A Tribute Post to the Real Captain Faramir

A tribute post to Tolkien's real captain Faramir. What Peter Jackson did to him in The Two Towers movie was disgusting.

Faramir, captain of Gondor retreating out of
Osgiliath


Just in case some people are still not sure about this:

A Tale of Two Faramirs 

Tolkien-Faramir: ''I would not take this thing [the Ring], if it lay by the highway. Not were Minas
Tirith falling into ruin and I alone could save her, using the weapon of the Dark Lord for her 
good and my glory. No, I do not wish for such triumphs, Frodo...I am not such a man...
Fear not! I do not wish to see it, or touch it, or know more of it then I know (which is enough)...''

Jackson-Faramir: ''The Ring will go to Gondor...Take them [Frodo and Sam] to my father; tell him Faramir sends a mighty gift: a weapon that will change our fortune in this war.''

Confused? Jackson lied to us; he slandered/misportrayed Tolkien's character and made the most brave, noble-hearted man in The Lord of the Rings into a hard-bitten goon and his rangers into a pack of cruel Gollum-beating thugs. Every noble/touching moment between him, Frodo and Sam was completely glossed over; the beauty trampled. And one day, if this blog ever becomes popular, readers are still going to wonder why I dislike the Peter Jackson films.

*   *   *

Faramir as a ranger in Ithilien forest

I'm going to keep this simple and short (actually not: that would make
me 'hasty'). I'm taking a break from Aragorn, and focusing on my second-favorite character: I'm going offer up more of a tribute/defense of Faramir then a biography - so if you haven't read the book and don't know much about Faramir as Tolkien portrayed him, this post may not make much sense (special thanks to Anke Eissmann for all her great cannon-keeping Faramir/LOTR art).

Faramir is probably one of the finest of Tolkien's mortal heroes (including the ones in The Silmarillion as well). For me this reason it not because he's a badass warrior that has a lot of amazing adventures and does a lot of epic things (like Beren One-Hand), but simply because he is a man who at one point holds the fate of Middle-Earth in his hands and makes the right choice, like Bilbo did so long ago, and becomes apart of the great company of beings who have been entwined by Eru into the plan that ensures that Frodo, even though he himself fails, does not fail in the destruction of the Ring of Power.

Faramir is a man who thinks before he acts; he is wise and can read the hearts and minds of people to a certain degree. He is a lover of music and lore, and many find that strange: that a warrior and a captain of men could also be so gentle and so kind. This type of attitude displeases Denethor: ''Ever your desire is to appear lordly and generous as a King of old, gracious, gentle,'' he tells Faramir. ''That may well befit one of high race, if he sits in power and peace. But in desperate hours gentleness may be repaid with death.'' Faramir's reply: ''So be it.'' As I have have stressed before, Tolkien, in once spoken sentence, can lay bare the inner hearts and beliefs of his characters far better then ten pages of angst-ridden 'I-point-of-view' psychoanalysis. Here Faramir displays great moral integrity: he refuses to let the outside times and events define or invade upon his innermost virtues and values. After all, it is one thing to be nice and generous to others during peacetime, or when one has great wealth, but when war or financial collapse strikes, then these same people hoard their goods and grab their weapons and become totally different people then who they were before. Faramir refuses to do this. This is what makes him a great hero and leader, and all the soldiers in Gondor are devoted to him. Beregond the guard's cries of fear and anger when he sees the Nazgul assault Faramir and his men outside of Minas Tirith echo the feelings of love and respect everyone has for Denethor's youngest son, except Denethor himself.

