And so the second book begins.
The heart of this chapter is exactly what the name says - it's about Boromir's departure. It was long expected that he would leave the Fellowship, so I imagine plenty of first timers got a shock with how, exactly, he departed. (Anyone remember? I don't at all.)
As I've said before, Tolkien was a devout Roman Catholic, and it shows here. Boromir had a fall in trying to take the Ring from Frodo, but he's given an opportunity for redemption and atonement. He might have failed to keep Merry and Pippin safe from a practical point of view, but he succeeded where it mattered as far as his soul is concerned - he gave it his all. In one of his Letters, Tolkien discusses this idea in terms of Frodo and his ultimate failure in his quest (and he did, in fact, fail). He might have claimed the Ring for his own at the end, but Tolkien holds him free of judgement on that - he'd done all he could, and given all he had. The fact that it wasn't quite enough was up to God/Eru Ilúvatar, and no fault of Frodo's.
Boromir doesn't get the same level of credit in his failure with the Ring - he wanted it from the start. But he's given the chance to make up for it, and then he confesses and gets absolution. He's able to receive something between Last Rites and Confession, and gets to move on to whatever comes next as a good man. His final thoughts are for his people, not himself. Contrast this to Denethor, Saruman, and Wormtongue, all of whom have the opportunity to atone and reject it.
And then, because this is after all Tolkien who went so far as to use Germanic words over Latin ones whenever possible, Boromir gets something of a Viking funeral.
In other topics, I love Aragorn's agonizing over the right course of action. Book-Aragorn might not have the same doubts about taking the throne that they gave to Movie-Aragorn, but he's still human and has plenty of doubts on his own. Once he makes the decision he runs with it (literally), but I always thought his determination to save Merry and Pippin was so strong in part because he wasn't 100% sure it was the right call.
Movie-wise, putting this at the end of Fellowship instead of the beginning of Towers was absolutely the right call. The books were written as one book, but if you're looking for a midpoint climax, it makes much more sense to have a major character die at that time than at the opening of the next sequence. Props to Sean Bean for doing a wonderful job with it.
Lastly, I’m going to once again plug the choral group Clamavi de Profundis and their rendition of the Lament for Boromir.
Friday, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli are training to run the marathon at the Esgaroth 2020 Games when they meet the Riders of Rohan.
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