I have been working on an essay entitled "A Defense of Character: Boromir" (
www.swordofboromir.com) for over two years now, and one section of my work is entitled "Boromir and Faramir", discussing the incredible relationship of the Sons of Denethor. Here is a part of that section...
In quoting
The Lord of the Rings, I use the Houghton Mifflin 1994 paperback edition, with Revised “Note on the Text” by Douglas A. Anderson with the 2002 New Line Cinema cover design.
I. Boromir and Faramir
When speaking of Boromir, it might be hard to keep the name of Faramir away, and vice versa. So in that respect I shall speak first of the two sons of Gondor. They were brothers, warriors, and best friends. Although we never read a direct conversation between them, we can tell by the way each talked of one another how much they valued their companionship. Better evidence beyond the text of
The Lord of the Rings lies in
The Return of the King: Appendix A under
Gondor and the Heirs of Anárion:
“Yet between the brothers there was great love, and had been since childhood, when Boromir was the helper and protector of Faramir. No jealousy or rivalry had arisen between them since, for their father’s favour or for the praise of men. It did not seem possible to Faramir that any one in Gondor could rival Boromir, heir of Denethor, Captain of the White Tower; and of like mind was Boromir. Yet it proved otherwise at the test.” (p. 1032)
This description of brotherly love and unity devoid of all jealousy is a profound and bold statement about the relationship between Boromir and Faramir. Being a child, it is easy to get jealous or scornful towards another, especially a sibling. Tolkien informs us by this passage that those negative qualities were not present in the growing relationship of the two, apparently regardless that Boromir was “bossy” (
Letters, p. 323). Taking into account Boromir’s status in Gondor as its finest warrior (which in my opinion made bossiness an alright trait), great humbleness must have been displayed by Boromir for him to believe that not one in Gondor could challenge his little brother. This bond is essential to understand as one thinks of the dream that came to both Boromir and Faramir, and the claiming of the long journey to Rivendell by Boromir.
Despite the love the brothers had for one another, Tolkien makes clear the differences between Boromir and Faramir:
“Boromir, five years the elder, beloved by his father, was like him in face and pride, but in little else. Rather he was a man after the sort of King Eärnur of old, taking no wife and delighting chiefly in arms; fearless and strong, but caring little for lore, save the tales of old battles. Faramir the younger was like him in looks but otherwise in mind. He read the hearts of men as shrewdly as his father, but what he read moved him sooner to pity than to scorn. He was gentle in bearing, and a lover of lore and of music, and therefore by many in those days his courage was judged less than his brother’s.” (
Appendix A, p. 1032)
Concerning appearance an anomaly presents itself in
The Return of the King when Pippin first see’s Denethor’s face as he is reminded of Aragorn and not so much of Boromir (p. 738). None the less, Boromir and Faramir must have borne somewhat similar looks to their father as
Appendix A reads. Concerning personality, it might be pondered on how the brother’s had such a wonderful relationship if they were so unlike in the above regards. The answer seems to lie in Faramir’s accepting and humble personality, as he questions Frodo on Isildur’s Bane:
“If it were a thing that gave advantage in battle, I can well believe that Boromir, the proud and the fearless, often rash, ever anxious for the victory of Minas Tirith (and his own glory therein), might desire such a thing and be allured by it. Alas that ever he went on that errand! I should have been chosen by my father and the elders, but he put himself forward, as being the older and the hardier (both true), and he would not be stayed.” (
The Two Towers, p. 656)
Although not directly showing how humble we learn Faramir to be, this passage tells us how well Faramir truly knew his older brother and was used to such things. In the
Letters, Tolkien writes that Faramir was “accustomed to giving way and not giving his own opinions air” (p. 323). “Rash” and “anxious” catch as somewhat negative (yet human) terms to Boromir’s personality, and it is understood here that Faramir knew how to handle his brother in these certain situations in which Boromir took on these normal human traits.