Reading “The Lord of the Rings”: "The Departure of Boromir"
"The Two Towers" begins with a sad farewell to one member of the Fellowship, while Aragorn faces an agonizing decision.
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Welcome to Tolkien Tuesdays, where I talk about various things that I love about the lore and writings of Tolkien, whether in a chapter reading or a character study or an essay. I hope you enjoy reading these ruminations as much as I enjoy writing them and, if you have a moment, I’d love it if you’d subscribe to this newsletter. It’s free, but there are paid options, as well, if you’re of a mind to support a struggling writer. Either way, thank you for joining me!
Well, we have now made it to The Two Towers, and Tolkien drops us right back down into the middle of the action. Now that Frodo has fled with Sam and begun the next stage of his journey to Mordor, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli must decide what path they will take, whether they will try to catch up with Frodo in order to aid him or whether they will have to leave him to find his own way so as to save Merry and Pippin from their imprisonment.
In many ways, the emotional center of the chapter is the death of Boromir, who has redeemed himself after his attempt to take the Ring from Frodo. What is particularly striking about his death is how relatively understated it is, particularly compared to the evocative and epic send-off he gets in Peter Jackson’s film version. The whole scene passes in just a few short paragraphs, but it is still moving to see how, even as death claims him, Boromir’s last thought is for his city, and so he enjoins Aragorn to ride to Minas Tirith to try to save it from its downfall. More moving, I think, is the scene in which Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli set their companion adrift on the Anduin, so that his body may find its way eventually to the Sea. It’s a fitting departure for this most complicated of characters.
As I wrote last week, I’m struck anew by just how tragic Boromir’s story remains. After all, this is a man whose primary motive was to protect his city from destruction, and it was his very nobility and loyalty to his homeland that gave the Ring its fatal purchase. He is the perfect example of just how insidious the Ring is and how easily it can start to turn even the most stalwart of hearts to its own malicious intent. At the same time, there is also something tragically accurate about his statement that he has failed because, in a very real sense, he has. Even if he had managed to take the Ring from Frodo and return it to the city of Minas Tirith, it's more likely than not that Sauron would have had an even easier time reclaiming his precious weapon. Fortunately for both himself and for the Fellowship, he is given the chance to redeem himself and to die a hero’s death rather than becoming yet another casualty of the Ring.
This chapter is also notable for the extent to which it fleshes out the various tribes and breeds that comprise the Orcs. Up until now, it has been very easy to simply see them as one undifferentiated mass of malevolent creatures. Now, however, we learn that they are as complicated, in their own way, as any of the other races that inhabit Middle-earth. Of particular note are the larger figures with their emblem of the White Hand. It’s at this point that we learn just how deep a game Saruman has been playing and just how far gone he is. It’s one thing to try to play a double-deal with Sauron; it’s quite another to actually breed one’s own species of Orc. Indeed, it’s hard to imagine one of the Istari falling any further into darkness than by engaging in such a sinister practice.
Unsurprisingly, it is Aragorn who has to make the most difficult choice in this chapter, and he must do so without the information that he truly needs. He quickly realizes that if he sets out in pursuit of Frodo that he will inevitably condemn Merry and Pippin to the torment of Saruman; if, on the other hand, he abandons Frodo, he’ll be abandoning his oath to him. Nevertheless, he makes a decision that will come to have rippling effects throughout the rest of the story. Even if he doesn’t end up playing a key role in saving Merry and Pippin from the Uruk-hai, he does end up being important to the defense of Rohan. As so often in The Lord of the Rings, every decision has consequences that echo far beyond the initial moment of choosing.
Indeed, throughout this chapter there are hints of the events taking place in the wider world. As events will show, the eagle that Aragorn repeatedly sees is in fact Gwaihir, who is seeking out information for Gandalf. Again, though, this is one of those things which only becomes clear in hindsight, and it testifies to Tolkien’s narrative prowess. He’s leaving little clues in the path of the reader, and it’s one of the many reasons that The Lord of the Rings remains one of the few books that I read again and again, picking up new little gems with each read.
And, lastly, there is the required song, in which Aragorn and Legolas sing of how the men of Minas Tirith will look to the winds to bring them news of the fate of Boromir. Like so many of Tolkien’s other songs it’s sad and melancholy, and it’s a reminder of just how much of an impact their companion’s death will have on those who wait in vain for him to return. I find it fascinating to envision the men of Minas Tirith beseeching the wind to bring them news, particularly since we don’t actually get to see them doing it, not even when Gandalf and Pippin are in the city before the siege. It’s one of those things that remains unseen and, for that reason, all the more compelling.
Overall, I’ve always found this to be a great and engaging chapter. It marks the moment at which The Lord of the Rings becomes a bit more narratively complex and textured than it has been up to this point. From now on, we’ll be following the various characters as each group embarks on their own mini-adventures, with the full pattern only becoming obvious in retrospect. With the departure of Boromir the stage is now set for the stakes to grow ever greater as everyone finds their own part to play in the escalating War of the Ring.