True, though Théoden also shows the ability of Sauron to corrupt men, even without direct contact.
Théoden is corrupted by Wormtongue who is not in contact with Sauron in any way. He is, instead, an easily corruptible hanger-on to Saruman who HAS been directly corrupted by Sauron. Saruman’s downfall is his desire for knowledge of ringlore. Even knowing too much about the one ring is enough to corrupt one of the most powerful beings in Middle Earth. That’s Sauron’s a tough bastard, gotta admit.
Still, it leaves the question open: how well would Théoden have stood up if he’d gone mind-on-mind with Sauron instead of being corrupted through a daisy chain of people?
Still, once thrown out of his ennui, Théoden rises to the occasion of his times magnificently.
I would contest that neither of those deaths are glorified, but are presented in a very clear light as incredibly sad and wasteful and horrible, although necessary to protect others or defend freedom.
Much different from a lot of the propaganda and “wishful thinking” treatments of death and dying on the battlefield which were intended to make the survivors back home feel better about the war and about having lived through it while others did not.
According to Tolkien’s Appendices A and B to LOTR: Faramir and Boromir’s mother, Finduilas, was from Dol Amroth on the coast (seat of LOTR itself’s Prince Imrahil). Although Denethor greatly loved her in his dour way – she was unhappy in the bleak city of Minas Tirith, with its military-camp-like atmosphere, and situated far inland; and with the perennial oppressive menace of Mordor not far off to the east. The effect of all this contributed to shortening her life; she died when Faramir was aged five, and Boromir ten.
I have always read that statement from him differently. I read it as being a statement filled with private resentment. He’s not someone who ever wants to see the line of Isildur re-established. He’s someone who thinks that the line of Isildur is no longer relevant, and resents that, despite being at some level descended from Anárion, he’s not allowed to be king.
I agree with your analysis of Faramir; those who will recall my past posts on this know it’s one of my pet peeves with Peter Jackson’s movies, that he has Faramir actually try to take Frodo to Denethor, thus negating his position as the reason Gandalf trust mankind.
But I will nitpick: your quote about the blood of the old race is actually a statement by Gandalf about Denethor,
So Denethor is Faramir, minus the idealism.
Nitpick: Wormtongue probably ensnares Théoden before Saruman becomes Sauron’s ally. The timeline is not totally clear, but IIRC, Saruman really doesn’t become Sauron’s ally until right before Gandalf is trapped in early July of 3018. However, Grima has been subverting Théoden for a longer period than that, presumably as part of Saruman’s own machinations for power.
I think this is sortof an irrelevant question, because Theoden, unlike Denethor, would not have such arrogance. The Rohirrim may pride themselves on their deeds of arms, and certainly, Theoden might lead a doomed cavalry charge against Sauron, but they don’t have the trust of magic or the overweening arrogance that let Denethor do this.
Boromir’s death is certainly not glorified. It’s presented as his redemption, sure, but that’s because he dies doing the right thing, not because he dies in battle.
Theoden, frankly, dies kindof ignominiously - he has his moment of glory, and then he’s suddenly killed by circumstances that are frankly, beyond his control. It’s not a glorious death, and he is celebrated entirely for what he accomplished beforehand, for standing tall and, again doing what is right in coming to the aid of Gondor.
I guess I’m missing what it means to have a “glorified” death. Can you guys provide a counterexample from another source? Boromir killed over 20 orcs, his companions stacked the broken weapons of his enemies at his feet at his “burial”, then sang songs as his boat sailed off. And Theoden’s charge frankly reads as impressive as anything I’ve ever read.
Boromir killed a bunch of orcs to save the hobbits, but he wouldn’t have had to die at all if his hubris hadn’t led to his corruption by the ring. It was a disaster of his own making.
Short version: It means to heap praise upon them because they died in battle. Boromir doesn’t get a lot of praise at all, just, basically, forgiveness.
Theoden gets some, but it’s basically for his personal triumphs (overcoming his doubts and his darkness), and not for dying in battle.
You will observe that in both cases, their death was functionally pointless in terms of whether it altered the events of the story, unless you count Theoden’s death bringing the Witch King up against Eowyn - which is not a function of anything he did at all.
And none of this has anything to do with doing your best to honor the fallen.
I don’t remember how much Borimir knew, but Imrahil, prince of Dol Amroth, recognized Aragorn’s name immediately, and acknowledged his kingship the moment he heard that Aragorn was in the country.
I think that the claim about the Edain and the Eldar should be considered not to include any possible union of men with the Silvan elves (those who turned back at the Misty Mountains and never continued). That would allow for a union between the elves of Nimrodel and humans in Gondor, after the Elves of Nimrodel had moved south, following the wakening of the Balrog in Moria.
In the book, no. Imrahil, like everyone else, finds out about Aragorn when he unfurls the banner of the kingship on the lead ship sailing into the Harlond during the Battle of Pelennor Fields. Then, Imrahil leads the the forces of Gondor East from the city, while Éomer drives South with the Rohirrim, to meet the forces led by Aragorn north from the quays. They meet in the middle of the battle (the meeting of Imrahil with Aragorn is not described, only the meeting of Aragorn and Éomer), and finish off the forces of evil. Then, as evening is falling, they ride to Minas Tirith.
At the gate, Aragorn refuses to enter as the King-claimant. Éomer questions this, noting that he has already raised the standard of kingship, but Imrahil counsels caution, warning that Denethor will not be pleased to see Aragorn. Of course, they don’t know that Denethor is dead.
Later, in the Houses of Healing, Aragorn makes a surprise arrival, having been called for by Gandalf. At that point, given that Faramir is in no condition to act as Steward, Aragorn suggests that Imrahil take control of the city for the time being. At no point does Imrahil indicate that he was aware that there WAS a living claimant, let alone that Aragorn was his name.
Yes. While Orome (damn the diacritics) did address all of the newly-awakened Elves as Eldar, it quickly came to mean only those who went West (the Vanyar, the Noldor and the Teleri). Imrahil’s elven ancestor could very well be Silvan or Sindarin, even.
Sorry to nitpick, but I thought the Dúnedain were the “rangers” who were the ancestors of Isildur? They were hiding (or at least remaining inconspicuous) in the north. Denethor was the ancestor of the stewards of Gondor, and his line went back thousands of years, but were not Dúnedain. Please correct me if I’m wrong. Your post is otherwise very informative and seems correct.
I’m overdue for my re-reading of all the Tolkien books, I think I’m going to start today…
Dúnedain is the Sindarian term for the Quenyan Númenórean. It was a general term for those making up the Northern and Southern kingdoms descended from those that had escaped the drowning of Númenór.
You are right though, that by the time of the war of the ring, the term tended to be in reference to the surviving members of Elendil’s kingdom in the north.