a legend, reconsidered

When the Enemy returned our folk were driven from Ithilien, our fair domain east of the River, though we kept a foothold there and strength of arms. But this very year, in the days of June, sudden war came upon us out of Mordor, and we were swept away. We were outnumbered, for Mordor has allied itself with the Easterlings and the cruel Haradrim; but it was not by numbers that we were defeated. A power was there that we had not felt before.

Some said that it could be seen, like a great black horseman, a dark shadow under the moon. Wherever he came a madness filled our foes, but fear fell on our boldest, so that horse and man gave way and fled. Only a remnant of our eastern force came back, destroying the last bridge that still stood amid the ruins of Osgiliath.

I was in the company that held the bridge, until it was cast down behind us. Four only were save by swimming: my brother and myself and two others…

—The Lord of the Rings, Book Two, “The Council of Elrond”

Boromir, son of Denethor the Steward, was a man of many gifts: fiercely loyal, a warrior without peer, and an inspired leader of men. Of course, he was also headstrong and given to excessive pride: but no less a witness than Aragorn II—Elessar the King—called him friend, and honored his memory.

Perhaps influenced by the King's reticence on certain matters (particularly an incident involving Isildur's Bane), later chroniclers have at times extended Boromir greater honor than might be his due. He is, for instance, usually portrayed as first among the captains of Gondor not just in bravery and strength of arms, but also in strategy and in cunning.

Yet we now know that certain early victories in the War of the Ring were achieved not so much by artful stratagems, but rather by use of knowledge attained by the Steward through his viewing of the palantír. Is it not possible that Denethor, in this fashion and in others, sought to increase the standing of his favored son and heir? And—moreover—that the second son Faramir, never one to seek acclaim on his own behalf, might have covered for his elder brother's shortcomings, out of both love and duty?*

Whether this be true, the chronicles of Gondor will not reveal; but this record of Imladris—if it truly be such—does tell a strange tale.**

*It is said that once, when Boromir and Faramir were young boys, Faramir beaned his elder brother with a helm so hard that—in Ioreth's words—Boromir was thereafter “slower than treacle in midwinter”. Faramir never forgave himself.

**I was first alerted to this record's existence here. Its provenance remains uncertain.

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UPDATE. I thought the word “beaned” in the first footnote would give the game away, but apparently my set up for the punchline was a little too dry.

So let's try again: Click the damn link already. It's funny.

UPDATE 2. To head off any further misinterpretation: no, I did not create the animation. See here.

Anthony,

A great piece of comedy and a lot of hard work that when in to it. All the screen captures and GIF creation. Very nicely done…

Sadly, I take on Boromir finds this humor not far from the truth. He was surely a man of the finest education of Gondor but not given to the deep thinking. A man inclined to bloody frontal assaults and the perceived glories of personal combat, but lacking the perception to understand the untenable military position of the armies of Gondor. Not to mention the insanity of his father vis-à-vis the situation.

Even without the humor (of your piece) Boromir’s performance at the Council of Elrond gets poor reviews and borders on lunacy. The logic of Boromir and Denethor to seek the RoP in the first place; that they possessed some virtue relative to the RoP that even those descended from directly from the blood line Elendil did not. I suspect that those present probably sported expressions more in line with your animation then those of the movie.

Once again, well done,

Tom Bombadil
Who is Tom Bombadil?

Tom,

My attempts at subtlety have fallen flat yet again. The second footnote in the post was meant to show that I didn't create the animation—it's just been floating around the web. I changed the name of the file. But as this this Google search demonstrates, it's all over the place, albeit under the name mordor-vi.gif.

As for the character of Boromir: it's one of the few places where I find Peter Jackson's interpretation superior to Tolkien's portrayal. He comes across much more sympathetic in the movies—flawed, yes, but also very human. Sean Bean of course deserves much of the credit.

Anthony,

You should not have to apologize for the utilization of subtlety. Perhaps I should apologize for my inability to recognize your use of subtlety. I will withdraw my compliment for the authoring of the work, and offer my praise for the incorporation of the animation within your substantive commentary and excellent presentation.

As for Boromir, I would say it with submission that he getting better treatment then I would have offered in an interpretation of the text. I am convinced that he (and his father) represent in many ways the decline of Gondor. While this may be an obvious conclusion, I believe he carries with him the weight of this decline as a character. It is because of this that he, in my opinion smacks of pride and arrogance. His service to the fellowship is driven principally blind service to his father and some measure of pride that convinced him that he could wield the ring. Whether this by his own choice or the influence of his father is difficult to decipher, but he does bear some responsibility for his choices.

I agree that Peter Jackson humanized the character a great deal. I agree with this portrayal of the character after his confrontation with Frodo over the ring. His defense of Pippin and Merry was an inspiring act of love rich in the Christian tradition. “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13. Perhaps Faramir would have compensated for his brother’s temperament had they not been separated. I suspect that Denethor worked to keep them apart, to keep Boromir deep within the orbit of his influence. Faramir’s posting as the Captain of the Rangers of Ithilien was in my mind a device of this father’s to keep him from the courts of Gondor and far away from his brother. It would have been interesting have seen the moderating influence of Faramir on his brother had he accompanied him to Rivendale.

Thanks for reading,

Tom Bombadil
Who is Tom Bombadil?

Master Bombadil,

Good points all. Certainly Tolkien portrays excessive pride as a character flaw in both father and son.

Tolkien is often criticized for a lack of well-rounded characters. Although I will defend him against this charge in general, sometimes it is well taken. Legolas, for instance, remains largely a cipher: we don't even know what he really looks like, apart from being 1) tall and 2) fair of face.

In the book Boromir also suffers from a flat characterization, in part why I welcomed Jackson's (and Bean's) humanizing of the character. But in the films Boromir's flaws also are amply demonstrated.