#lotr boromir

[greenlaut]

the four hunters 🗡🌿

extras + rambles below cut

yipeee i finally finished this illustration 🎉🎉

this is my personal take on the hunters gang (we will ignore that boromir died). honestly, i had a lot of fun thinking of the designs.

had to bring back my aragorn with his silly braid and blue hair ribbon. he's a ranger for most of his life, so he'd definitely go for practicality and what he's already familiar with—so no armour nor gambeson. he probably had a small fight with elrond before they left for the quest; where elrond tried to make him swap his gear for better, newer ones and aragorn just adamantly refusing because he's a lot more familiar (and more comfortable) with his own. which is why he's wearing tattered and worn rags. his red tunic is the only new thing he allowed elrond to swap to a new one. boromir definitely got exhasperated and somewhere down the line, he loaned aragorn his pair of arm bracers.

boromir (and faramir's (not featured here)) design changed a lot since the past years. it's a mash-up of both movie!boromir and lore accurate book!boromir. his hair is a lot darker and he has more of a storm blue-grey eyes as a nod towards his elendil ancestry. his clothing is heavily based off the movie. as for his cloak; since he's The son of gondor and denethor's favourite, i think he'd definitely get the fortune of wearing a fur cloak. the clasp has the white tree engraved on it.

gimli is by far my favourite. i always wanted to draw my take of gimli in his regalia. as a dwarven royalty, i think he'd groom his hair and beard really well, and he would've put on a lot of accessories to show his status. but since he's on a quest, he's not fully decked out in jewelries—wearing very practical clothing: gambeson with chainmail underneath. also, i like the dwarven fighting style they did in the hobbit movie where they go around and knock people off with melee. so gimli got hefty arm bracers and knuckle weights to really punch the shit out of some orcs.

for legolas; i think despite being an elf, he has the factors of being (1) mirkwood elf and (2) lowkey autistic coded. so he doesn't dress "like an elf"—not that the company would've known, with how limited their interactions with elves in general already. this meant that he dressed too casually despite going on a life-or-death quest. very light leather armour to support his speed and agility. he's not even wearing boots; just a pair of tree-climbing canvas shoes that he wrapped tightly. god knows how he survived this far. he's mostly a right handed archer—but since he lived for quite a long while, he taught himself to shoot with left hand too for emergencies. since his left hand isn't as stable as his right hand, he has a left-shoulder-pad.

THEY ALL HAVE SCARS because who doesn't get scars when you're literal warriors be fr. legolas' are more faded out though, because he's old as fuck.

close-ups:

fin.

[velvet4510]

NEW VERSION. :)

[ashandthebees]

They took the little ones...

If only you could see all the things your little ones would do, son of Gondor, you'd be proud

[winwin17]

Aragorn said, "You have my sword."

Legolas said, "You have my bow."

Gimli said, "You have my axe."

Gandalf didn't say, "You have my staff," because it's Gandalf, not his staff, that's powerful, and besides, I think it was pretty well established for the Hobbits by now that Gandalf was on their side.

But what did Boromir offer? He was, in a way, the odd one out. He was new to this whole Hobbit thing. He struggled to grasp the reason for this whole mission. Some may have been unsure at first if he was really dedicated. They may accuse him of being less noble than Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli, especially because he briefly fell to the Ring's influence.

But when all was said and done, what Boromir offered was the most touching. No, he didn't offer his sword or his shield or even the horn of Gondor. But in the end, in the moments that counted, even though Frodo wasn't there to see or hear it, Boromir's deeds declared:

"You have my life."

[iambeees]

broke: Boromir was corrupted by the ring because he was weak of heart

woke: Boromir was corrupted because his heart was full. full of love for his brother, for Gondor, for Minas Tirith. Does that make his heart weak? Does a heart motivated by passions and the desire to help others make it weak? Is it wrong and evil to be weak? friendly reminder, the way Sauron deceived Boromir was not by promising him wealth, nor power, nor his own safety- he thought he would be strong enough to defend a whole city and defeat Sauron. Boromir had a heart that was neither weak nor strong, but both at the same time- his heart was full.

