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The One Ring Forums:
Tolkien Topics: Reading Room:
Love that you mention Faramir and Frodo:
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elentari3018
Nargothrond
Sat, 3:07am
Views: 5884
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Love that you mention Faramir and Frodo
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because for the past two years, i have loved any analysis of Faramir and Frodo .
Frodo had felt himself trembling as the first shock of fear passed. Now a great weariness came down on him like a cloud. He could dissemble and resist no longer.
‘I was going to find a way into Mordor,’ he said faintly. ‘I was going to Gorgoroth. I must find the Mountain of Fire and cast the thing into the gulf of Doom. Gandalf said so. I do not think I shall ever get there.’ This passage always gets me-- i feel like this is quite a turning point for Frodo and Faramir to understand each other and their purposes. Frodo- on his hopeless task even in his own point of view, it is quite pointless but he is going on nevertheless. How does he draw more strength to move on if he thinks it's that hopeless?
It's so heart-wrenching to think this hobbit could keep going in these many instances of doubt and despair but for some reason, Frodo still moves on.
In Minas Morgul especially he had nothing else to lose but to move on from the "utmost despair". Fortunately Sam was there to take him out not only the last time since we do hear from Frodo that he has "not any hope left". Frodo also mentions he is without hope when Sam rescues him in Cirith Ungol and also throughout his time in Mordor, he relied on Sam to continually guide him, having no hope and almost no strength left.
Kind of like Faramir... as he also says "What hope have we? It is long since we had any hope." Faramir, Window on the West , TTT So how does Faramir keep going? He lost Boromir, then he is sent to retake Osgiliath though maybe three times outnumbered. Where does he draw his strength and resolve to keep going? I believe for him, he has no choice and his love of GOndor and his father kept him going even though he also has no hope.
I got the idea of the topic of utmost despair from Tolkien blog: https://stephencwinter.com/
And this is what he said about the religious aspect that underlies our characters' motivations at least from our author's point of view and we can contextulize it in terms of Tolkien's worldview:
The early fathers of the Christian Church taught that an essential foundation of the spiritual life was a renunciation of despair and this is true. For Frodo this renunciation is expressed in the words “what he had to do, he had to do”. And it is worth emphasising here also, that for Frodo, and for many others also, the spiritual life is not some state of endless bliss but a bloody minded refusal to give in, a determination to go on putting one foot in front of the other. Tolkien puts this wonderfully as he concludes this passage by saying of Frodo that “he prepared to take the upward road”.
For those that do practice Christianity, how do we renunciate despair?
"By Elbereth and Luthien the fair, you shall have neither the Ring nor me!" ~Frodo
"And then Gandalf arose and bid all men rise, and they rose, and he said: 'Here is a last hail ere the feast endeth. Last but not least. For I name now those who shall not be forgotten and without whose valour nought else that was done would have availed; and I name before you all Frodo of the Shire and Samwise his servant. And the bards and the minstrels should give them new names: Bronwe athan Harthad and Harthad Uluithiad , Endurance beyond Hope and Hope Unquenchable.." ~Gandalf, The End of the Third Age , from The History of Middle Earth series
"He knew now why Beregond spoke his name with love. He was a captain that men would follow, that he would follow, even under the shadow of the black wings."- Siege of Gondor, RotK
(This post was edited by elentari3018 on Sat, 3:11am)
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Edit Log:
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Post edited by elentari3018
(Nargothrond) on Sat, 3:11am
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