Pity inspiring

[Birdland]

I've thought often on Tolkien's emphasis of the virtue of pity, and the huge role it plays in the emotional growth of his characters.

Pity as a virtuous emotion or act has fallen out of favor in our modern world. Few people would offer pity to anyone these days, as it is almost considered an insult.

In fact, here are some definitions of the word that I have found in the dictionary:

PITY implies tender or sometimes slightly contemptuous sorrow for one in misery or distress...

Pity regards its object not only as suffering, but weak, and hence as inferior.

Do you think this was Tolkien's intention when he used the word back in the 30s and 50s? Frodo's pity was addressed towards his enemies (particularly Gollum and Saruman). Would he have pitied Boromir? Did Aragorn regard Eowyn with pity?

Nowadays, we would use the word "empathy" or "compassion", which seem to us to be much more non-judgmental terms. Would Tolkien have chose such words if he were writing for a modern audience, or would he have stuck to his guns?