Faramir refusing to abandon his men to the terror of the Nazgul

Faramir also seeks out knowledge and wisdom - much of which he learns from Gandalf, who he befriends - and studies history, not so he can lord it over people, but so he can make informed decisions and wise choices, often in conflict with the will of his father (who considers him a 'wizard's pupil'). When Frodo, Sam and Gollum wander into Ithilien forest, Faramir has his orders: he must slay all who trespass into Gondor's lands who do not directly serve the Steward Denethor. He could have chosen to have Frodo and Sam killed the minute he found them but does not...''I do not slay man nor beast needlessly, and not gladly even when it is needed,'' he tells Sam. As he talks with Frodo and slowly learns about the quest of the Fellowship and eventually - after a slip-up from Sam - the truth about ''Isildur's Bane'' and the madness of Boromir he is filled with grief and dismay rather then anger and Ringlust. Nor is the irony of the situation lost on him: ''So this is the answer to all the riddles!'' he cries. ''The One Ring that was thought to have perished from the world. And Boromir tried to take it by force? And you escaped? And ran all the way - to me! And here in the wild I have you: two Halflings, and a host of men at my call, and the Ring of Rings...a chance for Faramir, Captian of Gondor, to show his quality! Ha!'' Then comes the crucial moment of choice: ''Not if I found it on the highway would I take it,'' I said. Even if I were such a man as to desire this thing...still I should take those words as a vow, and be held by them. But I am not such a man.'' Faramir is a great enigma among Men: the desire for the Ring does not seem to exist within him. He waits and thinks, and taking Frodo and Sam to his secret refuge they dine with him and his men and take part only religious custom Tolkien reveals in the whole story (apart from Elven hymns): the Standing Silence. Later, after much talk, Frodo caves in and tells Faramir they are taking the Ring to Mordor in order to destroy it. Tired and weary he sways and almost falls, and Faramir catches him and carries him to a bed and covers him with warm blankets. Sam speaks for them both when he says: ''Goodnight, Captain, my lord; you took the chance, sir.'' ''Did I so?'' asks Faramir. ''Yes sir,'' answers Sam, ''and showed your quality: the very highest.'' To this Faramir gives the defining answer: a revelation of his true nature and humility: ''I had no lure or desire to do other then I have done.'' The next day he uses his authority to allow them to travel freely throughout the land of Gondor, and after providing them with food he embraces them and bids them farewell, and they separate and the Hobbits are left in peace for a time, and the world is once more saved, and doom is again averted.

Captain Faramir shows his quality - ''the very highest''

But no peace is granted to Faramir; for now that Boromir is dead he must do the duty of two Captains and his father pushes him hard, often sending him to were the fighting is the worst because no one else will go. When he learns of the choice of his son to let the Ring go to Mordor he is filled with more bitterness towards Faramir and more sadness about the death of Boromir. ''Boromir was loyal to me and no wizard's pupil. He would have remembered his father's need, and would not have squandered what fortune gave. He would have brought me a kingly gift.''  What Faramir did - the magnitude of his choice and  the fact that he was able to do it - is lost on Denethor, who can only gripe on how foolish his son and Gandalf are for sending the Ring of Power into the land of the Enemy in 'the hands of a witless halfling.' He sends Faramir out again to battle, unthanked and unblessed, to rally the soldiers and hold the forts of Osgilioth against Sauron's advancing armies. The hobbit Pippen has grown to admire Faramir, and his impression of him is one of profound insight: 'Here was one with an air of high nobility such as Aragorn at times revealed...one of the Kings of Men born into a later time, but touched with the wisdom and sorrow of the Elder Race...He was a captain that men would follow, that he [Pippen] would follow, even under the shadow of the black wings [of the Nazgul].'
 A simple Hobbit sees in Faramir what his father does not, but can do nothing help him (yet), and all of Faramir's choices and inner victories are looked upon with scorn, contempt or indifference (even by some readers). The only use Denethor sees in him is that he is a man of war who can keep men from deserting their posts and retreating before he (Denethor) wills it. Faramir obeys the command of his father and again proves his quality on the battlefield, being the last to retreat when Osgiliath falls, fighting in the rearguard so the remnants of his men can get to safety. But it is not enough; he is attacked again by the Nazgul and mounted warriors of Harad and falls, pierced by an arrow, and is rescued in the nick of time by Gandalf and Prince Imrahil. ''Your son has returned, lord, after great deeds,'' the Prince tells Denethor. The Steward of Gondor looks upon his remaining wounded son and sees the folly of his decisions and the hopelessness of the War and gives in to madness and despair and Gandalf and Imrahil must take command of the defense of Minas Tirith.

