It is, I think, sometimes overstated by Tolkien readers just how important the death of Boromir actually is. I do not wish to be misunderstood! Boromir is an important character in his own right, for what he reveals about Gondor as our first representative of that land, and for what he illustrates as regards the insidious dangers of the One Ring. And his death is important, too, for what it sets in motion on a narrative level, and for its serving as proof of his own rejection of temptation and the regaining of his moral fortitude following his weakness. But…
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To attempt by device or ‘magic’ to recover longevity is thus a supreme folly and wickedness of ‘mortals’. Longevity or counterfeit ‘immortality’ (true immortality is beyond Ea) is the chief bait of Sauron – it leads the small to a Gollum, and the great to a Ringwraith. JRR Tolkien, Letter 212 In my previous essay on Death and the Half-Elven, I quoted from this letter in order to illustrate Tolkien’s shifting view on mortality and its root in his own fictional world. In this context, the final sentences merely illustrate that this counterfeit immortality was, to Tolkien, a great evil…
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It is told among the Elves that after Eärendil had departed, seeking Elwing his wife, Mandos spoke concerning his fate; and he said: ‘Shall mortal Man step living upon the undying lands, and yet live?’ But Ulmo said: ‘For this he was born into the world. And say unto me: whether is he Eärendil Tuor’s son of the line of Hador, or the son of Idril, Turgon’s daughter, of the Elven-house of Finwë?’ And Mandos answered: ‘Equally the Noldor, who went wilfully into exile, may not return hither.’ But when all was spoken, Manwë gave judgement, and he said: ‘In…
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There once was a great war, and ere its end did many meet Death before their time. But the war ended, as such things must, and the great armies disbanded and the soldiers left the blood-soaked fields of battle and they returned to their homes. Three such soldiers travelled a long road together, for they hailed from the same small distant town, and so for many days did they journey in the company of each other. Yet through an ill chance, though they had long avoided the spectre of death through all that terrible war, Death nevertheless met them on…
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‘Twas on the borders of Elfland that they met, and this was but the first and the least of the many wonders in their tale. For she was dreaming under a rowan tree when he came swift and soft upon her; and she was wrapped in slumber and crowned with flowers upon her dusky hair. Then startled he cried at this fleeting vision of loveliness and she woke! and saw him elfin-bright, clad in green and of noble bearing, and there was a song in his smile and his feet were light. And she would have fled, but his eyes…
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