[autistook]

ON THIS DAY, JULY 4th

Boromir sets out from Minas Tirith to Rivendell

'Therefore my brother, seeing how desperate was our need, was eager to heed the dream and seek for Imladris; but since the way was full of doubt and danger, I took the journey upon myself. Loth was my father to give me leave, and long have I wandered by roads forgotten, seeking the house of Elrond, of which many had heard, but few knew where it lay.'

[shire-lady-rozie]

Orc : I have one of your sons!

Aragorn : Which one? We have four.

Orc : Uh— The annoying one, constantly talking and asking about food?

Boromir : …

Aragorn : …

Boromir : Which one? We have four.

[nzmpo]

son of gondor ⚔️

[chickentenderx]

the fellowship as things my sister has said:

Aragorn: “What’s an emo hashtag i can use?”

Legolas: “I keep it on video cuz I like looking at myself”

Boromir: *holding one end of a string while someone else holds the other* “it’s like holding hands but without the commitment”

Gimli: “fight me tofu lady!”

Sam: “no bc i AM the best mac and cheese maker”

Frodo: “now i’m properly medicated and accessorized”

Merry: “I may not know what Alaska is, but I know where the gas tanks are”

Pippin: “Wait are humans mammals?”

Gandalf: “Stop being racist they’re obviously all gay”

bonus: the ring: “i’m not just a burrito, i’m a late night taco bell burrito”

[gramnel]

[gloomwitchwrites]

An Unexpected Catch: A Boromir x Female Reader Romance

While investigating an attack on a Gondorian settlement, Boromir finds himself run through with a sword and tossed into a nearby river. When death seems dangerously near, Boromir’s body washes up to shore, tangled in a fishing net. A young woman living alone finds Boromir, and brings him home to care for him. As Boromir physically heals, he finds that his heart is also missing something important.

Overall Content & Warnings: hurt/comfort, mutual pining, strangers to friends to lovers, canon-typical violence, fluff, pregnancy, brief sexual content (graphic chapters will be marked with ** which indicates a Community Label)

Chapters: (ongoing)

one // two // three // four // five

ao3 // taglist // main masterlist

taglist:

@glassgulls @childofyuggoth @coffeecaketornado @foxxy-126 @km-ffluv

@firelightinferno @glitterypirateduck @tiredmetalenthusiast @protosslady @miaraei

@cherryofdeath @ferns-fics @ninman82 @beebeechaos @thewulf

@smileykiddie08 @berarenado @chaostwinsofdestruction @weasleytwins-41

[pinetreesandtea]

WACKEST Crossover? IDK IM BORED BUT-

LOTR Characters playing ✨Minecraft✨

I’m sorry

Frodo

Has built a perfect replica of Bag End

Works together with Sam, Merry and Pippin to recreate the Shire

Very chill, has a pet dog named after Bilbo

Built a perfect replica of the Shire and the path to Bree and Rivendell

The best person to go to for maps

Just for gags, he has a secret dungeon under his Smial. You’d have to go through the pantry and through secret passages. He’s bored

Also has a Nether portal in his dungeon

Special enchanted sword named after Sting

Merry and Pippin have ‘accidentally’ killed him more then 40 times

Boromir accidentally killed him once, he didn’t really care but Boromir apologized profusely (He tapped Frodo to grab his attention and Frodo died bc he had half a heart left)

Frodo likes listening to the In Game music

Prefers to explore and build but doesn’t usually get into combat with mobs (Unless the fellowship drags him into an adventure)

