A KING FROM THE

PAST INTO THE

PRESENT

CRISTINA MANGAS PAREJA

1. Introduction
When we read The Lord of the Rings we can detect some Arthurian elements,
which find their correspondence in Tolkiens Universe. Its obvious that the tales of
Arthur played a role in the creation of Middle-Earth: for example, Tolkiens biggest
influence for the character of Gandalf was, of course, Merlin Ambrosius, the mentor of
King Arthur. In Morte dArthur by Malory, Merlin had taken the role of supernatural
mentor, and he has never left it.
The Arthurian legends revolve around of knights life during the Middle Ages. The
knight would pledge his loyalty to God, to his King and to the women. In The Lord of
the Rings this loyalty consist in a fellowship of friends (the Fellowship of the Ring), and
has to remind us of King Arthurs Round Table, which represents the equality between
the knights. Nevertheless, the purposes of the two fellowships were very different: the
Knights of the Round Table wanted to show the obligation to have a chivalrous
behaviour during the times of war and peace. But the Fellowship of the Ring bands
together with the common purpose of destroy the One Ring.
Its obvious that all group of men needs a leader. In the case of Arthurian legends,
this role rest on King Arthur, because the Round Table was HIS round table (he created
her from the nothingness). In The Lord of the Rings, leaders position maybe could
rest in Aragorn, because he is the King. But if we read Tolkiens books, we can see that
theres other candidate for the leaders position. And is, obvious, the Hobbit Frodo.
Nevertheless, Tolkien considered it a shame that the British conceive King Arthur as
their principal myth, since he felt it was essentially French, because the most
medieval sources of Arthurian legends are French. 1 Even so, Tolkien employed the
Arthurian tradition and redefined it, with a new meaning and purpose, in order to
1 In Tolkiens letter to Milton Waldman, we can read Tolkiens problems with Arthurian legends

create two essentially characters in The Lord of the Rings. One of them was Merlin, as
I said earlier. And the other character is King Arthur, in order to create the heroes of
The Lord of the Rings, Aragorn and Frodo.

2. Reinventing Arthur into Aragorn

First, I want to talk about Arthurs relationship with Aragorn. In my opinion, King
Arthur is definitely in Tolkiens subconscious and could have affected the creation of
Aragorn, though theres a lot of other mythical heroes (like Sigurd, of German legends)
in Tolkiens mind.
Many people think (maybe because of Disneys film, The sword in the Stone) that
Arthur drew back Excalibur out of the stone, but this is untrue. According to Malory,
the sword

is broken in half during a duel with King Pellinore. Then, Merlin took Arthur

out of the battle and both goes to see the Lady of the Lake, where Arthur would get
Excalibur. You can read, in the next fragment, when King Arthurs sword broke in
Morte dArthur, by Thomas Malory.

[] and then they went to the battle again, and so hurtled together like
two rams that either fell to the earth. So at the last they smote together that
both their swords met even together. But the sword of the king smote Kings
Arthurs sword in two pieces, wherefore he was heavy3

2 In Celtic legends, the sword of the stone is called Caledfwich

3 Malory, Thomas, Morte dArthur, book I chapter XXIII [on-line] http://www.sacredtexts.com/neu/mart/mart022.htm
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Similar to Caledfwich is the sword Narsil in The Lord of the Rings. This ancient
sword is the sword used by Isildur to strike Sauron and cause him to lose the One
Ring. But Narsil was broken in this fight.

I beheld the last combat on the slopes of Orodruin, where Gil-galad died,
and Elendill fell, and Narsil broke beneath him; but Sauron himself was
overthrown, and Isildur cut the Ring from his hand with the hilt-shard of his
fathers sword, and took it for his own. 4

While journeying through Middle-earth, Aragorn (the descendant of Isildur) carried

the shards of Narsil in a sheath. Later, the elves of Rivendell reformed Narsil and this
new sword was called Andril, the flame of the West and referred to as the Sword
that was Broken, and later the Sword Reforged.

Also, the swords of the two kings have in common that they are instruments in the
acquisition and the preservation of their kingdoms because the best swords are
broken so that no one else can wield them until a worthy successor appears. So, both
swords are symbols that man the return of the right king.

4 Tolkien, J.R.R, The fellowship of the ring. Ed. Minotauro, 2001, page 75
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3. Reinventing Arthur into Frodo

As I said before, Tolkien develop King Arthur into two types of characters. The first
one is the ancient hero, of which Aragorn is the preeminent example, with all the
qualities that we can imagine for a King. (Justice, intelligence, loyalty, courtliness).
But Aragorn is too good to be true (its like a Tolkiens Superman). So, we need Frodo
for balance it, because Frodo is the common man who rose up in desperate times, a
virtuous hero who does not obtain the absolute perfection.

