A Lethal Combination

    The news this week featured eleven public heroes who were honored and received awards for performing noble acts in the line of duty. When a reporter asked a fire safety officer why he risked his life to walk into a burning building to evacuate residents against the odds of making it out alive, the officer responded, “I’m not really sure. It was just kind of an impulse that told me to go in there and save as many people as I could. I don’t know how to describe it.” Acts of heroism often seem unexplainable because they contradict man’s survivalist instincts. People often define “noble” as “selfless,” but that definition seems misleading because man’s natural tendencies lean toward self-preservation. So, what makes man challenge natural instincts to perform noble deeds? In The Children of Húrin, J.R.R. Tolkien creates a character named Túrin whose attributes exemplify the components it takes to commit acts of bravery. While fighting against the doomed fate that confronts him around every corner, Túrin’s mixed composition of fear and pride empower him to risk his life to resist evil forces while simultaneously acting as a personality crutch that leads to his eventual downfall.
    Túrin’s complex temperament initially materializes when he chooses to leave Doriath after the death of Saeros instead of facing King Thingol’s judgment. Túrin’s concealed fear prevails in Tolkien’s statement, “But Túrin was weary of the Elven-halls, and he feared lest he be held captive” (91). Although Thingol and Melian considered Túrin their foster-son, Túrin never felt comfortable in Doriath. Túrin’s reluctance no doubt stemmed from the difficult circumstances he endured so early in his youth: the captivity of his father, the death of his sister, and the departure from his mother. To a man brimming with pride like Túrin, captivity seems worse than death because it restrains free will and reduces life to worthlessness. Túrin’s decision to leave Doriath sparked a major turning point in his life. His choice brings him on a tumultuous journey where he endeavors to fight the darkness surrounding him. Although, as the tale progresses, the reader sees that Túrin’s fear and pride often drive him to commit malevolent deeds instead of contributing to the fight against evil.
     Another critical event in Túrin’s life that illustrates his disposition arises in the accidental killing of Beleg. Tolkien sums up Beleg’s death in the lines, “Then Túrin 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 slew Beleg Cúthalion thinking him a foe” (154). Túrin, laying unconscious, woke while Beleg attempted to cut Túrin’s bonds with a sword. In the veil of night, Túrin mistook Beleg for an Orc and killed Beleg in “rage and fear” before realizing his true identity. Túrin’s actions did not solely result from a fear of Orcs. If Túrin’s mind merely housed fear, he would have cowered in the face of his enemy. Instead, he “leapt up with a great cry,” meaning his actions in part emanated from prideful determination. Túrin’s impromptu slaying, the by-product of a lethal dose of fear and pride, contributed to the cloud of darkness that enshrouded him and ultimately led to his fateful death by the same sword.
     In one of Túrin’s final declarations of defiance against the darkness, he converts his fear into pride to defeat the Dragon. Before battle with Glaurong, Túrin proclaims in third person, “For now you are alone, O Master of Doom, as you should have known it must be. Now conquer alone!” (Tolkien 237). Túrin does not allow the reality of being alone in the face of a fire-breathing dragon dampen his spirit. He acknowledges the intimidating reality and transforms his fear into a catalyst for completing his mission. After Túrin’s proclamation, Tolkien writes, “Then he summoned to him all his will, and all his hatred of the Dragon and his Master, and it seemed to him that suddenly he found strength of heart and of body that he had not known before” (237). In order to mask his fear, Túrin consciously summons his propensity towards pride and engineers it to propel him forth into successfully defeating the Dragon. In spite of triumphantly conquering Glaurong, Túrin in the heat of pride insisted on recovering his sword and fell unconscious after touching the dragon’s venom, contributing to the death of Níniel.
     Túrin aptly summarizes his mixed personality when he states, “My father is not afraid, and I will not be; or at least, as my mother, I will be afraid and not show it” (Tolkien 43). Túrin exists in the history of Middle-earth as a noble figure. The noble acts Túrin performed did not stem from selfless ambitions; rather, his makeup consists of innate fear and pride, the result of rough-and-tumble familial traits and unfortunate circumstances that hardened his mind. Even though Túrin’s life existed in a world dominated by immense evil, he still managed to hone his inescapable doom to contribute to the good of Middle-earth. If Túrin can make a difference in an ill-fated life, we as children of God can certainly make a difference in this world. After all, our side consists of the almighty God: a stronghold in the day of trouble, a light in the darkness, and a refuge in the storm