Greatest of Men
 

In the Third Age, who is the greatest Man in heart, body and mind? I would have to say Aragorn first, and then probably Faramir next. Who else would you put in there? And what of Men from earlier Ages?

Eomer :)

Eomer rocks :)

Well, that is VERY hard to say.

First, compile some great men.
-Theoden, son of Thengel
-Eomer Eadig
-Faramir of Gondor
-Aragorn, Elessar Telcontar
-Imrahil, Prince of Dol Amroth
-Boromir of Gondor
-Erkenbrand of the Mark

There are others, but those really stand out.
Now, eliminate those who are not as great as others.
-Theoden was a gentle, kind, and benovolent king, but possibly lacking in some places.
-Eomer was extremely heroic, but the also had some tempermental flaws.
-Imrahil was brave and loyal, but not notably so.
-Boromir, great man, but I'm sure we all know his one weakness.
-Erkenbrand, same as Imrahil, just not important enough.

So that leaves...
-Faramir,
-Aragorn,
In my opinion, it would be Aragorn. But Faramir was able to resist the Ring's temptation while Aragorn might have fallen to it.

I'd say Aragorn, Faramir, Imrahil, and Eomer in that order.
I believe that Hurin and Turin would definitely top the all-time list of men. Beren would be behind them but ahead of the third age guys.

If you want to see another thread on the subject just click below-

http://forum.barrowdowns.com/showthr...t=greatest+man

I would have to mention that Denethor, while being a little kooky on the side, was still a very great man. Fallen, perhaps, but still very great. (There, Meela, you happy? :D )

I agree with Knight of Gondor about Denethor. My top three men:
1. Aragorn
2. Faramir
3. Éomer / Boromir

Boromir might have been better fighter than his brother but I think that Faramir was stronger mentally.

I differ with others. Faramir is much more believable and strong character then Aragorn, and he resisted the lure of the ring completely.

AS for the earlier times.... Definitely Hurin the Steadfast, greatest of all Men. Who among the Men or Barrodowners ;) could defy Morgoth Bauglir Great Enemy of the World openly against all odds, notwithstanding psycological and physical impacts?

Remember Beregond, he hasnt been mentioned yet and he actually saved Faramir (sort of). Overall Aragorn would be the greatest in the third with Faramir in a close second. As for the earlier ages i would choose either Beren or Hurin.

Its probably hard to top Aragorn in the 3rd Age Greatness stakes, but a close second and third for me would be:

Eärnur, The last King of Gondor - As a youth he defeated the Witch-king of Angmar at the Battle of Fornost iii1975, he would have personally fought him had he not been thrown by his horse during the after battle pursuit. Some years later, King Eärnur then had the courage to ride out alone to Minas Morgul to answer the Witch-kings challange of single combat, of course he was never seen or heard of again, but still, what a way to go.

Beorn the skin-changer - His wrathful bear charge into the Battle of Five Armies seemed totally heroically unstopable, it gave victory to the Free-peoples when defeat was beckoning, and saved Bilbo B. in the process.

I think the greatest man would be Aragorn. He becomes the King of Gondor, unites the Dunedain peoples, helps lead the armies at Pellanor Fields and does not succumb to the power of the ring(that I can remember).
I like Beorn as a second. His part in the Hobbit, turning into the "rabid" bear was vevery cool and saved a lot of folks in the battle of the 5 armies.

well I'd like to end this Faramir is better than Aragorn because he resists the Ring once.
Whole factor he resists it once.
But look at Aragron from Bree till Amon Hen he resisted. Where in the end Frodo ran away or he would've gone on for longer and in the end succumbed but Faramir would have sooner. So Aragorn.
And in the early days. Hurin, Turin and Beren.

My vote is for Aragorn. It says somewhere that "In him was the majesty of the Kings of old renewed." Faramir is up there too. For earlier ages I would say Hurin or Turin.

Maybe this is a memory lapse for me, but many people have said something like "Faramir resisted right away". Can anyone give me a quote or something that says where Aragorn was tempted by it or didn't completely resist it???

Of earlier Men, does no-one remember Barahir, Huor, and Tuor? Huor was one of only two Men to make his way into Gondolin. And If you could count the sons of Earendil, who had the chance to choose whether they had the lives of Elves and Men, then shouldn't Elros, the first King of Numenor be in there somewhere?

I remember them, I just don't think that they compare with Hurin and Turin.

Éomer! Do i really have to say it... especially in body... *grins sheepishly* Oh look! now youve got me in fangirl mode- not a good idea! ;)

Seriously, im not just saying that, i really do think he was the greatest of men. I would also say Aragorn as well and Faramir.

my vote goes for Hurin, the ultimate mortal, he chalenged Morgoth and did not die, stayed on top of a mountain for like 30 years, then challenged king Thingol.

my next vote goes for Turin Turambar, who else could have tempted fate so many times? He also slew the father of all dragons, and killed a whole mess load of orcs.

Then i would say Elendil, he challenged Ar-Pharazon and founded his own realms one of which lasted for thousands of years.

Considering
 

I think these are all the people you have to consider:

-Aragorn
-Faramir
-Denethor
-Eomer
-Theoden
-Imrahil
-Beregond


Thing is about Beregond and Imrahil is they were key character in the books. With Beregond helping to save Faramir, and Imrahil and his brave knights of Dol Amroth. But, to me both didn't have enough influence as some of the others.

Theoden, his people rallied around his banner knew they were going to die but they would die for there king. He had such great influence over his men. Problem with Theoden is he fell into years of decline, where he became a hated king, he rose again and led his people to victory. But, didn't show his true power until Pelennor he didn't do much at Helms Deep besides command.

Same goes with Denethor, this was a much greater man then the movies portrayed him to be, but definately not up there with the rest.

Faramir much wiser in lore then his brother Boromir, but was only a decent fighter, and he became ill so he didn't see much action. Still without him Gondor might of been lost before Aragorn got there.

Boromir, now if this was just in terms of military I would definately choose Boromir but I believe the question was "all around?" Boromir didn't have much care about lore thats why he succumbed to the ring.

Aragorn or Eomer, its a close one here. But I will pick Eomer, after Theoden's death and even at Helms Deep Eomer was like a king to the men of Rohan. Very influential to his people. And he reigned for 65 yrs the 2nd longest reigning king of rohan.

What about Amandil and Elendil? We forget that resisting authority often takes more courage than going into battle. Amandil defied the king and sailed in search of Aman. Elendil wrestled with Sauron.

Only two?? There were three men who made their way into Gondolin, Hurin, Huor and Tuor. In terms of all men, certainly Tuor would have to be higher than most people are putting him, he was valiant in the fall of Gondolin, killing many enemies, including balrogs, although I realise this was before the number was reduced. He was so great that Turgon allowed him to marry his daughter, and he ended up going to Valinor.

In terms of the third age, why is no one mentioning Isildur. Isildur was certainly the greatest man of the third age, it was he who cut the ring from Sauron's hand and it was he who managed to steal a fruit of the white tree in Numenor before it was destroyed, a great feat as he had to get past many of the king's and Sauron's guards. Sure he was corrupted by the ring at the beginning, but wanted to destroy it later on, (mentioned in the Disaster of Gladden Fields in UT). I doubt that anyone could have resisted the ring where Isildur obtained it, on the slopes of Mount Doom where the ring was most powerful.

If I had to choose the three greatest Men of the 3rd Age I would choose:

1. Aragorn of course
2. Faramir
3. Boromir

And now for the second age:

1. Elendil
2. Isildur
3. Anarion