**The Character of Boromir: After his death** Part 5 of 5. Captain or Sage? The Twilight Warrior

[squire]

Welcome back to our final discussion of how Boromir appears in or affects the story of The Lord of the Rings after his death in battle at the beginning of Book III. We’ve looked at most of the angles I’ve been able to think of; today I want to pull back a bit and look at Boromir as he relates to Tolkien’s legendarium as a whole.


I. To start with, where did the character Boromir, and the name Boromir, come from? The name Boromir first appears in Tolkien’s Silmarillion universe in the Grey Annals of Beleriand in the mid-1930s before The Lord of the Rings was ever imagined.

[font Baskerville] [In the year of the First Age] 263. Here the Swarthy Men first came into Beleriand in the East. They were short and broad, long and strong in the arm, growing much hair on face and breast, and their locks were dark, as were their eyes; their skins were swart, yet their countenances were not uncomely for the most part, though some were grim-looking and ill-favoured. … But Maidros [one of Feanor’s sons] seeing the weakness of the Noldor [Elves], and the growing power of the armies of Morgoth, made alliance with these Men, and with their chieftains Bor and Ulfand. The sons of Bor were Borlas and Boromir and Borthandos, and they followed Maidros and Maglor and were faithful.[/font] – History of Middle-earth V, The Lost Road ‘The Annals of Beleriand’​

In this version, the faithful if primitive Men ally themselves with the Elves against Morgoth; in one of the battles, Boromir and his brothers are all nobly killed.

A. Is there any irony left, given the distance between this text and setting from the polished and sophisticated Lord of the Rings, in Tolkien’s reuse of Boromir’s name from a prince of the original Swarthy Men and Easterlings, back when some of the Swarthy Men and Easterlings were good guys?

Just because this stuff is addictive when you’re in the mood, let’s look for an eye-glazing second at the Etymologies (Word-Origins) section of the same HoME Volume V. This dictionary-like listing has the root word definitions of much of the Sindarin Elvish vocabulary, although at this time, in the mid-1930s, Sindarin was known as Noldorin. I have added some bracketed expansions of abbreviations, and have edited out some of the excessive philological detail (sorry, Prof!):

[font Baskerville] BOR- endure. Q[enya, or High Elvish:] voro ever, continually. … [Old Noldorin] boron (pl. boroni) steadfast, trusty man, faithful vassal; … Cf. N[oldorin] names given to the ‘Faithful Men’: Bor, Borthandos, Borlas, Boromir. … Boromir is an old N[oldorin] name of ancient origin also borne by Gnomes [the Noldor Elves].

MIR- … N[oldorin] mir jewel, precious thing, treasure. Cf. Nauglamir [=Dwarves’ precious treasure] [/font] – Both entries from History of Middle-earth V, The Lost Road ‘The Etymologies’​

So in Elvish, the name Bor means “Faithful”. The suffix -mir connotes jewel or precious, thus Boromir is “Precious jewel (son) of faithful Bor”.

B. The name works perfectly for the son of Bor in the First Age. Why might Tolkien have chosen to recycle it for the mysterious Man from a distant land who appears at Elrond’s house just in time for the Council? (This episode is our next topic, directly following.)


II. Now a few years later, say about 1939, when Tolkien was first working out the Council of Elrond in his “New Hobbit”, i.e. sequel to The Hobbit, he introduces a new character named Boromir much as he does in the final version:

[font Baskerville] And seated alone and silent was a Man of noble face, but dark and sad.
'This is Boromir,' said Elrond. 'He arrived only yesterday, in the evening. He comes from far away in the South, and his tidings may be of use to us.'

[/font]From Tolkien’s notes to this draft, we learn:
[font Baskerville] Boromir the (lord? Land?) of Ond. These men are besieged by wild men out of the East.

