#faramir: .... what.

[theladyeowyn]

You shall live to see these days renewed. And no more despair.

requested by @the-mawp

[mithrandirl]

Éowyn, Éowyn, White Lady of Rohan, in this hour I do not believe that any darkness will endure! lotr quotes

[rosefires20]

My brainrot today is thinking about just how incredible for a character Eowyn is.

Genuinely. The series might not have many female characters but the ones we do get go so fucking hard.

To me, Eowyn is literally the definition of defining being a woman for oneself. She rejects the roles she is given despite acknlowdging the importance and its mostly because she knows part of the reason is that she is a woman.

The reason why she is obsessed with Aragorn isn't because she loves him but because she wants what he has. She wants the freedom and courage and bravery that Aragorn has at every turn. She literally has multiple conversations during the Two Towers about how what she fears most is a cage. All this girl wants is the freedom to be and not be forced into a role. The best thing is that she literally gets that.

The segment of Return of the King about Eowyn and Faramir is literally about her piecing together what she truly wants. She doesn't want Aragorn. She wants freedom and the ability to choose. Faramir does nothing but encourage that in her. Their love story is literally one of the healthiest love stories I've seen in a long time because at the heart of it, their love is a place to return home to for both parties. Both go off to lead and help their people for a considerable amount of time before returning to each other but that does not diminish their bond. Even Faramir, I believe, falls in love with her bravery and dedication to her loved ones. The reason she went to Pelenor Fields and Gondor with the troops of Rohan was because she had things she wanted to fight for. She wanted to fight for herself, her people, and her loved ones. She is the one who protects Theoden after he is killed so that his body gets the treatment it deserves. She encourages Merry and helps him go to the battle because she sees her struggle in Merry. They feel helpless standing around when there are things to be doing.

Let's also not forget the fact that she was around Grima Wormtounge just as much as the King was. She was exposed to the same poison and awful words that eroded the king. It's even implied that her care for him is part of the reason why Theoden was savable when Gandalf showed up. She had the same power and bravery as everyone else even if she didn't see it in herself.

Then at the end of the day, SHE decides where she wants to go and what path she wants to walk. She walked the path of a warrior. The path of a princess/ruler. The path of a caretaker. But in the end she decides which elements truly mean something to her outside of gender definitions. That is what makes her character so incredible to me. In this she literally kills one of the biggest enemies in that battle with such a badass line.

[artbyleav]

My complete #six fanarts challenge

[borom1r]

silly LotR blinkies for all yr silly LotR blinkie needs!!

(for anyone who doesn't wanna try to decipher the futhorc on Éomer's, it's abt as close as you can get to "bottom (derogatory)" in Old English ✌🏻✌🏻 EDIT also the Sindarin says “husbands”)

[tathrin]

Oh no help, why is my brain suddenly full of an RAF (or RFC) AU where Legolas is a pilot who gets the nickname “Greenleaf” because of how lightly and acrobatically he flies (and also he should probably be Irish or Scottish so the Brits can be derisive about his “more dangerous and less wise” people hmm? ooh or Indian! doesn’t really matter as long as he wears a lot of green so the nickname makes sense lmao) while Gimli was too short for the army but is a fucking amazing mechanic and basically single-handedly responsible for how amazing this unit’s planes are and how no matter how wrecked their planes are if they can get them back to base at all he can fix them, and Legolas fell in love basically the first time he saw Gimli work his miracles with that wrench and Gimli is not in love thank you, he is very very annoyed by this chipper pilot who keeps getting holes shot in his fucking wings and he definitely doesn’t like him at all and certainly doesn’t go out of his way to tinker with Legolas’s plane all the time and make sure it’s the absolute best machine in the air oh no nope definitely not dammit and he certainly doesn’t fret every time Legolas flies off into battle or comes back with his engine smoking again that fucker oh how Gimli loathes him! until one day he finally hops out of a just-barely-landed-successfully plane that is literally on fire Legolas what the fuck you idiot and oh and he stumbles what’s wrong oh no is he hurt oh no and Gimli runs over to help him up and instead they kiss right on the runway oh fuck—!

And the whole unit has been taking bets on this forever, so Commander Strider has to come break up the fistfight between Éowyn-who-definitely-isn’t-using-her-brother’s-ID-and-the-whole-unit-doesn’t-know-she’s-secretly-a-girl-NOPE and Boromir over who now owes whom money before Boromir’s little brother, the only one in the unit who hasn’t figured out that Éowyn is a girl yet, does something stupid trying to stop his brother fighting with “the fellow” he definitely doesn’t have a crush on Boromir please—!

Strider is so tired. He didn’t sign-up for herding idiots in love, he’s just trying to win the damn war, do you lads MIND???

