# What was the appearance of Borromir in the books?



## Mr.Underhill (Feb 8, 2021)

I read Lord of the Rings books long time ago, but i didnt get a brief or much mention of Borromir outside sometimes. I always think it was sad that it didnt end well for him : (


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## Olorgando (Feb 8, 2021)

Well, yes, he died trying to defend Merry and Pippin from the Orcs. But as JRRT describes it, this was a sort of redemptive penance absolving him from the attempt to take the One Ring from Frodo by force. Story-internal, it is also a critical juncture, as it convinced Frodo that he had better continue his quest without any Big Folk around, so that only he and Sam (whose going along he hadn't planned for, but was also necessary for the completion of the - anti- - quest) crossed the Anduin River.

The alternative could very well be pictured as being far more horrible than death: at least being withered into a tenth Nazgûl, and as he had been an enemy of Sauron's, probably destined to be treated quite horribly.


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## Ealdwyn (Feb 8, 2021)

Ah, poor Boromir. He’s so often misunderstood. A lot of that is due to PJs movies, which did him a gross disservice.
You have to put Boromir’s actions in LotR in the context of what has happened before we meet him. When he leaves for Rivendell, Gondor has just achieved one of its costliest victories. Gondor had retaken Osgiliath some years before, but in 3018 the ruin is attacked again by the forces of Mordor and the eastern half of the city is captured. The great bridge is the only thing stopping them. Faced with Minas Tirith’s imminent attack, Boromir leads soldiers in defence of the bridge. The bridge is ultimately destroyed, and they swim to the western bank of the Anduin while under fire. Only Boromir, Faramir, and 2 others survive, out of the entire force of men.

Boromir was a man who was loved by his men. He didn’t lead his men into battle through fear or force, but by his courage and bravery. He was a war leader, a man on the front line of the war, and his whole life was spent trying to protect Gondor. He wasn’t exaggerating when he tells the Council that the lands to the north are kept safe by the blood of Gondor. Gondor sat in the shadows of Mordor, and was subject to constant raids and attacks.

So Gondor was where Boromir belonged. He shouldn’t have gone to Rivendell - Faramir should have gone in his place. Denethor acknowledges this: not because Denethor wishes that Faramir had died instead (as PJ would have us believe), but because Faramir is the more obvious choice. Boromir is the man of action, Faramir is the diplomat. If Faramir had been at the Council and Boromir had stayed in Gondor, everything would have happened differently.

Boromir goes to the Council reluctantly, knowing that once their enemies cross the river then Minas Tirith will certainly fall. He travels for 4 months, and once he arrives there his only thought is of turning round and returning to MT. He is terrified that his city will fall while he is away. Throughout FotR he tries again and again to persuade the company to go to MT. It’s not that he wants to take the ring there, it’s because he knows that his place is defending Gondor, and because he knows that it would be to Gondor’s advantage to have Aragorn and Anduril join their fight. After Boromir’s death, the remains of the Fellowship ride to Gondor not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because it is the city of their fallen brother, the home that Boromir gave everything to defend.

Boromir makes no attempts on the Ring until after Galadriel and Lothlorien. Galadriel sets Boromir on this path. She shows him what will happen: she shows him his people being slaughtered and his city burned to the ground, she shows him death and destruction. She gives him the idea that if Frodo fails - if he should die, or fall to the Ring - then that will be the fate of Gondor.

The Ring doesn’t gain power over you by telling you all the evil things you could do. What the Ring does is promises you the strength to do what you need to do. For a man of action, shown the fate of his people by far-seeing Galadriel, it’s understandable that he was unable to resist. Boromir doesn’t want the Ring for power, he wants it so his home will be safe. In Boromir’s words, Galadriel showed him ‘temptation’. And Galadriel knew exactly what she was doing.

So Boromir wasn’t ‘evil’ or ‘weak’, he was a man trying to save his people from what he had been told was their inevitable destruction. And when he does try to take the Ring, it doesn’t take more than a few seconds for him to realise his mistake and he instantly tries to make it right. Boromir gives his life defending the hobbits, knowing he won’t survive it, but determined to try and regain his honour.