[/font]Editor Christopher Tolkien comments that in this draft and its notes first appear several characters like Gimli, Legolas, [font Baskerville] “…and Boromir – so named unhesitatingly from the start – from the land of Ond far in the South.” [/font] – All quotes from History of Middle-earth VI, The Return of the Shadow, First draft of ‘The Council of Elrond’​

It's helpful to bear in mind that Strider/Aragorn at this point is still an adventurous Hobbit named Trotter, and the entire story line of the Dunedain and the Return of the King has not yet entered Tolkien’s head. That means that Boromir is the only Man at the Council – and from his very beginning here his role is to question the forbidden nature of the Ring and to suggest its possible use against the evil forces that are pressuring his faraway land of Ond.

B. What links can we make between a Boromir of the Silmarillion’s First Age, a shaggy and primitive Hero who joins forces with the Elves against the Dark Lord, only to be destroyed – and this new Boromir of a later time, a Hero from a distant land to the South who arrives to join forces with the Elves against the Dark Lord? I’ve named an obvious similarity, but are there any others? and what are the differences?

Bearing in mind that at this point Tolkien is working from the just-published and very successful The Hobbit as the basis of the new story line, should we remember the throwaway line that Gandalf gives the Dwarves when urging them to hire Bilbo as a burglar against the dragon:

[font Baskerville]“[Going in by the Front Gate] would be no good,” said the wizard, “not without a mighty Warrior, even a Hero. I tried to find one; but warriors are busy fighting one another in distant lands, and in this neighbourhood heroes are scarce, or simply not to be found.[/font] – The Hobbit, I, ‘An Unexpected Party’​

C. Is Boromir at this point in the ‘New Hobbit’ story the mighty Warrior that Gandalf could not find or recruit for the earlier adventure?

Finally, lest we over-simplify the original Boromir as just a brave warrior, we should consider this bit of dialog from that same first draft. It’s after the Council, when Gandalf and Frodo are discussing who will join Frodo on his quest to the Fiery Mountain. Gandalf says:

[font Baskerville]‘Boromir may well join the company, since your road leads through his own land. That will be about as large a party as will be at all safe.'
'Who is to be the brains of the party?' asked Frodo. 'Trotter, I suppose. Boromir is only one of the Big Folk, and they are not as wise as hobbits.'
'Boromir has more than strength and valour,' answered Gandalf. 'He comes of an ancient race that the people of the Shire have not seen, at least not since days that they have forgotten.’ [/font] – History of Middle-earth VI, The Return of the Shadow, First draft of ‘The Council of Elrond’​

As you may remember, in the published Lord of the Rings Gandalf’s inclusion of Boromir in the Fellowship has none of this passage’s foreshadowing of him being from an ancient race of Men that have been forgotten. That’s because that emerging story-line was almost immediately applied to another new Man on the scene, Strider/Aragorn, the Dunedain replacement of the dauntless hobbit Trotter.

D. Had Tolkien gone in another direction than he did, could Boromir have become the noble and elevated heir of Elendil who restores the monarchy of Ond, etc., etc., along the lines of the emergent Hero Bard the Bowman in The Hobbit? Or does the Boromir that emerged from the drafts play a vital role that cannot be confused with Aragorn’s place in the story?


III. Coming back to our discussion of Boromir as he is treated in the actual Lord of the Rings after his fall to temptation and redeeming death, I want to review a sequence of references to him later in the book, some of which we’ve already discussed this week.

