Tolkien's Long Defeat: Northern Courage and Christian Hope (Mythic Mind, ep. 75)
Tolkien did not expect history to be anything but a long defeat, though it may contain glimpses of final Victory.
Drawing from his letters, The Lord of the Rings, "Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics," and "On Fairy-Stories," this episode traces how northern courage (fight for the good of the day without counting on ultimate triumph) meets Christian eucatastrophe: the sudden joyous turn that does not deny sorrow, but denies that defeat is the last word. Along the way: Beowulf's circle of light, Galadriel's "long defeat," Helm's Deep at dawn, and Gandalf on despair versus doomed resistance.
Related:
The Future of Mythic Mind: Building the Fellowship's Next Chapter (Mythic Mind, ep. 77)