Usually is working on his maps

Terraforms with Sam

Enjoys making noteblock music

On the vc, his mic is very quiet so his voice comes out as a whisper

He usually mutes himself and replies through the game chat

Gamer tag - fFr0d0_Bags

Sam

God at farming

Also is stacked in every food item there is in minecraft

Sam has his own farm with Horses, Llamas and Donkeys

Has a book and quill where he records the Horse’s family Trees

Named all his animals

Built a replica of his smial

Hardcore protector of Frodo

He’s killed Merry and Pippin double the amount of times they’ve killed Frodo

Uses eggs and occasionally snowballs as a weapon

The times that Frodo did die was whenever he wasn’t around

Beat Aragorn to death once

Oddly enough, Iron Golems love him

Usually dies protecting Frodo, falling to death or Eating poisonous potatoes

Bill the Pony has killed him once

Enjoys Terraforming with Frodo

Randomly gives cake, pumpkin pie, and cookies to everyone

Decent mic, polite on vc and is a mod on the minecraft server and discord server

Gamer Tag - S_GamGG

Bill the Pony

It’s a mystery on how exactly Bill is playing

Even Gandalf doesn’t know

It freaks everyone out

His player is a horse somehow

Has killed Sam brutally(he found out Sam named a Donkey after him. Was insulted that he was considered a donkey.)

He’s not on the discord server

Doesn’t type in the chat

Either stares,or nods/shakes head

Gamer Tag - Bill_the_Pony

Merry

Always running around, up to no good

He has the second most deaths in their Server

Likes to test fireworks on Frodo with Pippin

He tried making an underwater base with Pippin, it failed

So now their base is near Bree, a very nice cottage/mansion

Also uses eggs or fireworks as a weapon

Loves going Fishing

Collects flowers

Has four dogs, all named after Legolas, Aragorn, Boromir and Gimli

Gimli accidentally killed Legolas the Dog, Legolas thought he did it on purpose, so he shot down Gimli the dog with an enchanted bow. (Flame III)

Merry was devastated

he held a funeral for Legolas the Dog and Gimli the dog, he forced/guilt tripped everyone in the server to attend the ceremony 

Frodo was the priest 

As revenge, he planned to breed Aragorn the Dog and Boromir the Dog to make Legolas II and Gimli II

Boromir left the game

Aragorn promptly hunted Merry down before he could

he beat Merry to death with a fish, then used his mod powers to strike Merry with lightning. 

Aragorn the dog and Boromir the Dog ended up dying too, as when Aragorn killed Merry, they attacked him and he KO’ed the dogs.

Merry held another funeral for Aragorn the dog and Boromir the Dog 

Spams the crouch to dance/bop

He’s tried to follow Aragorn around (with Pippin of course)

Aragorn somehow knew they were following him, even though they were crouching and shot them dead with a trident

Constantly stealing from Sam’s gardens and farms

Good at building  but actively chooses to use the ugliest materials

Horrible at interior decorating

his mic is ok, it cuts out, sometimes sounds like he’s getting possessed

Gamer tag - MERRY_the_BESt

Pippin 

runs around with Merry

chaotic

Has been killed by everyone in the fellowship except for Legolas

Came up with the idea of testing fireworks on Frodo

has a firework bow

uses fireworks as a weapon

Also loves fishing 

Loves going Mining 

spams the crouch button

always testing mods on his own time 

for the life of him, he can’t build 

Good at redstone

Also likes to make the redstone jukebox songs

Forgets to wear armour 

During the whole ordeal with Merry’s dogs, he was actually exploring and got a bunch of pet cats 

Named all the cats Meowagorn, Meowerlas, Meowmli and Meoworomir

Frodo had to Teleport Pippin to the funeral and back to wherever he was

gets lost when he explores

Frodo has to guide him by looking through his locator maps and points him into the right direction

Pippin has the highest death count in the server

Mostly killed by Frodo, Sam, Aragorn and Gandalf

died from hunger at least 7 times

He acts as a delivery person, basically transports trades across the map 

Kills the wandering trader on sight

He has a pet donkey that he travels with during adventures, named it Treebeard 

Horrible at exterior decorating but is actually pretty decent at interior decorating

his mic is horrible

cuts out, lags, hurts everyones ears

you can hear Pippin’s family in the background (random screams, his mom shouting at his siblings, etc) 

