Narrated in a ceremonial style or exalted diction which is deliberately distanced from ordinary speech
(Richard Dilworth Rust, Feasting on the Word.) pp. 49-51
Who is an epic hero?
Defining Moment for Master Samwise
He shook his head, and as he worked things out, slowly a new dark thought grew in his mind. never for long had hope died in his staunch heart, and always until now he had taken some thought for their return. But the bitter truth came home to him at last: at best their provision would take them to their goal; and when the task was done, there they would come to an end, alone, houseless, foodless in the midst of a terrible desert. There could be no return.
‘So that was the job I felt I had to do when I started,’ thought Sam: ‘to help Mr. Frodo to the last step and then die with him? Well, if that is the job then I must do it.’
But even as hope died in Sam, or seemed to die, it was turned to a new strength. Sam’s plain hobbit-face grew stern, almost grim, as the will hardened in him, and he felt through all his limbs a thrill, as if he was turning into some creature of stone and steel that neither despair nor weariness nor endless barren miles could subdue.
