conveys a message that bears repeating at the present moment, in a world that is no stranger to the sorrows and ravages of war. “War must be, while we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all,” he explains. “But I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend.”^[1]Joseph Loconte, A Hobbit, A Wardrobe, and a Great War, p. xix. See also: Tolkien, Lord of the Rings, 672.

This description also hit home:

“Pippin pressed forward as they passed under the lamp beneath the gate-arch, and when he saw the pale face of Faramir he caught his breath. It was the face of one who has been assailed by a great fear or anguish, but has mastered it and now is quiet. Proud and grave he stood for a moment as he spoke to the guard, and Pippin gazing at him saw how closely he resembled his brother Boromir – whom Pippin had liked from the first, admiring the great man’s lordly but kindly manner. Yet suddenly for Faramir his heart was strangely moved with a feeling that he had not known before.

Here was one with an air of high nobility such as Aragorn at times revealed, less high perhaps, yet also less incalculable and remote: one of the Kings of Men born into a later time, but touched with the wisdom and sadness of the Eldar. He knew now why Beregond spoke his name with love. He was a captain that men would follow, that he would follow, even under the shadow of the black wings.”^[2]Pippin’s first impression of Faramir. See: J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Return of the King, Book Five, Chapter IV: “The Siege of Gondor,” HarperCollins, p. 1060.