Prince Imrahil tends the fallen Faramir on the battlefield

I sometimes dare to imagine what it must have been like to have been Faramir then: one moment you're fighting for your life against foes whose one desire is the destruction of your City and the slaughter of your people; the fell Nazgul are swooping above you, your men are braking rank and fleeing in panic, you are exhausted, suffering from the Black Breath and wondering, perhaps, that maybe your father is right and that to have sent the Ring to Mordor was a deadly mistake and you have failed and the world will burn because of it. Then the arrow comes, and the pain, and the black oblivion of unconciseness...

Some readers do not understand the nature (or purpose) of characters like Faramir. They seem to be in some sort of denial that such people can exist: the selfless, the patient, the obedient, the wise, the long-suffering, the ones willing to go forth and do what needs to be done, regardless of what happens to them or what others think of them. Faramir is too nice, to kind, to 'heroic' for some to handle. Maybe they are envious of these characters, because they themselves do not measure up; they lack the integrity, the will or desire to become something far better and then what they are now, to become holy, saintlike; godlike, and to maintain this manner of being in the face of all adversity, even when everything is against you. Nothing seems to be in favor of Farmir: his big brother is dead, his country is being invaded, he has been wounded when his people need him the most, and the end of the world is at hand. His father objects the things he loves (music, ancient history, Gandalf his teacher), scorns his choices, and sees him only as someone who can lead men into battle and delay for a time the day of doom (and even then he sees Faramir as the inferior one; Boromir was more of a warrior after all). Faramir is the last man left in Minas Tirith (apart from Imrahil) who can successfully rally and lead the soldiers to face Mordor's minions and he is the last in the line of Stewards. When he falls, Denethor falls as well, having no more hope for the future, and the whole City of Gondor is thrown into dismay and grief.

 Denethor mourning Faramir

Such is the power of the hero, the righteous man; such is the reliance and trust people have in them. Who would we have if we didn't have our heroes and saints? Just our own greedy, cowardly, self-centered little selves, with no one to look up to or be en-heartened by. God, what a miserable world 'real life' can be when it is stripped of - or in denial of - its Great Ones. Why else have so many of us hauled ass to Middle-Earth in one form or another since 1955? Or to Narnia? Or the abbey of Redwall and the fortress of Salamandastron? Novelist Stephen Lawhead hits the nail perfectly on the head when he writes that:

''...the best of fantasy offers not an escape from reality but an escape to a heightened reality...In the very best fantasy literature, like The Lord of the Rings, we escape into an ideal world where ideal heroes and heroines (who are really only parts of our true selves) behave ideally. The work describes human life as it might be lived, perhaps ought to be lived against a backdrop, not of all happiness and light, but of crushing difficulty and overwhelming distress.''

'Crushing difficulty and overwhelming distress' can be a good summery of most of Faramir's life until Aragorn calls him back from the shadows of death and heals him. And with the return of the King comes also the reward of the faithful Steward. Faramir lives, and not so he can just fight and fight and ride around with a sword, but so Tolkien can grant him his true heart's desire - and Eowyn's as well: to live the way they have always wanted to live, in enjoyment of those things they have secretly hoped for but where never able to attain while their people needed them to war against the evil ones. They have fought their good fight and did not flinch from the horror and the death and now that the new Age has dawned they can rest from their labors and be at peace.

The reward of Farmir and Eowyn: the new-found love for each other
and the enjoyment of the world they helped save.

Best Faramir Quote: 

(concerning war and peace)

''For myself, I would see White Tree in flower again in the courts of the Kings, and the Silver Crown return, and Minas Tirith in peace: Minas Anor again as of old, full of light, high and fair, beautiful as a queen among queens...War must be, while we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all; but I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend: the City of the Men of Numenor...''

That's it folks, that is the reason to become a hero and save the world: so that the things, the places, and above all the people you love can be kept in (or returned to) their state of beauty, of peace, and blessedness - free from evil and tyranny. It is not the heroics that are the chief thing but that which they defend. The reason there are so many anti-heroes running around today is because people can't - or won't - find things, people, beliefs or values that are worthy enough to defend. But in Middle-Earth there are more then enough good things for heroes - big and small - to fight and die for, and we fans want to be always right there with them, even if we don't fully know it. Some understand this; many do not. I myself will be forever grateful to Tolkien for the fact that he understood, and brought us endless joy in understanding it with him.

