Boromir
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Boromir is a supporting character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. He appears in the first two volumes of The Lord of the Rings (The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers), and is mentioned in the last volume, The Return of the King.
He was the eldest son of Denethor II and brother of Faramir, the last ruling Steward of Gondor. As befitting his Númenórean descent, he was tall, fair, dark-haired, and had grey eyes.
Boromir was honourable and noble; he believed passionately in the greatness of his kingdom and would have defended its people
to the very last. Boromir's great stamina and physical strength, together with a forceful and commanding personality, made him a
widely-admired commander in Gondor's army: he was made Captain of the White Tower, and quickly became Captain-General, also
bearing the title High Warden of the White Tower. He was also heir apparent to the Stewardship. Boromir led many successful
forays against
Appearances
Literature
Boromir was born in the year 2978 of the Third Age to Denethor II and Finduilas, daughter of Adrahil of Dol Amroth. His younger brother, Faramir, was born in the year 2983. The following year, Denethor became Steward of Gondor, succeeding his father, Ecthelion II.
After Finduilas' death in 2988, Denethor became sombre, cold and detached from his family. As their father withdrew, the relationship between Faramir and Boromir grew closer and greater in love. Denethor always favoured Boromir over Faramir, but this caused no rivalry between the two brothers. Boromir always protected and helped Faramir. Boromir was judged to be the more daring one, as well as the more fearless. His fearlessness and greatness in battle was known beyond Gondor's borders.
In response to a prophetic dream that he and his brother had, Boromir claimed the duty of riding to Rivendell from Minas Tirith in T.A. 3018. His enduring journey lasted 110 days, and Boromir travelled through "roads forgotten" to reach Imladris, a place where, in Gondor, "few knew where it lay" (The Fellowship of the Ring, The Council of Elrond). Boromir lost his horse in Tharbad, an abandoned land with perilous obstacles to pass. As Tharbad is a little more than half way to Rivendell, Boromir had to travel the rest of the way on foot. Tolkien himself states in The Unfinished Tales that "the courage and hardihood required is not fully recognised in the narrative". During the time of his arrival, the Council of Elrond was commencing. It is here that he first appears in The Fellowship of the Ring. There he tells his story of Gondor's attempts to keep the powers of Mordor at bay. He then attempted to persuade the Council to let him take the One Ring to Gondor so that it could be used in the defence of the realm, but was told that it could not be used without corrupting its user and alerting Sauron to its presence.
He subsequently joined the Fellowship of the Ring and travelled with them south from Rivendell. Before departing, Boromir blew the Horn of Gondor loudly, saying that he "would not go forth like a thief into the night". Elrond, lord of the Elves in Rivendell, then warned him not to blow it again until he had reached the border of Gondor.
The Fellowship, after failing to climb eastward over the Misty Mountains, passed through the former Dwarven realm of Moria, where Gandalf the Grey, their leader fell trying to fight a Balrog. After his apparent death, the rest of the Fellowship named Aragorn their new leader. Next they came to the Elven realm Lothlórien. In Lórien, Boromir was greatly disturbed by the Lady Galadriel's testing of his mind, telling Aragorn "not to be too sure of this lady and her purposes." Before Boromir left Lórien, he received the gifts of a golden belt and an Elven-cloak. On the quest he proved his worth and reputation. He slew many Orcs and at least one Warg on the journey.
Boromir was always in favour of taking the Ring to Minas Tirith despite his duty to help destroy it. He openly shared this with Aragorn after Gandalf's apparent death, but it was chosen that it would be taken to Mordor. Boromir felt that it would be better to use the Ring in Gondor's defence than to throw it away. Eventually, he plotted to take the Ring for himself, justifying his treachery to himself with his duty to his people and his belief in his own superiority.
"True-hearted Men, they will not be corrupted. We of Minas Tirith have been staunch through long years of trial. We do not desire the power of wizard-lords, only strength to defend ourselves, strength in a just cause. And behold! in our need chance brings to light the Ring of Power. It is a gift, I say; a gift to the foes of Mordor. It is mad not to use it, to use the power of the Enemy against him. The fearless, the ruthless, these alone will achieve victory. What could not a warrior do in this hour, a great leader? What could not Aragorn do? Or if he refuses, why not Boromir? The Ring would give me power of Command. How I would drive the hosts of Mordor, and all men would flock to my banner!"
— The Fellowship of the Ring, "The Breaking of the Fellowship"
After seeing that Ringbearer Frodo Baggins was unconvinced by his reasoning, Boromir simply commanded him to yield the Ring to him. Frodo still refused. Boromir then moved to seize the Ring for himself. Frodo put the Ring on and fled, intending to continue the quest alone. Boromir, realising what had happened, repented of his actions, but it was too late. Searching unsuccessfully for Frodo, he notified the rest of the Fellowship of Frodo's absence. This and the subsequent attack by Orcs, led to the breaking of the Fellowship. The Fellowship of the Ring ends with Samwise Gamgee finding Frodo and going with him, leading directly to the start of The Two Towers, in which the Orc-attack and its aftermath is featured.
