Boromir of Gondor is the eldest son of Denethor II, the steward of Gondor, and Captain of the White Tower of Ecthelion. In this capacity he travels to Rivendell to seek the advice of Lord Elrond on a strange matter: a dream.
Now, many people have strange dreams – this is no reason to travel 111 days (one hundred and eleven days, indeed, because the poor bloke lost his horse halfway) – but this is a particularly weird and cryptic dream, and because of this Boromir and his younger brother Faramir (obviously the brains of the outfit) suspect it’s rather important.
In Rivendell, Boromir is asked to attend a council, where the fate of the One Ring is decided. Boromir, smart fellow he is, immediately recognizes this One Ring Dude as ‘Isildur’s Bane’ – and smells a golden opportunity.
For Gondor is at war with the forces of Sauron, their not-so-friendly neighbour and (since the banishment to Nowhere of his former master Melkor) full-time Dark Lord. Boromir, only a simple soldier, knows that he can’t beat Sauron with any army of Men, and sees the Ring as a way to defeat Sauron with his own weapon.
But, to his everlasting discontent, the other members of the council (a bunch of stray Dwarves, some mysterious background Elves, a tramp, an old man and a kid) don’t think this to be a particularly bright idea and devise a plan of their own: the kid has to destroy the Ring.
Boromir then discovers that the tramp is in fact Aragorn II, son of Arathorn and heir to the throne of Arnor. Through some complicated math, this also makes him an heir to the throne of Gondor. Boromir isn’t quite convinced (Aragorn or no Aragorn, he still looks like a tramp) but offers to go to his city, Minas Tirith, to fight Sauron together. Aragorn doesn’t have anything better to do, and agrees.
They agree to travel with Frodo and his companions for a while, because their road lies the same way. On this trip, Boromir proves himself a great warrior and protector of hobbits, as well as a musician (he constantly blows his horn, especially when he shouldn’t) and very superstitious. But he is loyal to the company and, despite his own fears, travels through Moria and Lothlórien with them. In Lothlórien, he begins to suspect that Aragorn will stay on the road with Frodo. This does not make old Boromir happy.
His unhappiness peaks when he openly asks Frodo for the Ring during a rest at Parth Galen. Frodo, who may look like a kid but is actually a clever hobbit, basically says no, which ends in much fighting and ugliness, and with Boromir trying to kill the Ring-bearer. Frodo manages to escape, and Boromir realises that this was not one of his brightest schemes so far. He returns to the others, where he is charged with keeping Merry and Pippin safe from attacking Orcs (who, inconveniently, always attack when you have other things on your mind).
He dies fighting bravely, and is lamented and placed in a funeral boat by Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli. Faramir (the younger brother who stayed behind) has a vision of his brother floating by, and later finds his horn cloven in two.
Boromir is described as a hunky guy with black hair and a fur coat. Well, that’s the summary anyway.
by Figwit
