The Seven Deadly Sins in Middle-earth

[Gwaihir the Windlord]

What really hits me about LotR and etc. is that everyone seems to be proud, wether it be Boromir or Sam or Thingol.

Pride in oneself is something that we must all have, or we are gradeless and low beings. You would, I take it, have pride in yourself too. And in what you do. If you are not anything to be proud of, you are worthless.

The sin of pride is different. This is when pride makes us haughty, having higher opinions of ourselves than we should -- where I live, colloquially termed being 'up oneself' -- or when we refuse to accept our situation, being obsessed with keeping up appearences. Neither Sam nor Boromir were either of the two points of this latter (although Thingol was the latter of the latter), accepting their situation, making the best of it and proud of this (and of the fact that they were opposed to Sauron and working against him, of their personalities etc as we all are -- and in Boromir's case, his own greatness (his opinion of himself was true, not inflated)).

It is right to be like this.