Boromir

BOROMIR ~ Born 2978 of the Third Age, he is the eldest son and heir of Denethor II, Steward of Gondor, and elder brother to Faramir. Boromir was said to be a man of great strength and courage, little inclined towards the arts or lore but instead delighting in tests of arms, and never taking a wife. He was much unlike gentle Faramir, who was said to be so much his opposite as to appear weaker, yet Faramir had his own sort of courage, and there was a bond of great affection between the brothers. Boromir came to the council of Elrond in October 3018 as a representative of his people, and although grudging in his acceptance of Aragorn's claim to the throne, he proved a brave and powerful companion of the Fellowship. His one great failing was that his pride and fear for Gondor made him weak before the lure of the One Ring, and four months later he finally attempted to take the ring from Frodo, near Amon Hen. Too late he recovered from his fit, and Frodo fled away in secret. Then the Orcs came upon them, and Boromir arose like a lord of old and fought mightily in defense of the remaining hobbits, Merry and Pippin. Many were the enemies he laid low, yet he fell at last and the two hobbits were taken away hostage by the Orcs. Aragorn found him as he lay dying and absolved him willingly, and even Gandalf later said that "he escaped in the end," meaning freedom from the Ring, and a return to honor in death. Boromir was laid in one of the Fellowship's Elven boats together with his sword, his shield, his cloven Horn of Gondor, and many swords and trophies of the enemies he slew in his last gallant battle. Then grieving Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli cast the boat out into the Anduin River, where it was born over mighty Rauros Falls, and some say was carried intact even unto Gondor, where his brother Faramir had a vision of the funeral boat as if in a waking dream, and thence away to the far Sea.