Surprisingly, a mod on the Discord server 

Gamer Tag - Pip1INs

Aragorn

Pro 

a menace in regards to combat

a mod on their server

He’s helped Frodo with the path replica to Rivendell and built his own Rivendell

Keeps an eye on Merry and Pippin

They usually don’t know he’s watching them 

Drags the fellowship into adventure/expeditions

he takes up ‘quests’ given from the fellowship and in return they give him prizes like ores or other valuable items 

They essentially get him to do stuff such as ‘Collect A stack of glow stone for 30 gold’ or something like that

Regularly trades with Everyone

He’s only died twice

He got beaten to death by Sam with a raw fish 

The second death was by Bill the Pony, it was so brutal that Aragorn stared at the ‘You Died’ screen for five minutes straight 

Usually hanging out with Boromir, Legolas, and Gimli

Get’s his weapons + armour from Gimli

Has made a beautiful monument/statue of Arwen 

Its veryyyyyyyyyyyy far tho

He sends letters to Legolas (Delivered by Pippin) in Elvish. But it’s just silly stuff

Always exploring, he buys maps from Frodo

Collects rare items

He’s got stuff from the Nether to the Ocean Monument

Trades with Gandalf in regards of Nether wart, blaze rods, etc

He can usually find Pippin whenever he gets lost exploring

His base is at Rivendell

He also built a secret Ranger base cuz he loves his ranger homies

Has a great sense of direction (from his Ranger skills) and is able to get to everyone else’s bases with Coordinates or maps

Fills out Frodo’s maps for him

As much as I want to say he has a great mic, he doesn’t

He really gives the vibes of having the most crappiest and spotty mic.

“Fr—o- I —— *KSHHH*—- sun——, isn’t that right?”

Frodo: 👁️👄👁️ …. Right.

Despite this, he constantly tries to still use his mic until someone tells him they can’t understand him

Ends up using the chat halfway through

But uses full on sentences with perfect grammar and everything

Gamer Tag - Str1der

Legolas

Rebuilt a new and improved Greenwood

On his father’s throne, there’s a sign in Elvish that says ‘Doodoo head’

He somehow breaks into Aragorn’s base and leaves silly insults written on a book and quills or signs

Such as “you stupid” “u ugly” “doodoohead” “yo mom” “ur musty”

Legolas absolutely loves doing it

Didn’t get Minecraft at first

When I say he was a noob in the first few hours of playing, HE WAS A NOOB NOOB

Aragorn and Pippin had to guide him through

Usually found PvP’ing with Gimli

For the life of him, he cannot keep a pet

It’s like bad luck

No matter how hard he keeps the pet safe, they’re always killed

Merry’s graveyard is filled with his previous pets

Swore to never tame another animal

A god at decorating

Whereas Merry is good at building, Merry is horrible at decor. And so, he helped out with decorating Merry and Pippin’s base (which is how Pippin learned how to decorate)

They cornered Legolas and started to do the Crouch bop and begged for him to help out

Legolas will not admit aloud but he found it endearing

He has a soft spot for the hobbits lmao

However, he has shot both Merry and Pippin with potions arrows

Hasn’t killed them tho

Legolas’s skin was made by your truly, Merry

(NOTE: I made this back in likeeee 2021 (?), wrote a huge chunk after this line, forgot to press save, only had it up to here, and I had to just put my phone down. The frustration I felt 😭 Buuut it’s been sitting in my drafts for literally years cuz I was THAT frustrated and had no motivation to try and remember/rewrite what I lost. Was just checking out my drafts and remembered I haven’t finished it. So, Voilà.)