Initially Frodo's adventures seem to contradict Arthur's big exploits. The tiny hobbit
is too fragile and excessively human in order that there seems in a beginning a
probable candidate for the hero's work in a mission. But the end of Arthurs mortal
life is very similar at the end of Frodo in The Lord of the Rings. As we can read on
Malorys, after his definitive battle, the mortally injured King Arthur is taken by a
beautiful Queen of the Fairies in a mysterious boat. This one transport the wounded
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king across the water towards the land of the fairies of Avalon, where Arthur will be
treated and he will have an immortal life.

Then Sir Bedivere took the king upon his back, and so went with him to the
water side. And when they were at the water side, even fast by the bank hoved
a little barge with many fair ladies in it, and among them all was a queen, and
all they had black hoods, and all the wept and shrieked when they saw King
Arthur. [] I will into the vale of Avalon to heal me of my grievous wound.5

In The return of the King this departure correspond to the sick and wounded Frodo,
who departure by ship from the Grey Havens, bound for Valinor to be healed, if he can
be. That this is a deliberate echo of the departure of the wounded Arthur.

Then Cirdan led the to the Havens, and there was a white ship lying, and
upon the quay beside a great grey horse stood a figure robed all in white
awaiting them [] and went abroad, and the sails were drawn up, and the wind
blew, and slowly the ship slipped down the long grey firth, and the light of
Galadriel that Frodo bore, glimmered and was lost. 6

The echo lies not just in the departure by ship of a wounded hero but also in the
equally important picture of a loyal retainer left standing on the shore and watching
the ship as it disappears.

5 Malory, Thomas, Morte dArthur, book XXI chapter V [on-line] http://www.sacredtexts.com/neu/mart/mart494.htm

6 Tolkien, J.R.R, The return of the king. Ed. Minotauro, 2002, page 402
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In Morte dArthur, this loyal retainer is the despairing Sir Bedivere, one Arthurs
knight, who look after the boat.

And as soon as Sir Bedivere had lost the sight of the barge, he wept and
wailed, and so took the forest; and so he went all that night, and in the
morning he was ware betwixt two holts hoar, of a chapel and an hermitage7

And in The Return of the King this loyal retainer is the Hobbit Sam, who look the
ship until it disappears. Theres also Pippin and Merry in the shore.

But to Sam the evening deepened to darkness as he stood at the Haven;

and as he looked at the grey sea he saw only a shadow on the waters that was
soon lost in the West. There still he stood far into the night, hearing only the
sigh and murmur of the waves on the shores of Middle-earth, and the sound of
them sank deep into his heart. Beside him stood Merry and Pippin, and they
were silent. 8

4. Connecting threads
The Lord of the Rings becomes the reconstructed ancient source of the Arthurian
Legends rather than the result of the influence of the legends. Tolkien stirs to the
legend to reinvent the cycle he feels is imperfect for England.

7 Malory, Thomas, Morte dArthur, book XXI chapter V [on-line] http://www.sacredtexts.com/neu/mart/mart494.htm

8 Tolkien, J.R.R, The return of the king. Ed. Minotauro, 2002, page 403
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We could easily conclude that Aragorn and Frodo becomes the new Arthur heroes.
But in his lifetime, Tolkien denied this. It seems clear, however, that Arthur was in the
back of his mind, or perhaps in the tentative beginnings, with other fragments of
England's history.
But Frodo is no Arthur, and that, in a way, is Tolkiens point. Hes a little man, not a
national hero. Besides the character of Aragorn, is very much cut from the same cloth
as Arthur but have also the characteristics of a lot of mythical heroes.
Finally, and undeniably, the title of The Lord of the Ring The return of the King is
probably inspired by the common British legend the once and future king 9, will
someday rise again and return to England, adored by his people and feared by his
enemies. And, even if Tolkien didnt like it, the only King that will return of the
immortal land is Arthur.

Annex

Tolkiens letter to Milton Waldman

9 The Once and Future King (1958) is an Arthurian fantasy novel written by T. H. White
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In 1951 Tolkien wrote a letter to Milton Waldman, his editor at Collins. It was in that
letter where Tolkien presents a summary of the whole mythology of his world. But
Tolkien also explains his motivations to write The Lord of the Rings.
Also, Tolkien explains in this letter his problems with British legends:

Also and here I hope I shall not sound absurd I was from early days grieved
by the poverty of my own beloved country: it had no stories of its own (bound
up with its tongue and soil), not of the quality that I sought, and found (as an
ingredient) in legends of other lands. There was Greek, and Celtic, and
Romance, Germanic, Scandinavian, and Finnish (which greatly affected me); but
nothing English, save impoverished chap-book stuff. Of course there was and is
all the Arthurian world, but powerful as it is, it is imperfectly naturalized,
associated with the soil of Britain but not with English; and does not replace
what I felt to be missing. For one thing its 'faerie' is too lavish, and fantastical,
incoherent and repetitive. For another and more important thing: it is involved
in, and explicitly contains the Christian religion.