When Eomer learns of Boromir’s death from Aragorn, he says:

[font Baskerville]‘That was a worthy man! All spoke his praise. He came seldom to the Mark, for he was ever in the wars on the East-borders; but I have seen him. More like to the swift sons of Eorl than to the grave Men of Gondor he seemed to me, and likely to prove a great captain of his people when his time came. [/font] – LR III.2, ‘The Riders of Rohan’​

We’ve noted how Book III and Book IV have parallel treatments of Boromir regarding his speech and comportment as a Man of Gondor. Here is yet another, as Faramir explains to Frodo the differences and similarities between Gondor and Rohan:

[font Baskerville] ‘Yet now, if the Rohirrim are grown in some ways more like to us, enhanced in arts and gentleness, we too have become more like to them, and can scarce claim any longer the title High. We are become Middle Men, of the Twilight, but with memory of other things. For as the Rohirrim do, we now love war and valour as things good in themselves, both a sport and an end; and though we still hold that a warrior should have more skills and knowledge than only the craft of weapons and slaying, we esteem a warrior, nonetheless, above men of other crafts. Such is the need of our days. So even was my brother, Boromir: a man of prowess, and for that he was accounted the best man in Gondor. And very valiant indeed he was: no heir of Minas Tirith has for long years been so hardy in toil, so onward into battle, or blown a mightier note on the Great Horn.’ [/font] – LR IV.5, ‘The Window on the West’​

Both captains, one of Rohan and one of Gondor, agree that Boromir was first and foremost a valiant warrior and brilliant war-leader, in explicit comparison to Gondor’s tradition of promoting gravity, arts, and knowledge above mere fighting skills in its nobility. Faramir adds that Boromir is no longer an exception; he exemplifies Gondor’s general decline towards a mere warrior culture such as Rohan is proud to be.

As we have seen earlier this week, the comparison that clarifies this distinction is Boromir’s father Denethor. As Gandalf instructs Pippin:

[font Baskerville] ‘…you can tell him of his son Boromir. He loved him greatly: too much perhaps; and the more so because they were unlike. [/font] – LR V.1, ‘Minas Tirith’​

Pippin sees the difference for himself:

[font Baskerville] Pippin saw his carven face with its proud bones and skin like ivory, and the long curved nose between the dark deep eyes; and he was reminded not so much of Boromir as of Aragorn. [/font] – Ibid. ​

Denethor is Steward of Gondor, ruling in place of the King, and his line has long been celebrated for its ability to preserve the higher qualities of the Dunedain of Numenor. They are almost Elven in their high culture and sophistication, their insight into their enemies and friends, and their statecraft and subtle thought.

That Boromir lacks these qualities, in favor of skilled warcraft and direct military action, is fundamental to who he is. That all of Gondor is tracking him, rather than the elevated heritage of the Kings and Stewards, is presented as the basic tragedy of Gondor in its decline.

E. As we learn more about Boromir the Warrior of the Twilight, can we imagine him as Steward of Gondor, had he lived to succeed his father? Does the story present a basic conflict between Stewardship and Captain-Generalcy, that cannot be reconciled except by an extraordinary personality?

F. Tolkien puts a lot of his creative energy into this dichotomy, the idea that warriors for all their value and necessity cannot really substitute for statecraft, diplomacy, and a liberal arts education. Was he meditating here on the impact on British society of a militarized class of leaders in the Great War who proved too unimaginative to substitute wisdom for bravery, and so destroyed a generation of young scholars and gentlemen who had been led to believe that war was an ennobling profession? Is Boromir an ironic portrait of Field Marshal Douglas Haig?


IV. We’ve already noted that Denethor is conflicted about whether high nobility, such as that displayed by his wayward second son Faramir, is really a paying proposition in the face of military defeat by the forces of Mordor. There is this remarkable scene to think about:

[font Baskerville] ‘[The Dark Lord] uses others as his weapons. So do all great lords, if they are wise, Master Halfling. Or why should I sit here in my tower and think, and watch, and wait, spending even my sons? For I can still wield a brand.’
He stood up and cast open his long black cloak, and behold! he was clad in mail beneath, and girt with a long sword, great-hilted in a sheath of black and silver. ‘Thus have I walked, and thus now for many years have I slept,’ he said, ‘lest with age the body should grow soft and timid.’ [/font] – LR V.4, ‘The Siege of Gondor’​

G. Is this an almost comic or pathetic instance of compensation for a sense of inferiority? Does Denethor in some sense wish he could be less High and more Middle – more like Boromir, “leaping through the trees and making them fight” (LR III.3)? If not, what might be another interpretation of his odd dress-up-like-a-soldier game?