Tolkien was very deliberate with his characters, they each represent something very specific. Aragorn represents the Noble Ideal: the hero that Tolkien believes we should strive to be. Boromir represents who we are: good intentioned, kind hearted, noble, loyal, ..... but also afraid, struggling, tempted and flawed. Boromir’s not evil (I’m looking at you, Peter Jackson), he’s just very human.


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## Mr.Underhill (Feb 8, 2021)

Ealdwyn said:


> Ah, poor Boromir. He’s so often misunderstood. A lot of that is due to PJs movies, which did him a gross disservice.
> You have to put Boromir’s actions in LotR in the context of what has happened before we meet him. When he leaves for Rivendell, Gondor has just achieved one of its costliest victories. Gondor had retaken Osgiliath some years before, but in 3018 the ruin is attacked again by the forces of Mordor and the eastern half of the city is captured. The great bridge is the only thing stopping them. Faced with Minas Tirith’s imminent attack, Boromir leads soldiers in defence of the bridge. The bridge is ultimately destroyed, and they swim to the western bank of the Anduin while under fire. Only Boromir, Faramir, and 2 others survive, out of the entire force of men.
> 
> Boromir was a man who was loved by his men. He didn’t lead his men into battle through fear or force, but by his courage and bravery. He was a war leader, a man on the front line of the war, and his whole life was spent trying to protect Gondor. He wasn’t exaggerating when he tells the Council that the lands to the north are kept safe by the blood of Gondor. Gondor sat in the shadows of Mordor, and was subject to constant raids and attacks.
> ...


Sean Bean was a good actor i will say that 





But i wonder, did J.R.R Tolkien describe their physical appearance in the books or other works?


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## Licky Linguist (Feb 8, 2021)

> And seated a little apart was a tall man with a fair and noble face, dark haired and grey-eyed, proud and stern of glance.
> He was cloaked and booted as if for a journey on horseback; and indeed though his garments were rich, and his cloak was lined with fur, they were stained with long travel. He had a collar of silver in which a single white stone was set; his locks were shorn about his shoulders. On a baldric he wore a great horn tipped with silver that now was laid upon his knees. He gazed at Frodo and Bilbo with sudden wonder.
> 'Here,' said Elrond, turning to Gandalf, 'is Boromir, a man from the South. He arrived in the grey morning, and seeks for counsel. I have bidden him to be present, for here his questions will be answered.'


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## Akhôrahil (Feb 8, 2021)

"And seated a little apart was a tall man with a fair and noble face, dark-haired and grey-eyed, proud and stern of glance." (The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, chapter 2 The Council of Elrond at the beginning of the chapter).


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## Mr.Underhill (Feb 8, 2021)

Akhôrahil said:


> "And seated a little apart was a tall man with a fair and noble face, dark-haired and grey-eyed, proud and stern of glance." (The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, chapter 2 The Council of Elrond at the beginning of the chapter).


Sean Bean doesnt have Dark hair, but the rest seems accurate


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## Aramarien (Feb 27, 2021)

Ealdwyn, I liked reading your post. I would like to add, that as you said, Boromir was a leader of men, and knew war well. He saw the Ring as a weapon that could be used against Sauron, and through his perspective, it is understandable why he would believe that. Even though he relented at the Council, I believe he still felt that deep in his heart. He wanted to save his people. 
I have read the books many, many times, and felt that Sean Bean portrayed the character very well. I felt Bean looked like the description of Boromir in the books and did a very good job of getting the essense of the character. A great captain of men who has seen many battles. A bit arrogant, but still likeable. Merry and Pippin both liked him and admired him (TTT, ROTK)


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## BreakfastLembas53 (Feb 27, 2021)

When I think of Boromir,a man who's been in the proverbial trenches(not sure if Gondor ever engage in trench warfare,higher ground fighting or pitched battle seems to be the thing). What does stick out for me,is his willingness to stand with Aragorn to the last at the mines of Moria to help Gandalf,until he has to flee..is testament to his loyalty. In the film,I get the feeling his flaws was pushed to the max,even getting snarky against Aragorn in Rivendell. I didn't get that impression in the book. To his actual appearance,a mixture of 70's hair band and a Givenchy male model.


