Based Ancient Lore

Out, leapt the King under the mountain, and his companions followed him- hood and cloak were gone they were in shining mail and red light leapt from their eyes.

Wolf and rider fell or fled before them, Thorin wielded his axe with mighty strokes and nothing seemed to harm him.

"To me, to me! Elves and men, to me! O' my kinsfolk!" He cried, and his voice shook like a horn in the valley. Down, headless of order rushed all the Dwarves of Dain to his help, down too came many of the lake men, for Bard could not restrain them, and down too on the other side came many of the spearman of the Elves.

Once again the Goblins were stricken in the valley untill Dale was dark and hideous with their corpses. The Wargs were scattered and Thorin drove right against the bodyguard of Bolg.

It occurs to me that part of being human is the longing, or perhaps even need, for the experiences of courage, selflessness, heroism, service, and transcendence. Young men have traditionally been led to believe that war will provide the sole context for these experiences. We’re heir to that first human whose wholehearted commitment to bravery, selflessness, and service provided security for his family and tribe.

The connection between the young boy of 500,000 years ago who learned to throw a spear from his father, and his twentieth-century incarnation who is taught marksmanship from his father, endures in the long muscles of our back, the sensitive grip of our hands, and our ability to stand upright and to look forward, with vision, across the plains, and then abstractly back into the lives of our ancestors.

The urge that moved our warrior ancestor to pit his hunting skills against an opponent is replicated by us not only in war, but through the martial arts, sports, and even our recent paint-pellet war games. In our oral and written traditions the Greeks’ Mars, Ares from the Romans, Christianity’s St. James and St. George, the Africans’ Ogu, Hinduism’s Krishna and Arjuna, Islam’s Mohammed, and the sword-bearing Manjusuri of the Buddhists are warrior spirits awakening our consciousness to the trumpet call of battle.

Dr. Richard Heckler "IN SEARCH OF THE WARRIOR SPIRIT"