Quote:
Originally Posted by Zigűr
To be fair, Aragorn only states that he would have Legolas go with Boromir to Minas Tirith "if Legolas is not willing to leave us," by which I assume he would have been more or less fine with Legolas accompanying them to Mordor as well.
I always took his choice of Gimli as being due to the simple fact that he was a Dwarf and presumably the most likely of all of them to endure the hardships of Mordor - although as of course we've already discovered by this point Gimli is perhaps more delicate than might otherwise have been assumed: "Hard was my parting from Lothlórien."
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I always thought Aragorn's choosing of Gimli was very similar to his choosing/acceptance of Sam, "who could not bear it otherwise," because Gimli had already said "It is clear to me that I cannot leave Frodo." Yes, Legolas immediately adds "And I too will go with him. It would be faithless now to say farewell," but that's purely about a sense of doing what's right ... not the same as saying "I
cannot leave Frodo." I don't think it was quite in the sense that Sam couldn't, but to Gimli it would have gone against the stout loyalty of his nature, would have been an impossible choice for him to make. I think he felt deep respect for Frodo for what he had taken on and through what he and all the Fellowship had endured together, and felt a strong bond with him. Note his "Come with me, Frodo! I would not have you go without seeing Kheled-zaram." It's almost like "You've had a rotten day, you're doing a terrible job, and you're not missing out on seeing this." Also, he states his intentions before Legolas does, because he feels them more urgently. Not forgetting, of course, his earlier "Faithless is he who says farewell when the road darkens" - it was he and no-one else who had that conversation with Elrond just before they set out. I think that was due to his dwarvish nature - you endure a task and stick to it - but I believe there was also a bond of loyalty there, which deepened. Of course, he felt this to a high degree for all his companions, and that loyalty was switched to his other companions, once the choice was taken out of his hands and the Ring and Frodo had gone beyond their help (barring the help of diversion tactics).
Of course, Merry and Pippin want to accompany Frodo too, but Merry does admit that "we did not realize what that would mean." I think it's a combination of the "I cannot leave him" with Gimli's proven hardihood and battle prowess, added to the fact that in Sam Frodo already has a stout hobbit companion, whose loyalty to Frodo is perhaps fiercer than the "gentle loyalty" of Merry and Pippin that Gandalf later says they do not thankfully have to imagine being tested in the Dark Tower. Although anyone could and eventually probably break under torture, of course, even Sam.
I know this thread is about Boromir, but I thought this was an important point.