Legolas's phrase, "the sadness of Mortal Men" is perfect for this song.
There is a kind of fatalistic melancholy about the Rohirrim, and they seem to
have a sense of their diminishment compared to their heroic past.
Theoden's resolve in the face of apparently overwhelming odds at Helm's Deep
and in their last ride in defense of Gondor stems from this same
attitude. In literary terms, it's a great expression of the commonplace
"ubi sunt": "where have ___(insert whatever was once great and glorious)
gone"? The Gondorians even more than the Rohirrim seem to have this same
sense of cultural diminishment, but they have truly fallen to a shadow of their
former selves. Denethor, however, takes this sense of loss to the extreme
in his nihilistic despair. He doesn't want to go out in a blaze of glory
recalling the great past (as Theoden does, hearkening back to Erol), but rather
bring it all down in a
conflagration!
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"Elves and dragons! . . . Cabbages and potatoes are better for me and you!"
--The Gaffer
