December 19, 2004

Faramir Again
G

When I said that Faramir might (note "might," not "would" - I'm still not even sure who I would prefer) be a better choice as Ringbearer than Frodo because he would not need as much assistance I did not mean that he would have gone alone. The point I was trying to make was merely that in my opinion had Faramir gone to Rivendell instead of Boromir he would have been made Ringbearer. Now that I give it more thought I definately believe he would have been accompained by Aragorn (who would have journeyed with the Fellowship as far as Parth Galen before moving off towards Minas Tirith), Legolas, Gimli and Gandalf. If Elrond still wished to send a Fellowship of nine to match the numbers of the Black Riders then I think the places of the hobbits would have been taken by Glorfindel, Elladan and Elrohir plus one other, more than likely another Dwarf to prevent Gimli being completely surrounded by Elves.

Anyway, all this would mean that Faramir would start out with a similar and possiby even greater level of support to Frodo but in the event that this support was removed, as was the case for Frodo and Sam, Faramir would have been better equipped to deal with the situation. It surely cannot be argued that Frodo would have failed even to enter Mordor without Gollum but Faramir already knew of Cirith Ungol and the secret way into Mordor so simply wouldn't have needed him.

I must also say that I don't believe Faramir would have been any more corrupted by the Ring than Frodo just because he was a man. Men in general were certainlly more vulnerable to corruption than hobbits but as I see it Faramir proved himself to be the exception to this rule by giving up the Ring so freely in Ithilien. We never really get the same impression that about Frodo though. There's no reason I can think of the Sam, Merry or just about any other hobbit couldn't have done Frodo's job just as well.

Finally, with regard to Pip's suggestion that Sauron would have expected such a tactic as Faramir taking the Ring to Mount Doom I'm sure the book (which sadly I don't have to hand) makes numerous references to Sauron having absolutely no idea the Ring was to be destroyed until the final minute. It simply did not occur to him that his enemy would destroy such a valuable weapon.

Anyway, I'm off. Merry Christmas to one and all,

G.