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Old 11-09-2004, 08:56 AM   #46
davem
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davem is battling Black Riders on Weathertop.davem is battling Black Riders on Weathertop.
I think that Gladriel's symbolic knighting of these three is incredibly moving - especially given the awkward, antagonistic, attitude of Boromir to Galadriel.

I did skim through Gawain & the Green Knight, & found that Gawain is given a green-gold belt by Bercilak's wife, which he is told will save his life in the coming confrontation with the Green Knight.

As both Boromir & Gawain are on a perilous journey ending in a confrontation with death (which Gawain survives & Boromir does not), I did wonder if Tolkien was using the Gawain myth in the Boromir story. I don't want to push it too far, but the hero's journey to a mysterious wood or castle, the encounter with the Lord & Lady of that place, & the giving of a symbolic/magical belt before the hero departs for his last battle seems perhaps a bit too coincidental.
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