Boromirs way?

[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...