Faramir or Boromir?

[Saxony Tarn]

lots of good perspectives in here, especially on some of those posts that take at least two readings to digest fully. Now pardon me while i throw out this bone -- this has been bouncing around in my head for as long as this thread has...

Mention has been made of Boromir bossing Faramir around in the past, and somewhere -- i think on this board when someone quoted the Prof.'s Letters -- i seem to recall hearing that Tolkien himself had a rather overbearing sibling, who might easily have been an unintentional model (recalling similar things said about milord Steward as well).

Anyone wonder if he was perhaps taking some aggression out vicariously? (as in, "Ha ha, you pompous windbag, let's see you how like it when something you dismiss as harmless brings you to a shameful end as it hoodwinks you into betraying everything for which you stand!" or something like that) Yeah, yeah, i know T. himself insisted that there was no deep symbolism behind his tale, but... i've been digging through the appendices in the back for a good year now working on a fanfic involving these lads, and some times, when i'm trying to reverse-engineer the dynamics of their relationship, it does make me wonder.

|_|) <-- it comes in pints, and this one's for you!