Lord Mithrandir is sitting in his office watching the show from the window and laughing so hard, he fucking loves his deranged pilots so much. He has pulled  so many blatant cover-ups for their hijinks, and everybody in high command knows that he’s tossing aside regulations left and right, but his units are the most successful pilots in the damn skies so nobody can do anything about it dammit. (He’s also definitely in cahoots with General Galadriel, who pulls his ass out of the fire every damn time somebody tries to bestow some kind of reprimand or punishment, and who gets regular “briefings” about his pilots that absolutely aren’t just gossip in disguise, and which she certainly doesn’t pass along to her granddaughter who’s engaged to Commander Strider, who definitely isn’t royalty in disguise, nope nope and also nope.)

[southfarthing]

Eowyn tells Faramir it isn't necessary to write all of Rohan's songs and legends in a book lest they be forgotten. The Rohirrim do not read and write: they are oral storytellers, and they have great respect for their minstrels and their history. They will not forget anything.

She says it to reassure him and save him the trouble, but it does not seem to soothe his mind.

He smiles quickly at her before turning to the window. He looks out at the hills of Emyn Arnen as though watching for a storm on the horizon, and then Eowyn understands.

She grasps his hand.

At his touch, an image rushes through her mind: a grey, mutinous sea; and among the froth and the fury – sodden books, orphaned heirlooms, and a tapestry that will never again be seen or re-made, with both story and skill lost to the devouring waters.

The water washes over them both before slowly receding, leaving only a mist that she blinks away, and the distant glint of the Anduin to the west as it flows down to the Sea.

'Have I ever told you of Eorl the Young?' she says. Her voice is rough; she clears her throat.

'We know much about Eorl in Gondor,' Faramir says softly. 'His friendship with Cirion and his aid in our time of need was great.'

'And what about after?' she asks. 'What does Gondor know about that?'

Faramir turns to her with a wry smile. 'Very little.'

'Would that you had someone to teach you a little history.'

The mirth in Faramir's eyes mirrors her own.

'Would that I did.'

[edennill]

Still thinking about the surprising connection between Faramir and Nienna... Yes I know their names never appear in one book; don't @ me.

Because, if you look at it: Gandalf/Olórin was mentored by Nienna, and Faramir was mentored by Gandalf, and he absolutely doesn't know about the former fact but also it's very much a thing. And however you'd look at it, despite him being unaware, this chain of mentorship is a pretty close connection.

And then, if you look at Faramir's most characteristic virtues, showing mercy and compassion are going to be somewhere on top of that list. And I think that Faramir, the brother who weeps for Boromir, the soldier who avoids killing is... likelier than not to have gotten these from the Gandalf who once said "And many who die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be so quick to deal out death in judgement."

And I think it's pretty obvious who Gandalf got it from.

[e-louise-bates]

Recently I've been mulling over the way Faramir and Boromir are presented in the LOTR movies, and why I find even their brotherly relationship unconvincing (I'm sorry, Boromir fans, but I do). I feel that everything about Faramir in the movies is presented in narrative as though he is a lesser version of Boromir, and the big issue for him is that he's always trying to live up to his brother's ideal, and his father is always criticizing him and Boromir is always trying to build Faramir up. It isn't just that Denethor thinks of Faramir as a lesser Boromir, it's that he genuinely is, and he needs to come to terms with who he is (and I guess he sorta does that when he rejects the ring? but then fails when his father tells him to go retake Osgiliath? and then there's never really a satisfactory conclusion to his arc because he just gets healed and falls in love with Eowyn and decides there's hope for the future after all and everything's ok?).

Whereas in the books Tolkien tells us outright--Boromir is a lesser version of Aragorn, but Faramir is a lesser version of Gandalf. Faramir has the wisdom that his brother and father lack, and Denethor resents him for it, but Boromir respects him for it. Tolkien tells us that Faramir is certain that in all of Gondor there is no one like Boromir, and Boromir thinks the same (which I am pretty sure Tolkien means as Boromir thinks Faramir is the best of the best, but could also be interpreted as Boromir agreeing with Faramir that he, Boromir, is the best, which is kinda hilarious to imagine). Boromir is not always trying to build up his little brother, who is desperately trying to win their father's approval. Boromir recognizes the ways in which Faramir is superior to himself, the same way that Faramir recognizes Boromir's strengths.

Faramir in the books is a strong and capable leader of men (all of whom love him and are wholly loyal to him) as well as a mighty warrior, but his true strength lies in his wisdom. When he obeys his father's order to go attempt to retake Osgiliath, it is not a desperate attempt to win approval, but an acknowledgement that Denethor is still in command and he, Faramir, is bound by oath and virtue to obey his orders, even when they wrong. The quiet plea for his father to think better of him when he returns is a glimpse into the pain he feels at his father's constant rejection, but that pain does not control him, nor is it his driving motivation. Faramir's goal, in all things, is to be a man of virtue, even as Boromir's goal is to be a man of honor. Boromir finds that under the ring's temptation, honor breaks, and though he is redeemed it takes his death. When Faramir is confronted with the same temptation--a stronger one, even, as he has not spent weeks and months with Frodo as a companion and therefore has not built a relationship of trust and loyalty, and he has not heard with his own ears the strong warnings against using the ring!--virtue holds fast. Boromir redeems his own honor by his death, but by his life Faramir redeems the line of the stewards of Gondor, which is why he is able to receive the task of redeeming Ithilien once Aragorn is crowned king (and why he is actually a better husband for Eowyn than Aragorn would have been, but that's a whole other post).

