[Gurthang]

That's exactly what I would say, LMP. In my mind, this all depends on what "honor" means. I can easily see different types of honor. I would say that one type is the attitude towards you from other people. If they hold you in honor, then they admire you and respect you for you accomplishments. This is the type of honor that can be gained by deeds of valour and heroism.

On the other hand, I would say that there is an honor of self. Basically, in my mind, this would be synonomous to virtue and character. This can be seen and admired by others, but more often goes unnoticed. It's the kind of honor that keeps from being dishonest, holds you to your responsibilities, and, in many cases, keeps you from wanting others to make special notice of your honor.

I guess the basic difference is the motivation, as the 'two' honors are quite similar now that I look at them. It seems that if you are doing things to "gain honor" then you would be, as LMP's question states, valuing "honor over life". If you are doing honorable things because they are the right or noble things to do, then it would make sense to say that you hold "life over honor".

So maybe the question shouldn't be Life or Honor, but something more along the lines of "Life of Honor or Honor of Life"?

But back to the question.

I like the contrasting images MatthewM has brought up. Aragorn displays the Honor of Life characteristics and Boromir portrays the Life of Honor attitude. More later.