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## Alcuin (Feb 27, 2021)

_Alas, poor Boromir! Who knew him, Mr.Underhill? that fellow of infinite joust, of most excellent fighting. He hath born Pippin on his back, but is now gone over the Falls to the Great Sea. In the gorge above Rauros he fell._

That was an excellent post, Ealdwyn. Like his namesake Boromir I, he “was a great captain,” a man “even the Witch-king” might fear; but also like Boromir I, he died young. As for Peter Jackson’s mangling of his character, he mangled all the characters.

I don’t think Galadriel showed him what could happen in Gondor: that he knew already all too well. I think she asked him either if he wanted the Ring or if he wanted to be King, both of which he _did_ desire. (E.g., Faramir’s comment to Frodo (_TT_, “Window on the West”): “‘[I]t displeased [Boromir] that his father was not king. “How many hundreds of years needs it to make a steward a king, if the king returns not?”’”)

I formerly thought the chapter “The Great River” in _Fellowship_ long and boring, but in recent years, I realized it sets up the confrontations between Boromir and Frodo and Boromir and Aragorn. At least four times, Boromir challenges Aragorn’s leadership and authority. Aragorn rebukes him mildly only once.

But in “Breaking of the Fellowship”, Boromir famously succumbs to the temptation of the Ring: I don’t think Galadriel planted the idea in his head, but as the tipsy Sam observed speaking to Faramir (_TT_, “WotW”), “‘[I]t’s my opinion that in Lórien he first saw clearly what I guessed sooner: what he wanted. From the moment he first saw it he wanted the Enemy’s Ring!’” Aragorn warned him (_FotR_, “Mirror of Galadriel”), “There is in [Galadriel] and in [Lórien] no evil, unless a man bring it hither himself. Then let him beware!” Boromir was a Dúnadan, true, but “by some chance the blood of Westernesse [ran] nearly true in” Faramir, but not in his elder brother. (_RotK_, “Minas Tirith”)

Only when Boromir returned to the waiting Company in Parth Galen after his confrontation with Frodo did Aragorn ever give him a command (_FotR_, “Breaking…”), and that a stern one:
​Boromir! I do not know what part you have played in this mischief, but help now! Go after those two young hobbits, and guard them at the least…​​And this he does, even at the cost of his own life. It recalls Strider’s final introduction of himself as “Aragorn son of Arathorn” to Frodo in Bree: “‘[I]f by life or death I can save you, I will.’” (_FotR_, “Strider”)

But Boromir is no villain. True, he falls, but he is redeemed through his sacrificial obedience to Aragorn defending Merry and Pippin, as Olorgando observes. Many of Tolkien’s characters fall short (Túrin son of Húrin! Thorin Oakenshield! Turgon! Isildur!), but _this reflects our own failings in life._ Boromir rises up after his fall to a swift but tremendous victory, not so much in the physical battle as in the spiritual. What seems a disaster sets Frodo and Sam on the road to Mordor when the Fellowship would have delayed and hindered him, and sets Aragorn on the road to Minas Tirith by way of Rohan and Pelargir, so that everyone along the way comes to recognize him as the true King. Through this unforeseen service, Boromir sacrifices his life as the good Steward to the King, something his father refuses to do.

Oh, yes: Boromir’s _distinguishing_ mark was that, as Frodo said in a tight place standing before Faramir and all his company (_TT_, “WotW”), _“Boromir bore a horn.”_ To which Faramir replied, “‘You remember well, and as one who has in truth seen him.’”

PS – BreakfastLembas53, the Morgul forces dug trenches around Minas Tirith to besiege it, which they filled with fire.


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## Ealdwyn (Feb 27, 2021)

Alcuin said:


> That was an excellent post, Ealdwyn.