The Riddles of Aragorn # 1: Strider the Ranger

Introduction:

''All that is gold does not glitter,

Not all who wander are lost;

The old that is strong does not wither,

Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,

A light in the shadows shall spring;

Renewed shall be Blade that was broken:

The crownless again shall be King.''

- the ''Riddle of Strider'' by Bilbo Baggins, in Rivendell

  at the Council of Elrond 

In my first musings I want to write about that mysterious Ranger of many names, but who is always called 'Strider' by the hobbits throughout the book, even after they learn his other names and who he really is.
I will not be discussing the character-assassination that was heaped upon him in the Peter Jackson films (that is for another post), these next short posts will be about Strider as Tolkien has depicted him for us, in all his many different guises and manners. All quotes are taken from The Lord of the Rings. First, I will discuss ''Strider the Ranger'' then I will go to ''Elfstone the Healer'' then ''Aragorn the Leader'' then ''Estel the Lover'' and lastly ''Elessar the King''. Because these various guises often overlap in the book, they will also overlap in the following musings.

First Musing: Strider the Ranger

Strider waiting  in the Common Room at the inn of
The Prancing Pony

'''Few now remember them,'' Tom [Bombadil] murmured, ''yet still some go wandering, sons of forgotten kings walking in loneliness, guarding from evil things folk that are heedless.''
The hobbits did not understand his words, but as he spoke they had a vision as it were of a great expanse of years behind them, like a vast shadowy plain over which there strode shapes of Men, tall and grim with bright swords, and last there came one with a star and his brow. Then the vision faded...'

-( LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring; Chapter 8 of the first part)

For those of you who are especially attentive to the Appendixes at the end of The Return of the King (a spoiler title if there ever was one; Tolkien had originally wanted the last 'book' to be entitled The War of the Ring) one can't help notice that Aragorn spends a vast portion of his long life as a Dunedain Ranger who wanders about all of Middle-Earth learning, helping, discovering and 'exploring the hearts of Men, both evil and good...' Often he wanders alone, and he becomes 'somewhat grim to look upon, unless he chanced to smile; and yet he seemed to Men worthy of honor, as a king in exile, when he did not hide his true shape.'
It is on his travels that he meets Gandalf the Gray and their friendship is formed - but there is one thing that all his efforts focus upon: to protect/aid the Free Peoples from Sauron and his servants. Under the name of Thorongil ''the Eagle of the Star'' he counsels the Steward of Gondor Ecthelion II (the father of Denethor,) to attack the Corsairs of Umbar and he himself leads the army and destroys their fleets, only to leave afterwards to everyone's confusion and dismay before they can honor him for his victories. Thus the hidden King of Gondor secretly aids and submits to the Stewards of his own kingdom to ward off attacks and maintain their strength as Sauron slowly gathers more and more power. Before this he had granted the same help to Gondor's longtime friends and allies, the Rohirrim, the Horselords of the North who saved Gondor long ago, riding under the command of King Thengel (father of King Theoden). He orders his fellow Rangers to guard the Shire and Breeland from ruffians and robbers even though the peoples of those lands do not know or appreciate their guardianship; as Aragorn says at the Council of Elrond: ''And yet less thanks we have...Travelers scowl at us, and countrymen give us scornful names. ''Strider'' I am to one fat man [Butterbur of Bree] who lives within a day's march of foes that would freeze his heart, or lay his little town in ruins, if he were not guarded ceaselessly. Yet we would not have it otherwise. If simple folk are free from care and fear, simple they will be, and we [the Rangers] must be secret to keep them so. This has been the task of my kindred, while the years have lengthened and the grass has grown.'' And again: ''Peace and freedom?...the North would have known them little but for us...but when dark things come from the houseless hills, or creep from sunless forests, they fly from us. What roads would any dare to tread, what safety would there be in quiet lands, or in the homes of simple men at night, if the Dunedain were asleep, or were all gone into the grave?''

