# Aragorn, Boromir, Faramir, or Eomer? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 28, 2009, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aragorn-boromir-faramir-or-eomer/504572 "2009-07-28T18:50:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aragorn-boromir-faramir-or-eomer/504572/61 "2009-07-30T23:23:54Z")
> [@Idlewild](#): > > I’m going to agree with the ‘enormous geek’ conclusion. But I loved parts of the Silmarillion. It just doesn’t read as modern prose, it reads as religious text. I love virtually all of the Silmarillion. In fact ditch the _virtually_; I can’t think of a section I don’t enjoy. But teh first two sections are rough going on first read. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aragorn-boromir-faramir-or-eomer/504572/62 "2009-07-31T00:26:20Z")
> [@Idlewild](#): > > It’s really important to know about Beren and Lúthien Tinúviel, because their story sort of foreshadows the whole bit with Aragorn and Arwen, who was incidentally Lúthien’s descendant in some round-about manner, and that’s integral to… > > …nah, I’m going to agree with the ‘enormous geek’ conclusion. But I loved parts of the Silmarillion. It just doesn’t read as modern prose, it reads as religious text. Actually, it’s not at all important to know of Luthien or Beren to enjoy LOTR or The Hobbit (and to still be a geek, btw) 🙂 I am not interested in Luthien or Beren. It’s all waaaaay too mystical for my tastes. Heck, the Olympian gods had more human characteristics than those depicted in the Silmarillon. Don’t make me try to read it again–I believe it’s against the Geneva Convention. **Skald** , You say the nicest things. \ (and of course I listen when Aragorn sings of Luthien and Beren. Viggo mumbles the snippet of song and that’s all I hear… ) And god, yes, I skip the songs when I read LOTR or any book. I also skip poetry written by the author and dreams related by the characters. I’m radical like that. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aragorn-boromir-faramir-or-eomer/504572/63 "2009-07-31T01:20:33Z")
> [@Idlewild](#): > > It’s really important to know about Beren and Lúthien Tinúviel, because their story sort of foreshadows the whole bit with Aragorn and Arwen, who was incidentally Lúthien’s descendant in some round-about manner, and that’s integral to… Not so round about. Aragorn and Arwen were first cousins – 60 or so removals. ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aragorn-boromir-faramir-or-eomer/504572/64 "2009-07-31T02:47:32Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I love virtually all of the Silmarillion. In fact ditch the _virtually_; I can’t think of a section I don’t enjoy. But teh first two sections are rough going on first read. After failing a few times in past to make it through the book I found it very satisfying reading through in reverse order – well, sections in reverse order; reading the more conventional parts first and then reading the mythological back-story. As to your OP question: Prince Imrahil of Dol Amroth 😛 (From my first reading of LoTR I loved the image of the entrance of the knights of Dol Amroth into Minas Tirith – was sad it wasn’t in the movie. Understood why for time reasons, but _sniff_) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aragorn-boromir-faramir-or-eomer/504572/65 "2009-07-31T03:35:10Z")
Count me in on the Legolas Love. _sigh_ If not Leggy… Eomer. Without a doubt. MMMMMMmmm… I love a man on a horse… ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aragorn-boromir-faramir-or-eomer/504572/66 "2009-07-31T14:34:05Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > And god, yes, I skip the songs when I read LOTR or any book. :eek: I was going to say this admission makes me love you 6% less, but instead I will simply feel sorry for you. You haven’t read the funeral elegy for Boromir, and that is its own punishment. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aragorn-boromir-faramir-or-eomer/504572/67 "2009-07-31T14:38:04Z")
I skipt the songs, too. Are you kidding? ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aragorn-boromir-faramir-or-eomer/504572/68 "2009-07-31T14:53:13Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > :eek: > > I was going to say this admission makes me love you 6% less, but instead I will simply feel sorry for you. You haven’t read the funeral elegy for Boromir, and that is its own punishment. I probably have read it. I know I skipped over all those damned Hobbit songs, as well as the pedantic and lengthy elven stuff. If Boromir’s elegy was short enough, I probably gave it a once over. I like poetry. I like good poetry. Sometimes Tolkien managed to get there; sometimes he, um, did not. Not a slam to the elegy (which I don’t recall) but just a general comment. I’d still do Legolas. I would just convince him that I would indeed respect him in the morning. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aragorn-boromir-faramir-or-eomer/504572/69 "2009-07-31T14:54:13Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > I skipt the songs, too. Are you kidding? Anaamika, do I ever kid? Wait, okay, obviously I do. Do I ever kid about TOLKIEN? Wait…okay, I bellow _Fool of a Took_ at least once a week. I guess it would be entirely reasonable to think I might be jesting. But I’m not. I simply love the song the Three Hunters sing as they mourn him. It’s just beautifully sad: > [@](#): > > From the mouths of the Sea the South Wind flies, from the sandhills and the stones; > The wailing of the gulls it bears, and at the gate it moans. > ‘What news from the South, O sighing wind, do you bring to me at eve? > Where now is Boromir the fair? He tarries and I grieve.’ It’s just wonderful. When I read that it makes me hate the world about 5% less. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aragorn-boromir-faramir-or-eomer/504572/70 "2009-07-31T14:56:23Z")