Enjoys annoying Gimli IMMENSELY

Is absolutely helpless when it comes to mining and the Nether. Most of his deaths come from either mining (Falling from tall heights, suffocating from gravel, falling in lava) and the Nether (Again, falling in Lava, trying to kill Pigmen, trying to sleep in the Nether)

As expected, absolute god at archery

Great at parkour and makes parkour in Greenwood

Once the group defeated the Ender dragon, he was the first to use Elytra and LOVES it

Has a good mic but usually forgets to mute himself

Also writes in full sentences, proper grammar and fancy words in chat

Gamer Tag - LEG0_LAS

Gimli

Obviously he’s the miner friend

He’s a proud dwarf, so of course he’s gonna do what his people do best

Rebuilt Erebor/The Lonely Mountain, the Glittering caves/the White Mountains, and The Misty Mountains

Like he really went crazy with the builds

But it was all because he had too much blocks

Makes extremely complicated and vast mines

Even Aragorn gets turned around

They all somehow connect and Merry n’ Pippin get lost every time they try to explore his mines

He has to go retrieve them every time

In the end, he made some rails that directly connect everyone’s bases so that no one (the hobbits) gets lost

An absolute demon at Redstone

Secret doors, bases, and passages

He has A LOT of resources

Collects everything that he mines even if it’s Andesite

He made the Lonely Mountain as a base for all the materials

Literally chests upon chest filled with resources

Trades with the fellowship

The hobbits trade any enchanted books or food for building supplies

Aragorn and Boromir trade meats, wood, and dye for armour and tools

Gandalf trades enchanted books, potions, and exotic stuff he finds for potion materials (lapis, redstone, glowstone, gold, spider eye, coal, etc.) and a place to stay lmao

At the beginning, both Legolas and Gimli refused to trade with each other

Begrudgingly, Legolas began to trade other types of wood and rare items or loot like a Trident for building materials, nether materials and ores once he realized that he was hopeless with mining and the Nether

Enemies to BFFS fr

They do lots of competitions and prank wars

Dabbles in enchantment, makes high quality armour and weapons

Uses an axe for combat

Repairs any abandoned mineshafts he finds

Best builder in the fellowship

Everyone has to spam the chat in order for him to go to sleep for a quick sec

the only times he isn’t underground is when there’s a raid at one of Boromirs villages, trading with the fellowship (and even then, he’ll just send Pip to deliver it or send it in a minecart chest) or group events/quests

Otherwise, he won’t be seen for DAYS

Brings the whole squad down into the Deep Dark to fight the Warden

Has an ok mic, usually fine but occasionally cuts out

Writes in shortened words in the chat

Ur, K, gtg, brb, r, cya

It annoys Gandalf and Legolas

Gamer Tag - G1ml1_Son0f_Glo1n

Boromir

He’s the type to find villages, fix it up and improve it

Turned an Abandoned zombie village into Minas Tirith and healed the zombie villagers

He’s decent at building but not the best with creative builds

Basically only good at building Gondorian architecture and medieval style architecture

Claimed a huge chunk of land that nobody was using and named it Gondor

He looks after numerous villages and maintains them

But likes to visit everyone, tours Gimli’s mines, tries out Legolas’s parkour in Greenwood, stays at Rivendell and helps out Aragorn with whatever he’s doing, and ‘vacations’ at the Shire

(Merry and Pippin mainly drag him into whatever shenanigans they’re up to)

A duo with Aragorn when it comes to adventures

Exploring the Nether, bastions, jungle temples, desert temples, ocean monuments, the deep dark, and the End.

Amazing at combat and PVP

Uses a shield, sword, and occasionally a crossbow

Also has a soft spot for the hobbits

Merry and Pippin definitely exploit the crouch bopping to convince him

He was the one that found Frodo’s secret dungeon underneath his smial

Was secretly a bit freaked out and never said a word until everyone else found out

“Why didn’t you tell anyone?” “I’m afraid Frodo might’ve sacrificed me or something along those lines”

Is constantly gifted flowers by the hobbits

He has no idea what to do with him but felt like he couldn’t refuse when even Frodo and Sam gave him flowers

might think its a bit stupid at first and Completely oblivious to the fact that hobbits like to communicate through the language of flowers

Is secretly flattered tho

Once it got boring when nothings really happened with his villages (he of course already expanded them and built fortifications like walls) he ended up claiming another chunk of unused land and recreated Rohan

He loves Rohan so he couldn’t help himself

Got into horse breeding he was finishing up Edoras

Named his best horse after Faramir

Made roads connecting everyone’s builds and bases

When he finished, that’s when he realized that Gimli already did that but underground

Boromir, exhausted and sounding defeated: “why didn’t you tell me before I started this project?”