All of this was lost in presenting Boromir as the superior-in-every-way elder brother, with Faramir as his shadow-self, who failed the same test with the ring but in a weaker way (and then passed at the last minute because ... Sam gave a moving speech about good in the world being worth fighting for and not giving up, and he decided that was a good reason to let them go destroy the ring after all?), and whose entire character was defined by desperately striving for his father's approval and never getting it, and then somehow just being ok at the end.

[sunroxic]

if Boromir had ( through god knows what ) lived after and remained till the end, what do you think things that'll change? I 100% think Faramir wouldn't have to go back to Osgiliath

[mimistitchcraft]

@woodsmokeandwords and I took our farawyn cosplays up to the Peak District with our friends The Crown & The Sword Photography last weekend!

here’s a silly outtake!! I love it!! more photos to come soon!!

[theladyeowyn]

“… it would ease my heart, if while the Sun yet shines, I could see you still.”

[buck1eys]

faramir's implication that eowyn had a homoerotic schoolboy crush on aragorn and that's why she wanted to die in battle so bad... man took his life in his hands

[anghraine]

As for crazy Gondorean bastardages, I’ve seen it proposed that Faramir is actually Aragorn’s son.

This used to be a pretty popular theory, though I think mainly as an elaborate form of Denethor-bashing. I actually read a few of the fics back in the day and they all had ridiculously evil Denethors and maximally woobie Faramirs, so not really my thing.

If someone wanted to go there, though (sorry Finduilas, there is zero evidence she cheated on Denethor or ever felt the slightest desire to do so and yet...), I think Boromir actually would make more sense logistically! IIRC, Faramir's birthyear is at pretty much exactly the wrong time to be the result of an Aragorn/Finduilas fling—it's long enough after Thorongil's departure that Finduilas couldn't have been pregnant when he left, but early enough that it seems unlikely that Aragorn would have already returned to Gondor. Boromir is five years older, though, so it's at least possible where it's really difficult to make Faramir Aragornion work outside of AUs.

I suspect that Faramir's greater similarity to Aragorn, in some respects, makes him fannishly preferred over Boromir, as well as him just being widely beloved in a way more similar to Aragorn's fannish reception than Denethor's or Boromir's. But Faramir as written is framed entirely in terms of Denethor's and Finduilas's characters and heritages, and those very satisfactorily explain basically anything about him that could require explanation, and the timeline doesn't work at all for a Faramir Aragornion scenario.

(I am normally not a fan of Aragorn/Finduilas at all, but I'll admit that Boromir Aragornion could definitely appeal to my tastes in tragedy. Denethor's son inheriting the wacky Númenórean shit coupled with Boromir's pride in the Stewards and not knowing his full connection to the line of Isildur, Aragorn actually knowing Boromir as a child and then being the only one with him as he dies, esp the bookverse death where Boromir never acknowledges him as king and instead his mind fixates on his shame and his fear for Gondor's people, and he'd never know the full truth ... I'm not above the appeal of that, tbh.)

[verecunda]

‘Clearly it is a mighty heirloom of some sort, and such things do not breed peace among confederates, not if aught may be learned from ancient tales. Do I not hit near the mark?’ ‘Near,’ said Frodo, ‘but not in the gold [...] But be that as it may, ancient tales teach us also the peril of rash words concerning such things as – heirlooms.’

There speak two people who've read the Silmarillion. :P

[to-fall-or-not-to-fall]

ok so i was thinking about stuff

and imo denethor latches onto how much better boromir is mostly after he dies

like yes the palantir has def been influencing him and he's been slipping into general hopelessness but we see that even in merry and pippin

and i make no claims regarding his parenting while he still has two living sons

but it really seems like some of his behavior towards faramir is centered around how boromir SACRIFICED HIMSELF, faramir, do you see how much better your brother is than you? now go measure up by doing that and see if you're worth something after all

and thats that he literally sends faramir off on a suicide mission to prove he's just as good

to clarify i am NOT making excuses for denethor here im just mentioning smth i noticed about how much of his character esp in the movie revolves around boromir's death rather than really boromir himself

he's forgotten that even his elder son was only human

raised him on a pedestal in his mind that no one, least of all faramir who dared to live when boromir died, can ever measure up too

essentially sainthood

in life a human, in death seen as a god

or something close