Boromirs way?

[Osse]

very nice crispy...

[Orophin]

Think about it. Boromir is the son of the stuard of Gondor. Imam sure that he is up there on Sauron's hit list. He probably had to be care ful to avoid any areas where enemies could be. Plus he lost his hoese at Tharbad.

[doug*platypus]

Interesting link, Althern. Always nice to find a new Tolkien site. The description there makes a very good point that I was about to raise: the loss of Boromir's horse undoubtedly meant the loss of his provisions, and in fact anything not strapped to his person (he must have really liked that shield!). I agree that the lonely road from Tharbad to Rivendell would have taken him a while, since to my knowledge there were no tracks.

I disagree where the article thinks Boromir would have "stream-bashed" up the River Hoarwell; he had no way of knowing that was the correct river to follow. In fact, we are never told exactly what he knew of the location of Imladris. We can't know for sure how lost he would have been, although I'm sure the Records of the Stewards in Minas Tirith must have provided fairly accurate maps. I also disagree that the leg from Minas Tirith to Edoras would have taken 23 days. Didn't the entire host of the Rohirrim cover this in less than a week?

I hike a lot, and I can tell you, doing 10km a day is not easy

I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that you're talking about steep, uphill terrain, a 30 kg pack, no trail and dense scrub.

How much searching would Boromir really have done for Rivendell? Scouts were out to look for Frodo and report on the movements of the Nazgûl. At such a heightened state of alert (we'll call it ElfCon 2) a man of Gondor would have been intercepted and brought home for dinner as soon as he strayed within 20 leagues of the place. My own very tentative timeline:

15 days Minas Tirith to Edoras
3 days Edoras pub crawl with Éomer
1 day recovery from above
10 days Edoras to Tharbad
3 days cursing the swimming abilities of his nag and foraging for berries
30 days up the Greenway to Bree
1 day smoking pipeweed with friendly traders on their way south
7 days R&R at the Prancing Pony
1 day at Honest Bill's Used Horse Lot
5 days on foot to Weathertop
20 days east along the road to the Ford of Bruinen (picked up by scouts)
1 day making up sob stories to tell the Council of Elrond

TOTAL: 97 fun-filled days. I envy him. I really do...

[Lalwendë]

I love that Boromir timeline! That was one heck of a work awayday, the expenses claim would have been outrageous! An Edoras pub crawl sounds splendid...

I can't find a reference, but I always thought Boromir had spent a fair amount of the time in Rohan. Also, a man like Boromir would be 'trained' for stamina over speed, surely, and he was carrying kit with him, which would have slowed him down a lot. And I do think he got lost, from page 323:

"...long have I wandered by roads forgotten, seeking the house of Elrond, of which many had heard, but few knew where it lay."

[The Saucepan Man]

"...long have I wandered by roads forgotten, seeking the house of Elrond, of which many had heard, but few knew where it lay."

In the firm belief that it should have taken Boromir little over 30 days to reach Rivendell if he knew the way, I had settled on this as the only explanation to this conundrum. Fair enough, it took him much longer because he didn't know exactly where it was. Seems possible that he spent a lot of time locating it. Except for one thing ...

... it is quite clear from Flight to the Ford that the Great East Road leads right up to the Ford of Bruinen. And what's on the other side of the Ford? A stony path that presumably leads right up to Rivendell. And even if it doesn't, it surely wouldn't take some 60 to 70 days for Boromir to find it once he reached the Ford. And wouldn't there have been some helpful tra-la-la-lallying Elves around to show him the way?

What was Boromir doing for all that time? I'm beginning to see doug*platypus' timeline as the more credible one.

[Mithalwen]

In the journeys of Frodo, Barbara Strachey says " There is conflicting evidence on the overall distance involved. In Unfinished Tales it say sform Osgiliath to Bree via Tharbad was 392 leagues and from Bree to Rivendell 116 leagues. The latter presents no problem, but ...the distance from Osgiliath to Bree is improbably long..I cannot reconcile this with the many other measurements provided.

Incidentally Boromir claimed to have travelled 1200 miles ... but it is not at all clear which route he took. He must have gone through Tharbad.....it is possible he took the road the whole way. HE may, however, have gone up the Hoarwell to the last bridge, though without a horse he would have found it difficult to carry enough food, while if he had gon up the Bruinen he would have had to cross the wild fenlands of Swanfleet and the River Glanduin"

Clearly not an easy journey and since his horse ran aaway rather than died he may have lost a lot of his food and gear. Ill equipped and on short rations, you won't make good time....