V. Tolkien’s long-standing interest in the theme of the warrior vs. the sage, or the warrior-king who falls to the temptations of power to his ultimate undoing, can be found elsewhere in his legendarium. In the case of Boromir, the Prof actually expanded the ill-fated warrior’s legacy beyond the story itself. Let’s look at the back-story of the line of Ruling Stewards for the famed LotR Appendices, written in the years following the completion of the epic narrative.

[font Baskerville] Ruling Stewards. Mardil 2080, Eradan 2116, Herion 2148, Belegorn 2204, Húrin I 2244, Túrin I 2278, Hador 2395, Barahir 2412, Dior 2435, Denethor I 2477, Boromir 2489, Cirion 2567. [/font] – LR Appendix A.I.ii, ‘The Realms in Exile: The Southern Line’​

Following this genealogy of the Stewards, we learn more about the first Boromir, who ruled Gondor about 500 years before the events of the War of the Ring:

[font Baskerville] In the last years of Denethor I the race of uruks, black orcs of great strength, first appeared out of Mordor, and in 2475 they swept across Ithilien and took Osgiliath. Boromir son of Denethor (after whom Boromir of the Nine Walkers was later named) defeated them and regained Ithilien; but Osgiliath was finally ruined, and its great stone-bridge was broken. No people dwelt there afterwards. Boromir was a great captain, and even the Witch-king feared him. He was noble and fair of face, a man strong in body and in will,… [/font] – LR Appendix A.I.iv, ‘Gondor: The Stewards’​

H. Ignoring the authorial comedy of saying Boromir of the Nine Walkers was named after the famed fighting Steward Boromir, when it is actually the other way around, what are the similarities and differences between the two? Why did Tolkien feel it necessary to invent this earlier Denethor & Boromir father-son duo of ruling Stewards?

Once the earlier steward Boromir was invented, he had a legacy of his own. Here’s the brief annal of a later steward in his image:

[font Baskerville] But in Gondor south of the mountains things were less evil, and before spring came Beregond son of [the Ruling Steward] Beren had overcome the invaders. At once he sent aid to Rohan. He was the greatest captain that had arisen in Gondor since Boromir;… [/font] – LR Appendix A.I.iv, ‘Gondor: The Stewards’​

Then there is the Appendices’ annalist’s comparison of our Boromir to King Earnur, who featured in the timeline of the Kings of Gondor before the Stewards took over. Here is the Appendices’ version of the years that led up to the events in the main LotR story:

[font Baskerville] ‘So time drew on to the War of the Ring, and the sons of Denethor grew to manhood. Boromir, five years the elder, beloved by his father, was like him in face and pride, but in little else. Rather he was a man after the sort of King Eärnur of old, taking no wife and delighting chiefly in arms; fearless and strong, but caring little for lore, save the tales of old battles.[/font] – Ibid.​

This last mention of Boromir in The Lord of the Rings has a couple of interesting tidbits.

I. When, like old Earnur, our Boromir is described as “taking no wife”, does that imply that he should have taken a wife? In other words, was that a failing or just a character quirk? I seem to remember learning that some men, in some masculine orders of discipline like sports or weight-lifting or martial arts, have actually proscribed sex because they believe it saps them of their manly strength, or vigor, or something. Is Tolkien making a sly reference to this? Or is he evoking, perhaps, some kind of quasi-religious devotion such as demands chastity of priests? I have to admit I simply do not think this passage is suggesting that Boromir was gay! But … any takers?

It now seems clear that Boromir was highly literate and educated, despite the impression we got from Faramir and Beregond in our discussions earlier in the week. He was just limited in his range of interest: he liked, loved, … heck, he adored military history.