During the scattered fighting, Boromir was mortally wounded by orc archers while defending Merry and Pippin in an attempt to prevent their capture — thereby redeeming himself for trying to take the Ring. The fighting is not directly depicted in the book, but rather through Pippin's thoughts in the third chapter of The Two Towers:
- "Then Boromir had come leaping through the trees. He had made them fight. He slew many of them and the rest fled. But they had not gone far on the way back when they were attacked again, by a hundred Orcs at least, some of them very large, and they shot a rain of arrows: always at Boromir. Boromir had blown his great horn till the woods rang, and at first the Orcs had been dismayed and had drawn back; but when no answer but the echoes came, they had attacked more fiercely than ever. Pippin did not remember much more. His last memory was of Boromir leaning against a tree, plucking out an arrow; then darkness fell suddenly."
Blasts from Boromir's horn alerted Aragorn , but he came too late to prevent the Hobbits' capture. Before he died, Boromir charged him to prevent his city, Minas Tirith, from falling, as he had failed it. Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas used one of their boats as a funeral boat for Boromir's body, placing his sword, belt, cloak, broken horn, and the weapons of his slain foes. Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas sang a "Lament of the Winds" as his funeral song.
- 'Through Rohan over fen and field where the long grass grows
- The West wind comes walking, and about the walls it goes.
- 'What news from the west, O wandering wind, do you bring to me tonight?
- Have you seen Boromir the Tall by moon or by starlight?
- 'I saw him ride over seven streams, over waters wide and grey;
- I saw him walk in empty lands, until he passed away
- Into the shadows of the North. I saw him then no more.
- The North Wind may have heard the horn of the son of Denethor.'
- 'O Boromir! From the high walls westward I looked afar,
- But you come not from the empty lands where no men are.'
On February 26, 3019 T.A. he passed over the Falls of Rauros.
Three days later, Faramir found the boat bearing his dead brother floating down the River Anduin, to his and their father's great grief.
From "The Departure of Boromir"-
"But in Gondor in after-days it long was said that the elven-boat rode the falls and the foaming pool, and bore him down through Osgiliath, and past the many mouths of Anduin, out into the Great Sea at night under the stars."
Adaptations
 Boromir in Ralph Bakshi's 1978 animated version of The Lord of the Rings. |
 Boromir (Sean Bean) in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. |
In both Ralph Bakshi's animated film and in the subsequent BBC Radio serial, Boromir is played by Michael Graham Cox. In the former, he is dressed in barbarian garb.
In Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, Boromir is played by Sean Bean. In a departure from the structure of Tolkien's book, Boromir's death is shown at the end of The Fellowship of the Ring, instead of being related at the beginning of The Two Towers. In the film, Boromir is mortally wounded by the Uruk-hai leader Lurtz, a character created for the films, instead of by numerous, unknown Uruk-hai led by Uglúk.
Jackson's Fellowship does not specifically focus on the split of Boromir's horn though the editorial cut of the film strongly suggests that the horn is cleaved by Lurtz's third arrow. The breaking of the horn could reasonably be viewed as an allegory for Boromir's own death.
The Extended Edition of The Two Towers also includes a brief scene in which Boromir and his brother Faramir see each other for the last time, and we see their father's curious attitude toward his two sons. Interestingly, this encounter displays Boromir's initial refusal to go to Rivendell, desiring instead to continue protecting Osgiliath and Gondor, while Faramir volunteers to leave. Denethor refuses Faramir's offer and orders Boromir to travel, in the end.
He appears in a brief flashback in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, as Pippin remembers his heroic sacrifice. Due to that scene alone, Bean merited a portrait in the closing credits (while Christopher Lee and Brad Dourif, who played Saruman and Gríma respectively, did not have such portraits in the credits of the theatrical cut, since their scenes only appeared in the Extended Edition).
Pop culture
In the Marvel Universe, the television writer Stewart Caldwell (a parody of Steve Gerber) becomes the powerful Thundersword who can conjure a steed named Boromir[1].
See also
References
- ^ The Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe mentions Secret Wars II #1 (July 1985) and Iron Man I #197
External links
- Boromir at the Internet Movie Database
- Boromir at the Tolkien Gateway
- Boromir at The Thain's Book
- 'Lament for Boromir' by Colin Rudd
- Sword of Boromir -containing the progress of "A Defense of Character: Boromir" by Matthew M. Montelione
| The Fellowship of the Ring |
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