Gimli: “how was I supposed to know! I thought you knew the railways were all connected to every base”

Decent mic, you can hear him grumbling in the background as he’s doing whatever

Idk why but he seems to be the type of guy to sneeze like a dad

Temporarily deafens everyone’s ears when he sneezes with his mic on

Doesn’t use the chat

Gamer Tag - B0r0m1r

Gandalf

To be honest, I don’t really see him playing

If he did, it would be on rare occasions and make surprise appearances

Does not have a base

Instead he’ll randomly crash at other people’s bases

The hobbits, Gimli and Aragorn don’t mind

Legolas and Boromir are like 🤨

Collects enchantments and makes looooots of potions

Also makes a ton of potions

Hasn’t died yet

Travels in the Nether like he’s enjoying a stroll in a park

Supplies Merry and Pippin with fireworks

Explores A LOT

Doesn’t really bother with building

Likes to enjoy some good scenery while listening to the peaceful in game music of Minecraft

Has collected all the music discs

He creates a lot of traps/pranks and chuckles to himself as he goes off to find another spot to lay a trap

Because he isn’t on the server often, everyone won’t even think it’s him

Merry and Pippin will often get blamed for Gandalf’s traps and it started a war

As everyone’s fighting it out, Gandalf is watching with a small smile on his face

Doesn’t use a mic

writes the same as Legolas and Aragorn (full sentences, proper grammar and fancy words), but also rhymes his words for fun

Gamer Tag - Gandal_The_Grey

[velvet4510]

“You suffer. I see it day by day.” IMO, this is a very underrated line of Boromir’s in the film, because it shows not only his observant and perceptive nature, but more importantly, his empathy. He knows exactly what it’s like to constantly carry a heavy burden alone on your shoulders. On this level, he actually understands Frodo deeply, and genuinely wants to help him. He really is a well-meaning friend. This particular line isn’t in the book, but it captures Boromir’s essence very well and I think Tolkien would’ve approved of it.

Yes, in the scene he is mainly manipulating Frodo…but we see how the Ring is using Boromir’s empathy against him. “Maybe he won’t suffer if he gives the Ring to me.” That’s actually quite similar to the tactic it uses on Sam, who also offers to carry the Ring to spare Frodo.

[live-laugh-legolas]

Hiii first off I just wanna say I love your writing and i’ve binge-read all your work thank you for keeping me fed 😩😩 <3

I was wondering if you could I could request some cheeky Boromir content? Just headcanons on his habits and his nature, like the little quirks about him. Also potentially how they tie in to an ‘x reader’ style, whatever suits you the best!

Thank you so much!! :))

Thank you! I’m glad to provide some sustenance. I’d die for this man

Boromir headcanons

-I’ve mentioned this before but I’ll restate it here; he is surprisingly socially awkward

-He’s a confident guy don’t get that wrong, especially when discussing strategy, diplomatics, etc

-But casual small talk makes him squirm a bit

-He gives the best hugs and you can’t change my mind

-He runs hot so he is like a heater; cats love him for this reason

-But he is also allergic to said cats but he won’t move them if they sit on him

-I can’t remember who but I saw someone else say that he is dyslexic and I’m fully in board with that

-He is great with kids but horrible with babies

-He talks about his brother constantly; he just loves him so much and is so proud of him

