For King And Country. The Change of the War Heroes in Poetry

Seminar paper from the year 2020 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1,3, http://www.uni-jena.de/, language: English, abstract: This term paper aims at analysing the change of the traditional war hero during the First World War. When the Great War began in 1914 people were still believing that war meant splendid cavalry charges associated with heroic glamour. Officers were polishing their sabres and their steeds. But this war would be different. It brought an end to sabres, cavalry and heroic charges. It also brought an end to the prewar hero and changed the idea of heroism significantly. The examined works are 'The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm's Son', by J.R.R. Tolkien and selected poems by well-known trench poets of the Great War among them Rupert Brooke, Robert Graves, and most importantly Wilfred Owen. Tolkien's work distinctly rejects the traditional concept of heroism, whereas not all trench poets broke with the concept completely as will be demonstrated. Tolkien's work is difficult to place, as it is a form of comment on the Old English heroic poem 'The Battle of Maldon', published in the 20th century after Tolkien himself had seen two World Wars. In order to fully understand Tolkien's 'The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm's Son' this paper will first give an insight into the traditional Maldon poem. Likewise, before the poems of the trench poets will be discussed and compared to Tolkien's work, a short historic outline of the hero immediately preceding the Great War is provided. After the relevant works have been introduced, the works of Tolkien and the trench poets will be compared.