J. Be honest now. Who among us doesn’t like, love, or adore military history?

Well, folks, that’s it. Thanks to all for reading, responding, or even just lurking on this discussion. Thanks especially to noWizardme for organizing this fun Reading Room discussion series. I hope we can continue this series with some of the other characters from our favorite heroic romance. Have a great weekend!

 

[oliphaunt]

Thanks for the history and meanings of Boromir's name.

I'm sure Tolkien liked the name, and wanted to work it in. Also economical, not starting a character from scratch. He kept the dark hair but lost the dark eyes and was not remarkably hirsute. He stayed brave and grew more noble, the son of the Steward (though not the King.)

Your analysis of how Boromir nearly became of high Numenorean blood but was pushed a bit lower when Aragorn came into being is excellent. I would expect Boromir was more complex than a warrior or hero in the "Hobbit" sense, since the new story was more nuanced and grew increasingly so.

 

[No One in Particular]

I. When, like old Earnur, our Boromir is described as “taking no wife”, does that imply that he should have taken a wife? In other words, was that a failing or just a character quirk? I seem to remember learning that some men, in some masculine orders of discipline like sports or weight-lifting or martial arts, have actually proscribed sex because they believe it saps them of their manly strength, or vigor, or something. Is Tolkien making a sly reference to this? Or is he evoking, perhaps, some kind of quasi-religious devotion such as demands chastity of priests? I have to admit I simply do not think this passage is suggesting that Boromir was gay! But … any takers?
[/b]

I have always read that as Boromir was simply to busy, to enthralled, by martial affairs to really get involved with a romance. if he had ever ascended to the Stewardship he would likely have made it a point to find a suitable match to produce an heir if nothing else, but in the meanwhile he had other things to do. Being the Steward, or even when he was merely Captain General, I'm sure he had his fair share of starry-eyed fangirls.

 

[oliphaunt]

E. As we learn more about Boromir the Warrior of the Twilight, can we imagine him as Steward of Gondor, had he lived to succeed his father? Does the story present a basic conflict between Stewardship and Captain-Generalcy, that cannot be reconciled except by an extraordinary personality?

F. Tolkien puts a lot of his creative energy into this dichotomy, the idea that warriors for all their value and necessity cannot really substitute for statecraft, diplomacy, and a liberal arts education. Was he meditating here on the impact on British society of a militarized class of leaders in the Great War who proved too unimaginative to substitute wisdom for bravery, and so destroyed a generation of young scholars and gentlemen who had been led to believe that war was an ennobling profession? Is Boromir an ironic portrait of Field Marshal Douglas Haig?

G. Is this an almost comic or pathetic instance of compensation for a sense of inferiority? Does Denethor in some sense wish he could be less High and more Middle – more like Boromir, “leaping through the trees and making them fight” (LR III.3)? If not, what might be another interpretation of his odd dress-up-like-a-soldier game?

What of Boromir as the military leader, and Faramir the diplomatic? Even if Boromir had taken the title of Steward, he could well have delegated responsibilities to Faramir.

I'd suspect that being a soldier in WWI who would have preferred to be a scholar would have an influence. Even if the soldiering was necessary. It was certainly unavoidable after some point. Did Tolkien think better diplomacy might have averted the war?

I never thought Denethor's effort to stay fit was comical. Contrast it with Theoden who looked nothing like a soldier when Gandalf came to Edoras but rose up to lead the Rohirrim. Denethor substitutes a degree of self-mortification for actually leading in battle and risking his own skin. Was Denethor trying to compensate for not having an extended lifespan like Araagron?

 

[oliphaunt]

I. When, like old Earnur, our Boromir is described as “taking no wife”, does that imply that he should have taken a wife? In other words, was that a failing or just a character quirk?
J. Be honest now. Who among us doesn’t like, love, or adore military history?