I'm flattered, Alcuin! 😁 

However, I disagree with you on a couple of counts.
There is no indication prior to Lorien that Boromir has any desire to take the Ring, he only wants to return to MT. When he suggests to the Council that they should take the Ring to MT he is quickly put right by Elrond, and he accepts what Elrond says. He never again mentions taking the Ring to MT until after Lorien ...... and Frodo notices a distinct change in Boromir after they leave Lorien.


I do think Galadriel put the idea in his head to take the Ring, and this is why:
Boromir specifically uses the word "temptation" when he describes what Galadriel showed him. So the question (in my mind) is not so much _what_ she showed him, but _why_ she would want to tempt him in the first place. Why would she run the risk of him trying to take the Ring? It's a big risk. Given the high stakes, she wouldn't do this on a whim. Galadriel, the most powerful and far-seeing elf in ME, must have had good reason.

At the start of LotR, Aragorn is more elf-like in his sensibilities and his loyalties. He was raised in Elrond's house, he loves Elrond's daughter, he's almost more an elf than he is a man. But then he meets Boromir at Rivendell - strong, noble, loyal Boromir, whose only desire is to save his people. PJ was right about one thing, that Boromir wanted Aragorn to believe in the race of Men. Through Boromir's words and deeds, Aragorn begins to believe. So when they arrive in Lothlorien, what does Galadriel see that makes her plant the seed of temptation in Boromir's mind? To my mind, the only possible explanation is that she sees that Aragorn will go to MT. The Fellowship no longer has the benefit of Gandalf's counsel, the path they take will depend entirely on Aragorn, and if Aragorn takes the Fellowship to MT then the mission will fail. As I see it, Galadriel tempts Boromir quite deliberately to ensure the breaking of the Fellowship, and thereby ensuring that Frodo does not go to MT.

Look at it another way.... if it was already in Boromir's mind to take the Ring when he arrived at Lorien, then he would not be able to hide it from Galadriel, she _would_ see it. If she wanted to ensure that he did _not_ take the Ring, then the very last thing she would do is put temptation in his mind. The fact that she did suggests that it was quite deliberate. As above, the only explanation I can think of is that she did it with the intention of breaking the Fellowship.

To be clear, I'm not one of those fans who thinks "Galadriel is evil". I just think she doesn't do anything without good reason.


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## BreakfastLembas53 (Feb 27, 2021)

Ealdwyn said:


> I'm flattered, Alcuin! 😁
> 
> However, I disagree with you on a couple of counts.
> There is no indication prior to Lorien that Boromir has any desire to take the Ring, he only wants to return to MT. When he suggests to the Council that they should take the Ring to MT he is quickly put right by Elrond, and he accepts what Elrond says. He never again mentions taking the Ring to MT until after Lorien ...... and Frodo notices a distinct change in Boromir after they leave Lorien.
> ...


It's an interesting theory,could be but can we ever truly know an elf's intentions. I don't recall also in the novel, Boromir lusting(terrible word) after the ring and his motivations during the council was valid. He seems the most pragmatic of them all,wary of all their plans that they don't truly have figured out at all. If only Caradhras wasn't so temperamental,he had no idea there was the proverbial Balrog in the room,Aragorn and Gandalf keeping secret meetings.You're right,Aragorn is so fey,at the start of the journey.Boromir travelled all that way to Rivendell,just because he had a dream and wanted information. He's hapless but extremely brave and human.


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## Halasían (Feb 27, 2021)

_...seated a little apart was a tall man with a fair and noble face, dark haired and grey-eyed, proud and stern of glance.
He was cloaked and booted as if for a journey on horseback; and indeed though his garments were rich, and his cloak was lined with fur, they were stained with long travel. He had a collar of silver in which a single white stone was set; his locks were shorn about his shoulders. On a baldric he wore a great horn tipped with silver that now was laid upon his knees..._
- Council of Elrond chapter.

This is a good description of Boromir's physical features and dress. As far as the movies, Sean Bean did portray the basic Borimir well though he did not have dark hair. As usual, if the screenplay was less a fanfic, he would have portrayed even better.

Good discussion here!