I pretty much hate most poetry in English. That snippet you posted? Makes my eyes glaze over pretty much in the first line. ---
**Author:** ![Arien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arien)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aragorn-boromir-faramir-or-eomer/504572/71 "2009-07-31T15:16:13Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > Sometimes Tolkien managed to get there; sometimes he, um, did not. Right. Anyone remember the little snippet from Legolas in Return of the King where he tries to rhyme “Eressea” (One of the islands of the Blessed Realm) and “forever”? Cringeworthy. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aragorn-boromir-faramir-or-eomer/504572/72 "2009-07-31T15:16:23Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > I pretty much hate most poetry in English. Well, that explains it. I love poetry. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aragorn-boromir-faramir-or-eomer/504572/73 "2009-07-31T15:17:48Z")
> [@Arien](#): > > Right. Anyone remember the little snippet from Legolas in Return of the King where he tries to rhyme “Eressea” (One of the islands of the Blessed Realm) and “forever”? Cringeworthy. I don’t remember the bit you refer to. But not all poetry rhymes, either perfectly or approximately. That is not necessarily a defect. ---
**Author:** ![Mrs.Cake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2acd7d/32.png) [@Mrs.Cake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs.Cake)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aragorn-boromir-faramir-or-eomer/504572/74 "2009-07-31T15:48:41Z")
Putting the movie versions aside (Sean Bean is way out in front, with Ian McKellan hot on his heels): While totally _not_ into the actual bear aspect, I do have a weakness for burly bear-like men, so Beorn has got to be up there in the top three. He gets mentioned in FOTR, so he counts, right? I’ll put in another vote for Prince Imrahil as well. You just know he’s completely gorgeous and has a strong sense of duty and responsibilty, and certainly as badass as Aragorn, without the elf and prophecy baggage. As for the others, well, it’s pretty well established that Aragorn has been completely owned by Arwen for most of his adult life, Boromir is so little interested in girls that he doesn’t even stop to meet the basic obligations of continuing a dying bloodline by getting married and producing an heir or two in between campaigns (Richard the Lion Hearted?), Faramir does nothing for me, and I’ve never had any interest in tall blond men or horses. Yeah, it’s all down to Beorn. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aragorn-boromir-faramir-or-eomer/504572/75 "2009-07-31T16:01:38Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Well, that explains it. I love poetry. I have tried. Mostly it just doesn’t sing to me. I like Hindi poetry, and Urdu poetry, so I think it’s something about the language itself - I love the English language but IMO it doesn’t lend itself to poetry. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aragorn-boromir-faramir-or-eomer/504572/76 "2009-07-31T18:08:21Z")
While Boromir’s eulogy is good, where she’s really missing out, IMO, is Theoden’s eulogy. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aragorn-boromir-faramir-or-eomer/504572/77 "2009-07-31T18:37:10Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > I have tried. Mostly it just doesn’t sing to me. I like Hindi poetry, and Urdu poetry, so I think it’s something about the language itself - I love the English language but IMO it doesn’t lend itself to poetry. “Beware the Jabberwock, my son The jaws that bite, the claws that catch! Beware the Jub-jub bird, and shun The frumious bandersnatch!” I don’t have any idea what you mean. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aragorn-boromir-faramir-or-eomer/504572/78 "2009-07-31T18:44:03Z")
For what it is worth, some of the better poetry Professor Tolkein writes is in the elf-tongues. I really do enjoy “Ai! laurie lantar lassi surinen, yeni unotime ve ramar aldaron!” \ But then, I REALLY enjoy the perhaps more famous lines: _A Unicef clearasil Gibberish ‘n’ drivel O Mennen mylar muriel …_ Kinda gets you right there, doesn’t it? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Humble\_Servant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/47e85d/32.png) [@Humble\_Servant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Humble_Servant)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aragorn-boromir-faramir-or-eomer/504572/79 "2009-07-31T18:57:05Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > _A Unicef clearasil_ Do you say it in your head: A Unicef! Cle-arasil! I know I do–it’s better when you mangle it _even more_ to scan with the original. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aragorn-boromir-faramir-or-eomer/504572/80 "2009-07-31T20:08:00Z")
Is this a good place to mention that, starting a few years ago, I suddenly started reading “O Elbereth Gilthoniel” to the tune of “O come, o come Emmanuel”? I don’t know what triggered it, but now I can’t read it any other way. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aragorn-boromir-faramir-or-eomer/504572.md?page=3)