It actually only occurred to me while I was writing the thread you quoted. Aragorn was raised in Imladris (Rivendell, for movie-only folk) and presumably inculcated with elvish values, and Elves considered intromission pretty much equivalent to marriage. I misdoubt he’d have considered himself bethrothed to Arwen if he’d ever had sex with anyone.
The above post was brought to you by the Committee to Overuse Obscure Words for the Sake of Showin’ off Book Larning (sic).
You rang?
Interesting hypothetical. I think Quartz’s (if all goes relatively well, thanks to Eru’s unseen beneficence) or Malacandra’s (to take the more gloomy but realistic view) scenarios are the most likely. Probably the latter. Tolkien placed great stock in LOTR on true-born entitlement to rings, crowns, thrones etc. I just don’t see Boromir forgiving and rallying the Army of the Dead the way (only) Aragorn could. And without that ancient host, the White City would be vanquished by Sauron’s hordes.
Ah, but death to or for whom? Prophecies are notoriously flexible, and by dying Aragorn clearly isn’t the heir.
WRT the Dead, in the film they obey the wielder of the blade. It’s the blade that stops the killing strike. So Boromir could command them.
Or, if you want to really push it, Boromir (or indeed Aragorn) dies in the battle at Helm’s Deep and Anduril passes to Theoden. Theoden is then killed by the Fell Beast as in the book and up steps Eowyn and Anduril is sitting there ready for her…
I’m with you in thinking that Movie!Boromir, had he lived, could have overcome his temptation. Realizing how close he had come to killing Frodo and that the Ring was the cause of his corruption (and, indeed, that would be easier for him to believe than to think that he was already corrupt) would have made him desirous NOT to fall again. He’d have been less conflicted than Aragorn about what course of action to follow, I think; he’d have been gunshy about following Frodo & Sam at all, and going to the rescue of the younger hobbits would have been a welcome (and correct) excuse not to.
But he wouldn’t have had Anduril. In PJ’s World o’Wonder Aragorn does not have his great-great-etc grandfather’s sword at Amon Hen; it hasn’t even been reforged yet. Elrond is moved to bring it to Aragorn because Arwen is dying (silly, I know, but I am not in charge of the movie), and I’m not persuaded Elrond would have brought Boromir the sword.
Boromir doesn’t last long anyway. He follows Bilbo into the hills of Emyn muil, where Gollum gets the drop on him and strangles him.
Following Bilbo would not have led Boromir anywhere near Emyn Muil.
As for Gollum getting the drop on him: sorry, not happening. Gollum was dangerous to two heroic-but-unworldly hobbits, but Boromir was a seasoned warrior and Gollum was without his ring or any [del]arms[/del] weapons. The differences of size, strength, and general moxie are too great. Boromir MIGHT spare his life; Gollum might manage to escape, if he were so unwise as to attempt an ambush in which his ass would be resoundly kicked. But Gollum’s not winning unless Eru inexplicably intervenes on his behalf.
Boromir wouldn’t have got within a good Shire league of Gollum in any case, any more than he would have caught up with Frodo and Sam. Bear in mind that Frodo fled because of Boromir’s corruption by the Ring, and the dread that it would spread to the rest of the Fellowship.
Understood, but since I have a whole planet to look after I have to be rather clearer-minded. Eowyn’s got less claim on Aragorn than I have on Princess Kate, and that’s damn little (alas).
Clarity of mind has nothing to do with it. No, I take that back. Clarity of mind has EVERYTHING to do with it. I love Eowyn. Aragorn hurt Eowyn and thus must die. It’s an evil thing; you wouldn’t understand.
Movie Boromir was played by Sean Bean, so he’s destined to die. None of this inheriting-the-crown-through-Aragorn’s-death nonsense, he would have died before the destruction of the Ring, if there was any.
And Skald, not to question your abilities, but you have little power against the will of Eru. Swap Aragorn out for Boromir and they live. Aragorn’s not getting killed by no stray arrow, he has a destiny to fulfill, and Boromir’s strong enough to fend off the orcs that Aragorn took care of in the other continuity.
