If Denethor hadn't committed suicide - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Faramir Jones · 03-10-2010, 11:46 AM

Tolkien did give an interesting view of Denethor and what he would have done in the event of victory, in notes he wrote in response to W. H. Auden's review of The Return of the King on 22nd January 1956:

Denethor was tained with mere politics: hence his failure, and his mistrust of Faramir. It had become for him a prime motive to preserve the polity of Gondor, as it was, against another potentate, who had made himself stronger and was to be feared and opposed for that reason rather then because he was ruthless and wicked. Denethor despised lesser men, and one may be sure did not distinguish between orcs and the allies of Mordor. If he had survived as victor, even without use of the Ring, he would have taken a long stride towards becoming himself a tyrant, and the terms and treatment he accorded to the deluded peoples of east and south would have been cruel and vengeful. He had become a 'political' leader: sc. Gondor against the rest.(Letters, Letter 183, p. 241.)

03-10-2010, 11:46 AM	#1
Faramir Jones Ghost Prince of Cardolan Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Lonely Isle Posts: 706	What Tolkien said Denethor would have done Tolkien did give an interesting view of Denethor and what he would have done in the event of victory, in notes he wrote in response to W. H. Auden's review of The Return of the King on 22nd January 1956: Denethor was tained with mere politics: hence his failure, and his mistrust of Faramir. It had become for him a prime motive to preserve the polity of Gondor, as it was, against another potentate, who had made himself stronger and was to be feared and opposed for that reason rather then because he was ruthless and wicked. Denethor despised lesser men, and one may be sure did not distinguish between orcs and the allies of Mordor. If he had survived as victor, even without use of the Ring, he would have taken a long stride towards becoming himself a tyrant, and the terms and treatment he accorded to the deluded peoples of east and south would have been cruel and vengeful. He had become a 'political' leader: sc. Gondor against the rest.(Letters, Letter 183, p. 241.)