Part 2 An analysis of Henry V's vs. Lord of The Rings battle scenes - Essay Example

September 7, Battles of Henry V and Lord of the Ring: Mythology and Reality In Shakespears Henry V and the modern movie trilogy "Lord of the Rings," the viewer is treated to many battle sequences. These violent sequences share many aspects of medieval tonality of not accuracy. They share a certain sense of historic similarity as well as overlaps in tone, symbolism, and emotion. These commonalities add up to give the viewer a depiction of war that is steeped deeply in the human emotion of glorifying past historic events to reflect a modern interpretation of ancient warfare.

This romanticized interpretation of war and battle is largely left to the historian and the movie-maker, and the actual acute horrors and human destruction that war causes is largely left to the memories and willful disregard of those who actually fought them. In the study of medieval warfare, the gruesomeness of battle is often romanticized and glossed over in favor of a valiant and heroic interpretation, based on a nonexistent, almost poetic interpretation of mythological battles. Shakespeare is as guilty of romanticizing war as is Peter Jackson, director of Lord of the Rings.

The medieval ability to wage war was severely limited, when compared to modern warfare tactics. Much of it was hand-to-hand, and was gruesomely bloody and inhumane. With the advent of the longbow by the English, it allowed, for the first time, sides in a battle to fight each other from distances that had not been possible in earlier times. The heavier longbows were able to penetrate chain-mail and certain protective armor worn by knights and cavalrymen. This was a decisive strategic advantage that King Henry V and the English used to their benefit in the famous Battle at Agincourt, and the eventual ending of Henry V.

The tactics of King Henry V and his English warriors were accurately portrayed enough in the movie Henry V, directed and starred in by Kenneth Branaugh. There were all the elements of a medieval battle present: knights on horseback, armed in chain-mail and armor, equipped with swords, shields, and lances. The infantry behind them were also equipped with the most advanced fighting equipment of the time: the longbow. This technological advancement allowed the English to defeat a larger French army many times its size, mainly by shooting the ground forces of the French full of arrows, decimating their numbers and actually giving the English a numerical advantage.

It was then left to the cavalry to enter upon horseback and defeat the French cavalry in hand-to-hand combat. Exposing the entire English forces to such a strategy would surely have meant defeat, due to the numerical advantage of the French (five to one). Branaugh did attempt to give some realistic attempts at the horrors of hand-to-hand combat in medieval warfare by showing much blood, a beheaded man, and many lost limbs. Unfortunately, even that depiction is a very sanitized and cleaned-up version of the realities of such battles.

The weaponry and battle techniques used in medieval warfare were simply not that advanced, and hundreds if not thousands of men simply ran into each other, swinging away at anything that moved with swords, axes, lances, and pure insane guile. The bloodshed, terror, and human destruction would be simply too horrible to accurately be shown in any movie or even described in a play. The tone, emotion and symbolism of battle were the only areas in which storytellers could even come close to any degree of accuracy that occurred in those battles, although these were also portrayed in Henry V in a typically classical way.

There is the valiant leader, King Henry, urging his men on to victory, with the greatest waring speech of all time, the "Saint Crispin Day" speech, given to his men to remind them of why they fight. Of course, with no microphones, few could likely hear this speech, but it plays well in the dramatization of literature and the big screen. The famous speech, although not historically accurate, is necessary to imply the emotion the warriors had to have in order to win such battles. The adrenaline and pure willpower of one side could be enough to win any hand-to-hand battles.

Energy and willpower were essential, in addition to strength, numbers, and weaponry. Henry V and his men had all of that, and the French were seen as failing in all of those categories. In Peter Jacksons interpretation of battles in the movie trilogy, The Lord of the Rings, he also chooses to portray battles using medieval imagery in order to echo the romanticized versions of battle that people think of then they imagine knights on horseback fighting in hand-to-hand combat situations. In two of his battle scenes, Last Alliance and Mina Trith, Jackson relied heavily upon medieval imagery to convey the emotion and romantic interpretation of good versus evil and the emotional exhalations of battle.

Both armies in both of Jacksons battles were robed as medieval warriors, complete with knights in armor, chain-mail, swords, lances, bow and arrow, horses, shields and the gruesomeness of hand-to-hand combat. In Mina Trith, there is even a medieval-looking castle or fortress that protects the forces of evil and gives the forces for good a run for their money. In the Last Alliance battle scene, the focus is on the son of a King (as in Henry V) to charge his men with the task a head as he leads them to triumph.

This is shown symbolically with the Ring (which represents power and everlasting life) which suddenly transforms the new King into one who can defeat legions many times the size of his own. The RIng is almost a symbolic representation of the favor of the forces greater than the participants knew (which was Christianity and a judging God in Henry V). In the more modern interpretation, religion is replaced by a greater worldly power in that simple golden Ring-- one based in classical mythology, rather than a single religious dogma.

The tone and flavor fo the battle reflects the one in Henry V, with great emotion, and a build up of good-over-evil. It is all or nothing in theses battle scenes, and good must triumph over evil for the human race to continue to propagate itself (a very Christian message). The Battle of Minas Trith is similar to the other two, but with a fortress thrown in to cement the medieval imagery. The forces for good are encouraged and led into battle by a young, willful leader. Again, there are arrows, horses, cavalrymen, swords, armor, shields, and an enthusiastic emotional charge by the forces into each other.

As in the other battles, the bloodiness and absolute graphic horror of such combat is glossed over for a more romanticized interpretation of good versus evil battle. This is almost a necessity for the modern viewer. The forces for Earth, for good, in Mina Trith far out-number the forces of evil, but they still have a great task ahead of them, breaching the walls of the medieval-like castle ahead of them. The tone of the battle echoes the others. with heightened emotion and a romanticized victory after a valiant fight.

All three depictions of battle utilize the romanticized versions of medieval warfare which survives to this day. We tend to focus on the valiant knights, armor, heraldry, and pomp of such battles, rather than on the reality of them. The reality is too horrific to remember or portray in any film or book (some do exist though). For the prison well schooled in medieval tactics and technology, one can imagine the confusion, bloodshed, maimeings, loss of human and animal life, and pure destruction of the human being inside those hand-to-hand battles.

Although these battles are romanticized, such romanticization is necessary, to save the audience from the realities of these conflicts. The use of tone, emotion and imagery/symbolism are the only things left that can most accurately show the realities of such battles. The Lord of the Rings battles are also enrobed in a fantasy-like portrayal of "otherworldliness," which is not present in the Henry V battles. That mythological imagery is essential to support the mythological importance of the Ring in the series, and the movie would lose its magical qualities if the battles were shown in true medieval fashion.

The realities of such battles are simply too grotesque to be allowed to invade our romantic notion of good versus evil, of the greater power of God or otherworldliness over the power of darkness. When looked at from that point of view, these battles are accurate, but in the mind of the a more critical viewer, they are also over-romanticized to the point that their realities are glossed over in favor of some romanticized mythically of medieval honor that was likely rarely experienced on any field of battle.

As any veteran of any battle will tell us, war is all hell, all the time. The myth of the romantic battle of beknighted warriors-- even medieval ones--exists only in the minds of historians and a willing audience. Works Cited“Henry V.” November 2012. OpenSourseShakespeare, George Mason University. 17 November 2012 . “Battle of Agincourt, Henry V, Part 10.” YouTube. 28 November 2012 . “Battle of Agincourt, Henry V, Part 11.” YouTube. 28 November 2012. . “Lord of the Ring, Last Alliance.

” YouTube. 28 November 2012. . “Lord of the Ring, Mina Trith.” YouTube. 28 November 2012. .