本論文旨在探討托爾金如何在《指環王》中重建盎格魯薩克遜誓約概念，了解托爾金如何藉由誓約的語意置換，來矯正君主與扈從間的關係，進而重新檢視傳統的英雄主義。本文一共分成四個章節，其內容分別如下。第一章，介紹英雄誓約傳統在盎格魯薩克遜與古北歐文化下的社會歷史背景，如《貝奧武夫》裡的宣誓。第二章，使用歷史文獻資料，如史學家Tacitus 的《日耳曼民族史》與約克大主教Wulfstan的佈道文，來探討基督教在中古初期時如何挪用傳統的英雄誓約，改變盎格魯薩克遜人的異教信仰；同一章，並比較誓約在古英詩The Battle of Maldon裡的與托爾金依此詩所改編的戲劇 “The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm’s Son”，以突顯托爾金為何批判1)盎格魯薩克遜的誓約概念與2)主從關係在傳統英雄主義下的合理性與荒謬性。第三章與第四章，進入《指環王》的文本，深入討論托爾金所描繪的理想君主形象與其特質，如置整個中土福祉優先於族群、國家、個人的榮耀與需求；同時也將試圖分析扈從違背其對君主之誓言時，所身處的兩難困境。最後，本文將討論托爾金自身的戰爭經驗如何啟發與呼應他的中土神話世界，進而驅使他重新檢驗傳統的君主與扈從關係。

This thesis studies how J.R.R. Tolkien represents the Anglo-Saxon cultural practice of oath in The Lord of the Rings (hereafter LotR) as a way to re-examine traditional heroism in light of a redressed lord-and-retainer relationship. The thesis is divided into four chapters. Chapter One, “Theories and Types of Anglo-Saxon and Norse Heroic Oaths,” examines the social and historical concepts of oath in the Anglo-Saxon and Norse cultures. Chapter Two, “Christian Appropriation of the Early Medieval Heroic Oath Tradition,” studies the changing function of oaths in early medieval societies first by comparing Tacitus’s Germania, The Laws of Alfred, Guthrum, and Edward the Elder, and Wulfstan’s Sermo Lupi ad Anglos. Then, the chapter discusses the Old English poem The Battle of Maldon in anticipation for Tolkien’s dramatic adaptation of the poem into “The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm’s Son.” The adaptation shows Tolkien’s critical views on both the rationality and absurdity of the Anglo-Saxon heroic oath in its socio-historical context. Chapter Three, “Heroic Oaths in The Lord of the Rings I: Reinventing the Idea of Lordship,” investigates how Tolkien reserves the traditional doctrine of oath and uses its semantic displacement to suggest a new set of heroic codes, especially revaluing the duty of the lord as the oath receiver. Chapter Four, “Heroic Oaths in The Lord of the Rings II: Reconsidering the Moral Failure of the Oathbreakers,” focuses on the different circumstances for the retainers to break their oaths in conjunction with a review of Tolkien’s war experience that may have inspired the author’s reevaluation of the traditional heroic codes of the retainers’ absolute loyalty. Finally, the thesis suggests that Tolkien not only uses the Anglo-Saxon oath tradition in LotR but also creates new concepts about the lord-and-retainer relationship within the old heroic framework.

Contents
Acknowledgements  i
Chinese Abstract  ii
English Abstract  iii
Introduction      1
Chapter I. Theories and Types of Anglo-Saxon and Norse Heroic Oaths 5
Chapter II. Christian Appropriation of the Early Medieval Heroic Oath Tradition  20
Chapter III. Heroic Oaths in The Lord of the Rings I: Reinventing the Idea of Lordship  38
Chapter IV. Heroic Oaths in The Lord of the Rings II: Reconsidering the Moral Failure of the Oathbreakers  58 
Works Cited  68

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