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## Olorgando (Mar 1, 2021)

Ealdwyn said:


> ... Boromir specifically uses the word "temptation" when he describes what Galadriel showed him. So the question (in my mind) is not so much _what_ she showed him, but _why_ she would want to tempt him in the first place. ...


*Boromir* used the word temptation. I don't believe Galadriel *tempted* anyone of the Fellowship.
To quote (once again) Sam in Book Four, chapter V "The Window on the West" in TT:
'I don't know about _perilous_,' said Sam. [to Faramir in Henneth Annun] 'It strikes me that folk take their peril withe them into Lórien, and finds it there because they've brought it.'
Galadriel did not plant any *new* thoughts in any of the Fellowship. She saw buried thoughts (this may get too paleo-Freudian for some ...) and their peril ...
So she may have seen that it would be better (though her own temptation of the One Ring by Frodo did not occur until the chapter VII "The Mirror of Galadriel" of Book Two in "Fellowship") that the actual incursion into Mordor had better be done *without* any Big Folk (*including* Aragorn!)


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## Aramarien (Mar 1, 2021)

Olorgando said:


> *Boromir* used the word temptation. I don't believe Galadriel *tempted* anyone of the Fellowship.
> To quote (once again) Sam in Book Four, chapter V "The Window on the West" in TT:
> 'I don't know about _perilous_,' said Sam. [to Faramir in Henneth Annun] 'It strikes me that folk take their peril with them into Lórien, and finds it there because they've brought it.'
> Galadriel did not plant any *new* thoughts in any of the Fellowship. She saw buried thoughts (this may get too paleo-Freudian for some ...) and their peril ...
> So she may have seen that it would be better (though her own temptation of the One Ring by Frodo did not occur until the chapter VII "The Mirror of Galadriel" of Book Two in "Fellowship") that the actual incursion into Mordor had better be done *without* any Big Folk (*including* Aragorn!)


 I agree. I don't believe it was a temptation per se, but more of a test of the resolve of the company. 
_" All of them, it seemed had fared alike: each had felt that he was offered a choice between a shadow full of fear that lay ahead, and something that he greatly desired: clear before his mind it lay, and to get it he had only to turn aside from the road and leave the Quest and the war against Sauron to other." ( The Mirror of Galadriel; TTT)
_Boromir was the one who said it might only to be a test, and even proposed it was a temptation. The only member of the Fellowship that confided what he was offered was Sam, " with a bit of a garden of my own."

At the Council of Elrond, Boromir, a Captain and Leader of men with many battles against Sauron saw the Ring as a weapon. Even though he subsided with his proposals when others told him that the Ring must be destroyed, I feel that intellectually he may have agreed and understood what they were saying, but deep in his heart I feel he still believed the Ring could be used as a weapon against the enemy. 

I wonder what Galadriel presented to each of the Company as their choice, and especially Boromir. What was his deepest desire? Most likely to be victorious in the fight against Sauron and save Minas Tirith. He would bask in the glory of being a great Captain and then Stewart, and even perhaps King. He didn't have to turn aside from the Quest. He had already said at the outset that he would be going on to Minas Tirith. Perhaps the vision that Galadriel put in his mind became so strong and possible, that he started to think more and more about using the Ring as a weapon to achieve what he desired. Once that desire for POWER was awokened, the one thing that the Ring really feeds upon, the Ring started to gnaw at him. The Ring was still trying to get back to Sauron and it found a weak link. 
Poor Boromir.


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## Olorgando (Mar 2, 2021)

Aramarien said:


> Once that desire for POWER was awokened, the one thing that the Ring really feeds upon, the Ring started to gnaw at him. The Ring was still trying to get back to Sauron and it found a weak link.
> Poor Boromir.