Boromir was busy being a bloke and didn't have his mom to nag him to marry and produce children. Denethor married at 46. How old was Boromir when he headed off to Rivendell? Forty?

Yes, military history is a major and fascinating part of human history. We are very warlike. Some of my most interesting conversations were with men and women who served during WWII.

 

[squire]

As you say, Denethor married at 46, which the Appendix narrator phrases as "He had married late..." (LR App. A.I.iv) I was interested when looking this up to see, earlier in the chronicles of Gondor, the following passage. The narrative is speaking of the reign of Atanatar II, King of Gondor at its glorious height:
[font baskerville]

"Yet the signs of decay had then already appeared; for the high men of the South married late, and their children were few. The first childless king was Falastur, and the second Narmacil I, the son of Atanatar Alcarin." [/font]​

(Ibid.)​

The distance in time and dynasty is great, but Denethor seems to be another instance of decadence or decay in the sad decline of the Southern Kingdom, in that he "married late". Well, at least he had two sons, to ensure an heir.

But then, as we've been discussing, we get Boromir "taking no wife". Again, he is said to be like King Earnur in this regard, and King Earnur was the last King, having ridden recklessly to his death in a duel with Morgul - leaving no heir!

Overall, I can only take Boromir's lack of a wife, or even any interest in having one, as an authorial sign of weakness and irresponsibility in a man destined to be Steward, not just a Warrior.

 

[Voronwë_the_Faithful]

I. When, like old Earnur, our Boromir is described as “taking no wife”, does that imply that he should have taken a wife? In other words, was that a failing or just a character quirk? I seem to remember learning that some men, in some masculine orders of discipline like sports or weight-lifting or martial arts, have actually proscribed sex because they believe it saps them of their manly strength, or vigor, or something. Is Tolkien making a sly reference to this? Or is he evoking, perhaps, some kind of quasi-religious devotion such as demands chastity of priests?

It is interesting to compare Boromir (and Earnur) to the other confirmed bachelors who play an important role in the story of the Third Age: Bilbo and Frodo Baggins. Tolkien says in the Concerning Hobbits section of the Prologue to LOTR that: "Bilbo and Frodo Baggins were as bachelors very exceptional, as they were also in many other ways, such as their friendship with the Elves." While the word 'exceptional' can simply mean outside of the norm, it usually has a positive connotation, and that certainly seems to be implied here. It seems clear to me (and I am fairly sure I have read this is someone's commentary) that bachelorhood of Bilbo and Frodo is intended to leave them available to play the important roles that they do in their respective adventures (though that would not explain why Bilbo would not then have been free to marry once he had gone "Back Again" after going "There"). In any case it cannot be contested that with Bilbo and Frodo, bachelorhood is presented as a positive thing, perhaps even a sacrifice that they make for the common good.

In contrast, with Boromir and Earnur bachelorhood is presented as a sign of a weakness in their character, showing that they were unbalanced, leading to both of those characters' ultimate failure (and yes, Boromir failed, despite his stand in protecting Merry and Pippin and Aragorn's comforting words to him).

It is an interesting juxtaposition.

And then you have Turin, who remains a bachelor despite the love of two Elven women but then ultimately weds his own sister, to both of their dooms. I won't even try to describe what his story says about Tolkien's views on bachelorhood!

 

[oliphaunt]

Would you say that Denethor's efforts to hold on to his warrior status by sleeping in armor is a weakness that limits his abilities? Although warriors play a huge role in LOTR, they are not presented as the ultimate ideal. Aragorn is notable as a King because he is a healer, not just a warrior. The fate of Middle Earth is largely in the hands of Hobbits, who are hardly great warriors. There are plenty of other examples. Is Boromir's bachelorhood a weakness?

 

[No One in Particular]

Makes one think about the ancient Numeorean kings who refused to pass in their good time and instead clung to life past all happiness and joy. Denethor's actions kind of point to that mindset.