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On this 'insularity' thing. I'm wondering what to make of Faramir's account in Henneth Annun of 'some of us' still having dealings with the Elves - even going at times to Lorien, 'seldom to return'. Faramir does then go on to say that he deems it 'perilous' to have dealings with the Elves, so it seems that even he suffers from the 'insular' thinking of his fellows. I wonder, though. Maybe that has more to do with an awareness that the time of the Elves is over & that seeking them out is a dangerous clinging to the past - but then again he himself is full of yearning for what Gondor had been & the desire to see it return to that high state.
Faramir seems at one & the same time drawn to the past & knowing that he cannot go back. Like Frodo he seems to have realised that 'There is no real going back.'
Its interesting that Tolkien chooses to bring Faramir back into the reader's consciousness through Beregond's reference to him. Its as though he realised Faramir's vital symbolic importance. Faramir shapes our view of what Gondor is. Tolkien can only present us with such flawed Gondorians because of Faramir & he seems to realise that to let us forget him would be a serious mistake if we are to remain 'on side'.
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