Brothers, Part 2

The first difference is how the brothers view war and battle. Both men are great warriors, and perfectly able to fight and lead men into battle. Yet their motives and how they view it are very different.

For Boromir, battle is where glory is to be earned. Matthew Dickerson, speaker and teacher, writes,

“He sees war and battle as opportunities for personal glory and, in particular, the chief place where glory is to be earned” (Following Gandalf p. 60)

Boromir loves the glory of battle and sees it as the greatest honor a man can have. For him, the military victory is the greatest prize. As Foster points out in his book A Guild to Middle-Earth,

“Boromir cared little for anything save arms and battle” (p. 35)

For him, the glory of battle is very important. It is his motive to fight: to win glory.

Written by Becky Brasby

Brothers, Part 1

Boromir and Faramir are characters in The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. At different points in the books, the brothers meet Frodo and have the opportunity to claim the Ring.

One would think their reaction would be similar. After all, they do have a lot in common. They grow up in the same environment and both heard the opinion of their father, who wants the Ring.

Both are men of Gondo and were great military leaders and perfectly able to fight and lead men into battle. One would think their reaction would be the same, and yet when given the same chance to take the Ring, they react opposite of each other.

Boromir tries to steal the Ring, but Faramir refuses to take it. He wants nothing to do with the Ring, and helps send it away to be destroyed. How can these brothers react so differently? On the surface, they appear similar, but when we start digging deeper into the story, we begin to see major variations in their character.

Written by Becky Brasby