Healing the Wounded Hero
Suffering is intrinsic to the nature of the hero, and to the hero journey and yet heroes seem to heal quickly both physically and psychologically. Brutal physical fights leave them with cuts on their eyebrows and grazes on the cheeks, or a slash to the arm that they bind up with dirty cloth (like Aragorn after Boromir’s death), to never suffer ill effects from again.
Of course, the results of an up-close and personal fight, are more likely to be blackened eyes, a broken nose, broken cheekbones and jaw, and broken teeth, all of which make the hero far less physically appealing. I recall reading that Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn) did indeed break one of his front teeth in half just practicing with a sword.
Given that the hero journey is equally a psychological journey, I’ve long been interested in the lasting mental effects of what heroes endure. Of course, the hero journey is about transformation, the death of the old self, and the birth of the new, but this is often portrayed very superficially.
Heroes lose their best friends and lovers in battles, suffer betrayals, have their notions of reality smashed to smithereens, but rarely spend longer than a few brooding moments on such events. They may be more cynical, less sentimental, usually braver afterwards, but little exploration is undertaken of the depth of their wounding or the journey of their healing.
The Hero Journey Inside the Hero Journey
This first came to my attention when I was writing The Emerald Serpent https://www.amazon.com.au/Emerald-Ser... The female hero, Etaine, survives a terrible ordeal which leaves her scarred both physically and psychologically and she lives on only to murder as many of her enemies as she can, before they inevitably murder her.
While I could thoroughly understand her motivations, I perceived that her revenge was not a path to healing and that the path to healing was, in fact, far more perilous.
As the story unfolded, it became obvious that the healing of the wounded hero was a hero journey within a hero journey. The wounded hero must depart from their vengeful world of suffering (separation or departure), struggle with the fears, threats and vulnerabilities of the stage between (trials of initiation), and emerge with the boon (wholeness, freedom from hate) which instructs others in the same predicament (Return).
This is not about the wiping away of suffering but about its integration. Etaine will bear the scars of her branding and her grief for Ellair to the end of her days, but in opening herself to love again and the possibility of a future, she defeats the hatred of those who first inflicted her suffering.
The Female Hero as Healer
Healing the wounded hero is also intrinsic to my Angel Caste series https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MXBVFRI
The female hero Viv grows up in a household ruled by a drunken thug, and after her mother disappears, ends up on the streets with all its violence and sexual abuse.
While feisty and never self-pitying, the damage this abuse inflicts on Viv, both as a child and as a young adult, is real and long-lasting.
As Viv travels the Rynth in search of her lost mother (the brief part of her life she recalls as happy), her inability to trust continues to thwart her chances of wholeness. It is only when she ends up in the female angel world of Erath (an anagram of heart and earth), that she recognizes and accepts the chance to take another path.
As in any hero journey, it is a path of pain and risk. Viv is helped in her Trials of Initiation by her love for a child, and later aids the male hero, Ataghan, to heal, and the boon (Return) is wholeness and happiness for them both.
I am fascinated by the role of the female hero in healing the wounded male hero, and what the female hero receives in return. I am presently re-working The Kira Chronicles trilogy into The Kira Chronicles six book series https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B07D63Z91H and this has come up in the relationship between the female and male heroes.
It is both a big topic, and one that excites heated exchanges (!), so I might blog on my experiences with it in The Kira Chronicles series at a later date.
Of course, the results of an up-close and personal fight, are more likely to be blackened eyes, a broken nose, broken cheekbones and jaw, and broken teeth, all of which make the hero far less physically appealing. I recall reading that Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn) did indeed break one of his front teeth in half just practicing with a sword.
Given that the hero journey is equally a psychological journey, I’ve long been interested in the lasting mental effects of what heroes endure. Of course, the hero journey is about transformation, the death of the old self, and the birth of the new, but this is often portrayed very superficially.
Heroes lose their best friends and lovers in battles, suffer betrayals, have their notions of reality smashed to smithereens, but rarely spend longer than a few brooding moments on such events. They may be more cynical, less sentimental, usually braver afterwards, but little exploration is undertaken of the depth of their wounding or the journey of their healing.
The Hero Journey Inside the Hero Journey
This first came to my attention when I was writing The Emerald Serpent https://www.amazon.com.au/Emerald-Ser... The female hero, Etaine, survives a terrible ordeal which leaves her scarred both physically and psychologically and she lives on only to murder as many of her enemies as she can, before they inevitably murder her.
While I could thoroughly understand her motivations, I perceived that her revenge was not a path to healing and that the path to healing was, in fact, far more perilous.
As the story unfolded, it became obvious that the healing of the wounded hero was a hero journey within a hero journey. The wounded hero must depart from their vengeful world of suffering (separation or departure), struggle with the fears, threats and vulnerabilities of the stage between (trials of initiation), and emerge with the boon (wholeness, freedom from hate) which instructs others in the same predicament (Return).
This is not about the wiping away of suffering but about its integration. Etaine will bear the scars of her branding and her grief for Ellair to the end of her days, but in opening herself to love again and the possibility of a future, she defeats the hatred of those who first inflicted her suffering.
The Female Hero as Healer
Healing the wounded hero is also intrinsic to my Angel Caste series https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MXBVFRI
The female hero Viv grows up in a household ruled by a drunken thug, and after her mother disappears, ends up on the streets with all its violence and sexual abuse.
While feisty and never self-pitying, the damage this abuse inflicts on Viv, both as a child and as a young adult, is real and long-lasting.
As Viv travels the Rynth in search of her lost mother (the brief part of her life she recalls as happy), her inability to trust continues to thwart her chances of wholeness. It is only when she ends up in the female angel world of Erath (an anagram of heart and earth), that she recognizes and accepts the chance to take another path.
As in any hero journey, it is a path of pain and risk. Viv is helped in her Trials of Initiation by her love for a child, and later aids the male hero, Ataghan, to heal, and the boon (Return) is wholeness and happiness for them both.
I am fascinated by the role of the female hero in healing the wounded male hero, and what the female hero receives in return. I am presently re-working The Kira Chronicles trilogy into The Kira Chronicles six book series https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B07D63Z91H and this has come up in the relationship between the female and male heroes.
It is both a big topic, and one that excites heated exchanges (!), so I might blog on my experiences with it in The Kira Chronicles series at a later date.
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