The question then becomes what happens if both of them are alive. I think at that point, Aragorn goes alone to follow Frodo and Sam and leaves Boromir to go after Merry and Pippin with Legolas and Gimli.
With Aragorn, Frodo doesn’t need Gollum to lead them and they may or may not find the secret path into Mordor.
Boromir probably atones further with Legolas and Gimli, and I agree with those who said Aragorn was probably inconsequential during Helm’s Deep. Everything in TTT happens as before but without the ghosts, Pellenor Fields probably get lost to the forces of evil. Its a race at that point for Frodo to destroy the ring before Sauron can catch him or kill too many
That is why Hephaestus gave us rifles.
I will agree that Boromir was probably capable of any physical feat Aragorn could accomplish. I’d never engage either one in a fair fight.
Of course, I wouldn’t fight ANYONE in a fair fight.
Mayhap. I think much of the reason Aragorn (both in book and movie) did not pursue Sam & Frodo was that he realized that it was inherently a bad idea. He was wiser than Boromir and, more the point, Faramir; he realized that he woulnd’t be able to resist the ring’s call indefinitely, and that the quest had reached the point that his continued association with Frodo would ultimately be counterproductive.
I’m of the view that Boromir was only the FIRST to fall to the ring’s lure, because the ring “realized” that he would be the most useful bearer when it came to getting back to Sauron. If Frodo’s only companions had been Sam and Aragorn, it would have bent its “will” toward Mr. I Can’t Decide On A Name
.
Eeeh, I dunno. Dude’s been scarfing down orc warriors for a while, hasn’t he ? Of course, he had the benefit of being invisible at the time but that’s not much of an advantage when you’re *grappling *someone.
Yeah, cause realizing the Ring was the cause of his corruption most def’ let Bilbo not nearly assault Frodo at Rivendell. And Frodo just chucked the thing, too ;). It’s fantasy crack that even Gandalf doesn’t want to touch with a ten foot pole, and he’s not exactly a lightweight in the willpower department. I’m thinking a weak mortal man-thing wracked with daddy issues doesn’t stand a chance.
I kinda like the idea of the Quest failing, and Frodo and Sam being captured early on.
That way PJ doesn’t have any excuse for leaving the Scouring of the Shire out of the last movie. PLENTY of time…
Your erotomania over Eowyn is plain enough for anyone to understand, let alone one of Maleldil’s trusted viceroys; but you’re still wrong.
Fool of a Took!
It’s not erotomania, because it’s not erotic. It’s a common misconception that only the good can love, or that love is always ennobling.
Love is the state of mind in which the well-being of another person is essential to the lover’s peace of mind. That sounds as if it were a categorically thing, but in fact it’s not, as you’d understand if you’d paid even the slightest attention while reading The Great Divorce. 
Let’s pretend. If Eowyn were real and I were actually Evil!Skald, my love for her would not be presenting as erotic, because an erotic lover wouldn’t despise that poncy git Movie!Aragorn for breaking her heart; he’d want it to happen so Eowyn would be available. A non-erotic but still-essentially-selfish lover would detest Strider/Elessar/Throngil/Estil/I’msureImissedaname, because he’d want Eowyn to have whatever she desired; to such a lover no one but himself and Eowyn has value or personhood; his relationship with everyone but Eowyn is I-Thing, not I-Thou. To such a person, justice and fairness matter less than love, if they matter at all.
To put it differently: jerkasses can love too! They can even love without wanting to boink the object of their affection.
ISTM, then, that Aragorn might be doomed regardless, in your estimation, Skald.
Care to share with us what it looks like in a Middle-Earth where Aragorn DOESN’T [del]gives Eowyn a sad[/del] break Eowyn’s heart?
:: cough"Estel" ::
And Telcontar, for what it’s worth.
And that’s “Thorongil”.
Still not buying this “How dare he break her heart?” white-knighting, either. 
Telcontar is the name of Elessar’s royal house, not his personal name.
Well, yes and no. “Telcontar” is just “Strider” rendered into a nobler language, and he was known as “Strider” as a personal name before he chose to sanctify it as the name of his house. But you know that piece of dialogue as well as I. 
edit: And Skald also left out “Envinyatar”, “the Renewer”. It’s worse than Spanish.