As ever, dear readers, welcome.

It’s true, as I said in my posting about War and Peace, that the novel certainly appears to have a lot of characters, many of them minor, people who appear for a scene or two, as T.S. Eliot (1888-1965) writes, speaking in the voice of “Prufrock”:

“No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be;

Am an attendant lord, one that will do

To swell a progress, start a scene or two,

Advise the prince; no doubt, an easy tool,

Deferential, glad to be of use,

Politic, cautious, and meticulous;

Full of high sentence, but a bit obtuse…”

(from “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”, first published in Poetry, June, 1915)

I would say that this is also true for The Lord of the Rings, with its many characters, some of whom “start a scene or two”—think of Sandyman the miller, for example, and his son, Ted, two sceptical Hobbits, who pop up in the first chapters of the book, foils for Gaffer Gamgee and his son, Sam, with their gossip about the Bagginses and traveling Ents—definitely “scene-starters”, though not much more.

Then there are minor characters who, for a moment, have more major roles and here I’m thinking of Hama, the doorward of Meduseld.

(This is from the wonderfully creative Lego “Rebrickable” site:  https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-174256/Sir%20BuildsALot/meduseld-the-golden-hall-of-edoras/#details which is all about building new things with Legos.)

In a letter to the editor of The Observer, Tolkien had stated of The Hobbit:

“Beowulf is among my most valued sources…”  (letter to the editor, 20 February, 1938, Letters, 41)

and, in the case of Hama, this continues to be true.

At the beginning of Beowulf, Hrothgar, the king of the Danes, is in trouble.  His mead hall (which the English for “Meduseld”)

has been attacked, for 12 years, by a monster from the moors—Grendel.

Security is tight, therefore, in Denmark, so, when Beowulf arrives from Sweden with his companions, he is first stopped and questioned by a coast guard,

and then, at Hrothgar’s door by Wolfgar, the doorward–

“As the party was approaching the palace together

They set their arms and armor against the wall.

In warlike equipments. ’Gainst the wall of the building

Their wide-fashioned war-shields they weary did set then,

Battle-shields sturdy; benchward they turned then;

Their battle-sarks rattled, the gear of the heroes;

The lances stood up then, all in a cluster,

The arms of the seamen, ashen-shafts mounted

With edges of iron: the armor-clad troopers.”

Wolfgar then questions them–

“A Danish hero asks them whence and why they are come.

Were decked with weapons. Then a proud-mooded hero

Asked of the champions questions of lineage:

“From what borders bear ye your battle-shields plated,

Gilded and gleaming, your gray-colored burnies,

Helmets with visors and heap of war-lances?—

To Hrothgar the king I am servant and liegeman.

’Mong folk from far-lands found I have never

He expresses no little admiration for the strangers.

Men so many of mien more courageous.

I ween that from valor, nowise as outlaws,

But from greatness of soul ye sought for King Hrothgar.”

(from John Lesslie Hall’s 1892 translation, which you can read here:  https://www.gutenberg.org/files/16328/16328-h/16328-h.htm#page_5 This translation suggests the heavy alliteration and rhythm of the original, but it’s occasionally archaic, so, if you’d prefer, there are many others out there.   There have, in fact, been English translations since 1837 and you can see a list of most of them here:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_translations_of_Beowulf )

Here, we see Wolfgar (his name is mentioned in line 30) greet and question Beowulf and his companions after they have put down their weapons.  In the same scene in The Lord of the Rings, Hama is less friendly—

“ ‘I am the Doorward of Theoden,’ he said.  ‘Hama is my name.  Here I must bid you lay aside your weapons before you enter.’ “

Legolas easily lays aside his weapons, but Aragorn resists, saying,  “It is not my will…to put aside my sword or to deliver Anduril to the hand of any other man.“

To which Hama replies:  “It is the will of Theoden.”

And here Aragorn begins to sound rather high-handed:

“It is not clear to me that the will of Theoden son of Thengel, even though he be lord of the Mark, should prevail over the will of Aragorn son of Arathorn, Elendil’s heir of Gondor.”

This almost causes a political disaster as Hama replies:

“This is the house of Theoden, not of Aragorn, even were he King of Gondor in the seat of Denethor.”

And then—

“[Hama] step[s] swiftly before the doors and bar[s] the way.  His sword was now in his hand and the point towards the strangers.”

Gandalf temporarily calms the situation, but then Hama says to Gandalf:

“ ‘Your staff…Forgive me, but that too must be left at the doors.’ “

Gandalf pleads old age and Hama, hesitating for a moment, then allows him to keep it and, by doing so, steps from minor character for a moment to major as, when Gandalf and the others enter the hall, they find

(the Hildebrandts)

“…a man so bent with age he seemed almost a dwarf…”

(Alan Lee)

as well as “…a woman clad in white..”

and

“At his feet upon the steps sat a wizened figure of a man, with a pale white face and heavy-lidded eyes.”

This is Grima Wormtongue, who, we soon find out, is not the loyal counselor of Theoden he pretends to be, but an agent of Saruman,

(the Hildebrandts)

bent upon betraying the king.  Angered by him, Gandalf

“…raised his staff.  There was a roll of thunder.  The sunlight was blotted out from the eastern windows; the whole hall became suddenly dark as night.  The fire faded to sullen embers.  Only Gandalf could be seen, standing white and tall before the blackened hearth.

In the gloom, they heard the hiss of Wormtongue’s voice.  ‘Did I not counsel you, lord, to forbid his staff?  That fool, Hama, has betrayed us!’  There was a flash as if lightning had cloven the roof.  Then all was silent.  Wormtongue sprawled on his face.” 

With Grima thrown down, great age falls away from Theoden—

“He drew himself up, slowly, as a man that is stiff from long bending over some dull toil.  Now tall and straight he stood, and his eyes were blue as he looked into the opening sky.”  (all of the above from The Lord of the Rings, Book Three, “The Two Towers”, Chapter 6, “The King of the Golden Hall”)

In fact, Hama hasn’t betrayed Theoden, but has given Gandalf the weapon to free the king from Grima’s betrayal and what seems to have been some sort of aging spell.

Theoden then goes on to fight at Helm’s Deep,

(Angus McBride)

to lead the charge at the Fields of the Pelennor,

(Denis Gordeev)

and to die heroically at the battle’s end.

(Angus McBride)

Hama is no Prince Hamlet, but, in allowing Gandalf to keep his staff, he has done more than “start a scene”—he has restarted his king, and, in doing so, he has brought Theoden back into the story, leading the Rohirrim to actions which will help to thwart both Saruman and Sauron—not bad for a minor character.

Thanks for reading, as always.

Stay well,

And, as always, know that there’s

MTCIDC

O