Abstract
At the field of Cormallen, the emotion of joy felt by the victorious Hobbits is so great that Sam wonders whether everything sad will come untrue. At the same time, their joy is so great that it is described as "poignant as grief". Dimitra Fimi in 2017 pointed out Tolkien's probable indebtedness to Christian Orthodox tradition of "charmolype", or joyful sorrow. Another relevant parallel of the intermingling of joy and sorrow is the eleventh century Norman monk and abbot John of Fécamp's notion of the "Gift of Tears" (Gratia lacrymarum) from God, which brings true happiness. More broadly, a tradition glorifying holy crying can be traced to the writings of medieval mystics Walter Hilton, Catherine of Siena, and Margery Kempe, eventually leading to John Donne's extraordinary sermon "Jesus Wept", where he states: "To conceive true sorrow and true joy, are things not onely contiguous, but continuall; (...) [T]hey consist together, they are all one, Joy and Sorrow. My tears have been my meat day and night, saies David”.
Recommended Citation
Costabile, Giovanni Carmine
(2025)
"Tolkien's Joyful Sorrow, the "Gift of Tears" of Medieval Mysticism, and John Donne's Sermon "Jesus Wept","
Journal of Tolkien Research: Vol. 23:
Iss.
2, Article 4.
Available at:
https://scholar.valpo.edu/journaloftolkienresearch/vol23/iss2/4
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Comments
Paper presented at the conference Emotions in Middle-earth - Constantine the Philosopher University Nitra, Slovakia https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dB2wHSERDxY