LotR -- Book 3 - Chapter 01 - The Departure of Boromir

[davem]

Originally Posted by Bb

For those of you discussing the heroic "wind" poems and the manner of their creation, here's some support to your idea from Tolkien:
Quote:

'Will shall be the sterner, hear the bolder, spirit the greater as our strength lessens.l'
It is here implied, as is indeed probable, that these words were not 'original,' but an ancient and honoured expression of heroic will; Beorhtwold is all the more, not the less, likely for that reason actually to have used them in his last hour.


Quotations all taken from Tolkien's "The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthem's Son" This is about the Old English battle poem, "The Battle of Maldon", which Helen is referring to.

So, the lament for Boromir was basically a kind of general purpose, fill in the blanks, funeral dirge?

It seems to me that the 'Maldon' lines are a 'general' statement while the Boromir verses are specific to the individual & the circumstances.

Besides, isn't it a bit 'off the peg' - shouldn't Boromir have had something 'made to measure'? I'm not sure the idea of them simply customising a standard 'shrink to fit' poem fits in with the mood of the occasion.