Have you no pride?

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

What did you glean about the attribute of pride in the books? It is often used in a negative light. For example, Boromir spoke rashly at the Council of Elrond because he was so proud of himself, his family and his country. On the battlefield, warriors will act recklessly out of pride. I think it was Feanor who refused to back down from confrontation (with Fingolfin?) because his pride spurred him on. The word 'pride' is sometimes used in partnership with a word such as 'wrath' which further emphasises the negativity of its use.

What is Tolkien saying here? Is pride a bad thing? Surely this cannot be the case. Aragorn needed pride in himself to lead the Free Peoples in their struggle. Or am I confusing pride and confidence here? Are the two terms intrinsically linked?

Perhaps it is too much pride that is bad. Saruman was exceedingly mighty on Middle-earth and was just in considering himself so. However, once he became too big for his boots, so to speak, he became a terrible caricature of himself. His pride had overrun his past self.

So are we talking about degrees of pride here? A little is good and healthy, but too much is poisonous. How easy is it to judge what is too much? Surely we can subconsciously become someone who has too much pride. There is a fine line to balance upon.

Perhaps to have no pride is the answer. But maybe then only when no-one else has any either. This is impractical. To assure that this theory would work is to ask every person in the world to let go of their pride simultaneously, and that will not happen. So if a few people decide to let go of their pride, they will be taken advantage of.

What do you think? Does Tolkien see pride as a bad thing? Does he make sense?