Boromir and the Ruling Ring

Boromir, a member of the Fellowship, wanted to use the Ring of Power to defeat the Dark Lord Sauron. Both Elrond and Gandalf believed using the ring as a weapon of war would be a grave mistake.

Boromir was the heir to the ruling stewards of Gondor, a human kingdom at war with Sauron. The stewards had ruled Gondor for generations, after its king left on a perilous quest and never returned.

During the Council of Elrond, Boromir praised the warriors of Gondor who fought against Sauron. Boromir himself had fought the Dark Lord’s warriors earlier that year.

 

By our valour the wild folk of the East are still restrained, and the terror of Morgul kept at bay; and thus alone are peace and freedom maintained in the lands behind us, bulwark of the West. (Book Two, Chapter Two)

 

During the Council, after much discussion, King Elrond proposed destroying the Ring of Power by dropping it into Mount Doom, the volcano where the ring had been forged.

In response, Boromir recommended the free people of Middle Earth use the ring to aid them in the war against Sauron.

 

'I do not understand all this,' he said. 'Saruman is a traitor, but did he not have a glimpse of wisdom? Why do you speak ever of hiding and destroying? Why should we not think that the Great Ring has come into our hands to serve us in the very hour of need? Wielding it the Free Lords of the Free may surely defeat the Enemy. That is what he most fears, I deem.

'The Men of Gondor are valiant, and they will never submit; but they may be beaten down. Valour needs first strength, and then a weapon. Let the Ring be your weapon, if it has such power as you say. Take it and go forth to victory!' (Book Two, Chapter Two)

 

Elrond replied that the Ruling Ring is evil and has the power to corrupt those who use it.

 

'Alas, no,' said Elrond. 'We cannot use the Ruling Ring. That we now know too well. It belongs to Sauron and was made by him alone, and is altogether evil. Its strength, Boromir, is too great for anyone to wield at will, save only those who have already a great power of their own. But for them it holds an even deadlier peril. The very desire of it corrupts the heart.

‘Consider Saruman. If any of the Wise should with this Ring overthrow the Lord of Mordor, using his own arts, he would then set himself on Sauron's throne, and yet another Dark Lord would appear. And that is another reason why the Ring should be destroyed: as long as it is in the world it will be a danger even to the Wise. For nothing is evil in the beginning. Even Sauron was not so. I fear to take the Ring to hide it. I will not take the Ring to wield it.'

'Nor I,' said Gandalf.

Boromir looked at them doubtfully, but he bowed his head. 'So be it,' he said. 'Then in Gondor we must trust to such weapons as we have. (Book Two, Chapter Two)

 

As the Fellowship prepared to leave Lothlorien, Boromir tried to convince Frodo to join forces with the men of Gondor in their war against Sauron, rather than destroy the Ring of Power.

 

'I shall go to Minas Tirith, alone if need be, for it is my duty,' said Boromir; and after that he was silent for a while, sitting with his eyes fixed on Frodo, as if he was trying to read the halfling's thoughts. At length he spoke again, softly, as if he was debating with himself.

'If you wish only to destroy the Ring,' he said, 'then there is little use in war and weapons; and the Men of Minas Tirith cannot help. But if you wish to destroy the armed might of the Dark Lord, then it is folly to go without force into his domain; and folly to throw away.' He paused suddenly, as if he had become aware that he was speaking his thoughts aloud. 'It would be folly to throw lives away, I mean,' he ended.

'It is a choice between defending a strong place and walking openly into the arms of death. At least, that is how I see it.' (Book Two, Chapter 2)

 

Frodo was caught off guard by Boromir’s plan. Frodo believed Boromir hadn’t shared all that he had in  mind.

 

Frodo caught something new and strange in Boromir's glance, and he looked hard at him. Plainly Boromir's thought was different from his final words. It would be folly to throw away: what? The Ring of Power? He had said something like this at the Council, but then he had accepted the correction of Elrond. Frodo looked at Aragorn, but he seemed deep in his own thought and made no sign that he had heeded Boromir's words.

And so their debate ended. (Book Two, Chapter 8)

 

Later along their journey, Boromir would try to convince Frodo to go along with Boromir’s plan once more.

During their discussion, the Ruling Ring tempted Boromir, as it had tempted Lady Galadriel during the Fellowship’s stay in Lothlorien.

But Boromir would not fare as well as the elven queen when faced with the temptation of the ring.

In my next analysis, I will examine Boromir’s final attempt to secure the use of the Ruling Ring in the war against Sauron.