#Steward of gondor full#
#Steward of gondor free#

But Faramir being a myth doesn’t make the truth he speaks any less true! Perhaps, because Faramir is a myth, his words are more true, in the sense of having broader scope of truth-speaking, because they can speak to all contexts. And that’s the power of myth! Mythic characters can tell truths that often people in the real world can’t. What Captain Faramir says sounds really good until we take it out of mythological fiction and put it into our world. Imagine: were Denethor to hear these words would he be proud of his second son? Or would he call him a son of a wizard, all the more?! These words sound very poetic and beautiful and right – and so they are! But as wondrous as they are, they are the more remarkable when we consider what it would mean for Faramir to say such a thing! Indeed, those words sound seditious, treasonous, blasphemous, even. Indeed, Faramir makes it plain that he would rather that Gondor fell than that Gondor would sink to the tools and methods of Mordor. Not feared, save as men may fear the dignity of a man, old and wise. I love only that which they defend: the city of the Men of Númenor and I would have her loved for her memory, her ancientry, her beauty, and her present wisdom.

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.

#Steward of gondor full#

Indeed, the Captain has a wonderful monologue, which seems to explain why the Ring cannot subjugate him:įor myself,' said Faramir, 'I would see the 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 other queens: not a mistress of many slaves, nay, not even a kind mistress of willing slaves.

#Steward of gondor free#

Faramir wishes for Gondor to be free and glorious, but he is unwilling to use the Ring to do so.

He is odd, if for no other reason than that the Ring seems to have no power over him, or at least the Ring’s power is not a power that he cannot resist. But a character that has always fascinated me has been Faramir, Steward of Gondor. I love the Lord of the Rings and every time I read through LOTR, I am drawn to different characters. Stewardship is one of those concepts that is so powerful, and so…tentacular…that it is hard to conceive of an aspect of life that Stewardship doesn’t touch on.