-Decent at drawing but doesn’t do it much

-Maybe only to illustrate a letter to Faramir

-A total lightweight and overly outgoing and friendly when drunk

-He’s kinda a picky eater; he always has been

-He will try other things and will eat what is served if he’s isn’t home but in general he much prefers simple dishes he grew up with

-I think he would be more interested in being an uncle than a father

-Not that he doesn’t want kids; but he would be so excited to find out he was going to be an uncle

-He cannot sit still; his leg always bounces

-He also can’t work sitting down; like if he’s going to write a letter he will be standing even if that means he is awkwardly leaning down to the desk

-Very big on comfort and self-care; he has a silk robe and will lounge in the bath with a glass of wine

-In modern day he would wear Hawaiian shirts

-And shorts in the winter

-He cannot sing; doesn’t stop him though

-He is a passionate and loyal ally to LBGTQ+

-He’s a very good swimmer

-Absolutely loves taking his friends to a secret pond to swim in

-He has no problem with nudity either; so yes they are skinny dipping

-He is very skeptical of magic; like he knows it’s real but he doesn’t really trust it

-He cannot roast marshmallows nicely; he always sets them on fire

-But he likes them completely blackened

-He is very dramatic when he gets sick but will walk off any injury (well almost every injury…)

-He really likes donkeys

-He will always genuinely laugh at dad jokes

-He can braid hair but not his own hair

[winwin17]

Are you afraid of Scary Bilbo?

Maybe, but ...

Does it change your view of Bilbo's entire character? Does it make you decide Bilbo is evil and corrupt at heart? Does it cause you to deride Bilbo for greed and selfishness in spite of all his heroic deeds?

No?

Then why do you do that to Boromir?

When Boromir tried to take the Ring from Frodo, it was his equivalent to the "HRRAAGHH!!" Bilbo moment.

Think back to the moment when Bilbo at Rivendell asked Frodo just to see the Ring, and in one fleeting instant Frodo saw, not the Bilbo he knew, but "a little wrinkled creature with a hungry face and bony groping hands." The flash of vision scared Frodo so bad he felt a desire to strike Bilbo. Frodo was terrified.

And then the next moment, Bilbo was himself again. The book itself describes the moment thus: "Bilbo looked quickly at Frodo 's face and passed his hand across his eyes. 'I understand now,' he said. 'Put it away! I am sorry: sorry you have come in for this burden; sorry about everything.'"

My friends, this is not that different from what happened with Boromir. He pressed Frodo to show him the Ring, and then became so intense about it that Frodo was terrified Boromir would take the Ring by force. Just like he'd been terrified of Scary Bilbo. Because, just as that was frighteningly not like the true Bilbo, this action was also not like the true Boromir.

Sadly, Frodo did not get the chance to hear Boromir's repentant apology and weeping once the moment of madness had passed. He got to hear Bilbo say, "I am sorry; sorry about everything!" But he did not get to hear Boromir say, "What have I said? What have I done?" nor his confession to Aragorn, "I tried to take the Ring from Frodo. I am sorry."

And what did Bilbo want the Ring for at that point in his life anyway? What would he do with its power? Get revenge on his petty relatives? Acquire riches and pipe-weed to last a lifetime? On the other hand, Boromir wanted the Ring as a final desperate hope to save his city, his home, his family, and his people. Being of a noble heart, he viewed the Ring as the only possible way to protect and defend others. It could be said that he was somewhat selfish and desired glory of his own through his efforts, but then again, wouldn't it be called selfishness for Bilbo to get revenge on the Sackville-Baggins, or store up wealth and riches for himself, or hoard all the pipe-weed he could want? Perhaps he would have had loftier thoughts and intentions to use it against Sauron - but then that would simply be a twin vision to Boromir's.

The point is, no one loses confidence in the character of Bilbo or his true-heartedness because of that one scary moment when he is almost overcome by lust for the Ring. And yet Boromir gets villainized for the same thing.

Say it with me, folks: "Boromir was no more of a villain in his temporary madness for the Ring than Scary Bilbo was!"

[achieve-the-sun]

Now and for always