Power, or the desire for it, was what the One Ring found the easiest entry to corrupt a holder, or a potential one.
Which is why Hobbits - *any* Hobbit - were/was ultimate head-bang territory for the ring (wherever a ring has its head ... 🥴 )
Power and control is what Sauron forged it for, power and control over those Three Great Rings of the Elves, which must have been pretty potent (in their specific way) for him to need to pour more than half of his native power into the One Ring for it to be effective.
Funny thing, in one way, how he was foiled in the Second Age: the three Elven Ring-bearers simply took theirs off ... I mean, this utterly simple act was, as it seems, inconceivable to him? No wonder three Hobbits drop-kicked his bottom out of Middle-earth! 😂


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## Alcuin (Mar 2, 2021)

Olorgando said:


> *Boromir* used the word temptation. I don't believe Galadriel *tempted* anyone of the Fellowship. …
> Galadriel did not plant any *new* thoughts in any of the Fellowship. She saw buried thoughts…





Aramarien said:


> I agree. I don't believe it was a temptation per se, but more of a test of the resolve of the company.





Olorgando said:


> Power, or the desire for it, was what the One Ring found the easiest entry to corrupt a holder, or a potential one.


I agree with Aramarien and Olorgando. Galadriel did not “tempt” Boromir: that was Boromir’s word, for which Aragorn rebuked him, though undoubtedly Boromir sensed was that he was being tempted, being confronted with his own desires. The temptation existed in Boromir from the Council of Elrond onward, and though he at first accepted the correction of Elrond and Gandalf that the Ruling Ring could not be used for good and would overwhelm its bearer, as time went on, I think the thought of using the Ring began to eat on Boromir. Hammond and Scull comment in _Reader’s Companion_ that it was both Boromir’s desire to save and preserve Gondor and his desire for personal glory that led to his succumbing to lust for the Ring and the power it might allow him to wield. Gandalf told Denethor that “if you had received [the Ring], it would have overthrown you. Were it buried beneath the roots of Mindolluin, still it would burn your mind away.” (_RotK_, “Siege of Gondor”)

But even Isildur could not wield the power of the Ring, not even in the crisis of the attack of the Orcs on his sons and followers on the banks of the Anduin. Aragorn rejected the Ring in Bree: this was in part, I think, through his understanding that the Ring would only betray him, though the context is that he rejected it through his humility and nobility of spirit. In _Letter_ 246, Tolkien remarked that, “Galadriel’s rejection of the temptation was founded upon previous thought and resolve.” He also says in this letter that, “It was part of the essential deceit of the Ring to fill minds with imaginations of supreme power,”* and we see Boromir making “plans for great alliances and glorious victories to be; … cast[ing] down Mordor, and [becoming] … a mighty king, benevolent and wise.” (_FotR_, “Breaking of the Fellowship”) Faramir also rejects the Ring out of humility and wisdom – and he mourns his brother: “Alas for Boromir! It was too sore a trial!” (_TT_, “Window on the West”) Gandalf uses virtually the same words when he reunites with Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli (_TT_, “White Rider”): “Poor Boromir! … It was a sore trial for such a man: a warrior, and a lord of men.” Then he adds, “Galadriel told me that he was in peril. But he escaped in the end. … It was not in vain that the young hobbits came with us, if only for Boromir’s sake.” 



Olorgando said:


> Funny thing, in one way, how [Sauron] was foiled in the Second Age: the three Elven Ring-bearers simply took theirs off ... I mean, this utterly simple act was, as it seems, inconceivable to him?


All the Elves in Eregion removed their Rings of Power when they heard the words of Sauron. (_How_ they “heard” them is not said: Sauron was in Mordor, and they were in Hollin. Perhaps they _perceived_ the Ring-spell rather than physically hearing it; but perhaps the story calls for a supernatural sense that we have begun to forget altogether, replaced by our sense of rational materialism.) His response was to invade Eregion, lay it waste, torture and kill Celebrimbor, seize six of the Seven and all the Nine, and attempt to invade Lindon. 

───◊───
* Even Sam felt this temptation, a real temptation from the Ring, “wild fantasies” of “Samwise the Strong, Hero of the Age,” (_RotK_, “Tower of Cirith Ungol”) and though he was able overcome them, recognizing that “‘all these notions are only a trick,’” he was later “reluctant to give up the Ring”, telling himself that it would only “burden his master with it again.” (_ibid._)


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