Aragorn and Halbarad in the Wild

This seems far cry from the life that a King should lead, or that the last of the Numanorians should be called to serve: a cold and lonely and endless life of vigilance and wandering that would kill lesser men. But they would not have it otherwise. The endurance and humility and the struggles of Strider and Halbarad and their kindred pass by unthanked, unknown and unpaid; indeed most people scorn the Rangers when they do see them, viewing them as vagabonds and tramps, and the Hobbits and Men both take their peaceful lives and lands for granted. We ourselves should never take anything for granted, be it our families, or jobs, our cars, or the free countries that we currently live in. But we do. I did, and when some of these things were taken from me only then did I realize how blessed I had been and how much I had taken for granted most of these said blessings. I hope to never make that mistake again.

When Frodo & Company come to the Prancing Pony in Bree, Strider is there, having been asked by Gandalf to help ''Mr. Underhill.'' The innkeeper, Butterbur, mistrusting his intents, refuses to let him see the Hobbits while they eat in privet and he must wait in the Common Room, in a corner in the shadows, cloaked and mysterious and baring a broken sword: the last King of the Numanorians...Let us ourselves learn never to treat strangers and weird-looking people with rudeness and scorn and cruel nicknames; we don't know who we might be speaking to. The hobbits, however, make this mistake, only knowing what is Seen and not understanding that which is Unseen.

Strider showing the hobbits Anduril

Don't even get me started on the scene-butchery/character-assassination of Frodo's first encounter with Strider in the Fellowship movie, were Strider drags Frodo up the stairs and throws him onto the floor of his room in the Prancing Pony. Tolkien would weep. That is not the kind of person Aragorn is. Frodo is, of course, suspicious of Strider and Sam is downright rude to him, and Strider has to try to attempt to win their trust with no proofs other then his words (before Butterbur remembers Gandalf's letter), which is not easy.
Even after his identity and his real name and his friendship with Gandalf are established by the letter, distrust of the ragged-looking Ranger still abounds. Sam says: ''How do we know you're the Strider that Gandalf speaks about?...You might be a play-acting spy, for all I can see, trying to get us to go with you. You might have done in the real Strider and took his cloths. What have you to say to that?''
Here, Sam is basing all his accusations and assumptions only on what he can see with his own eyes. Strider's words and behavior have done nothing to ally his doubts and fears. Strider then confronts him back: ' ''...I am afraid my only answer to you, Sam Gamgee, is this: If I had killed the real Strider, I could kill you. And I should have killed you already without so much talk. If I were after the Ring, I could have it - now!''
He stands up, and seems suddenly to grow taller. In his eyes gleams a light, keen and commanding. Throwing back his cloak, he lays his hand on the hilt of a sword that hangs concealed at his side. The hobbits are too afraid to move...''But I am the real Strider, fortunetaly,'' he says, suddenly smiling. ''I am Aragorn, son of Arathorn; and if by life or by death I can save you, I will.''

And he does (with Glorfindel's help of course); this is his present task, his current duty; and, like so many of his past adventures, it involves hardship, danger and self-sacrifice. From the time they leave Breeland, Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippen become and remain Strider's close friends and companions. He protects them, heals them and guides them. He always remains 'Strider' to them, even after they learn his other names and who he really is, often calling him by that name in front of other great lords, much to their surprise and amusement. He tells them stories about the heroes of the ancient past and and he himself becomes, in the fullness of time, a hero from out of that past, crashing into their present reality as someone who is real and not just a story-character from an old tale of long ago. But at this time he remains unrecognized and unrespected, just a Ranger wandering in the wilderness doing things he will never be rewarded for and helping those who will never be grateful  Being a hero isn't just about riding a big horse and owning a powerful sword (although that is pretty awesome) but about doing the right things for others even if they couldn't care less. Strider the Ranger has spent most of his long life doing this and, by life or by death, he will continue to do so, though it may cost him everything - even the very kingship that that awaits him; but he would not have it otherwise.

''All that is gold does not glitter.''

Aragorn-Strider protecting Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippen