Lesser Folk with Shovels
Nov. 1st, 2011 09:57 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lonesparkI thought I would kick off by sort of explaining about the title of this blog. (I think I just called it Lonespark's Dreamwidth on the NaBlo blogroll.)
As may not be obvious to anyone but me, the title comes from a Boromir quote in The Fellowship of the Ring. At this point I must state that my copies of the LOTR books are boxed up in the garage, so if I get details wrong, please do correct me.
So the Fellowship is trudging through the snow on Caradhras, Legolas is walking on top of the snow like poncy elfs do, and the hobbits are having a really tough time. Aragorn and Boromir end up turning themselves into human snowplows, basically, shoveling the snow with their hands and just pushing through it with their bodies, and carrying the hobbits on their shoulders. Boromir says (paraphrased) "...you have Men with you, and doughty Men too, though lesser men with spades would have served you better."
I love that quote. I love it out of context more than in, maybe; I love the whole concept of "lesser (folk) with spades" in contrast to great heroes of ages past, perhaps not fully human.
The phrase evokes a lot of things for me. There's death, with people burying their heroes and leaders. There's the possibility that the lesser folk with spades might be marginalized people, the ones who really build the wonders and never get the credit.
Sometimes I think think of World War Z, and by extension the Marshall Plan, or is it the other way around? I dream about infrastructure, I think it's sexy; it makes victory possible, it makes happiness probable...Sometimes it's something the Romans did for us, with paving-stones...sometimes it's something we did for ourselves, with whatever we had on hand. Sometimes we think the Pyramids were built by slaves...sometimes we learn It's More Complicated Than That. (Obviously there will be an infrastructure post at some point this month. Maybe three.)
I don't remember that Boromir quote from my first time through The Lord of the Rings. I was five, and firmly identified with the hobbits. They were little, and so frustrated with people's underestimation and dismissal. They were young, but eager to learn. Boromir was a jerkface. He was one of those arrogant people who assumes he's better than you are because he looks more like a hero. At least the book didn't treat him like a hero, but wannabe-hobbit Wee Sparky still hated him.
That was back when I knew the Silmarillion was boring. Before I read any eddas or sagas or myths that weren't Greek. Before I really got the complicated tragedy of the Steward's family and the surrounding story. Before I started wishing for things that weren't in the text, or even in the supplemental material.
Boromir knows he's a hero. A Hero, even. A skillful warrior who "preferred the company of men." A prince-except-in-name who will do anything for his people, or is it his own glory, or do any of us even know? He's a perfectly serviceable hero who isn't equal to the demands of the tale he's in. Aragorn has the Knight thing going: warrior-healer-poet. (And a dessert topping!) In a world where any dumb stick-jock can be King, Boromir would do ok. Here, he makes a hell of a snowplow, and a really good shield.
I like the glimpse of wry humor where Boromir admits that Heroes are all very well, but not that useful in many situations. It's a lot easier to be Mook with a Shovel. You can do it any day, and you should, and you'll be helping to save the world.
As may not be obvious to anyone but me, the title comes from a Boromir quote in The Fellowship of the Ring. At this point I must state that my copies of the LOTR books are boxed up in the garage, so if I get details wrong, please do correct me.
So the Fellowship is trudging through the snow on Caradhras, Legolas is walking on top of the snow like poncy elfs do, and the hobbits are having a really tough time. Aragorn and Boromir end up turning themselves into human snowplows, basically, shoveling the snow with their hands and just pushing through it with their bodies, and carrying the hobbits on their shoulders. Boromir says (paraphrased) "...you have Men with you, and doughty Men too, though lesser men with spades would have served you better."
I love that quote. I love it out of context more than in, maybe; I love the whole concept of "lesser (folk) with spades" in contrast to great heroes of ages past, perhaps not fully human.
The phrase evokes a lot of things for me. There's death, with people burying their heroes and leaders. There's the possibility that the lesser folk with spades might be marginalized people, the ones who really build the wonders and never get the credit.
Sometimes I think think of World War Z, and by extension the Marshall Plan, or is it the other way around? I dream about infrastructure, I think it's sexy; it makes victory possible, it makes happiness probable...Sometimes it's something the Romans did for us, with paving-stones...sometimes it's something we did for ourselves, with whatever we had on hand. Sometimes we think the Pyramids were built by slaves...sometimes we learn It's More Complicated Than That. (Obviously there will be an infrastructure post at some point this month. Maybe three.)
I don't remember that Boromir quote from my first time through The Lord of the Rings. I was five, and firmly identified with the hobbits. They were little, and so frustrated with people's underestimation and dismissal. They were young, but eager to learn. Boromir was a jerkface. He was one of those arrogant people who assumes he's better than you are because he looks more like a hero. At least the book didn't treat him like a hero, but wannabe-hobbit Wee Sparky still hated him.
That was back when I knew the Silmarillion was boring. Before I read any eddas or sagas or myths that weren't Greek. Before I really got the complicated tragedy of the Steward's family and the surrounding story. Before I started wishing for things that weren't in the text, or even in the supplemental material.
Boromir knows he's a hero. A Hero, even. A skillful warrior who "preferred the company of men." A prince-except-in-name who will do anything for his people, or is it his own glory, or do any of us even know? He's a perfectly serviceable hero who isn't equal to the demands of the tale he's in. Aragorn has the Knight thing going: warrior-healer-poet. (And a dessert topping!) In a world where any dumb stick-jock can be King, Boromir would do ok. Here, he makes a hell of a snowplow, and a really good shield.
I like the glimpse of wry humor where Boromir admits that Heroes are all very well, but not that useful in many situations. It's a lot easier to be Mook with a Shovel. You can do it any day, and you should, and you'll be helping to save the world.
