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Jan. 10th, 2022 12:31 pmeucat asked:
I love your relentless excavation of Tolkien's character development of Denethor, Boromir, and Faramir. With that in mind I wonder if you have any head canons about that line from Appendix A: "Boromir was the helper and protector of Faramir." As you're aware too often this is interpreted as Boromir "protecting" Faramir from Denethor's "abuse," which I think we can agree is a total misreading of the psychological dynamics in play. But that said--why did Faramir need "protection"?
I replied:
Thank you! We can definitely agree that it’s probably not a reference to Denethor, and certainly is not proof of abuse.
Personally, I tend to think of it as a general role that Boromir took on, but which varied in the specifics depending on the situation and their ages at the time. I can see Boromir being Faramir’s protector from other children, or from getting into trouble with the various staff that would have surrounded them, or from Faramir himself (I have no difficulty imagining someone as independent and determined as Faramir getting himself into trouble, lol). It’s associated with Boromir helping Faramir, so I’m inclined to imagine it in that context.
That’s pretty vague, but … headcanon-wise, I do tend to imagine Boromir as somewhat overprotective, in part because of Tolkien’s description of him as a ‘bossy’ older brother in the letters. He would have been a lot. In this case, though, I envision it as a kind of outward manifestation of a certain emotional clinginess on Boromir’s part. Faramir barely remembers Finduilas, but Boromir would, and he’d see how it changed Denethor, too, while still a child himself. It’s easy to see him attaching all the more strongly to his tiny brother and appointing himself Faramir’s protector from ALL THE THINGS.
My impression from the way the appendix puts it is that this didn’t actually bother Faramir himself, but instead made them closer, though I imagine it did influence Faramir’s peculiar mix of deference to authority+stubbornly sticking to his own way.
I love your relentless excavation of Tolkien's character development of Denethor, Boromir, and Faramir. With that in mind I wonder if you have any head canons about that line from Appendix A: "Boromir was the helper and protector of Faramir." As you're aware too often this is interpreted as Boromir "protecting" Faramir from Denethor's "abuse," which I think we can agree is a total misreading of the psychological dynamics in play. But that said--why did Faramir need "protection"?
I replied:
Thank you! We can definitely agree that it’s probably not a reference to Denethor, and certainly is not proof of abuse.
Personally, I tend to think of it as a general role that Boromir took on, but which varied in the specifics depending on the situation and their ages at the time. I can see Boromir being Faramir’s protector from other children, or from getting into trouble with the various staff that would have surrounded them, or from Faramir himself (I have no difficulty imagining someone as independent and determined as Faramir getting himself into trouble, lol). It’s associated with Boromir helping Faramir, so I’m inclined to imagine it in that context.
That’s pretty vague, but … headcanon-wise, I do tend to imagine Boromir as somewhat overprotective, in part because of Tolkien’s description of him as a ‘bossy’ older brother in the letters. He would have been a lot. In this case, though, I envision it as a kind of outward manifestation of a certain emotional clinginess on Boromir’s part. Faramir barely remembers Finduilas, but Boromir would, and he’d see how it changed Denethor, too, while still a child himself. It’s easy to see him attaching all the more strongly to his tiny brother and appointing himself Faramir’s protector from ALL THE THINGS.
My impression from the way the appendix puts it is that this didn’t actually bother Faramir himself, but instead made them closer, though I imagine it did influence Faramir’s peculiar mix of deference to authority+stubbornly sticking to his own way.
