Let’s not forget that Pippin opportunely kept Gandalf from looking into Saruman’s palantir, which the wizard himself admitted was just as well.
I don’t recall that, but you may well be right, so I’m happy to stipulate it. I just think that Faramir was wrong.
You’re a Gondorian soldier. Two units–one led by the elder son of Denethor, the other by the younger–are about to go out on a dangerous mission. For whatever odd reason, you get to choose which unit to join. Knowing NOTHING ELSE, whom would you choose to follow?
Why Faramir of course, I joined the Navy not the Marines IRL. I would trust Faramir to use more stealth and be more cautious. I suspect those that joined the Marines or Army would prefer Boromir.
Look I think Faramir had more in common with Aragorn than Boromir. He was a throwback to the old Scholar-Warriors of the Dúnedain’s history whereas Boromir was just an totally awesome fighter*, fearless leader and apparently good general.
- Please excuse the “totally awesome”, I just could not think of a better description.
That depends on what sort of person I am. If I like the thoughtful yet brave type, I might choose Faramir, but if I’m the “Gung-ho Gondor” type, it’s Boromir all the way.
Back to the OP, of course if things were different they wouldn’t be the same, but here goes:
Someone without great power must carry the ring, otherwise the ring bearer (Gandalf, Aragorn, whoever) gets all involved in trying to use it and it’s all over. Frodo is certainly the wisest of the small, so he has to go.
Aragorn is the pathfinder, without him even Gandalf will get lost, so he has to go.
Could Aragorn and Frodo have made the trip without others? Not without going over the Misty Mountains–and it’s never been clear to me why they failed there, maybe the mountains hated them, but maybe a smaller group wouldn’t have had that trouble, etc. They needed Gandalf to get through the Mines.
Was Gimli necessary there? Arguments that “any other dwarf would do” begs the point. If they needed a dwarf, then it’s Gimli. No other young Dwarf was available at the start IIFC. I don’t have an opinion here. It’s possible that Gandalf could have handled the mines himself. In fact, if they hadn’t stopped for so freakin’ long in the Chamber of Marzipan* they might have been able to cross the bridge and get out before the Winged Balrog* showed up.
> Really, did you think Tolkien was such a bad writer he would create heroes that were unnecessary for the story?
If we’re just talking about the quest to destroy the Ring, it’s not a given that we have to save Rohan, or Éowyn, or Gondor for that matter. The reason the war had to go on and that Aragorn had to lead the army towards the Black Gate is because Frodo+Sam+Gollum were so freakin’ slow getting into Mordor–distracting Sauron was necessary for them to be able to cross to Mt. Doom. If they’d been a little faster (because Aragorn was with them and he tied up Gollum and left him in the swamp) they might have made it to Mt. Doom weeks earlier. And Aragorn could have tossed Frodo in, ring and all, when Frodo chose to keep the ring.
So I’m going with the obvious 3, plus maybe Gimli. They have to be a lot stealthier, but it could happen. Of course, that way Gondor falls, and Éowyn dies, and the orcs take over Rohan and live there forever, and eventually someone has to deal with Saruman, but the ring goes in the fire, and that’s the way we want it.
ISTR that Tolkien himself, in one of his collected letters, wrote that out of the Fellowship, Legolas probably accomplished the least. This was probably deliberate. The day of the elves was basically over.
Gimli didn’t contribute much to the War of the Ring itself, but he did begin a kind of renaissance for the dwarves after the war, when he became Lord of the Glittering Caves.
I agree 100%. I think much that was special about Gimli began with meeting Galadriel and then after the War becoming the Lord of the Glittering Caves. I would suspect that through Gimli, the Dwarves would have gained the help of The Reunited Kingdom and The Elves in retaking Moria under Durin VII. Tolkien never gives us any details, just a mere mention, but it seems very likely that the Dwarves would have help through the good will that Gimli forged.