Boromir and the Ring

[Westerly Wizard]

You can not blame the Ring for Boromir's desire as you can blame it for Frodo's ultimate physical failure. Boromir had never even held the Ring, yet had turned his will toward possessing it from his first glimpse of it. Frodo bears it until the point of its making and only then gives in. Boromir's failure actually is an act of free will. When I said moment, it is not a moment of duress under the Ring's temptation, just a reference to time, nothing more.

The argument that Boromir did not know of the Ring's danger is entirely without validity. He sat through the Council of Elrond, and was repeatedly told of its dangers. He simply chose to ignore the wisdom he had been offered. It took Frodo one talk with Gandalf to understand the danger of the Ring (at least to the point that one should not want it): Boromir had plenty of time. If his guard was down when looking upon the Ring, he would have no one to blame but himself (and there was no desire for a guard to be raised) . Furthermore, Galadriel's knowledge did not put her in any special position to resist it. The character, besides Sauron, with the greatest knowledge of the Ring was Saruman, and he craved it for himself.

[ June 10, 2003: Message edited by: Westerly Wizard ]